The Historic Ebenezer A.M.E. Church

Value the gift of you!

Character is a lovely personality shinning through everything we say and everything we do. Character is made by what you stand for, reputation is made by what you fall for.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

To God Be The Glory!

Rev. Gwen Davis

Young Adult Minister

Ebenezer AME Church

313-535-8946-H

313-820-4525-Cell

revgwen@yahoo.com

www.thebigeonline.com

For G.G.P's(God's Great People),

Stretch Words for Lent!

S alvation,

Psalm 27: 1

The LORD is my light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

T rust

Isaiah 26:4

Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

R edeemed

 Isaiah 44:22

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have Redeemed you."

E nriched

1 Corinthians 1:5

For in him you have been Enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge—

T riumph

Psalm 118:7

The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in Triumph on my enemies.

C are

Deuteronomy 7:11

Therefore, take Care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

H ope

Romans 15:13

May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pursuing His Presence Prayer Luncheon Kicks off Women’s Month

On Saturday, April 4, the Women of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church in Detroit will host “Pursuing His Presence” Prayer Luncheon as the first event in the Women’s Month Celebration.

Reverend Sharon D. Moore, Assistant Pastor of Ebenezer (where her husband Reverend Byron C. Moore is Pastor) says that the Prayer Luncheon will be a breakthrough for all women in every aspect of life.
“Many of us are hurting and lacking – in our relationships, our finances and our health. We are not seeing a change or breakthrough or reaping the benefits because we are not talking to the One who can give us the change that will make a difference in our lives. In Pursuing His Presence, not only will we have dynamic and anointed women praying for women, but we will teach you how to pray, and how to utilize prayer in order to see the breakthrough!”

Reverend Moore has identified seven areas that will be lifted in prayer:

• Prayers for Single Women – Led by Reverend Vivian Clarington of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church

• Prayers for Divorced Women led by Pastor Mattie Thomas of New Grace Community Church

• Prayers for Married Women led by Minister Rhonda Smith of Evangel Ministries

• Prayers for Women leaders led by Reverend Anita McCants of Visitors Chapel A.M.E. Church

• Prayers for Women in their Golden Years led by Minister Florence Moore of Messiah Missionary Baptist Church

• Prayers for Women who have lost their jobs led by Reverend Twylla Lucas of Oak Grove A.M.E. Church

• Prayers for women facing illness led by Dr. Valerie Abbott, MD

The keynote speaker is Reverend Dr. Velva Burley, Minister of Community relations at 3rd New Hope Baptist Church. “The Luncheon is all inclusive for all women – no matter what stage of life you are in and what challenges you are facing. We are breaking all barriers – racial, economic, marital status, educational, church affiliation – because prayer is the thread that unites us and prayer is the gift we all have at our disposal. Our goal is to offer women the tools they need to pray and actually see a breakthrough with prayer. We want women to leave the luncheon empowered with the connection of prayer and the knowledge of using the tools of prayer everyday and in every way. This is why we all calling the Prayer Luncheon, and the entire Woman’s Month celebration “Pursuing His Presence”.

The Luncheon will take place on Saturday, April 4, 2009 from 3 – 5 P.m. at Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 5151 West Chicago Blvd. in Detroit. Tickets are $25.00 and can be purchased in advance or at the door. For ticket information and group sales, call Tina Stephens at (313) 345-4216. Email: tinastalking@comcast.net

The Election Results at the 48th Quadrennial Session General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that was held in St. Louis, Missouri

BISHOPS

The Right Rev. Jeffrey N. Leath, 128th elected bishop

The Right Rev. Julius H. McAllister Sr., 129th elected bishop

The Right Rev. John F. White, 130th elected bishop

GENERAL SECRETARY

Dr. Clement W. Fugh

CHAIR OF EPISCOPAL COMMITTEE

Dr. Harold R. Mayberry

SECRETARY-TREASURER, SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION

Dr. Johnny Barbour Jr.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLOBAL WITNESS & MINISTRY

Dr. George F. Flowers

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ANNUITY INVESTMENTS AND INSURANCE

Dr. Jerome V. Harris

TREASURER/CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Dr. Richard Allen Lewis

EDITOR, THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER

Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III

JUDICIAL COUNCIL

Benjamin F. Edwards (layperson)

Priscilla J. Green (layperson)

Rosemarie Rhodes-Miller (layperson)

Patricia M. Mayberry (layperson)

Francine A. Brookins (clergy)

Granville W. Reed III (clergy)

JUDICIAL COUNCIL ALTERNATE

James T. Golden

Thursday Evening ? The General Officers? Installation Service

The Installation Service for the reelected General Officers was conducted on Thursday evening.  The service was well-attended and a spiritually enriched worship service.

