Gadson appointed as new district superintendent

Bishop L. Jonathan Holston has appointed the Rev. Telley Lynnette Gadson as new superintendent of the Hartsville District.

Gadson, senior pastor of St. Mark United Methodist Church in Taylors since 2013, will succeed Dr. Robin Dease after the 2021 Annual Conference. Dease has served the Hartsville District as superintendent since 2013.

Gadson was born in Hollywood and graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, minoring in religious studies. She was ordained in 2002 after her graduation in 1999 from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University with a Master of Divinity with certification in Black church studies. In addition to her appointment to St. Mark UMC, Gadson has served St. Matthew UMC in Taylors and Mount Zion and St. Mark UMCs in Sumter.

In addition to her work in local churches, Gadson has served in many ways, including as a member of the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry and the Greenville District Board of Congregational Development. She has served as chairperson of the Hartsville District Committee on the Superintendency and as a mentor for the Hartsville District Committee on Ordained Ministry.

Gadson has been a member of the national Black Clergy Women of The United Methodist Church, serving as its president from 2013 to 2017, and is the author of “African-American History Month 2016,” a book of daily devotions published by Abingdon Press. She also has served on the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate.

Gadson enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends. She is the daughter of Herbert Gadson, the first Black mayor of Hollywood, and Linda D. Gadson, former executive director of Rural Mission Inc.