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For Methodist Leader, It's All Positive

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By DEREK MAUL

Tribune correspondent

Published: August 6, 2008

Just a few weeks into her new appointment July 1, the Rev. Sharon G. Austin is still taking the pulse of all 88 United Methodist Churches in her care.

"District superintendents are extensions of the bishop's office," she said, referring to her boss, Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, newly reassigned to the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church through 2012.

The Florida Conference is made up of 740 United Methodist Churches and maintains administrative offices in Lakeland. District superintendents are appointed for six years. Austin, who works in Plant City and is responsible for United Methodist Churches throughout greater Brandon, said she is motivated and ready.

"This district covers all of Hillsborough and parts of Pasco, Hernando and Polk," Austin said.

"I'll be working with her through the district leadership team," said Jamie Westlake, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church Brandon. "Our first meeting was brief but positive. I'm impressed."

The Rev. Kimberly Uchimura is associate pastor at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church on Bryan Road in Brandon. "She has a good reputation from her years at" First United Methodist Church in Riverview, she said. "Folk really like her a lot around here, and I haven't talked to anyone who isn't positive."

Austin's life and ministry evolved from a wide diversity of experience.

"During my formative years, I was a Lutheran in New York," she said. "We moved to Florida when I was a teen and joined my grandmother's Missionary Baptist Church in West Palm Beach.

"I received my call while attending Berry College in Rome, Georgia," she said. "The chaplain was Methodist, so I went on to Candler Theological Seminary in Atlanta. In Atlanta, I joined Ebenezer Baptist Church."

Ebenezer Baptist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s home congregation, was aligned with the Progressive National Baptist and American Baptist denominations.

Members of the church showed a strong emphasis on social justice issues and were receptive to Austin's calling.

"When I graduated from Candler, I did a clinical internship at Grady Hospital in Atlanta," she said. "Then, I worked four years as an ecumenical clinical chaplain in an Atlanta center for women offenders."

She was ordained as a Baptist minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1981.

"I joined the staff of Ebenezer in 1984," she said. "Dr. Joseph L. Roberts was my pastor and mentor. I was there eleven and a half years. It was a tremendous experience. Some said calling a woman pastor would make Dr. King turn in his grave, but it would just be so he could shout 'Hallelujah!'"

Austin and her husband, Michael Holiday, moved to Miami in 1995. She worked as a chaplain, first with Jackson Memorial Hospital, then with a hospice group.

"In 1997, we attended worship at a Methodist Church to hear an old friend preach," she said. "The spirit moved, and something happened."

The old friend was a newly elected Methodist bishop, the late Cornelius L. Henderson. A conversation started that led to Austin's affiliation with the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church and the series of appointments in Miami, Riverview, Delray Beach and now Plant City.

Administration comes naturally to Austin, but her new position seems overwhelming at first glance. "Someone asked me if I'd got my feet wet," she said. "I said it's a good thing I grew up Baptist, because I've been immersed."

Most of all, she said she's excited.

"It's the opportunity to encourage and direct congregations and pastors to be all that they can be in Christ," she said. "I sit in amazement at the vision of pastors and congregations, and it brings tears to my eyes. I draw energy and encouragement from what these pastors are doing.

"This is the kingdom of God. There's a place for all of us, and there's work for all of us to accomplish."

MEET THE REV. SHARON G. AUSTIN

WHAT: District Superintendent, South Central District of the United Methodist Church
BORN: Jamaica, N.Y., 1955

MARRIED: Michael Holiday, 1977

CHILDREN: Aaron, 26; Nicholas, 24; Genise, 20; Desiree, 16

EDUCATION: Berry College, Rome, Ga., 1976; Candler Theological Seminary, Atlanta, 1979; Barry University, Miami, 2006

CALL: (813) 719-7270

NOTABLE QUOTE: "This district has a wonderful diversity. My background has led me here."

Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul@gmail.com.

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