The Christian Recorder Daily Report: Friday, Day 8, July 11, 2008

The Consecration Service was held.  The following persons were elected bishops and this date consecrated as bishops in the African Methodist Episcopal Church:

Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath

Bishop Julius H. McAllister, Sr.

Bishop John F. White

Business Session XIV

Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry was the chair of the Friday morning business session.

The Strategic Planning Meeting Report as delivered and received by the General Conference.

The Rev. Sarah Pedinny, Presiding Elder for AME-India was presented to the General Conference.  Rev. Pedinny addressed the General Conference and was well-received by the GC.

Bishop McCloud introduced the Rev. Cristalene Whalen as the most newly endorsed military chaplain.

Bishop McKenzie announced that the AME delegates and visitors had 16,000 room nights in St. Louis .  The AME Church received $485,000 in sponsorship and in kind sponsorship donations of $125,000.  Bishop and Dr. McCloud; the Rev. Mark Whitlock, Mrs. Delores Lewis; and Dr. Richard Lewis were responsible for raising the cash and in kind gifts that supported the General Conference.

The General Conference gave a rousing standing ovation for the great work of Bishop McKenzie and the General Conference Commission.

All of the bishops were commended by their Episcopal Districts and received extended rounds of applause.

The official Information of the General Secretary will be posted on the official AME Website: www.ame-church.com/

The Consecration Worship Service began with the Processional of the General Officers and the Bishops.

The bishops-elect, the Rev. Jeffrey N. Leath, the Julius H. McAllister, Sr. and the Rev. John F. White were seated in the place of honor; in the front pulpit area. 

The versatile Fifth Episcopal District choir sang to the glory of God.

Bishop Philip R, Cousin?s sermon taken from Joshua 1:2, was a charge to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Bishop Cousin reminded us that the African Methodist Episcopal Church has ?a great past, but a greater future.?  He spoke about the importance of the ?now.?  We should not waste the ?now.?  The ?now? is filled with difficulties. The AME Church stands at a threshold of a greater future. The congregation came to its feet when he asked of the congregation had ever heard a preacher say, ?That ain?t much,? went on to say, ?Preachers who say that ain?t much.?   He encouraged pastors and laity to be positive, and explained that the AME Church was not dead, but in need of ?pruning.?

Bishop Cousin preached a dynamic and Holy Spirit filled sermon.  At the end of his sermon he was greeted by his wife of over fifty years who went up to the pulpit to hug and embrace him.  The congregation rose to its feet. 

The musicians played ?Great is Thy Faithfulness? and the congregation burst into the singing of that great hymn; the scheduled listed hymn was ?Joys are Flowing.?  After singing, ?Great is Thy Faithfulness, the congregation transitioned into singing the hymn, Joys are Flowing.? Bishop Sarah Davis extended the Invitation and closed the Invitation with prayer.

Bishop John Bryant moved to the pulpit and called Bishop and Mrs. Cousin; Bishop and Mrs. Chappelle; and Bishop Robert Vaughn Webster and his daughter, Supervisor White to the pulpit.  Bishop Bryant explained that Bishops Cousin, Chappelle and Webster had over 150 years of combined ministry.  Bishop Bryant said that ministry was a shared vocation and that it was appropriate to honor the spouses with their husbands.

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Bishop Cousin led in the service of transferring the Senior Bishop title to Bishop John R. Bryant.  Bishop Bryant is officially the Senor Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

The offering was collected and blessed and the choir continued to sing to the glory of God.

The Service of Consecration

Bishop McKinley Young was the worship leader for the Service of Consecration for the three Bishops-elect.  Bishops and itinerant elders selected by the Bishops-elect participated in the Service of Consecration.

The Right Rev. Jeffrey N. Leath, the Right Rev. Julius H. McAllister, Sr. and the Right Rev. John F. White were joined by their spouses when they were given Holy Communion.

