Conversations with Bishop Lyght

By now, you’ve probably heard that Bishop Lyght is retiring from the active episcopacy on December 31, 2011, and that William Boyd Grove will be the interim bishop for the West Virginia Conference. You can read more about the relationship between these two bishops here. 

We’ve had a couple of chances in the weeks since the bishop’s announcement to talk with him about his life and ministry. You might be surprised to learn that Bishop Lyght was arrested in 1963 while a student at Morgan State University in Baltimore. He joined with about 300 students to demonstrate at the Northwood Theater, which was segregated at the time.

Morgan State students in jail during their effort to integrate the Northwood Theater in Baltimore, MD in February of 1963.

In this audio segment, Bishop Lyght recalls growing up during a time when the racial segregation landscape in the country was shifting.

Lyght recalls growing up:

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be catching up with Bishop Lyght to talk about his life and legacy in the United Methodist Church, so stay tuned. And, the Conference will get a chance to say goodbye to Bishop Lyght and his wife, Eleanor, on January 7, 2012 at Morris Memorial UMC in Charleston. More details on that here.