--- description: Find out how Caleb Parker is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. title: 2024 TIME100 Next: Caleb Parker image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5e86880c2246871/698a5b9818689245bb6c88e6/time100-next-2024-caleb-parker.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 02, 2024 # Caleb Parker by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Caleb Parker Caleb ParkerTravis Dove Many queer folks fled the United Methodist Church (UMC) after its 2019 General ­Conference—which added even more homophobic prohibitions to church rules—but Caleb Parker did the opposite and made his return. Raised as a United Methodist, he had stepped away from the church for a while, but the harmful new policies [galvanized](https://www.theassemblync.com/culture/religion/united-methodist-church-charlotte-gay-marriage/ "undefined") him into action. Caleb got himself elected as a lay delegate for the 2024 General Conference, and initiated the formation of the church’s first-ever Queer Delegate Caucus. I was proud to be one of his co-founders. His strategic thinking helped clarify our role at the conference, and enabled us to have a substantial influence on the outcome, which ended up being greater than we could have ­predicted—in a historic vote in May, we saw the [complete overturning](https://apnews.com/article/united-methodists-lgbtq-samesex-marriages-48a1adc0639da5e6c5db3371e0ce23fe "undefined") of the UMC’s anti-LGBTQ stance. Caleb inspires me to keep insisting that the church can, and must, do better. _Ryde is a regional organizer at Reconciling Ministries Network_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023551/caleb-parker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023551/caleb-parker/"},"headline":"Caleb Parker","datePublished":"2024-10-02T11:07:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:36:44.323Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023551/caleb-parker/","keywords":["list","franchise","Magazine","TIME 100 Next","sponsorshipblock"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5e86880c2246871/698a5b9818689245bb6c88e6/time100-next-2024-caleb-parker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb5e86880c2246871/698a5b9818689245bb6c88e6/time100-next-2024-caleb-parker.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2024/7023551/caleb-parker/","name":"Caleb Parker"}}]}] ```