By: Jim Pyatt, WNCC Archivist & Historian

Rev. James Enoch McCallum (May 19, 1927 - July 30, 1995)

The Rev. James E. McCallum “provided outstanding leadership in helping to forge good human relations and racial inclusiveness in the conference during the early years of the merger between the Western North Carolina Conference and the North Carolina-Virginia Conference of the Central Jurisdiction.” (1996 Journal, 327). The greatest example of this leadership came in 1969, when the Rev. McCallum was appointed to serve the Simpson Memorial-Gillespie Charge in Charlotte, in anticipation of the merger of the two congregations on September 2, 1969, which created Simpson-Gillespie UMC. (Russ Ford, Methodists in Mecklenburg, 172) His appointment was one of the first two in the WNC Conference where an African-American was appointed to a predominantly white congregation (along with the Rev. Clarence Strickland, who was appointed that same year to St. Mark’s UMC, Charlotte). The merger which created Simpson-Gillespie UMC was the first between a predominantly Caucasian congregation (Gillespie) and a predominantly African-American congregation (Simpson Memorial) in the WNC Conference, and took place the year after the merger of the two conferences. This was a tremendous step toward racial inclusiveness in the WNC Conference.

The Rev. McCallum was born in Greensboro to the Rev. and Mrs. Robert Frank McCallum. He attended Morristown Junior College, received his B.A. from Clark College in 1947, his M.Div. from Gammon Theological Seminary in 1950, and his S.T.M. from Boston University in 1955. He also completed the requirements for a D.Min. at Drew University. The Rev. McCallum was ordained a Deacon and admitted On Trial in the North Carolina Conference (Central Jurisdiction) in 1947, and was ordained Elder and received in Full Connection in 1950. He then served the following appointments: Pleasant Ridge (Newport News, VA) 1950-51; Executive Secretary of the Board of Education 1951-56; Chaplain-Professor, Wiley College 1956-64; Epworth (Gastonia) 1964-68; Simpson Memorial (Charlotte) 1968-69; Simpson-Gillespie (Charlotte) 1969-76; Simpson-Gillespie-Hunter’s Chapel (Charlotte) 1976-77; Metropolitan-Laughlin Memorial (Greensboro) 1977-82; and St. Matthews (Greensboro) 1982-84. In 1984 the Rev. McCallum went on disability leave, and in 1992 he retired.

When the WNC Conference first created its Commission on Religion and Race in 1970, the Rev. McCallum was elected the first Chairperson, a position which he held until 1976. He served again on this Commission from 1979-88. The Rev. McCallum also served in the conference as a member of the Board of Education 1967-68, the Committee on Black Church Development 1976-80, the Council on Finance and Administration 1976-79, and the Board of Global Ministries 1979-84. He was elected as an alternate delegate to Jurisdictional Conference in 1972. As Dr. James Ferree once wrote, “[The Rev. McCallum] is especially remembered in the conference for his outstanding work as a leader of workshops and training events in the areas of church leadership, social issues, and Christian education.” (1996 Journal, 327)

As we celebrate Black History Month, we give thanks for the leadership of the Rev. James E. McCallum.