THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER Online: THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE ENGLISH EDITION (01/03/14)

1/04/2014

THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE ENGLISH EDITION (01/03/14)

The Right Reverend T. Larry Kirkland - Chair, Commission on Publications

The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher

The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, the 20th Editor, The Christian Recorder

1. TCR EDITORIAL – THE PRIZE IS THE SATISFACTION…:

Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III

The 20^th Editor of The Christian Recorder

This week’s edition of The Christian Recorder Online is an abbreviated version.

The AME Sunday School Union will reopen on Monday, January 6, 2014 (The Epiphany).

I want to thank those of you who have accepted Challenge VIII to read the Bible from Genesis, Chapter 1 to Revelation, Chapter 22 in 180-Days.

If 180-Day Plan seems too challenging -

If 180-Day or the 90-Day Reading Plans seem too aggressive, you might want to try reading the Bible in 365-Days.

Click on this link or paste the web address in your browser: http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/book-order.html to download several 365-Day Reading Plans.

The 365-Day Reading Plan requires about three chapters a day with an average of 12 minutes per day. If you miss a day, it was not too hard to catch up.

The 90-Day Reading Plan requires about 13 chapters each day and I found that it took me about 30 - 45 minutes each day. Unlike the 180-Day Reading Plan, if a day is missed, catching up can be time-consuming. I discovered that I worked hard not to miss a day because catching up was time-consuming.

Reading the Bible from cover to cover requires self-discipline. I paraphrased I Cor. 9:24 each time I began reading the Bible from cover to cover. My goal was to finish. My paraphrase: “There are a lot of runners in the race, but only those who finish get the prize.”

Several times I finished reading the Bible ahead of schedule, sometimes on-schedule, and a couple of times behind schedule, but I was determined not to stop, but to keep reading and finish the task.

It’s not too late to begin Challenge VIII. The invitation is still extended. January 1 does not have to be your start-date. Your start-date begins when you start reading Genesis and have committed to read the Bible from cover to cover.

The prize for reading the Bible from cover to cover is the “satisfaction of reading the Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.”

2. FROM THE COMMISSION ON SOCIAL ACTION AND THE COMMISSION ON HEALTH:

Invitational alert! AME National Health ACA Webinar - Tuesday, January 7^th.

If you desire to participate in the WEBINAR on Tuesday, January 7^th at 8 p.m. (ET), 7 p.m. (CT), 6 p.m. (MT), or 5 p.m. (PT).

You may participate in one of two ways:

(1) Enroll now at www.ame-sac.com. You will be given directions on how to log onto the webinar from your computer.

(2) If you do not have a computer, you may call 800-897-4057 to listen. Tell the operator that you want to join the call: “A.M.E. / Enroll America "Health Care in the Pulpit" ACA.” You may be asked for your name and telephone number to register as a participant.

Note: You may want to obtain a copy of the PowerPoint presentation to follow the conversation. To obtain the PowerPoint Presentation, email: jdupontw@aol.com.

If you have questions, or for more information or if you have difficulties signing up for the webinar, please call: (202) 779-3253; 213-494-9493; 770-328-2002; or send an email to jdupontw@aol.com.

Commission on Social Action

Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, Chair

SIStah "Jackie" Dupont-Walker, Director

Commission on Health

Bishop Wilfred J Messiah, Chair

Dr. Miriam J. Burnett, Director

3. AME POTPOURRI:

*John Thomas III

In the Fall of 2013, I began this series - “AME Potpourri” - to periodically highlight stories about persons and activities in our Church.

This article I am sharing the time I had with a unique AME minister, the Reverend Renita Lamkin and her congregation, St. John AME Church in St. Charles, Missouri.

Decades ago, the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. noted that the most segregated hour in America was 11 a.m. on Sunday morning. Many aspects of American society have become integrated since the Civil Rights movement, but worship largely remains segregated by race, ethnicity and culture. In the case of African-Americans, this situation is directly linked to racially separate congregations that were imposed by many predominately White Christian denominations for decades. While no formal statistics exist on the number of non African-American clergy in largely black denominations, a cursory glance shows they are few and far between.

