New York-Connecticut District

Superintendent

Rev. Tim Riss

Timothy J. Riss is a United Methodist by choice. His father was a Lutheran pastor who later became a Presbyterian; his mother, a Julliard graduate, played the organ for Lutheran, Presbyterian, Reformed, and United Methodist churches. When he was 15, he chose to join the Ardsley, N.Y., United Methodist Church. He earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Rochester, N.Y., where he majored in psychology and minored in mathematics. His master of divinity degree is from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School/Bexley Hall/Crozer Theological Seminary, an American Baptist and Episcopalian school.

Tim's work experience includes three summers as an intern at the Population Council of Rockefeller University in Manhattan, 1 1/2 years with the U.S. Postal Service in Rochester, three years as student assistant at the First Presbyterian Church of East Rochester, and 34 years as the pastor of United Methodist churches in New York: Fleischmanns and Halcott Center, Franklin, Catskill, Smithtown, Hicksville, and Poughkeepsie. His appointments began in a cooperative parish in rural New York before moving to suburban and urban pastorates.

Beginning in 2015, Tim served as superintendent of the Catskill Hudson District, our rural district. Four years later, he was appointed as the superintendent of the New York-Connecticut District, which includes some rural territory, some suburban communities, and three small cities – Newburgh, Peekskill and Poughkeepsie.

Within United Methodism, Tim has served in many leadership capacities, including as a delegate to General Conference every four years from 1996 (as first alternate) to 2020 and also at the 2019 special session. He chaired the NYAC delegation in 2016, but declined that role in 2019 to provide that opportunity to one of our LGBTQIA pastors. He currently serves on the executive committee of the Interjurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy and as secretary of the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Episcopacy. He served as a director of the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) from 2008-2016. He has been vice-chair and secretary of the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Annual Conference Boundaries and the chairperson of the Northeastern Jurisdictional Town and Country Association.

In the New York Conference, he has served as the chairperson or co-chairperson of six groups, including the Board of Ordained Ministry (1996-2000) and the Council on Finance and Administration (2007-2012).

Tim married his best friend, Genie Abrams, in 2002. He is the father of Jon and Sam and the stepfather of Rachel, for whom he thanks God every day.