Rev. Elder Darlene Garner

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Darlene Garner was baptized into the National Baptist Church at the age of 7 and joined the Episcopal Church as a young adult. She joined MCC Washington, DC, in 1976. She served MCC DC as Church Treasurer and Lay Delegate and later served the Mid-Atlantic District as Assistant District Coordinator. Garner received her clergy credentials in 1988. She has served as Associate Pastor of MCC in Philadelphia, PA; Pastor of MCC in Baltimore, MD; Senior Pastor of MCC of Northern Virginia; and Interim Pastor of Good Hope MCC in Cape Town, South Africa. She has been the convener of MCC’s Conferences for African-American Leaders since 1998. From 2000 until 2004, Garner served as a member of the Elders Task Force on Structures and Systems and later served as a member of the Elders Task Force on Education. Garner has been a member of the Board of Elders since being first elected in 1993 and has been re-elected three times.

From 1993 until 2002, Garner served simultaneously as the Clerk of General Conference, the Board of Elders, and General Council. As Clerk of the denomination, Garner was responsible for organizing international business meetings; maintaining the official records of the denomination’s governing, administrative, and spiritual leadership bodies; managing all governance processes; developing denominational policies; and monitoring the implementation of policy decisions.

As a member of the four-person Corporate and Legal Division of the former General Council, she was responsible for issuing interpretations of denominational Bylaws for local churches. She developed the MCC Models for Local Church Governance that are recommended for use by local churches of all sizes in creating their own local governance structures and systems. She continues to manage the international Bylaw amendment process.

In 1999, Garner was invited to serve as a full-time member of MCC staff. While continuing to serve as Clerk of the denomination, she was also given the responsibility for oversight of all risk management issues, including taxes, insurance, property, and legal matters.

Garner served as the MCC Judicial Officer from 1999 until 2001 and was again named Judicial Officer in 2003. In this capacity, she manages the clergy disciplinary process. This has involved consulting with MCC’s legal counsel; recruiting, training, and supervising the twenty volunteers who serve as investigators and hearing officers; reviewing the process for its efficacy; and recommending amendments to the judiciary process to ensure its ongoing fairness. The types of cases accepted into the judiciary process allege violations of the Clergy Code of Conduct based on disloyalty, unbecoming conduct, and dereliction of duty. She has managed more than thirty cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse of power, financial impropriety, etc.

While continuing to serve as the Judicial Officer and the Elder responsible for managing governance processes, Garner currently serves as the Regional Elder for Region 6. She is responsible for providing support and developmental resources to local church leaders within the Region and for the design and implementation of appropriate structures and systems and developmental programs to ensure capacity-building within Latin America.

Before entering the professional ministry, Garner was a legal secretary and office manager. She also formerly worked as the Director of the Staff Association of the World Bank and as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Sexual Minorities. She is a founding co-chair of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, and chaired the first International Conference for Gay and Lesbian People of Color. She has served as the chaplain for an AIDS hospice and as President of the Board of Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry. The Mayor of Philadelphia appointed Garner to serve as a member of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, hearing complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and national origin. She was later appointed by the Mayor of West Hollywood, California to serve on the Business License Commission. Garner has received numerous awards and citations for her service to the community.

Darlene Garner has attended Ohio State University, Samaritan College, and Lancaster Theological Seminary. She is the mother of four children and has seven grandchildren. She and her partner Leticia García Vargas live in Monterrey, Mexico.