The Closing Business Service

The following are the Episcopal assignments for 2008 ? 2012:

1st Episcopal District ? Bishop Richard Franklin Norris

2nd Episcopal District ? Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson

3rd Episcopal District ? Bishop Cornel Garnett Henning

4th Episcopal District ? Bishop John Richard Bryant

5th Episcopal District ? Bishop Theodore Larry Kirkland

6th Episcopal District ? Bishop William Phillips DeVeaux

7th Episcopal District ? Bishop Preston Warren Williams II

8th Episcopal District ? Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry

9th Episcopal District - Bishop James Levert Davis

10th Episcopal District ? Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram

11th Episcopal District ? Bishop McKinley Young

12th Episcopal District ? Bishop Samuel Lawrence Green, Sr.

13th Episcopal District ? Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie

14th Episcopal District ? Bishop David R. Daniels

15th Episcopal District ? Bishop Wilfred Messiah

16th Episcopal District ? Bishop Sarah Frances Davis

17th Episcopal District ? Bishop Paul Jones Kawimbe

18th Episcopal District ? Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr.

19th Episcopal District ? Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath

20th Episcopal District ? Bishop Julius H. McAllister

Office of Ecumenical and Urban Affairs - Bishop John F. White

The Closing Business Session consisted of the final report of the Episcopal Committee. 

The closing hymn was ?God be with You Till We Meet Again.?

The benediction was pronounced by Bishop Philip R. Cousin, Sr.

?The Right Hand of God? was the Recessional Hymn.

The 2008 General Conference has adjourned.

Provided by the AME Christian Recorder

The AME Church has elected three new Bishops as of this morning. They are:

Dr. Jeffrey Leath from Mother Bethel in Philadelphia, PA
Dr. Julius McAllister from Mount Zion AME Church in Florence, South Carolina.
Dr. John White from Mount Hermon AME Fort Lauderdale, Florida

A little bit about each new Bishop...

Dr. Jeffery Leath-

The Reverend Jeffrey N. Leath is a child of the parsonage.  He was born in Huntington, New York, and has lived in Norwalk, Connecticut and Inwood, New York as his father served in those places.  Dr. Leath is a graduate of Yale College, The Yale Divinity School and United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio).  His doctoral dissertation focused on the class Leader System in the A.M.E. Church.Pastor Leath has served churches in New York; Rhode Island; Norristown, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware.  He is the 51st pastor of Mother Bethel Church, where he has served for fifteen years.  He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Examiners of the Philadelphia Annual Conference.The husband of Susan J. Leath, M.D., the Leath?s have three children: Jennifer, Victoria, and Jeffrey, II.Brother Leath is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and he is a 33rd degree Prince Hall Mason.

Dr. Julius McAllister-

The Reverend Julius Harrison McAllister, Sr., was born and raised in Darlington, South Carolina. He is a son of the Reverend Joseph and the late Mrs. Gladys Marks McAllister. He comes from a family of preachers: five brothers, two sisters, four brothers-in-law, two nephews, and his son Julius Jr.  Rev. McAllister received his undergraduate education at Essex Junior College in Newark, New Jersey, and at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia, his seminary education at Turner Theological Seminary (ITC) Atlanta, Georgia. In 1991, he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree.  Rev. McAllister was licensed to preach in 1972 at Allen Chapel AME Church in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1973, he was admitted to the Kansas-Nebraska Annual Conference (Fifth Episcopal District) by Bishop Harrison J. Bryant. In April 1976, he was ordained an Itinerant Deacon in the New Jersey Annual Conference (First Episcopal District) by Bishop Ernest L. Hickman. Two years later, he was ordained an Itinerant Elder in the North Atlanta Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, (Sixth Episcopal District) by Bishop Harold I. Bearden.  Pastor McAllister began his pastoral ministry as an associate minister at Allen Chapel AME Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Later he became an associate minister at Israel Memorial AME Church in Newark, New Jersey. Still later, he served as an associate minister at Turner Chapel AME Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He has served as pastor of Trinity AME Church in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and at Bethel AME Church in Anderson, South Carolina. Since 1984, he has served as pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in Florence, South Carolina.   Rev. McAllister is actively involved in the affairs of his denomination. He serves as chairman of the Northeast South Carolina Annual Conference Board of Examiners, Dean of the Conference Ministerial Training, Conference Trustee, and member of the Finance Committee. He also has served as a trustee of Allen University. On the connectional level, he has served on the Annual Conference Boundaries Committee (1996). He has been elected a delegate to the General Conference since 1984.

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama addressed the General Assembly at the Genereal Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on July 6, 2008.  Please view the video for his direct comments.