St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Charles, Missouri calls itself “The Friendliest Church in St. Charles.”

The modest clapboard edifice the church owns is host to the oldest historically African-American congregation west of the Mississippi River. The stained glass Cross and Anvil above the entrance and the photo of Richard Allen prominently placed on the sanctuary wall are evidence of this Church’s place in the AME Connection.

What sets this church apart from most AME Churches is that pastor, the Reverend Renita Marie Lamkin, is white.

In November 2013, I spent a weekend in fellowship and worship with the St. John family to better understand how a Caucasian minister can serve in an African American church.

Slightly over five feet (in heels) with a bubbly personality, Reverend Lamkin reminds me of one of my favorite elementary school teachers. But there is no mistaking God’s calling on her life into the ordained ministry. I saw her minister and reach out to people wherever we went—from the restaurant to the coffee shop. I was especially moved when she drove thirty-five minutes before service to pick up one of her Young Adult members. She remarked to me during the drive, “Some people are called to do ministry in general. Some are called to the church. This is where I belong. Everything that is good in my life came from the AME church.”

So how does a white woman end up being an ordained itinerant elder in the AME Church?

The Rev. Lamkin’s familiarity with the African-American community goes back to her childhood. She is married to a Black man (also an AME minister) and she raised her son and daughter as African-Americans. She bounced around through various churches during her young adulthood, but it was an AME church mother who convinced her to make the AME Connection her home: “I remember her pulling out the Discipline and showing me that according to its mission statement the AME Church was for ALL people. She also told me there were plenty of White people in the pews. I’m still looking for them.”

After a few years of attendance, she was admitted to the Missouri Annual Conference in 1996, ordained an itinerant deacon in 2001 and an itinerant elder in 2008. The Reverend Lamkin has pastored three charges and has been at her current assignment for 10 years. She currently holds a variety of offices at the Conference level as well as with the Women in Ministry (WIM). Indeed, one of her goals is to be a delegate to the 2016 General Conference. Her journey throughout the AME hierarchy has not always been “smooth”, but Reverend Lamkin underscores the overwhelming support she has received: “I know my presence may cause people to be uncomfortable and wrestle. I am OK with that.” Within the community she holds a variety of leadership roles and helped found (and lead) the St. Charles Ministerial alliance. In her role as an AME minister, the Reverend Lamkin has not had much pushback from the community: “Whites are OK with me pastoring but when they find out that my kids are black, that’s another story…” Indeed, a predominately black church having a white minister in a city that is almost 90-percent white and less than 6 percent African American does have its advantages.

Worshipping with the St. Charles family, I was touched by the deeply spiritual atmosphere of praise and worship. The congregation is mixed by both generation and race. One sees older African-Americans, middle-aged whites and young adults of various races sharing as a Christian family.

The service had a mix of contemporary music and traditional liturgy, but underpinning it all was a joyful spirit.

After the service, I spoke with several members about their pastor and the life of the church. Mrs. Frances Washington, a nonagenarian regarded as the “church mother” remarked, “Pastor Lamkin is ambitious. She’s always out on the community moving us forward.” Church Treasurer Sharon Schooler candidly commented, “It's been different. Some of the traditional members moved on. Diversity is good. The challenge is making it fit together.” Local Lay President Jo Anna Schooler stated, “She's real. We’re able to connect with her.”

After the service, Reverend Lamkin hosted several of the Young Adults for dinner. She periodically checks in with them to hear about their lives, their Christian walks and whatever else is on their hearts. I listened as these young adults shared about job struggles, relationship issues, and questions about faith.

About the importance of these gatherings, Jacqueline Nelson commented, “It shocked me that a pastor would be this close to the youth. Pastor Renita talks to me like I'm a person.”

After the dinner, we headed back to the church for “Celebrate Recovery”—a community substance abuse recovery ministry that the church has joined with. The church was transformed in a festive atmosphere with food, children playing and persons testifying all amidst a backdrop of a live Christian band.

