(From left) Dean Jonathan Strom, the Rev. Dr. Bill Britt, and Associate Deans Teresa Fry Brown and Ted Smith following Britt’s Distinguished Alumni Award ceremony. Photo by Cecelia Jefferson 20T.
On March 20, Candler presented Bill Britt IV 83T with the school’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award honors Candler graduates whose lifelong service has had a profound impact on their communities, congregations, and the broader church.
Originally from Thomaston, Georgia, Britt has served as senior pastor of Atlanta’s Peachtree Road United Methodist Church since 2008. He previously pastored Ebenezer UMC in Forsyth, Trinity-on-the-Hill UMC in Augusta, Trinity UMC in Cartersville, and First UMC in Athens.
Britt has been a committed supporter and leader for Candler through the decades, including as a member of the school’s Board of Advisors, co-chair of the current capital campaign, and as a key advocate for Candler in securing the school’s second largest gift in history.
“Bill Britt has been one Candler’s most trusted advisors for years,” says Jonathan Strom, the school’s Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean. “As a new associate dean in the late 2000s, I learned to value Bill’s insights and keen counsel. Now as dean, I value even more his passion for forming new leaders for the Church.”
Britt has been a longtime leader in the UMC’s North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church, serving on the conference’s Committee on Worship, Board of Church Development, Council on Finance and Administration, Board of Ordained Ministry, and as chairperson of the Board of Witness and Worship and co-chair of the Annual Conference Host Committee.
“Bill’s deep appreciation for Candler has made him a wonderful advocate with friends and supporters throughout Atlanta and The United Methodist Church,” Strom says. “He calls us to stay rooted in our traditional strengths but also urges us to envision new directions that will serve the needs of the Church and community today.”
Britt joins fellow Candler alums Stacey Floyd–Thomas 93T and Dustin Mailman 21T as recipients of Candler’s 2024 Distinguished Alumni Awards, Floyd-Thomas for Faithful and Creative Leadership and Mailman for Outstanding Young Alumni. Their awards were conferred at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony in October, but Britt was unable to attend. Read about the other DAA recipients.
Nominations for Candler’s 2025 Distinguished Alumni Awards are open through July 1, 2025. Learn more about the awards. Submit a nomination here.