Thomas Bickerton is a Bishop in The United Methodist Church, currently serving in the Western Pennsylvania Conference, in the Pittsburgh Area.

Bishop Bickerton was born on July 2, 1958 and raised in West Virginia, and graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Psychology. He was ordained a Deacon in 1982, and earned his Master of Divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School in 1983. That same year, he began serving Perry Memorial United Methodist Church, in Shady Spring, WV, where he served for six years. 1985 saw his ordination as an Elder by Bishop William Boyd Grove. In 1989, he was appointed to serve Forrest Burdette Memorial United Methodist Church in Hurricane, WV, where he remained for nine years, earning his Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological School in 1994.

In 1998, he was appointed by Bishop Charles Ives to serve as the superintendent of the Northern District of the West Virginia Conference, based in Wheeling, WV. In both 2000 and 2004, he was nominated by the West Virginia Conference to be consecrated to the episcopacy.

In 2004, at the Northeast Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church, held in Syracuse, NY, he was elected and consecrated a Bishop of the Church. Appointed to the Pittsburgh Episcopal Area, he moved later that same year to begin his first quadrennium as a Bishop. Bishop Bickerton and his family now live in Cranberry Township, PA.

Bishop Bickerton is married to Sally Bickerton. They have four children: Elizabeth, T.J., Ian, and Nicholas.

See List of Methodist Bishops

Off-site Links

• Episcopal Installation sermon, Cranberry Township, PA, Sept. 15, 2004
• War on Poverty Key to Church Renewal (PDF), Pittsburgh, PA, Nov. 2004