As I walked through the sanctuary, the Reverend Lamkin pointed out every person to me and their personal struggles. The child who was born in a prison. The Vietnam Veteran who is housed in a recovery center at a military barracks. The Steward who battled with drug addiction for years. I mentioned to the Reverend Lamkin that if the church ever wanted to change its name “Bethesda” would be appropriate for surely this was a house of healing and grace.

As I reflect upon my weekend spent with the Reverend Renita Lamkin and the St. John family, I think about the calling for predominately Black churches in the United States to understand their relevance in a shifting demographic landscape.

The key lesson I learned from my time at St. John was that true Christian ministry is irrespective of race and that a denomination founded upon the desires of freed Black slaves to worship Christ still has an important and relevant witness in an increasingly multi-cultural world. When I asked her about why she has stayed in the AME Church throughout her ministry, the Reverend Renita Lamkin smiled and replied, “This is such a great Church. Who wouldn't want to join?”

*John Thomas III (13^th District) is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a member of the AME Church General Board.

4. PRESIDING ELDER PLANNING MEETING ADVANCING MINISTRY "OUT OF THE BOX INTO THE FUTURE":

*The Rev. Benessa Sweat

Pastors, clergy, laity, delegates and interested members of the North Nashville District gathered together on Saturday, November 23, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee to hear and experience the prophetic plan for the future and prepare for the upcoming events and ministries of the 2014 Conference Year.

Attendees of the Presiding Elder’s Planning Meeting were welcomed by the cordial hosts: the Rev. Eddie L. Sneed, First Lady Virginia Sneed, and the devoted congregation of the esteemed Saint Luke AME Church of Nashville, Tennessee -- the “Church in the Heart of the Community.”

In keeping with the District’s operational mantra of “Ministry Out of the Box,” Presiding Elder W. Antoni Sinkfield powerfully merged the best practices of tradition and technology to present his God-given vision and constructive directives for the future advancement of the twenty-seven (27) congregations that comprise the North Nashville District.

Presiding Elder W. Antoni Sinkfield’s desire for all the members of the District to be “on one accord in a spirit of unity and oneness to do the appointed and anointed work of the North Nashville District” was evident by the introduction of ten (10) ministry committees to be managed by district pastors and preachers.

The vital ministry fields that will be influenced through these committees range from, Christian Education, Development of Rural Churches, and Music and Christian Social Concerns.

Attendees were challenged by Presiding Elder W. Antoni Sinkfield when he asked everyone to actively work, as individuals and congregations, to take the seeds of ideas planted during the past year and to continue to diligently strive to bring those ideas to fruition in this Conference Year.

In addition to sharing crucial congregational statistics from the previous year, Presiding Elder Sinkfield presented certificates of appreciation to churches in the North Nashville District who had excelled in bringing new members, making converts to Christ, and administering baptisms during the 2012 - 2013 Conference Year.

The uplifting momentum of the Holy Spirit reached its pinnacle during the closing Meditation Service preached by Presiding Elder Sinkfield in a dynamic message taken from Mark 7:5–13. The awesome power of the Holy Spirit flowed throughout the sanctuary touching clergy, and laity--who were up on their feet as they were encouraged by the Word of God to step away from human demands to follow the commands of God.

The altar area of Saint Luke AME Church was full at the final Invitation to Discipleship; an invitation extended to all people who desired to renew their commitments to God by offering their full devotion to their ministries within the North Nashville District.

The official closing of the North Nashville District Presiding Elder’s Planning Meeting was indeed the official beginning of the 2013 - 2014 Conference Year revitalized for “Ministry Out of the Box!”

*The Rev. Benessa Sweat is the North Nashville District Public Relations Committee Chair

5. LEGAL AID OF THE BLUEGRASS SEEKS AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Legal Aid of the Bluegrass (LABG) seeks an Executive Director to lead this nonprofit organization dedicated to providing civil legal assistance designed to alleviate the most brutal problems endured by low income residents of 33 eastern, northern and central Kentucky counties, typically in the areas of government benefits, consumer, housing and family law.

