The Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School will hold a worship service and an evening service virtually as part of the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Series.

The morning service will be conducted in Goodson Chapel from 11:35 a.m. to 12:35 p.m. The lecture will be from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

 This year's speaker is Bishop Gregory V. Palmer, resident bishop of the Ohio West Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church and a Duke Divinity School alumnus who earned a Master of Divinity degree.

 

 

 

  • Guest Lecturer

    Bishop Gregory V. Palmer serves as the episcopal leader of the Ohio West Area of The United Methodist Church after being assigned there in 2012. Born and reared in Philadelphia, Penn., Palmer is a “child of the church,” the son of the Rev. Herbert E. and Mrs. Charlotte Sue Hewitt Palmer. Bishop Palmer received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the Master of Divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School. Baldwin-Wallace College, Iowa Wesleyan College, Simpson College, Hood Theological Seminary, and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary have awarded him honorary degrees. He was ordained as a deacon and elected a probationary member in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference in 1977. In 1981, he was elected into full membership and ordained an elder in the East Ohio Annual Conference. His pastoral career includes student pastorates in North Carolina and post-seminary appointments in the East Ohio Conference in Cleveland, Canton, and Berea. Palmer also served as superintendent of the Youngstown District of the East Ohio Conference. Elected to the episcopacy by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in 2000, Palmer served the Iowa Area until assuming responsibilities in the Illinois Area in 2008. Palmer served as president of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry from 2004 to 2008 and as president of the Council of Bishops from April 2008 to May 2010. Palmer served on the Commission on a Way Forward. Currently, he is a member of the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters and chair of the Comprehensive Africa Plan. He also is a board member of several organizations including The United Methodist Publishing House, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, United Theological Seminary, and OhioHealth, a family of nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities.

  • Schedule

    The schedule of events for the 2021 Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture Series on Tuesday, April 6, 2021 is: