Bishop Taylor to Keynote 

COLUMBIA, SC. . . Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor, the first woman to serve as Resident Bishop of The Columbia Area (South Carolina Annual Conference) in The United Methodist Church, will serve as keynote speaker at the Columbia College 2006 Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies.

Commencement will be held Saturday, May 6, 11:00 a.m.,
at the Township Auditorium in Columbia.  The College will award 223 degrees.

Bishop Mary Virginia Taylor
Born in Washington, D.C. , Taylor was raised in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, and completed her master of divinity degree from Candler School of Theology, Emory University.

Reverend Taylor served 30 years as a member of the Holston Conference (Tennessee), in both rural and urban settings.  It was in her fifth year as Cleveland District Superintendent that Taylor was elected to the episcopacy in July 2004.  On September 1, 2004, she became the first woman to serve as Resident Bishop of The Columbia Area (South Carolina Annual Conference) in The United Methodist Church. Upon her election, she noted, “I have been the ‘first’ woman in every position I have ever been in,
I have never followed a woman into an office.”

She has served six times as a delegate to the United Methodist General Conference and to the Jurisdictional Conference.  During those 20 years, she has served on the General Council on Ministries and the General Board of Church and Society.  She has been the chairperson of the Holston Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and the chairperson of the Conference Council on Finance and Administration.  In September 2004, Bishop Taylor was elected to serve as president of the General Commission on Status and Role of Women.

Columbia College is a private liberal arts women's college with a coeducational Evening College and Graduate School. The College has been ranked for 11 consecutive years by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top comprehensive undergraduate
colleges in the South. Enrollment is 1500 students from 23 states and 20 countries.