PRESS RELEASE

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Rev. Dr. Joretta Marshall and Joy Allen, LCSW, M.Div. Named Recipients of Bishop Karen Oliveto/Robin Ridenour Inclusiveness Award
by Donald E. Messer

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April 10, 2026 – Centennial, Colorado – Rev. Dr. Joretta Marshall and Joy Allen of Plymouth, Minnesota, have been named the 2026 recipients of the Bishop Karen Oliveto and Robin Ridenour Inclusiveness Award by the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy (UMARC).

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Life-long United Methodists, Marshall and Allen have faithfully served the church despite its historically discriminatory policies toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) individuals—policies not rescinded until the 2024 Charlotte General Conference.

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The awardees will be honored at a special UMARC brunch on May 30 at 9:30 a.m. at Hope United Methodist Church in Greenwood Village, Colorado. Tickets ($30) and sponsorships are available on UMARC’s website: www.umarc.org.  People can be sponsors of Inclusiveness Tables honoring Bishop Melvin Wheatley ($1,000), Bishop Mary Ann Swenson ($500), Rev. Gilbert Caldwell ($250), or Rev. Julian Rush ($150).

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The program will feature remarks by the awardees and Bishop Kristin Stoneking of the Mountain Sky Conference, music by Daryl J. Walker of Park Hill UMC, Denver, and video tributes from Rev. Amy Stapleton, St. Andrew UMC, Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Rev. John  Thompson, Columbia, South Carolina, and Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer, UMARC Co-Chair, Centennial, Colorado. Rev. Dr. Kay Palmer-Marsh, Longmont, will preside.

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Allen and Marshall have shared 44 years of commitment to one another. Early in their careers, Joy served as a Christian educator in Minnesota, while Joretta was an associate pastor in southwest Wisconsin. Allen, a licensed clinical social worker, spent decades counseling couples and leading marriage enrichment workshops across Tennessee, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas, retiring from clinical practice in 2024. Marshall served as a professor of pastoral care and counseling, as well as an administrator, at The Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, and Brite Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, retiring in 2019. Her first book, Counseling Lesbian Partners (1997), broke ground in pastoral care. She has served as the first openly lesbian President of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and on the boards of the Reconciling Ministries Network and UMARC.

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The Oliveto-Ridenour Award honors individuals or organizations that courageously challenge church policies by proclaiming and living an inclusive Gospel, rejecting the stigmatization and mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people. Robin Ridenour is a United Methodist deaconess and nurse anesthetist, and Bishop Karen Oliveto was the denomination’s first openly lesbian bishop.

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The inaugural award in 2024 recognized the Reconciling Ministries Network. In 2025, the late Bishop Melvin Wheatley, retired Bishop Roy Sano of Oakland, California, and retired Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of Pasadena, California, were honored for denouncing denominational anti-gay policy and advocating for inclusiveness at the 1996 General Conference in Denver.

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Rev. Dr. Donald E. Messer serves as Co-Chair of UMARC and Board Chair of the Center for Health and Hope, Centennial, Colorado.

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INVITATION

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Dear Friends (Laity and Clergy),

 

You are invited by the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy (UMARC) to our Inclusiveness Award Celebration Breakfast on May 30, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. at Hope United Methodist Church in Greenwood Village, CO.

 

We will celebrate the ministry of inclusiveness in The United Methodist Church, honor Dr. Joretta Marshall and Joy Allen, LCSW, M.Div., with the Bishop Karen Oliveto/Robin Ridenour Inclusiveness Award, gather friends around the table, and listen to keynote speaker Bishop Kristin Stoneking.

 

Individual tickets are $30. Many of our supporters choose to go a step further by becoming a Table Host, helping bring friends and colleagues to the celebration while also supporting UMARC’s ministry. You may host a full table, part of a table, or simply purchase individual tickets. Bring a friend!  Fill a table! Support the ministry! You can be a supportive sponsor, even if you cannot attend.

 

Inclusiveness Table Host Opportunities Honoring:

• Bishop Melvin Wheatley - $1000

  • Reserved table – 10 guests; recognition on website & in Program; helps underwrite celebration

• Bishop Mary Ann Swenson - $500

  • 8 guests; recognition on website & in Program; helps underwrite celebration

• Rev. Gilbert Caldwell - $250

  • 6 guests; recognition on website & in Program

• Rev. Julian Rush - $150

  • 4 guests; recognition on website & in Program

 

We hope you will join us for a time of celebration, inspiration, and music. Your presence — and your support — enable us together as laity and clergy to create an inclusive church and society.

 

With gratitude,

 

Don Messer & Harvey Martz (Co-Chairs) & Kay Palmer-Marsh (Event Chair)
United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy (UMARC)

 

 

ABOUT HONOREES

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Joy Allen and Joretta Marshall celebrate 44 years of commitment to one another. Early on Joy was serving as a Christian Educator in Minnesota while Joretta was an Associate Pastor in a church in Southwest Wisconsin. In August of 1983 they moved to Nashville where Joy began her Master of Divinity program and Joretta began a PhD program in Pastoral Theology. Joy added a Master of Social Work from the University of Tennessee, becoming the first to complete the dual degree program in a joint endeavor at Vanderbilt. Joy started working for a non-profit Family and Children’s Service after her graduation, while Joretta worked at Vanderbilt as an Assistant Professor.

 

In 1993 they moved to Denver, Colorado where Joretta joined the faculty of her alma mater, Iliff School of Theology. While in Colorado Joy worked as a therapist at a United Way agency as well as a Pastoral Counseling Center in Brighton, Colorado, eventually starting a private practice in Denver. During this time Joretta also became involved in the leadership of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, serving on the Board for many years.

 

Joy and Joretta were invited to move to St. Louis in 2001 where Joretta worked as an Academic Dean at Eden Seminary. Along with service to the American Association of Pastoral Counselors as the first openly lesbian President, Joretta also began service on the Board of Reconciling Ministries. Joy began another private practice in St. Louis, developing a specialization in working with couples. She was certified by the Gottman Institute and began to co-facilitate couples’ workshops.

 

2007 took the couple to Fort Worth, Texas where Joretta joined the faculty of Brite Divinity School. She served as the Chair of the Reconciling Ministry Board and also became the Academic Dean at Brite. Joy continued her work as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and developed a robust practice in Fort Worth while also active in coordinating clinical peer groups and offering marriage enrichment to churches and congregations through couples’ workshops.

 

In 2021 they returned to their midwestern roots by moving to Minnesota after Joretta’s retirement from Brite. In retirement she joined the work of the United Methodist Association of Retired Clergy until 2024. Joy retired in 2024 from her clinical practice.

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