Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas (’98) grew up in a small town in South Carolina. As she recalls, “I drank out of the colored water fountains, I went to the colored elementary school.” Still, she reflects, the surrounding community “told us we were someone, even when the world said we were not.” Her father was a community activist and civil rights proponent, and her parents gave back to the community.
What brought Gloria to Minnesota? “I came to Minnesota in 1976 on a bet with my cousin,” she admits. “We wanted to live somewhere for one year away from our homes.” Much to the chagrin of her family and friends, Gloria ended up staying in the Twin Cities and started her ministry here.
The Path to United
Gloria’s years at Model Cities of St. Paul, Inc.—helping underserved families and individuals access education, financial knowledge, housing, and health services—inspired her to consider seminary. While there, she met successful United alums, and even got to know a person on staff at United.
After a tour of the space in New Brighton and a fact-finding meeting, Gloria decided to apply. “My interest in attending United was met with interest and respect,” she remembers, “so it was United that I decided on.”
Treasuring Experience
At United, Gloria states, “I most treasured the overall theme of human inclusion in ministry.” She reveled in the variety of religions, denominations, and philosophies she found, the broad acceptance of gender expressions, “a variety of ways to refer to God,” and exposure to Womanist Theology.
After graduating (MDiv, with a Pastoral Congregational Care emphasis), Gloria asserts that the pastoral care and grief education she received at United enabled her to reach the goal of supporting families who have lost kin to tragedies such as suicide or murder. For 14 years, she taught “Death and Dying across Cultures and Religions” in the Mortuary Sciences Program at the University of Minnesota. Gloria has led grief sessions with congregations, supported hospital staff, and worked with bereaved families.
During that time, Gloria also became ordained as a United Methodist Elder, and ministered at several Twin Cities Churches, including Brooklyn United Methodist Church in Brooklyn Center, and Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul. While at Camphor, Gloria helped launch a building renovation and construction project to develop gathering spaces for community support programs.
Re-fire-ment
In 2018, Gloria announced her retirement from full-time work. She likes to call it “re-fire-ment”—re-firing into something new. In honor of her decades of dedication to community service and ministry, Governor Mark Dayton declared June 2, 2018, as Rev. Gloria Roach Thomas Day. In 2019, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation named her as its local Facing Race Award recipient.
In a video recorded for the Facing Race Award, Gloria credits her parents and home community for their strength and courage. “I stand on their shoulders,” she avows. “I would not take anything for that journey because it really began to take hold of who I am and it… set me on a journey.” More recently, Gloria shared that “God has allowed me many great ministry opportunities to assist in bringing love, healing, justice, and hope to a world that desperately needs it.”
United is truly honored and blessed to count Gloria as one of its transformational alums.