Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
For Immediate Release
November 12, 2024
Retired UM Bishop Clay Lee Jr. dies at 94
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church regrets to announce the death of Bishop Clay Foster Lee, a beloved retired Bishop of the United Methodist Church, who passed away on November 11, 2024. He was 94 years old.
Bishop Lee was elected to the episcopacy by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in July 1988, after having served Jackson's Galloway Memorial Church for twelve years. He was assigned to the Holston Area where he served from 1988 to 1996.
Born to Clay F. and Margaret Wilson Lee on March 3, 1930 (“It’s easy to remember,” he said. “3/3/30.”), the Laurel, Miss., native attended Laurel City Schools before studying pre-ministerial subjects at Millsaps College in Jackson from 1947 to 1951. While doing his undergraduate studies, Clay was appointed as Student Pastor for Unity Methodist Church in Smith County.
He preached his first sermon on November 4, 1949, and continued to do so well into his eighties and long after his retirement.
After earning his B.A., he married Dorothy (Dot) Stricklin of Laurel, after which they moved to Atlanta, where Clay entered the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Ever the hard worker, he completed that three-year program in two by attending year-round rather than the usual nine-month cycle.
Upon their return to Mississippi in 1953, with first-born daughter Cecilia (Cissy) Ann Lee in tow, the Lees served a series of congregations in Jackson, Raymond, Quitman, and Philadelphia, Miss., and welcomed four more children: Jack, Lisa, Tim, and Kaye.
The then Rev. Lee assumed the pulpit at First Church in Philadelphia in 1964, shortly before the murders of the civil rights workers, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman. His Christmas sermon that year, entitled “Herod Was in Christmas” was cited in several national publications as an example of Christian charity during a tumultuous era.
Following positions as Executive Director of the Mississippi Conference Council on Ministries and Superintendent of the Brookhaven district, in 1976, Clay was appointed Senior Minister at Galloway Memorial Methodist Church in downtown Jackson, a pastorate that lasted 12 years. During that time, he led the church to enter into a contract with a local television station to broadcast the Sunday morning service live, a move that Clay’s children often referred to as “Bedside Methodist.”
In 1987, a book of Clay’s sermons from “The Protestant Hour” radio broadcasts, Jesus Never Said Everyone Was Lovable, Lessons in Discipleship, was published by Abingdon Press.
In the summer of 1988, he was elected a Bishop of the United Methodist Church and assigned the Holston Conference, which includes all of East Tennessee, much of South Virginia, and a portion of north Georgia. By church law, he retired in 1996, but stayed active in the United Methodist Church in several roles. Although he developed a deep appreciation of that region and its people, Bishop Lee and Dot returned to Jackson upon his retirement to be closer to their grandchildren.
Despite his unassuming ways, studious demeanor, and studious work ethic, Bishop Lee is remembered by many for his kindness, gentle nature, generosity, public speaking skills, and grace. According to his children, “He also had a great sense of humor!”
Bishop Lee is remembered by his family as “fiercely loyal to his friends and fiercely loyal to his family. He considered all members of whatever flock he served to be family and friends.
“He was strong, yet humble. And he was inclusive.”
His colleagues from the UMC Council of Bishops remember Bishop Lee thusly: “Bishop Lee’s strong leadership and wisdom as a pastor and a Bishop and his unwavering faith, were examples of serving God and His people. He was an inspiration to us all.”
He retained a love of music throughout his life, and was often called on to lead hymn singing at the Rose Garden at the Orchard, where he was in memory care for his final years. When asked, Bishop Lee would stride purposefully to the front of the room and exhort his fellow residents to “sing with gusto and spirit,” before humming a reference tone and conducting them through the musical choice of the day.
Bishop Lee will be remembered fondly by the countless number of people whose lives he touched.
He is preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Dorothy S. Lee, his parents, and one sister, Margaret L. Ferrell. He is survived by his five children: Cissy Lee of Jackson, Jack (Nancy) Lee of Raymond, Lisa (Andy) Mullins of Oxford, Tim (Susan) Lee, and Kaye (Peter) Bernheim of Gulfport. He is also remembered by eight grandchildren: Garrad (Catherine) Lee of Jackson, Jesse (Natalie) Lee of Charlotte, N.C., Austin Lee of Denver, Co., Andrew (Elizabeth) Mullins of New Orleans, Katie Mullins of Oxford, Becca (Nick) Iannuzzi of Birmingham, Ala., Margaret (Nathan) Powell of Gulfport, Rachel (Kyle) Chickvara of Birmingham, Ala., and eight great-grandchildren.
A memorial will be held on Friday, November 15, at Galloway Memorial Methodist Church with visitation at 9:30 am, followed by a celebration of life at 11am.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that remembrances be sent to Methodist Senior Services, P.O. Box 1567, Tupelo, MS 38802-1567.
Condolences can be sent to his daughter:
Mrs. Kaye Bernheim
885 2nd Street
Gulfport, MS 39501
or sent to her email
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Media Contact:
Rev. Dr. Maidstone Mulenga
Director of Communications
Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
(202) 748-5172
