Rev. Lawrence Pelham became the Pastor of Coleman Memorial United Methodist Church (UMC), Wilmington District, Peninsula-Delaware Conference, in July 2016 and became Senior Pastor when he was also appointed to Buttonwood UMC was added in July 2019.

Pastor Pelham was a member of Simpson UMC, for more than 20 years where his service included leading Adult Sunday school and Friday night Men’s Bible Study, SPPRC Chair, Administrative Board Chair, and Lay Leader.

He has served the Annual Conference as a member of the Conference Committee on Finance and Administration (CCF&A) since 2012 and was elected Chair in 2016. He currently serves as the Chair of the Wilmington District Committee on Church Location and Building having been initially appointed/elected in 2004.

Pastor Pelham became a Certified Lay Minister on June 3, 2012. He was appointed to start a New Faith Community Planting Project at Peninsula-McCabe UMC, July 2012. The effort was successful in connecting with the community, receiving new members, and preparing the church that controlled the building to receive and welcome a new church start that needed a new space that continued the work that had been started.

Regionally, Pastor Pelham has served on the Northeast Jurisdiction (NEJ) Vision Table. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation, and its Stewardship and Personnel Committees. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Methodist Action Program, a non-profit ministry in Wilmington. Pastor Pelham was an elected Voting Delegate to the 2012 and 2016 General and North East Jurisdiction Conferences and attended the 2019 Special General Conference.

Pastor Pelham retired from the DuPont Company in 2012 after 25 years of service, where he held positions of Six Sigma (a process/business improvement methodology) Master Black Belt (a position title that has nothing to do with the martial arts), Market Development professional and Customer Service Manager. Before employment at DuPont he worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

Pastor Pelham holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the Master of Science in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Howard University, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Drexel University, and in May 2016 earned a Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.

Pastor Pelham was born in rural North Carolina and grew up in the inner city of Paterson, NJ. He has been married to Judy Pelham, PhD, a school and professional psychologist, for 44 years. They have two married adult children and three grand-children.