She returned to Southern California in 2000, nearly three decades after completing her studies at the Claremont School of Theology, one of 14 United Methodist seminaries in the country. She earned her master's and doctorate degrees in ministry at Claremont.
What struck her most after being away, she said, was the decline in the church's influence.
"It's sad that we were not able to keep up with the growth of the population in Southern California," she said, because churches had not done enough to reach out to immigrants from other countries and those arriving from other states to replace aging members.
Nationally, 65% of United Methodist Church's members are over 50, according to Larry Hygh Jr., director of communications for the California-Pacific Conference.
In the 1970s, 98 United Methodist churches in that region had more than 1,000 members each. Today, only six churches under Swenson's jurisdiction have more than 1,000 members. According to Hygh, the California-Pacific Conference has closed 20 churches since 1990, merged 40 others into 20 and formed 21 new churches, including ones for Latino, Korean, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tongan and Samoan congregations.
Swenson visits parishes throughout her jurisdiction and has traveled to Africa, Vietnam, China and other parts of the world. She also is president of the national church's General Council on Finance and Administration, which handles a $500-million-plus budget.
She sometimes spends a night with homeless people in shelters, marches on behalf of workers' rights, and has spoken out on behalf of gays and lesbians.
In 1996, Swenson was one of 15 United Methodist bishops who signed a statement opposing the denomination's proscription against gays and lesbians within the ministry.
"One of the things I want to do as bishop is to take the center to the edge and bring the edge to the center," Swenson said, "and empower them and give new meaning and new life of possibilities to them."
Using public transit and riding her bicycle help her keep in touch with "the edges."
The Swensons always rode their bikes, but she became even more avid after the couple received a tandem bicycle as their 25th wedding anniversary gift Aug. 31, 1993.
Since then they have completed many tours, including a cross-country, 4,059-mile trip that took 58 days.
