wfn.org | Pastors of African American churches to gather in Atlanta

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Dec. 1, 1998	Contact: Linda Green (615)742-5470 Nashville, Tenn.
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By United Methodist News Service

The critical needs and solutions for growth in the black church will be
explored when pastors of African-American United Methodist churches
gather in Atlanta Jan. 4-6 for a national convocation.

""Rekindle the gift of God that is within you" is the theme for the
first-time event expected to attract at least 250 persons to the
Renaissance Atlanta Hotel-Concourse for learning, development, discovery
and dialogue.

The convocation is designed to help congregational leaders develop
strategies for participating in a churchwide emphasis aimed at
strengthening the more than 2,500 African-American United Methodist
churches in the United States. 

Created by the United Methodist Church's 1996 General Conference,
"Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century" is a $1.3 million
initiative that provides opportunities to link growing, vital
congregations with those desiring to become more vital.

The convocation, sponsored by the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship, will empower the pastors to see themselves as worshippers,
stewards, educators, administrators, leaders and preachers. 

The convocation will be a time to inform and inspire pastors who are
"leading us in the trenches of ministry," according to the Rev. Vance P.
Ross, pastor of the multiethnic First United Methodist Church,
Hayattsville, Md., and a former director of congregational
revitalization for the Board of Discipleship. "God's growth and
development of powerful churches will not begin in committees but in the
spiritual leaders who see his vision. We pray that this time together
will make that happen."
 
Convocation leaders will include United Methodist clergy who are
recognized for their leadership in the African-American community.  They
will include  Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, pastor at Windsor Village United
Methodist Church, Houston; McAllister Hollins, pastor at Ben Hill United
Methodist Church, Atlanta; Walter L. Kimbrough, pastor at Cascade United
Methodist Church, Atlanta; James R. King, a district superintendent in
the Tennessee Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church; Joseph
Lowery, president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, Atlanta; Bishop Felton E. May, Washington; C. Anthony Muse,
pastor at Resurrection Prayer Worship Center, Brandywine, Md.; Sheron
Patterson, pastor at Jubilee United Methodist Church, Duncan, Texas;
Rodney Smothers, pastor at Ousley United Methodist Church, Lithonia,
Ga.; Carlyle F. Stewart, pastor at Hope United Methodist Church,
Southfield, Mich.; Lydia Jackson Waters, pastor at Crossroads United
Methodist Church, Compton, Calif.; and Cynthia Wilson-Felder, pastor of
music and worship, Ben Hill United Methodist Church, Atlanta.

For more information on the convocation, contact Ross at (301) 927-6133
or Debra Carvin at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship at (615)
340-7051. 

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/