Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram - Chair, Commission on Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, Editor
1. THE EDITOR'S CORNER:
- This issue of The Christian Recorder is being sent from Louisville, Kentucky. The editor is attending the 13th Episcopal District Leadership and ministry Congress. Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is the Presiding Prelate and Mr. Stan McKenzie is the Episcopal Supervisor. They, along with the ministerial and lay leadership are excited about this year's Congress. This is the largest attended 13th Episcopal District Congress ever.
As with the Sixth Episcopal District, it appears to me that we have more AME young people than folks are letting on that we have. There are over 1200 persons registered for the Congress and the young people are excited and are attending all of the sessions in great numbers.
But, I need to say that the preaching has been phenomenal beginning with the dynamic sermon delivered by Bishop Sarah Davis, the Presiding Prelate of the Eighteenth Episcopal and superb sermons and teaching moments by the Reverend Deidre Ellis, the Reverend Roderick Belin; the Reverend Dr. James Wade, Director of Evangelism; Congress Revivalist, the Reverend Dr. Michael Bell; Payne Theological Seminary professors, the Reverend Dr. Frederick Wright and the Reverend Mark Tyler, who also pastors at Macedonia AME Church in Camden, New Jersey.
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The youth experienced a "Holy Ghost Holla": Hip Hop Gospel Musical and movie time on Wednesday evening. A more detailed report of the 13th Episcopal District Congress is forthcoming.
2. NEW SUBSCRIPTION RATES BEGIN ON AUGUST 1, 2005:
The Christian Recorder - $36.00; Individual copies of The Christian Recorder will cost 1.50
The A.M.E. Church Review - $25.00; individual issues will cost $5.00
The Voice of Missions - $$25.00
The Journal of Religious Education - $25.00
The Secret Chamber - $25.00
3. INNOVATIONS FOR THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER:
- The Christian Recorder Online will be published online in English as it appears now, but in the near future will have a trial period of publishing online in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Dutch. The foreign language portion should be t least 90% - 95% accurate.
- Sister Faith White, a member of Ebenezer AME Church, Charleston, SC suggested several innovations:
A Youth Column - YPD Speaks
Technology Information Column
A Legal Column
It is hoped that some of our readership will be motivated to assist us in one of the areas above.
4. THE REVEREND DENNIS C. DICKERSON, PH.D, ENDS TERM AS PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CHURCH HISTORY:
The Reverend Dennis C. Dickerson, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the Department of Research and Scholarship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, ended his term as President of the American Society of Church History on January 8, 2005 at the groups annual meeting in Seattle, Washington.
He delivered on that occasion a presidential address, "African American Religious Intellectuals and the Theological Foundations of the Civil Rights Movement, 1930-1955." That paper was subsequently published in the organization's scholarly journal, CHURCH HISTORY, in the June 2005. In the article Dr. Dickerson argues that Mordecai W. Johnson, Benjamin E. Mays, George D. Kelsey, William Stuart Nelson, and other black religious intellectuals of the 1930s and 1940s developed terminology, themes, and tactics that influenced civil rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s. Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, and James Lawson were especially influenced by the ideas about Gandhian nonviolence, mass mobilization, and the idolatry of segregation that this previous generation of black religious intellectuals articulated.
Dr. Dickerson remains active with the American Society of Church History by serving as Chair of the Nominating Committee.
5. MOUNT ZION AME CHURCH, NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY EMBARKS UPON A NEW INITIATIVE:
Mount Zion A.M.E. Church located in New Brunswick, New Jersey is embarking upon a very innovative and exciting new project. The new project, Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), helps individuals without insurance who have difficulty obtaining prescription medicines. One of the missions of the initiative is to allow access to more than 1,200 medicines at a low-cost or no cost to the participant. The PPA offers the "Help is Here Express" which is a touring bus staffed with trained professionals that will be traveling the country to enroll eligible participants in the program.
On Saturday, June 11 amidst a hot and humid day, the PPA's "Help is Here Express" was on tour at Elijah's Promise, Inc. located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Elijah's Promise is a soup kitchen, culinary school, and micro-enterprise and also provides social and catering services. While at the facility for a community-wide health fair, a well-attended press conference was held regarding the PPA initiative. The initiative partners are: Johnson and Johnson, Elijah's Promise, Inc., and Mount Zion A.M.E. Church. "It is awesome when we can make an impact on our community…we are all one family," stated Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Hooper, Pastor of Mount Zion A.M.E. Rev. Dr. Hooper delivered the invocation and welcome at the press conference.
Plans for the touring bus to be at the Health Fair were initiated by Mount Zion A.M.E. Church. Linda Bright, President of the Praising Healthy Ministry at Mount Zion and Rev. Dr. Hooper, initially toured the "Help is Here Express" at Johnson and Johnson Corporate Headquarters Site on May 10, 2005. "We are partners with Johnson and Johnson and with the Partnership for Prescription Assistance. We are also co-sponsors of the Elijah's Promise Health Fair. Wouldn't it be great if Mount Zion could be the liaison to unite these health care efforts," said Bright. Bright, a Johnson and Johnson employee, talked to company representatives associated with the PPA and the rest is history.
State Senator Joseph F. Vitale and Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula gave words of support and encouragement. Other speakers on the agenda were: Denise Sitarik, Director of Patient Assistance at Johnson and Johnson and Yvette Molina, Director of Social Services at Elijah's Promise.
Mount Zion A.M.E.'s Praising Healthy Ministry will be available to assist in the dissemination of PPA materials as a part of its outreach missions and will be able to connect congregation and community members with information.
For more information regarding the PPA, visit www.pparx.org or call 888-4PPA-NOW.
For more information regarding Mount Zion A.M.E. Church, visit www.mountzioname.org or call (732) 249-8476.
For more information regarding Elijah's Promise, Inc., visit www.elijahspromise.org
For more information regarding Johnson and Johnson, visit www.jnj.com
Written by: Toni Johnson
Photos by: Klein & Ulmes, Inc., Metuchen, NJ
Mount Zion A.M.E. Church
39 Morris Street/Hildebrand Way
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(732) 249-8476
www.mountzioname.org
6. THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE:
- If you wish to subscribe to The Christian Recorder Online, go to http://www.the-christian-recorder.org/
- If you wish to look at previous issues of The Christian Recorder Online, go to: http://www.the-christian-recorder.org/tcr-online/
Archive of The Christian Recorder Online from 2004-2016; Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder
