Clay F. Lee, a former East Tennessee United Methodist bishop who advocated for racial and gender inclusion in the Southern church, has died. He was 94.
Remembered as a great and at times courageous preacher with an active funny bone, Lee became bishop of the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1988 – a time when mainline Protestant church membership was on a steady decline.
“In spite of what the circumstances of an increasingly secular society might seem to say, God has not given up on the church,” he said in a speech not long after assuming the role.
Lee died Nov. 11, according to an announcement last week by the United Methodist Council of Bishops.
Warning against infighting, Lee advocated as the Holston Conference bishop for an “outward” facing church.