By Gloria Colvin, Chair of the Bicentennial Publicity Committee
Trinity is blessed with many retired pastors as part of our congregation, one of whom is our former District Superintendent, Rev. Dr. Robert “Bob” Gibbs. The son and grandson of United Methodist pastors, Bob Gibbs grew up in parsonages across the state. With that heritage, it’s not surprising that he might follow in his father’s and grandfather’s paths to ministry, but he took some detours before going down that path.
At Florida Southern College, where he earned a BA in history, Bob was very interested in political science and a career in government. He spent a semester in Washington at American University and considered going to law school following his graduation.
But wait, Bob’s life took quite a different turn when he served as a counselor at Warren Willis Camp and joined up with two other counselors, Waite Willis and Angelo Fuster, to form a folk group called Rainbeaux. They got an agent and went on the road to perform at restaurants, clubs, college campuses, and churches for several years. According to Bob, the three albums that they recorded are now “major collector’s items.”
It was during a stint in Ohio where the group sang in hotel lounges, that Bob realized that God was calling him in another direction. He enrolled in Emory’s Candler School of Theology, earning a Master of Divinity degree and later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary.
Bob returned to Florida and initially served as pastor at First UMC, Ocala, as an Associate Pastor, followed by pastorates at John Wesley UMC in Tallahassee, First UMC, Miami, Englewood UMC, First UMC, Lakeland, and St. Andrew’s UMC, Brandon. He had a deep interest in campus ministry and for five years served as the Methodist campus minister at the University of Central Florida, Rollins College, and Valencia Community College. Later Bob was appointed as District Superintendent of the North West District, which includes Tallahassee. He served on several Conference and District committees, including the Board of Ministry and the Board of Higher Education and Campus Ministry, which he chaired.
Bob has been active in social justice work both during his career and in retirement. While serving churches in Miami and Lakeland, he became involved with the local affiliates of the Direct Action & Research Training Center (DART), an organization that coordinates congregation-based community organizing programs that mobilize people to work for justice. Inspired by the successes that they had in addressing serious local problems, he has been one of the leaders of Trinity’s involvement in the Capital Area Justice Ministry (CAJM), a DART affiliate, and serves on CAJM’s Affordable Housing Research Group.
Following his retirement in 2016, Bob and his wife, Brenda, settled in Tallahassee. Brenda is a gifted actress who has performed locally at Theatre Tallahassee. They have two children, Dr. Beth Gibbs, Director of Choral Activities at Florida Southern College, and Rob (McCoy) Gibbs, a professional musician in Nashville, Tennessee.
On Sunday, September 8, Bob will be our guest clergy, preaching at the 9:45 and 11:00 services.