Staff member nominated to lead church's social action agency
8/14/2000
NOTE: A photograph of James E. Winkler is available.
WASHINGTON (UMNS) - James E. Winkler, a lay staff member of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society for 15 years, has been named to succeed the Rev. Thom White Wolf Fassett as head of the agency.
Winkler's nomination was approved by the board's executive committee and still needs confirmation by the board's directors, who are being polled by written ballot. Final election of all general secretaries is in the hands of the church's General Council on Ministries, which meets Oct. 20-24. The appointment would be effective Nov. 1.
Fassett is completing his 12-year term as top staff executive of the denomination's social action and advocacy agency. He has accepted an appointment as a district superintendent in the North Central New York Annual (regional) Conference.
Winkler, 41, has been with the board since 1985. Currently, he serves as an assistant general secretary working to resource congregations. Previously, he was a seminar designer with United Methodist Seminars on National and International Affairs. In that role, he led more than 150 seminars for church youth, college students and adults.
From 1996 to 1999, Winkler served as the board's director of relations with annual (regional) conferences. In that role, he organized the first-ever gathering of annual conference church and society chairpersons in 1997 and a follow-up meeting in 1999.
"I view the ministry of the General Board of Church and Society as crucial to the United Methodist Church," Winkler said. "The church has a strong and historic presence in the continuing concerns of society around the world. The board will continue in the Wesleyan tradition of uniting personal faith with public action."
Winkler has degrees from the University of Illinois and George Mason University in Virginia.
He is married to Robin Ringler, a program director in the Peace with Justice Program. They have two children, Grace, 11, and Sam, 9. The family lives in Virginia and attends the Messiah United Methodist Church in Springfield. Winkler teaches Sunday school and serves as associate lay leader of the congregation. In addition, he is co-chair of the Virginia Annual Conference Board of Church and Society.
Winkler comes from a long line of United Methodist leaders. His father, Eugene, is senior pastor of First United Methodist Church/The Chicago Temple in Chicago. His brother, Chris, is pastor of Winfield Community United Methodist Church in the Northern Illinois Annual Conference, and his uncle, Ed, serves the Arlington Forest United Methodist Church in the Virginia Annual Conference. His great-grandfather was also a pastor in the Methodist Church.
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