M. GARLINDA BURTON, a United Methodist deaconess, who retired recently after 40 years of advocacy, teaching, preaching, writing and media ministry, mainly through the worldwide United Methodist Church. Most recently, Garlinda was director of resource development for the church’s General Commission on Religion and Race, which is mandated to help Christians identify and dismantling institutional and systemic racism and tribalism in church and society. Before taking that post, she served as Executive Director for the Nashville Freedom School Partnership©, a literacy/enrichment program for under-served children of color, created by the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. She previously led the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, working with lay and clergywomen to foster leadership and advocacy skills; challenged church leaders to identify and confront institutional sexism; trained church leaders on how to address sexual misconduct and gender discrimination; advocated for full inclusion of women’s leadership, with a particular focus on the concerns of women of color and churchwomen beyond the United States.

Before coming to the Women’s Commission, Ms. Burton was editor of INTERPRETER, a national affinity magazine for laypeople and pastors in U.S. United Methodist churches. Burton has traveled throughout southern Africa, Latin America, the Philippines and Europe as a writer, trainer and lecturer, and frequently leads retreats and training for United Methodists and other people of faith. At the local, regional, national and international level. Garlinda’s her first book, an anti-racism study guide, was published in 1995. She contributed a chapter to the book, Holy Contradictions: What’s Next for The People Called United Methodists, and has written for Response magazine, United Methodist Men’s magazine, and created curriculum for the United Methodist Publishing House. She writes and edits books and articles. Ms. Burton earned undergraduate and masters’ degrees from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. She did additional graduate work through the Wichita (Kan.) State University, and New York Theological Seminary. She is also a member of the Metropolitan Nashville Human Relations Commission and secretary of the Wesley Foundation ministry at Tennessee State University here in Nashville.