Doug Forrester is the assistant to Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and Chief Operating Officer of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. Previously, he served as the founding district superintendent of the Valley Ridge District in southwest Virginia.

Doug is married to Tracy Forrester, an elementary school teacher in the Henrico County Public Schools. Together they are the parents of two beautiful daughters.

Doug was born in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Emory & Henry College and Duke University Divinity School. He was ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1996.

Doug has served congregations in Newport News, Prince George (VA), Crozet, and Richmond before joining the bishop’s cabinet in 2020 when he was appointed to serve as the District Superintendent of the Roanoke District. In 2021, Doug was also appointed to serve as the superintendent of the Staunton District. In 2022, by action of the Virginia Annual Conference, these two districts became what is now known as the Valley Ridge District.

Doug has been a member of the Board of Ordained Ministry and the faculty of the Virginia Conference Licensing School. He was the leader of the team that created the Virginia Clergy Leadership Program. He was one of the founders of the Lewis Center Certificate Program in Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. Doug served as the coordinator of the Virginia Conference Calling 21 college internship program and has been a workshop leader at numerous gatherings for new clergy in the provisional process as they move towards ordination, typically on the topics of administration, technology, and time management. He has also served as a member of the Virginia Conference delegation to General and Jurisdictional Conference.

When he is not working, Doug likes to write prose and poetry as well as composing and recording music. You can email Doug at DougForrester@VAUMC.org.