LABG is the lifeline to justice, safety and stability in its communities. While the financial crisis has caused greater suffering among clients, and limited resources have forced LABG to turn away more than half of those who are eligible based on income and nature of the legal problem, LABG has developed new approaches and focused on work that will have the greatest positive impact. It is proud to continue to make a difference in the lives of its neighbors, including veterans, elderly, and victims of domestic violence, including immigrant victims.

LABG has been well-served by its highly regarded long-standing executive director, who is retiring after 30 years in the position and 38 years in legal aid. Its knowledgeable Board and dedicated staff will continue the commitment to clients and creativity in service deliveries which are its hallmarks.

About the Position

The next Executive Director will lead LABG in a time of great change and opportunity as the organization undertakes initiatives to expand fundraising, strengthen intake, update technology, and plan for the future.

High Priority Roles and Responsibilities for the Next Executive Director:

- To effectively serve as the public face of LABG in its communities and relationships

- To lead a planning process of Board and staff, which builds on LABG’s strengths and looks to its future

- To ensure continued high quality services to clients

- To strengthen LABG’s fundraising capacity, expand its revenues, and continue its creativity in identifying resources to serve clients

- To enhance collaborations among LABG’s offices and staff, and with other legal aid programs and affinity organizations to promote equal justice statewide

- To advance technology solutions in service of clients and efficiency

Qualifications of the next Executive Director:

- Possession of a JD and Kentucky license or eligibility to become licensed in Kentucky

- Knowledge of and passion for Kentucky and its residents, and a willingness to travel throughout Kentucky

- A deep commitment to advocacy for the legal rights of low income and other vulnerable clients

- Legal aid experience or demonstrable involvement in public interest work preferred

- Management experience involving staff supervision, financial oversight and reporting, budget development, and compliance with grant, contract and legal requirements preferred

- A commitment to resource development, including grant writing and private fundraising

- Strong and effective communication skills with people holding a variety of perspectives

- Leadership, professionalism, integrity, intelligence, humility, energy and humor

Application Process

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To receive full consideration, you are encouraged to submit your application materials by December 20, 2013. Please submit a letter expressing in detail your interest in the position, your qualifications for the position, and what you believe you can contribute to the organization’s future. Please include a current resume, with names and contact information of three professional references.

Materials should be emailed to ppap@m-i-e.org in Microsoft Word format.

LABG is being assisted in the search by Patricia Pap, Executive Director, Management Information Exchange, 99 Chauncy St., Suite 700, Boston, MA 02111, 617-556-0288, ppap@m-i-e.org, www.mielegalaid.org. Candidates with questions about the position or process are encouraged to contact her.

LABG aims to make a hiring decision in early March 2014 and to have the successful candidate join LABG soon thereafter.

LABG is an equal opportunity employer and encourages candidates with disabilities, women, persons of color and others who represent distinct linguistic or cultural communities to apply.

About Legal Aid of the Bluegrass

The mission of Legal aid of the Bluegrass (LABG) is to resolve the most important problems of low income and other vulnerable people by providing high quality legal assistance through direct representation, education, advice, advocacy and coordination with other community resources.

The Northern Kentucky Legal Aid Society, established in 1967, merged with Northeast Kentucky Legal Services in 1997, to serve 4 urban and 19 rural counties with offices in Covington, Morehead and Ashland. In 2002, this organization merged with Central Kentucky Legal Services in Lexington to become Legal Aid of the Bluegrass serving 33 counties from four offices. 213,000 poor people live in LABG’s service area. Many of those LABG helps are veterans, elderly and victims of domestic violence, including immigrant victims.

In 2012, LABG staff and volunteers closed 5,700 cases serving 11,500 adults and children; individually counseled over 1,800 elderly about public benefits; advocated for 1,700 frail and elderly nursing home residents; and reached over 10,000 others with public awareness activities.

LABG recently completed a comprehensive community legal needs assessment to assure that it continues to serve those with the most brutal unmet needs by: strengthening families and children; preventing homelessness; fostering independence; helping the most vulnerable; and removing barriers to employment.

