news article
Remembering Bishop Thomas B. Stockton
October 20, 2023 / By UNY Communications / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Retired Bishop Thomas B. Stockton of Winston-Salem, NC died on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at the age of 93.
Bishop Stockton was elected to the episcopacy on July 12, 1988. He was assigned to the Richmond Area, which encompasses the Virginia Annual Conference. He retired in 1996. He also served as Bishop in Residence at High Point University.
He was born on July 26, 1930, in Winston Salem, NC. After receiving an A.B. degree at Davidson College, he attended Duke University Divinity School, where he received a Master of Divinity Degree.
Bishop Stockton was ordained deacon and elder and received into full connection in the Western North Carolina Conference. He served Central Methodist Church in Charlotte for a summer and then he was appointed to Thrift Methodist Church which he served for four years. He then became the minister of First Methodist Church in Reidsville, NC, before moving to the Dilworth Methodist Church in Charlotte, followed by a move to Central United Methodist Church, Asheville and on to Myers Park United Methodist Church, Charlotte. He moved to Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church, High Point, where he served until he was elected bishop in 1988.
Bishop Stockton served for one quadrennium on the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and has served various Boards and Agencies in the Annual Conference as well as serving as Trustee of several Colleges and Homes in the Western North Carolina Conference. He served two quadrennia on the General Board of Discipleship as Chairperson of the Curriculum Resources Committee, and two quadrennia as Vice Chair of Evangelism.
Tom Stockton married Jean Stevens in Winston Salem on Aug. 22, 1953. They have three children, Lisa Stockton Howell, Thomas B. Stockton, Jr., and Shannon Stockton Miller. Jean Stockton died in Nov. 2017.
The funeral service is planned for Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. with a reception afterwards. The service will be held at Centenary United Methodist Church, located at 646 W 5th Street, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101.