FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 12, 2024
General Commission on the Status and Role of Women elects new general secretary
Rev. Stephanie York Arnold set to succeed Dawn Wiggins Hare as agency’s chief executive
CHICAGO - The Rev. Stephanie York Arnold, an ordained elder in the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church has been elected to serve as the general secretary for the denomination’s General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW), effective, March 1, 2025.
York Arnold was elected during a special called meeting of the Board of Directors today. York Arnold will step into the role that will be vacated by Dawn Wiggins Hare who is set to retire on Feb. 28, 2025, after serving as general secretary since 2012.
"The search committee had a difficult, yet very gratifying role in this process. We were so grateful for the quality and quantity of the candidates who stepped forward. It became clear to us in this process that GCSRW's work is still necessary and that there are capable women ready to lead in a variety of ways and levels of the church if they are given the chance to do so,” said Rev. Emily Nelms Chastain, who led the search committee. “With that said, we are very excited about the potential of Rev. Stephanie York Arnold's leadership and her acceptance of leading GCSRW into the next quadrennium. She has a strong prophetic voice and a vision for women across our worldwide connection to be heard and invited into full participation in the life of our church. Along with the Board, we commit to supporting her with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service as she leads GCSRW into the next era of The United Methodist Church."
York Arnold, who was ordained as an elder in 2006, is currently appointed as the senior pastor of Birmingham First United Methodist Church, where she has served for almost 15 years, first an associate pastor and now in the senior role. In 2018, Arnold made history as the first woman appointed in the role as senior pastor.
“The mission of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women has been one of the most inspiring and influential aspects of my commitment to being a United Methodist,” York Arnold said.
“I firmly believe in the critical need for this work to continue empowering women—and, by extension, all people—to reach their fullest potential and achieve liberation from institutional sexism and harm. I hold this mission in high regard and I am grateful for Dawn’s leadership as she has led the way for this work to expand throughout our worldwide connection. I am deeply honored to join the dedicated GCSRW team.”
York Arnold’s interest in the work of advocating for women began at an early age, she explained, as she heard her mother talk about what it was like being a woman in a male-dominated profession and learned from her grandmothers' strong maternal presence.
“I think improving the lives of women impacts all people,” York Arnold said, “and I’ve always had a passion and a drive for this work in all aspects of my life.”
During her ministry, York Arnold served on GCSRW’s Interagency Sexual Ethics Task Force; created resources on the topics of pay equity and expansive language; wrote and produced “Her Truth” video and curriculum for the North Alabama Conference COSROW; and presented at The UMC’s Do No Harm Sexual Ethics training in 2018.
“We are thrilled that a leader with a commitment to our mission and ministry as evidenced by Stephanie’s track record has been elected,” Hare said. “Stephanie will provide a bright energizing light in guiding, interpreting, and modeling inclusion of women to the world through the local church’s witness.”
"Rev. Stephanie York Arnold is a gifted leader whose heart resonates with the purpose of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women to advocate for full participation of women in the total life of The United Methodist Church and to help the church recognize every person – clergy and lay, women and men, adults and children - as full and equal parts of God’s human family,” said Bishop L. Jonathan Holston, resident bishop of the Alabama Panhandle Episcopal Area, including the North Alabama Conference. “She has lived out these values in her service to the local church as a pastor, to our Conference through the various leadership roles she has served — including as a member of North Alabama’s COSROW and to the General Church through her years as a member of the General Board of Church and Society. She is a talented communicator who works to cast a vision and embolden others to bring that vision to life together. The United Methodist Church will be blessed with her service as the new general secretary."
York Arnold is married to Steve, and they have two children, Georgia, a sophomore at Auburn University, and Sawyer, a freshman at the University of Alabama.
In addition to Nelms Chastain (North Alabama), the search committee included Rev. David Dodge (Florida), Rev. Juyeon Jeon (Northern Illinois), Rev. Mark Norman (Arkansas), Bishop Tracy Smith Malone (Indiana), and Berit Westad (Norway).