A Conversation with Bishop Delores Williamston, Part 1

Louisiana NOW

Join us for a conversation with Bishop Delores Williamston, who is set to become the new bishop of the Louisiana Conference on January 1.

This episode is the first of two.

In this episode, Todd Rossnagel asks Bishop Williamston about her family, her background, which includes work inside the church as well as military service. They also discuss the historic nature of her election.

To watch the consecration service from the 2022 South Central Jurisdiction, please head here.

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Bishop Delores J. “Dee” Williamston, a Kansas Army National Guard veteran, and a Methodist church administrator, was assigned to the Louisiana Conference at the South Central Jurisdictional meeting in Houston on November 3, 2022.

Bishop Williamston was ordained as an elder in 2010 and previously served in the Great Plains Conference as the superintendent for the Hays, Hutchinson and Salina Districts. She also served as Director of Clergy Excellence and Assistant to the Bishop.

Prior to beginning her service with the Great Plains Conference, Williamston served churches in Independence, Salina, Mentor, and Topeka in Kansas. She earned her master’s of divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri, with a specialty in Black Church ministries and evangelism. She is pursuing a doctorate of ministry from Philips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Bishop Williamston’s background includes a 22-year military career in the Kansas Army National Guard, where she served as a technician and eventually became chief supervisor of the account and finance operations at the U.S. Property and Fiscal Office in Topeka. Her rank upon retirement from the National Guard was sergeant first class.

Bishop Williamston, a breast cancer survivor, has one son, seven grandchildren, and one pet Shih Tzu.