NEWSMAKERS
Shepherding A Flock of 15 Million Bishop Ernest! Dixon (left) of Son Antonio, Texas, fakes office as President of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church. He receives the gave/ from his predecessor Bishop Ear/ G. Hunt of Lake/and, Florido. Brother Dixon's term expired in 1989. + tt
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Brother Ernest T. Dixon, Jr., Resident Bishop of the San Antonio Area of The United Methodist Church, earlier this year completed his term as President of the Council of Bishops for the world-wide denomination. Brother Dixon was a recipient of the Alpha Award of Merit at the 83rd Anniversary Convention in his home city, where he also delivered the Ecumenical Sermon. A native of San Antonio, Brother Dixon, is a 1939 graduate of Phyllis Wheatley High School. He remained in Texas to complete his undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Arts (Magna Cum Laude), from Samuel Huston College in Austin. Following graduation in 1943, Ernest Dixon, Jr. began seminary training at Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey. He and Lois F. Brown were married in the same year. Prior to her death, Ernest and Lois Dixon raised four children: Freddie Brown, The Sphinx/Winter 1989
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Ernest Reese, Muriel Jean, and Leona Louise. During his years of pastoral training at Drew, Ernest Dixon, Jr. began serving churches—ranging from pastoral assignments in Texas, New York, and New Jersey. After finishing his theological education, the young pastor began work as the Director of the Religious Extension Service at Tuskegee Institute. He remained in that post, while co-organizing a congregation in Tuskegee, Alabama, for six years. A variety of administration positions followed in the years 1951-1964, as Ernest T. Dixon, Jr. worked for the Boards of Education in the West Texas Conference (Central Jurisdiction) and the Division of the Local Church for The Methodist Church. Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, elected Ernest Dixon, Jr. president of the institution in 1965. Following a four-year tenure with the school, he became Assistant
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General Secretary of the Division of Coordination, Research & Planning for the Program Council of The United Methodist Church. In July of 1972, Ernest T. Dixon, Jr. was elected to the episcopacy in Houston, Texas. For eight years, Bishop Dixon served as the administrator and episcopal leader of the Kansas East and Kansas West Conferences. He and Ernestine Gray Clark were married in May of 1979. In 1980, Bishop Dixon became the Resident Bishop of the San Antonio Area of The United Methodist Church, including the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas Conferences. In addition to serving as the administrator and episcopal leader of more than 124,000 members in approximately 482 United Methodist congregations, Bishop Dixon has served as the trustee of ten United Methodist institutions. A holder of five honorary degrees, Bishop Dixon is currently serving as the President of the Council of Bishops. Page 15