Dr. Mary John Dye is retired and lives in North Carolina. She has over 3 decades of ministry in churches of all settings in the Mississippi and Western North Carolina Annual Conferences.
Ministry Background
Dr. Dye began her ministry as the first cross-racial appointment in the North Mississippi Conference (serving Rasberry United Methodist Church in the black community of Indianola, Mississippi. Indianola was in the spotlight of the nation as civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer went to the courthouse there to register to vote.) After moving to Western North Carolina in 1984, she served the Bethel-Piney Grove Charge outside of Waynesville; Spruce Pine UMC in Spruce Pine, NC; Jackson Park UMC, Kannapolis; Archdale UMC, Archdale, NC and Hawthorne Lane UMC, Charlotte and Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Cornelius, NC. She served as Statesville District Superintendent from 2008-2012 and from 2018-2021, Senior Pastor at Broad Street United Methodist Church.
Family
Dr. Dye is a 3rd generation United Methodist pastor whose family roots are deeply imbedded in Kentucky Methodism. Her grandfather, Dr. W.W. Shepherd was a circuit rider and her father, Dr. James A. Shepherd served 74 years as a United Methodist pastor. At the time of her father’s death in 2017, his immediate family had given over 347 years of full time Christian ministry through the United Methodist Church.
Dr. Dye is the oldest of four children in the Shepherd family – each of whom has greatly influenced her life. Her sister, a neonatal physician, recently retired from her work as Director of Maternal and Child Health for the State of Kentucky; her brother, an attorney, is Circuit Judge in the Franklin Circuit Court in Frankfort, Kentucky and her youngest brother is a United Methodist pastor in the Kentucky Conference.
Educational Background
Dr. Dye received her B.A. in History from Asbury College, her Master of Divinity Degree from Memphis Theological Seminary and her Doctor of Ministry from Drew University. She has an extensive record of continuing education leadership workshops and Clinical Pastoral Education.
Other Church Involvement:
As a longtime leader in local church and conference youth work, she founded The Good Word Resource Center at Lake Junaluska Assembly which resourced youth leaders for decades.
In gratitude for the support of United Methodist Women, she has been active for decades in teaching United Methodist Women Schools of Christian Mission and preaching for United Methodist Women retreats and prayer breakfasts on the district, conference and jurisdictional levels. For eight years, she chaired the first Commission on the Status and Role of Women in the North Mississippi Conference.
She is a trained leader for Stephen Ministry and has served in chaplaincy roles in hospitals for communities where she has been a pastor.
She has a long history of being enthusiastically active in community work including Habitat for Humanity; starting a women’s shelter and promoting public education in a number of capacities.
In her years on the District, she began a unique initiative for Preacher’s Kids and started memory-making, overnight experiences for grandparents and grandchildren at Camp Carolwood. A columnist for the former NC Christian Advocate, the Mitchell News Journal and the Charlotte Observer. , she has had extensive writing background in her churches and communities. She posts actively on Facebook and has recently launched a new blog “The Greatest Altar Call….”(revmjdye.com)