Johnson Cook Confirmed As Ambassador-At-Large For International Religious Freedom

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

> American Baptist News Service (ABNS)

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 4/21/11)­Rev. Suzan
Johnson Cook, an American Baptist pastor and
motivational speaker, was confirmed by the United
States Senate for the post of United States
Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious
Freedom on April 14, 2011. The position of the
nation?s top diplomat for religious freedom had
remained vacant since President Obama?s inauguration in January 2009.

On June 15, 2010, the White House originally
announced that Obama had tapped Johnson Cook for
the position. The nomination expired and Johnson
Cook was not confirmed. Her nomination was
officially re-submitted on February 7, 2011.

"Dr. Johnson Cook will bring a passion for

religious liberty rooted in her American Baptist
heritage along with her keen administrative
skills and powerful gifts for communication to
this important position," said Dr. A. Roy Medley,
general secretary of American Baptist Churches USA.

Johnson Cook served as the founding pastor of
Bronx Christian Fellowship Baptist Church in New
York. Before founding that congregation, from
1983 to 1996, Johnson Cook was pastor of the
historic Mariners? Temple Baptist Church in New
York - which meets on the oldest Baptist worship
site in Manhattan, dating to 1795. Mariners?
Temple and Bronx Christian Fellowship are both
aligned with American Baptist Churches USA, and
Johnson Cook?s ordination is through the denomination.

Johnson Cook holds degrees from Emerson College,
Columbia University, Union Theological Seminary
and United Theological Seminary. She is the owner
of Charisma Speakers and has served since 1990 as
a chaplain for the New York Police Department.
She advised President Clinton on race relations
and also advised Obama when he was a senator. The
New York Times has called her one of the best
preachers in New York and described her as ?Billy
Graham and Oprah rolled into one.?

The ambassador-at-large position was created in
1998 by the International Religious Freedom Act,
to monitor violations of religious freedom abroad
and to advise the State Department on how to respond.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most
diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500
local congregations comprised of 1.3 million
members, across the United States and Puerto
Rico, all engaged in God?s mission around the world.