West Virginia Wesleyan College will welcome Bishop Julius C. Trimble as the Baccalaureate speaker on Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. in Wesley Chapel. Trimble assumed the role of General Secretary for the General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) of The United Methodist Church on Sept. 1, 2024.

Trimble was assigned July 16, 2016, to the Indiana Episcopal Area (Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church) during the North Central Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church meeting in Peoria, Illinois. He was elected and consecrated a bishop by the same jurisdiction in 2008 and served eight years as the bishop of the Iowa Conference before his assignment to Indiana.

Trimble is a native of Chicago and a graduate of Illinois State University. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago, Ill., and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

Trimble preached his first sermon when he was 16 years old based on the conversion of Saul in Acts 9:1-9 entitled “Picked out to be picked on.” He was ordained a deacon and elder in the Northern Illinois Conference where he served two churches before transferring to the East Ohio Conference. He served churches in the Cleveland area and as the District Superintendent of the Cleveland District from 1996-2003.

The recipient of many honors and awards, he received the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1998 from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and the 2007 Bishop James S. Thomas Social Action Award from the Methodist Federation for Social Action. He continues to promote faith-based response to domestic violence and has encouraged the establishment of mental health ministries at the local church and conference level. He is also an active advocate for social justice, faith-based initiatives to address gun violence, as well as immigration reform.

Trimble has preached throughout the United States and in Africa. He has also written a book, to support The United Methodist Church campaign Imagine No Malaria, A Faithful Church and a Healthy World: Reflections and Poems by Bishop Julius Calvin Trimble (2015). Trimble received the 2015 Peace and Justice Award from Iowa Conference MFSA. In December 2017, he was the Graduation Keynote speaker at United Theological Seminary Dayton, Ohio, where he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Divinity for leadership in area of Global Health and Global Justice. He has authored two books: 10 Reasons I am Methodist, published in 2022, and I Dreamed of Life in Living Color, published in 2024, each by Popular Truth Publishing.

Bishop Trimble has been married since May of 1979 to First Lady Racelder Grandberry-Trimble, a professional counselor and graduate of Methodist Theological School in Ohio. They are the parents of three adult children: Cameron, Candiace, and Julius Thomas. In June 2018, the Trimbles celebrated the birth of their first granddaughter, Corrine.

Trimble served as chairperson of the Development Committee and the Advisory Development Committee for Africa University for which he continues to be a Board Member; chairperson of the United Methodist Global AIDS Committee (UMGAC); on the Council of Bishops Immigration Task Force; and as a Board member of Indiana University Health System from 2017-2024.

Trimble’s personal mission statement is “to encourage all people with the love of Jesus Christ to rise to their highest potential or “Be Encouraged” for short.

For a schedule of commencement activities, visit www.wvwc.edu/commencement-2025.