wfn.org | United Methodist Bishop Roy C. Nichols, dead at 84

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 11, 2002  News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.   10-71B{469}

NOTE:  A photo is available for use with this story

By United Methodist News Service

Roy C. Nichols, the first African-American bishop elected after the United
Methodist Church was created in 1968, died Oct. 9 at the age of 84. 

A quiet hour will be held at Fouche's Funeral Home, 365 Telegraph Road,
Oakland, Calif., at 7 p.m. on Oct. 16. Funeral services will be 11 a.m.,
Oct. 17, at Downs Memorial United Methodist Church, 6026 Idaho St., Oakland.

The United Methodist Church resulted from a merger of the former Methodist
and Evangelical United Brethren churches in May 1968. At that time, each of
five bishops elected previously in a racially segregated Central
Jurisdiction of The Methodist Church were assigned to areas of supervision
in one of the five geographic jurisdictions of the new denomination. Nichols
was elected a bishop at the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in July
1968 and assigned to the Pittsburgh Area where he served for 12 years. He
then served the New York Area until his retirement in 1984.

Nichols was born in Hurlock, Md., March 19, 1918. He attended public schools
in Philadelphia and earned degrees from Lincoln University in Philadelphia
and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, Calif.  

A clergy member of the California-Nevada Annual Conference, he was the
organizing pastor of South Berkeley Community Church, one of the first
interracial churches with African-American and white co-pastors. He also
served as pastor of Downs Memorial Church where he was a popular radio
preacher with a program entitled "The Christian Answer." During his last
year at Downs (1963-64) he served as president of the Berkeley Board of
Education.

In 1964 Nichols went to New York City to become pastor of the 4,600-member
Salem United Methodist Church. Under his leadership the congregation became
deeply involved in service to the Harlem community, including the
construction of a million dollar, four-story community center.  

Following retirement, Nichols remained active, serving for several years as
chairperson of the development committee of Africa University, a school
created and developed by the denomination in Zimbabwe.

 From 1968 to 1975, Nichols served on the executive and central committees of
Protestant Hour radio series in 1979.  
the Sea, 1980; The Greening of the Gospel, 1985; and Doing the Gospel, 1991.
Footsteps in the Sea was a collection of sermons he preached on The

He is survived by his wife Ruth Richardson Nichols whom he married July 23,
1944, and three children: Melisande Nichols Schwartzfarb, Allegra Nichols
Lewis, and Nathan Richard Nichols.
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United Methodist News Service
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