Barbara Troxell Papers

Barbara B. Troxell (1935-2018) is a United Methodist clergywomen, academic, former district superintendent, and leader. She was raised in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in King's Highway Methodist Church where her father was the choir director. Troxell graduated high school from the Berkeley Institute in Brooklyn in 1952, her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Swarthmore College in 1956, and in 1959 her Bachelor of Divinity (with an emphasis in New Testament and Religion and Psychology) from Union Theological Seminary.

Troxell was ordained deacon in The Methodist Church in 1958 and elder in 1961. She was appointed pastor at Commmunity Methodist Church in 1960 in Cold Spring Harbor, New York followiing a year abroad doing graduate theological courses at New College at the University of Edinburgh. She served three years at Community before transitioning to campus ministry, first at Ohio Wesleyan University as the Executive Director of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) and the Associate Chaplain for three years. She would leave Ohio for Stanford University to become the Executive Director of the YWCA there until 1970.

In 1970, Troxell went back to the local church to serve as an associate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, California. During this time she held consulting and part-time instructor roles at the Pacific School of Religion and California State University. In 1978 she was appointed as the Golden Gate District Superintendent of the California-Nevada Annual Conference. Troxell was the first woman district superintendent in the Western Jurisdiction. She would serve as a DS until 1983, and during this time discerned a calling to run for the episcopacy, a discernment that led her to not put her name forward.

Troxell was the chair of the California-Nevada Commission on the Status and Role of Women from 1974-1976 and served as a member of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (COSROW) from 1972-1980. She would then go on to serve as a member of the former General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns from 1980-1988. She was a delegate to the 1980 General Conference and the 1980 and 1984 Western Jurisdictional Conferences.

In 1984, Troxell was brought on staff at Pacific School of Religion as Dean of Students. In 1987 she served for a year as the Associate Pastor at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church in Oakland, California. In 1988, she would move to the Chicago area, and eventually was hired and appointed as the Acting Director of Field Education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. After a year she became Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, Director of Field Education and Spiritual Formation. She would retire from Garrett in 2000 as the Associate Professor of Practical Theology. She would be granted the title Professor Emerita of Spiritual Formation in 2003. During her time there she co-authored the book "Shared Wisdom: A Guide to Case Study Reflection in Ministry."

Troxell's research focused on questions of practical theology, spirituality and authority - primarily the relation of clergywomen to authority. Troxell led retreats for a number of organizations both before and during her retirement, including the Council of Bishops. Troxell currently resides in Claremont, California with her husband Rev. Gene Boutilier a United Church of Christ pastor.