LABG has revenue of $3.7 million from federal, state, and local sources, both governmental and private. Its largest funders include the Legal Services Corporation, the Kentucky General Fund, court filing fees, and the Department of Justice. Other significant sources of funding include IOLTA, United Way, foundations, and many others. LABG’s financial position is strong.

LABG has a staff of 50, including 20 lawyers. Its offices are located in Covington, Morehead, Ashland and Lexington. The Executive Director may be located in any of these offices, with the approval of the Board.

For more information about Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, visit www.lablaw.org.

Patricia Pap, Executive Director, Management Information Exchange, Boston, Massachusetts

Submitted by the Rev. Althea J. Hayward is a Program Analyst in The Office of Program Performance, Legal Services Corporation

6. GETTING TO ZERO: WELLNESS AND NEW BEGINNINGS:

*Dr. Oveta Fuller

“The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” John 10: 10b

Here’s to life, more abundant life. The 2013 year tick-tocks to an end and 2014 begins. Many miles have been traveled, many people met, and in 2013, many thoughts and adventures. For these, and the Almighty directions, protection and blessings of God to and through the 365 days, I am grateful. Among these blessings is the opportunity to write about issues that help to build wellness in the body of Christ. “Getting to Zero” as a weekly part of The Christian Recorder is a blessing to me, and I believe for many others in ways that we will never know.

In the spirit of new opportunities- for some in the form of resolutions, for others only the passage of time, affirm to make a purposed effort each day of 2014 to contribute to wellness. This can be wellness of your physical house or your mental or spirit well-being. This can be wellness for your immediate family and friends. This can be wellness for the body of Christ and those who are not yet a part of it that reside in your local area or who are distributed around the globe, or both.

We really are “our brother’s and sister’s keepers”. No one should feel alone or isolated. What affects one in some way affects others. As a Connectional Church, we have the open opportunity to expand beyond immediate boundaries to promote understanding, wellness, salvation and more abundant life. My way of helping to promote wellness may not be for you. Without a doubt, there is a way that each person can make a difference to someone.

In the 2014 year, each day, let us be about this. Below, are several recommended websites, movies, resources or books (assembled from many places), that may be a great way to begin the mind-expanding 2014 adventures in learning and giving of yourself.

We pray for abundance, more than enough to you, our Zion and the ever-expanding body of Christ in 2014!

Recommended items by me and others for broadening horizons and mind-expanding exploration of wellness at home and abroad:

http://blackaids.org/news-2011-present/1893-in-treatment-rasheed-thomas

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/social-issues/endgame-aids-in-black-america/map-hivaids-in-your-state/

http://youtu.be/YKK3D0H9fWo

http://www.buzzfeed.com/kathleenmclaughlin/the-aids-granny-in-exile

http://kabiza.com/Aids-African-Children.htm

Movies:

“A Closer Walk” http://www.acloserwalk.org/

“Endgame: AIDS in Black America (A Frontline Report)” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/endgame-aids-in-black-america/

“Half the Sky” http://www.halftheskymovement.org/pages/film

“Yesterday” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419279/

“The Carrier: One Woman’s Story or Hope and Renewal” http://www.thecarrierfilm.com/

Books:

“28 Stories of AIDS in Africa” (Nolen)

“From Better to Worse: A Memoir of Unconditional Love” (Walker)

“Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” (Kristof and WuDunn)

“Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali” (Holloway and Bidwell)

“The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World” (Novogratz)

“Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin” (Franklin)

“Mountains Beyond Mountains” (Kidder)

“Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” (Obama)

7. MEDITATION BASED ON PSALM 90:

*The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby

This mediation is being written on New Year's Eve, as we prepare to wrap up another holiday season. The season actually began with "cleaning house" and going through some of the still unpacked boxes from our move to a new residence a few months ago. One of those boxes contained dishes, and as is sometimes the case in the moving process, roughly half of them were broken.

Our initial thought was to simply discard the broken pieces and use what was left, but my younger son had a better idea. He claimed the broken pieces so that he could give them to an artist friend, who uses things like broken dishes in her artistic creations. What appeared to be useless debris was actually put to good use.

