Bishop Lawrence L. Reddick III, the 51^st bishop elected in the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, has been presiding bishop of the Eighth Episcopal District since July 2014.

Upon election as bishop in 1998, he was assigned as bishop of the Tenth Episcopal District (including the work in Jamaica, Haiti, Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria).  He was assigned in 2002 and 2006 as bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District (which includes the denomination’s work in Alabama and Florida).  In 2010, he was assigned to the First Episcopal District (comprising Arkansas, Tennessee, and Jamaica).  The 2014 General Conference assigned him to the Eighth Episcopal District (comprising the Regions in Texas and Jamaica).

Born June 20, 1952, in Huntsville, Alabama, he is a son of the parsonage.  His parents were Rev. and Mrs. L. L. Reddick, Jr.  He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, Ohio (Bachelor of Arts degree) and Duke Divinity School of Durham, North Carolina (Master of Divinity degree). He was conferred honorary doctoral degrees from the United Theological Seminary and Bible College of Monroe, Louisiana, and Texas College, Tyler, Texas.

He was licensed to preach by the Reverend R. E. Brooks in 1966, ordained deacon in 1968 and elder in 1969 by Bishop E. P. Murchison, and admitted into full connection in 1972 by Bishop C. A. Kirkendoll.

After pastoral work in Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri, he was elected editor of The Christian Index, the Official Publication of the CME Church, in 1982.  He was subsequently re-elected editor by the General Conferences of 1986, 1990, and 1994.  During his work as editor, he was also pastor in Alabama; and pastor and presiding elder in Mississippi.

As presiding bishop of the work in the Tenth Episcopal District, he expanded the work in West Africa from six to seven Annual Conferences, and added several districts.  During his tenure as presiding bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District, he was also chair of the Board of Trustees of Miles College, and served as chair during the demise of President Albert J. H. Sloan II and the election of President George T. French, Jr.  During that stint, he was a founding member of the Alabama Faith Council, an interfaith gathering, with other Alabama judicatory leaders.  In his four years as presiding bishop of the First Episcopal District, he was chair of the Board of Trustees of Lane College during the passing of President Wesley Cornelious McClure and the subsequent election of President Logan Hampton.  He also led the CME Headquarters into self-management by professional CMEs and oversaw the Boards of Directors of six HUD-related housing properties inaugurated by Bishops B. Julian Smith, J. Madison Exum, and William H. Graves. 

One of his consistent goals has been to visit every congregation within the episcopal district he serves every four years.  An avid traveler, he maintains relationships across the seas with CMEs in West Africa (through their episcopal leaders); and he has maintained relationships with the people of Haiti through their episcopal leaders.  As a member of the Board of Directors of Bread for the World, he has lobbied Congress in the interests of ridding the world of hunger.

He is married to Mrs. Wynde Jones Reddick, is the father of five children (Jon, Janice, Iris, Rose, and Samuel), and is the grandfather of three (Sean, Nylah, and Lailah).