David Graves 90T

Resident Bishop, Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church
Nashville, Tennessee

David Graves is a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a bachelor of science in business administration. He received his master of divinity from Emory’s Candler School of Theology, and is the recipient of the 2013 Holston Denman Evangelism Award.

Graves has been an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church for more than 35 years. He began his ministry at the Fountain City United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. His first appointment was as youth director and associate pastor for Hixson United Methodist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He served as pastor for two Kingsport-area churches, Saint Matthew’s United Methodist Church and Mountain View United Methodist Church. He was senior pastor for the Ooltewah United Methodist Church, a large membership church.

Graves comes to the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference from episcopal leadership of the Alabama-West Florida Conference, where he was appointed bishop in 2016, and the South Georgia Conference, where he had served since 2021.

He and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 40 years. They have two children. Gregg, their son, lives and works in the Chattanooga area. Their daughter, Casey, is married to Bryan Johnson and resides in Kingsport with their son, Brooks, and daughter, Lucy.

He was elected trustee in 2020.