Remember those broken dishes as you face a brand New Year. Each year brings us a mix of joys and sorrows, of victories and roadblocks, of good moves and missteps. It's easy to look back at and dwell on life's negatives and allow them to hinder us in the present day. It's easy to go through life feeling incomplete, weighed down by the broken pieces of plans that went astray and mistakes made.

When we take the time, however, to turn the broken pieces of our lives over to the God who created us, we'll find that God can also fix us. Just as my son took those broken dishes to an artist who could recycle them, God can recycle the broken pieces of our lives and position us to discover new confidence, new victories, new hope and new peace of mind.

Don't carry the broken pieces of the year gone by into the New Year. Face the New Year with faith, expect new blessings, be ready to try new things and rely on the God who led one writer to say, "Before the hills in order stood or earth received its frame, from everlasting, Thou art God, to endless years the same."

The Mid-Week Meditation is now also available at www.facebook.com/BeaufortDistrictAMEC

Get Ready for Sunday, and have a great day in your house of worship and a Very Happy and Blessed New Year!

8. EPISCOPAL AND CLERGY FAMILY CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-- Bishop John Hurst Adams retired Senior Bishop of the AME Church will be inducted into the International Civil Rights "Walk of Fame"

It is with great pride and pleasure that we announce that Bishop John Hurst Adams, retired Senior Bishop of the AME Church, will be inducted into the International Civil Rights "Walk of Fame." The "Walk of Fame" was created to honor true history makers who fought in the struggle for equality. The "Walk of Fame" provides an opportunity for visitors to walk in the footsteps of those who walked the long and difficult path to achieve the promise of America.

The "Walk of Fame" is located at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Site in Atlanta, Georgia. Bishop Adams will be inducted into the "Walk of Fame" on Friday January 24, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. as part of the 2014 Trumpet Awards. The public is invited.

Previous inductees include: Rosa Parks, President Lyndon B Johnson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Congressman John Lewis, President Bill Clinton, Julian Bond, Sidney Poitier, President Jimmy Carter, Stevie Wonder, Harry Belafonte and others.

*Dr. Dolly D. Adams, Senior Supervisor, retired

Congratulatory responses can be sent to:

Bishop John Hurst Adams

2500 Peachtree Rd NW, #206N

Atlanta, GA 30305

Telephone: (404) 467-8533

Fax: (404) 523-

-- The Retired Reverend Heyward A. Hinton of the 7^th Episcopal District, the Columbia Conference, will celebrate his 80th Birthday on January 5, 2014.

Birthday cards can be sent to:

The Rev. Heyward A. Hinton

2410 Clark Street

Columbia, S.C. 29201

Telephone: (803) 765-0432

9. GENERAL OFFICER FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We are saddened to inform you of the passing of the Reverend Cheryl Blake Hoskins, sister of the Reverend Dr. Charlotte Ann Blake Sydnor and sister-in-law of General Officer, Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III; the 20^th Editor of The Christian Recorder.

The Reverend Cheryl Blake Hoskins passed peacefully at 1:55 a.m. on December 31, 2013 at the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Newport, Kentucky with the family by her bedside. The family held a bedside memorial service, which was most appropriate. The Rev, Hoskins had been "up and down" in her health for the last 13 years. She was a "fighter" and did not give up when doctors were sure that the Lord was calling her home. She had decided to donate her body to science and the family followed her wishes. A memorial service is being planned in the latter part of February at St. James AME Church in Danville, Kentucky. The Rev. Hoskins grew up in Danville, graduated from high school and pastored in the Kentucky Annual Conference. The Rev. William Jenkins is the pastor of St. James AME Church. The Rev. Robert Strode is the Presiding Elder. Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath, Presiding Prelate of the 13^th Episcopal District will deliver the memorial message.

Messages of sympathy may be emailed to the Reverend Dr. Charlotte Ann Blake Sydnor, cbsydnor@aol.com.

Or mailed to:

69 Ravenwood Hills Circle

Nashville, TN 37215-6167

Further information and family expressions will be forthcoming in The Christian Recorder.

