The Historic Ebenezer A.M.E. Church

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