08/26/2026
Bishop Josh's episcopal statement on the passing of Dolly Parton.
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August 25, 2026
Today, we mourn the passing of Dolly Parton; an extraordinary songwriter, performer, philanthropist, woman of faith, and beloved cultural icon. When someone like Dolly passes, we mourn not only as individual admirers, but collectively. Her music, humor, courage, generosity, and unmistakable humanity became part of the shared fabric of so many lives. She felt familiar to us because, through her art and her presence, she made room for people to feel seen.
I write not only as someone who has long admired Dolly Parton, nor only as a bishop recognizing the loss of an icon, but as a Christian grateful for the witness of a woman who sought to live her faith publicly with humility, charity, and love. Friends and colleagues in Nashville who had the privilege of meeting her consistently described her as “the real deal” in matters of faith. Her Christianity was not merely a label or a performance. It was visible in her kindness, her generosity, her refusal to demean others, and her deep conviction that people should be treated with dignity.
At a time when Christian language is too often joined to nationalism, fear, exclusion, and the pursuit of power, Dolly offered a different public witness. She did not make faith into a weapon or a test of belonging. Her words and actions reflected a more generous Christianity: one that valued mercy over condemnation, service over self-importance, and the dignity of people across lines of race, religion, gender, and sexual identity. Her affirmation that transgender people and all people should be loved and accepted was a quiet but meaningful repudiation of religious gatekeeping.
Dolly’s life gave tangible expression to a faith that expressed itself through service to others. Through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, she helped place free books in the hands of children and families, nurturing literacy, imagination, and opportunity across communities. She also used her influence to speak with compassion toward LGBTQ+ people, resisting the temptation, so common in public religious discourse, to wield faith as a weapon. Instead, she reminded the world that love, welcome, and respect belong at the heart of Christian witness.
Dolly’s compassion also took practical form in times of crisis. After the devastating wildfires in East Tennessee, she established the My People Fund to provide direct monthly assistance to families who had lost their homes. She gave generously to children’s hospitals, supported disaster recovery, and contributed $1 million to COVID-19 research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; research that helped support the development of the Moderna vaccine. Her generosity was never merely symbolic; it was personal, concrete, and directed toward people facing real need.
Her music carried that same spirit. Whether singing an old hymn, recording songs of hope, or drawing on the deep well of Appalachian faith, Dolly could communicate the tenderness and resilience of the Gospel, while sharing heartfelt stories of everyday people. She also demonstrated that one can speak and act from faith in the public square with warmth rather than hostility, conviction rather than condemnation, and charity rather than fear.
Dolly’s songwriting was remarkable not simply because of its craft, though she was among the great songwriters of her generation. For me, listening to her often felt like listening to a dear friend conversing with me about sorrow and joy, poverty and hope, longing and love, faith and perseverance. Her songs were honest without being cynical, tender without being sentimental, and wise without ever losing their human warmth.
We give thanks to God for Dolly Parton’s life, for the gifts she shared so freely, and for the countless people she encouraged, comforted, and helped. May we honor her memory not only by singing her songs, but by emulating the generosity, compassion, imagination, and gracious faith that marked her life.
As we grieve, I think of her song, “Light of a Clear Blue Morning”. May we also receive the hope she so often gave through that song:
“It’s been a long dark night, and I’ve been a-waitin’ for the morning.”
And then, with the confidence of faith and resurrection hope, may we all be assured:
“Everything’s gonna be all right, it’s gonna be okay.”
May that hope comfort all who mourn today. May the God whom Dolly trusted receive her into everlasting light, where sorrow and sighing are no more, and may she rest in peace and rise in glory.
-The Right Reverend Bishop Joshua Lickter
Episcopal Free Fellowship of America