10. GENERAL OFFICER FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

The homegoing of Ms. Nina A. Carter, aunt of Dr. James C. Wade, General Officer, Executive Director, Department of Church Growth and Development.

Information regarding the Homegoing Celebration is as follows:

Wake: Friday January 3, 2014, 11:00 am

Funeral: Friday January 3, 2014, 12 p.m.

Greater Bethel AME Church

1300 South Street

Nashville TN 37212

(615) 256-1509

Dr. James C. Wade, Eulogist

The Rev. Lee Edward Thompson, Pastor

Services are entrusted to:

Lewis & Wright Funeral Directors

2500 Clarksville Hwy.

Nashville, TN 37208-1060

Phone: (615) 255-2371

Fax: (615) 255-4926

Words of Comfort may be sent to:

Dr. James Wade

8375 Phillipson Way

Memphis TN 38125

Email: ameharvest@aol.com

11. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Funeral services for Retired Pastor, Reverend Johnnie Yeadon, husband of Sister Earnestine Yeadon and father of Sister Angela Yeadon will be Thursday, January 2, 2014 at 12:00 (noon) at Jehovah AME Church, 1565 Old Highway 6, Cross, SC.

Eutawville Community Funeral Home

440 Porcher Avenue,

Eutawville, SC 29048

Telephone: (803) 492-3150.

Condolences may be sent to:

Sister Angela Yeadon

P.O. Box 7792

Columbia, SC 29202

12. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We regret to inform you of the passing of the Rev. Alice M. Hughes, retired pastor of the Philadelphia Annual Conference and associate minister at First AME, Sharon Hill, PA.

The following information has been provided regarding funeral arrangements.

Viewing, Thursday, January 9, 2014, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Claude J. Edney Funeral Home

634 Sharon Avenue

Sharon Hill, PA 19079

Telephone: 610-586-8890

Fax: 610-586-8899

Viewing and Funeral, Friday, January 10, 2014

Viewing - 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Funeral - 11:00 a.m.

Mt. Pisgah AME Church

428 N. 41^st Street

Philadelphia, PA 19104

Telephone: 215-386-6181

Fax: 215-386-3341

The Rev. Jay B. Broadnax, Pastor

Eulogist, the Rev. David Randolph, retired pastor from the Philadelphia Annual Conference

Interment

Mt. Lawn Cemetery

84th Street and Hook Road

Sharon Hill, PA 19079

Condolences may be sent to:

Mr. Douglas Clark (Nephew)

2203 Germantown Ave. #305

Philadelphia, PA 19133

13. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We are saddened to inform you of the passing of Sister Emma Griffin, a minister's widow and a member of Snowhill AME Church located in the Quincy District, Florida Conference of the 11th Episcopal District.

Funeral services for Sister Emma Griffin were held on Saturday, December 28, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the Snowhill AME Church in Malone, Florida, the Rev. Dr. James Gibbs, pastor.

McKinnie Funeral at 5304 Bowden Hill Road, Campbellton, Florida 32421 handled arrangements. The telephone number is 850-263-3333 and the email address: McKinniefuneralhome@yahoo.com.

14. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

The Reverend Wilbur Jackson, Superannuate of the East Conference passed away on Sunday, December 29, 2013. The Wake and Homegoing Services will be held at Greater Payne AMEC located at 1230 Claudia Spencer Road in Jacksonville, Florida where the Reverend Dr. Melvin A. Kennerly is the pastor. Wake; Friday, January 3, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Homegoing Service; Saturday, January 4, 2014 beginning 11:00 a.m.

Services are entrusted to the James Graham Mortuary located at 3631 Moncrief Road, Jacksonville, Florida.

15. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We are saddened to announce the passing of Sister Allison O'Neal and Sister Daisy Roberts. The two sisters passed on January 1, 2014 in a house fire. One other sister lived in the home and is hospitalized at this time.

Sister O'Neal was the local WMS President at Greater Ward Chapel AME Church. Sister Daisy Roberts was the mother of the Reverend Michael Dean, Pastor of Bethel AME Church Ladd, Arkansas.