Rev. Dr. Faith J. Conklin

Reverend Dr. Faith J. Conklin is a retired United Methodist pastor. She earned her BA in English with a minor in Religion from National College in Kansas City, Missouri in 1964 graduating Magna cum Laude. She was a US-2 and served as Director of Religious Studies and Chaplain at Harwood Girls’ School in Albuquerque, NM.

She graduated from Claremont School of Theology with an MA and a Doctor of Religion degree. She was ordained deacon in 1971 and elder in 1973. She was the first woman from this Annual Conference to be ordained an elder. In 1983 she was appointed as the first woman district superintendent in this Conference and served 6 years in San Diego.

In 1998 she was chosen by Congresswoman Grace Napolitano as “Woman of the Year” for the 58th Assembly district and honored with a presentation in Sacramento. She received a Public Health Champion Award in May 2015 presented by the County Health and Human Services Agency.

She served the United Methodist Church at local, district and national levels and was a delegate to three General and Jurisdictional Conferences. She has twice received the Bishop’s Award. She served in the California-Pacific Conference for 44 years and retired from Escondido First United Methodist Church in 2015 after 15 years there. She currently serves as the Director of the Western Jurisdiction Course of Study for Local Pastors and teaches two courses, Worship and Sacraments and Preaching. She is an active teacher, preacher and mentor.

Faith has two daughters, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Her hobbies are reading and writing. She’s an avid Star Trek and Marvel fan. Her friends say she’s “failed retirement”.