Bishop L. Jonathan Holston
Bishop L. Jonathan Holston is the resident bishop of the United Methodist Church, South Carolina Conference. He is married to Felecia Brown Holston and they have two adult children, Karlton Maurice and Brittany Jene.
Prior to his election and consecration in July of 2012, he served as the senior pastor of St. James United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Bishop Holston holds a Master of Divinity in biblical studies from The Interdenominational Theological Center, Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta. He also has a bachelor’s degree in religion from the University of Georgia. Prior to his appointment to St. James UMC, he served as superintendent of the Atlanta-Decatur-Oxford District 1997-2005, an associate director of the North Georgia Conference Council on Ministries 1992-1997, the senior pastor of Clifton UMC (1986-1992); and the senior pastor of Marietta Street UMC (1983-1986). In May of 2015, Bishop Holston received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University. In May of 2016 he was the recipient of the Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa) degree from Gammon Theological Seminary and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.) from Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina.
Bishop Holston has also served as a member of the General Council on Finance and Administration, chair of General Conference Finance and Administrative Legislative Committee and as a member of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, the Southeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy, Hinton Rural Life Center, Appalachian Development Committee and the Southeastern Jurisdictional Association for Native American Ministries. He has also traveled extensively as a specialist in missions to Ecuador, Uganda, Costa Rica, Haiti, Honduras, Zimbabwe, Kenya, India, China and Hong Kong. In his work as the conference disaster relief coordinator, he served on the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), the Catastrophic Disaster Response Team and as the Church World Service Disaster Consultant in Georgia.
In January of 2013, Bishop Holston was appointed by the SEJ to UMVIM Board of Directors and to the Lake Junaluska Board of Trustees. He was elected to the Gammon Theological Seminary Board in January 2013 and the Board of Directors of the South Carolina United Methodist Foundation in April 2013. In 2016 he began a term on the Columbia College Board of Trustees. In September of 2016, Bishop Holston was pleased to accept an invitation to serve with the Board of Directors for the General Board of Global Ministries (2016-2020). In 2020, Bishop Holston began serving on the Emory University Board of Trustees. Bishop Holston currently serves as the chairperson for the Gammon Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, chairperson for the Coordinating Committee on Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, and chairperson of the Pan-Methodist Commission.