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By Danette Clifton*
5:00 P.M. ET Aug. 29, 2013 | BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS)
Gloria Holt delivers the laity address at the 2004 United Methodist
General Conference in Pittsburgh. A UMNS file photo by Mike DuBose.
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Gloria E. Holt, a longtime lay leader at every level of The United Methodist Church, has died.
She was a current member of the Commission on General Conference,
former president of the United Methodist Association of Annual
Conference Lay Leaders and presenter of the Laity Address at the 2004 General Conference.
Holt died Aug. 28, due to complications linked to her battle with breast cancer, according to the North Alabama Annual (regional) Conference.
“Gloria is a person who has reminded us of how one individual can
make such a difference at many levels,” said Bishop Debra
Wallace-Padgett, who leads the North Alabama Conference.
In addition to her 2004 address,
she served the general church in various volunteer roles. She served
on the Commission on General Conference for the 2012 and 2016
gatherings, the Global Ministries Board of Directors, the Mission
Volunteers Board of Directors and the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society.
“I will remember Gloria as a kind and gentle soul who always sought
to see past our divisions to our common ground in Jesus Christ,” said
the Rev. L. Fitzgerald Reist II, the secretary of the General
Conference. “I will miss her, as she was a good partner in our work
together.”
She was elected a lay delegate from North Alabama to five General
Conferences and Southeastern Jurisdictional Conferences (from 1996
through 2012). She was chair of the SEJ Committee on Episcopacy at the
time of her death. She also served as president of both the SEJ
Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders and the (International)
United Methodist Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders.
In the North Alabama Conference, Holt served as conference lay
leader from 1997 to 2006. She served on numerous conference committees
and teams, often as chairperson. Some of the committees included the
Imagine No Malaria Team, the Conference Committee on Episcopacy, the
Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and the Conference Vision Team.
She was a graduate of both Metro Methodism and the Academy for
Congregational Development. She was a recipient of the Louise Branscomb
Barrier Breaker Award and the Harry Denman Evangelism Award. During
the 2012 North Alabama Annual Conference, United Methodist-related
Birmingham-Southern College awarded Holt with an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.
Holt shared that her greatest passion for The United Methodist
Church was the disciple-making that took place at the local church
level. She was active in missions through the United Methodist
Women at the local church, district and conference levels.
She and her husband Zollie were founding members of ClearBranch United Methodist Church in Trussville, Ala. Previously, they were active members of Huffman United Methodist Church.
Holt grew up in Birmingham, where she graduated from Ensley High
School and the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a degree in
criminal justice.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by two children, Melody
Hart and Zollie “Bubba” Holt Jr., five grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.
Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 30, at ClearBranch United
Methodist Church. The funeral will be at noon Aug. 31 at the church.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the
Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. A donation page in memory of Holt has been set up.
*Clifton is director of communication for the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church.
News media contact: Heather Hahn or Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.