The Historic Ebenezer A.M.E. Church

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.