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HAROLD K. BALES
Harold Keith Bales (b.1/16/42) is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee. He received his education at the University of Tennessee, Tennessee Wesleyan College (B.A.) and Vanderbilt University (M. Div. and D. Min.)
His ministry has included pastorates in Tennessee and North Carolina--including First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N. C.; Central United Methodist Church in Asheville, N. C.; and First United Methodist Church in Gastonia, N. C. He has also served as a staff member of his denomination's General Boards of Evangelism and Discipleship. He was the executive director of the Churches' Presence at the 1982 World's Fair, an interfaith program sponsored by fifteen denominations and experienced by more than 800,000 persons. He served as Superintendent of the Salisbury District of the United Methodist Church. In the autumn of 1997 he served as a member of the executive committee of the Billy Graham Crusade in Charlotte and as Chair of Counseling and Follow-up. More than 7,000 trained counselors worked with more than 22,000 persons who made commitments to Christ.
He is especially dedicated to an evangelism with a social conscience and is a strong advocate of ministry to the poor and dispossessed.
He is editor and author of several books and is a frequently-published essayist touching on ethics, religion and public issues. He writes a weekly column entitled The Southern-Fried Preacher whose motto is: “A Bit of What's Southern, Fried or Preachy and More or Less Fit to Print.” He is a columnist for several publications. In semi-retirement he is Minister of Visitation at Trinity United Methodist Church in Kannapolis, NC. He is a pastor, preacher, teacher, and lecturer.
He has served on boards of many institutions and agencies related to the church and also to community concerns such as public education and services to the poor.
He sometimes describes himself as “a garden-variety Methodist” and “loyal reformer.” Others have described him as a “gentle iconoclast,” “warm and friendly wit,” and “storyteller in the O. Henry tradition.”
While he holds an academic doctorate, he prefers to be addressed by his Christian name. However, when people persist in applying titles such as “Reverend” or “Doctor,” he suggests his preference for “Your Splendorship.”
He and his wife Judy are the parents of four children and six grand children. They live in Concord, NC.
Contact him at hbales@carolina.rr.com.
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