Recollections
Stories From My Life in the Ministry, by Roger Gramling
Dr. Roger M. Gramling entered ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church in South Carolina at the beginning of the most important racial merger in the denomination’s history, and he retired on the threshold of the most significant fracturing of the denomination in South Carolina and beyond.
In Recollections, Gramling shares his memoir of a life serving the church—a ministry that brought him into close contact with unusual, extraordinary individuals who helped shape the denomination in remarkable ways.
From the merger, to his connections to bishops of the church in both his seminary and ministry years, to his work as conference parliamentarian and secretary, to his many years as president of The South Carolina United Methodist Foundation, Inc., Gramling offers insightful, humorous, honest reflections from a personal perspective.
“Recollections is the result of Roger’s meticulous record of notes, primary sources, personal relationships, and remarkable memory. Persons with history and experience in South Carolina United Methodism over the last half century will find that this memoir contains delightful stories, humor, history, honesty, and the personal perspective of one steeped in love for his church, respect for his colleagues, and appreciation for the role he has been privileged to play in it all.”—Retired UMC Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey