Bishop McLee (New York Area United Methodist Church) obituary (In Memoriam -- 1955 - 2014)

From UM Board of Church and Society website -- www.umc-gbcs.org/
Bishop Martin McLee, episcopal leader of The United Methodist Church’s New York Area, died Sept. 6. He had been on leave of absence due to illness since July. He would have been 59 years old Sept. 10.
Bishop McLee was elected bishop in July 2012.

I have worked closely with Bishop McLee and seen what a great servant of God he was.

Bishop Marcus Matthews, leader of the Baltimore-Washington Conference and president of the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ) College of Bishops, laid his hands on McLee during the consecration service.
“Since that day, I have worked closely with Bishop McLee and seen what a great servant of God he was,” Matthews said. “From his words and his work, it is clear that Bishop McLee cared for the church and was God’s champion for millions of marginalized people in the NEJ and throughout the world.
“Through his work with those who remained on the margins of society and the church, Bishop McLee embodied our call to serve all of God's people.”

Dynamic preacher

Matthews asked churches to observe a moment of silence in honor of Bishop McLee and to offer prayers for the bishop’s family.

He was a dynamic preacher, creative worship leader, and a faithful and fruitful spiritual leader.

Bishop John Schol, leader of the Greater New Jersey Area, also called for prayers for the family as well as the people of the New York Area. “He was a dynamic preacher, creative worship leader, and a faithful and fruitful spiritual leader,” Schol said in a statement.
Bishop McLee had led the New York Area since Sept. 1, 2012. Retired Bishop Neil Irons has been leading the area as interim bishop since McLee went on leave.
Early in his days in office, Bishop McLee conducted a “listening tour” in the New York Conference. On the tour, the bishop told church leaders that he did not “have a master plan for New York and Connecticut, but I serve a Master with a plan.”

Tragedy and controversy

During his brief time as bishop, McLee was no stranger to tragedy or controversy. He was with the congregation of Newtown United Methodist Church in Connecticut for a somber Sunday worship two days after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
Bishop McLee told the grieving congregants that messages of care and love have been received from across the world, from Zimbabwe and nearer. “Many are connected in our pain,” Bishop McLee said. “We are not alone. In the midst of our pain we are not alone! And we give thanks that God is our Comforter, and we say, ‘Amen.’”

Church trials

The bishop addressed a very different issue last March when United Methodist leaders announced they had reached a "just resolution" without a trial in handling a complaint against the Rev. Thomas Ogletree. The retired United Methodist seminary dean in the New York Conference officiated at his son’s same-gender wedding.
At the news conference, Bishop McLee also called for “the cessation of church trials” related to same-sex marriage.
“Church trials produce no winners ... trials are not the way forward,” the bishop said at the time.
Bishop McLee was not in office long enough to see many of his plans for the New York Conference come to fruition. But he facilitated difficult conversations the conference needed, according to the Rev. Adrienne Brewington, superintendent of the Long Island East District.