By Paul Thomas, Detroit Conference Director of Communications
Michigan Area Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton has announced that the Rev. Melanie L. Carey, lead pastor at Ypsilanti: First United Methodist Church, has been appointed to serve as a district superintendent in the Detroit Conference. Carey will be assigned to the newly formed district in the Metro Detroit area as of July 1, 2011.
“Melanie combines fruitful pastoral ministry, a wide variety of conference responsibilities done well, and a passion for social justice," Keaton said. "Whenever and whatever she has been asked to do has been done with excellence, enthusiasm and attention to detail, and I am confident that she will bring those same attributes to her work as superintendent for this new district in the Detroit metropolitan area. As a bilingual member of cabinet, she will broaden our collective experience and add to the depth of our discerning conversations.”
Ordained an elder in 1993, Carey has served three churches during her 20-year ministry. Carey led Hudson: First UMC from 1991-93 before being appointed as the associate pastor at Livonia: Newburg UMC, where she served for seven years (1993-2000).
In 2000, Carey was named to her current position at Ypsilanti: First UMC and is currently in her 11th year of ministry to that congregation. Ypsilanti: First UMC is one of the churches in the Detroit Conference that offers Hispanic/Latino ministries, including a weekly Spanish language worship service.
The congregation has also conducted a pair of Kingdom Assignment (kingdomassignment.org) programs, and has been able to grant money to over 20 churches within the conference to lead their own Kingdom Assignment campaigns.
"I am very humbled by this appointment," Carey said. "With this new district, there is an opportunity to create a new identity for The United Methodist Church in the Metro Detroit area. At this particular time in the history of our state, it is very critical that we bring the good news of Christ to the City of Detroit, to the suburbs and to our state. I look forward to the opportunity for us to do this work together."
Carey has been actively involved with the creation of the conference's Hispanic/Latino ministries, and serves as a member of the regional advisory board of Justice for our Neighbors - Southeast Michigan (www.jfonsemi.org).
Created in 2009, JFON-SEMI is a program established by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) that provides free legal immigration services, education and advocacy. Carey has also served as a national facilitator since 1994 with the General Board of Global Ministries' National Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry (www.hispaniclatinoministry.org).
In that role, she has worked with annual conferences and congregations across the country to develop ministries for Hispanics/Latinos. Carey has recently co-authored Pentecost Journey: A Planning Guide for Non-Hispanic/Latino Congregations, which is a resource for churches to develop ministries with Hispanics/Latinos.
One of the inaugural members of the Conference Leadership Team, Carey also serves on the conference's personnel committee. She was awarded the John L. Buxton Award at the 2010 annual conference session, an award that recognizes creative leadership within the conference.
Carey received her Bachelor's degree in Spanish from Kalamazoo (Mich.) College in 1987 and was awarded her Master's of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York, N.Y., in 1991. Carey and her husband, Jon, are the parents of two children: Nick, 15, and Grace, 12.
Carey is replacing the Rev. Duane Miller, superintendent of the Detroit East District, who is retiring, and the Rev. John H. Lee, who has served as the superintendent in the Detroit West District since 2004. As part of the conference's plan to reduce the number of districts from seven to six, the Detroit East and Detroit West Districts are being combined to form a new district that encompasses the Detroit metropolitan area. The new district will consist of 84 churches and will have the largest membership of the six districts in the Detroit Conference. The name of the district has yet to be determined.
In addition to his appointment of Carey, Bishop Keaton announced that the Rev. Grant Lobb will continue to serve as Marquette District superintendent in 2011-12. Lobb was appointed to the post in 2005 and is in his sixth year as the superintendent of one of the largest geographic districts in the United States.
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