Glide’s lead pastor resigns after less than year
The Rev. Jay Williams, who took over from the Rev. Cecil Williams as lead pastor less than a year ago, announced his resignation Sunday from Glide Memorial United Methodist Church.
“All of us have appreciated the chance to get to know Rev. Jay as a colleague, a friend and a pastor,” the church wrote on Facebook. “Our community has benefited immensely from his intellect, his faith and his kindness. We wish him happiness and fulfillment as he follows his heart and continues his journey.”
Before taking the helm as lead pastor at Glide in July 2017, Williams, who is not related to the Rev. Cecil Williams, was the lead pastor at Union United Methodist Church in Boston’s South End for five years.
He did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his plans for the future.
“I love this place called GLIDE because it’s an ideal, it’s a people, it’s a dream. I love GLIDE. But sometimes loving means leaving,” Williams said Sunday through the church’s Twitter page.
He announced his resignation during the 9 a.m. sermon.
The church said that Williams will leave the church in the coming weeks and that Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño will take over during the transition.
Williams succeeded as lead pastor the 88-year-old Cecil Williams — who had retired in 2000, at the mandatory retirement age of 70 for United Methodist Church pastors, only to be rehired as “minister of liberation” by a Glide congregation until Williams took over the role.
The reverend is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He served as the pastor of the Glendale UMC in Everett, Mass., from July 2009 to September 2012. He previously was the assistant minister of Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in Harlem, N.Y., from June 2007 to June 2009.
He received his doctorate in the study of religion from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in May 2017 and his master’s of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2009.
His bachelor’s degree was in comparative study of religion from Harvard College in 2003.
Before Williams embarked on a spiritual path, he was an assistant vice president in the private banking division of Merrill Lynch.
His interests are focused on theology, social ethics and African American religion, according to Glide’s website, and he works to help “disinherited folks find their voices.”