Along with hours of Christian fellowship and music during the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s 48th General Conference, leaders will “embrace items of concern in this community and nationally,” according to the Rev. Alvin Smith, St. Paul AME Church pastor.
“We will take stands on problems for our city and our nation. We will make some statements,” said Smith, who serves at the oldest AME church west of the Mississippi River.
The General Conference runs from July 4-11, with most events taking place at America’s Center. More than 27,000 people are expected to attend, some from African nations and other countries including India.
Bishop John R. Bryant, presiding bishop of the Fifth Episcopal District (which includes Missouri), is General Conference host.
Bryant was in St. Louis in April for a press conference on the convention, and he said attendants “would be seen throughout the region.”
“The AME Church is committed to community service,” Bryant said.
The community can also be a part of the conference, one of the largest black gatherings in the nation.
Bryant will provide the sermon and Bishop Phillip Robert Cousin Sr. will be worship leader of a public Opening Worship Service at 10 a.m. Sunday, July 6 at America’s Center Convention Hall
The 5th District Mass Choir will perform during the service, which is expected to attract more than 10,000 people. Also, the Liturgical Dancers from the 5th District will perform. The acclaimed group often features 80 to 100 dancers.
Marvin Sapp, Grammy nominee and Stellar Award winner, will headline a star-filled gospel concert at 6 p.m. Sunday at America’s Center.
Sapp, whose hit “Never Would Have Made It” is currently on national gospel charts, will be joined by Stellar Award winner Jonathan Nelson and Purpose. Also performing will be Crystal Aiken, BET’s 2007 Sunday’s Best winner. The event is hosted by Gospel artist L’Tanya Moore.
The Gospel concert is open to all registrants of the AMEC 48th Session of the General Conference. A $25 day pass is available at the AME registration booth in America’s Center for anyone wanting to attend the gospel concert.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest black denomination in North America. With an anvil as its first pulpit. a group of slaves and free persons – led by Richard Allen – walked out of St. George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia, purchased an old blacksmith’s shop and started worship there in 1747.
Called Bethel (“House of God”), Allen led the church and later became its first elected and consecrated bishop.
St. Louis County is home to a contemporary Bethel AME Church, located at 1537 Irving Ave. in Wellston. This past weekend, the small congregation of Bethel in Wellston celebrated its 100th anniversary with a gospel concert and Centennial Celebration that in a way provided a local kick-off for the General Conference that opens today. Retired and beloved Bishop Vinton Randolph Anderson delivered the sermon Sunday at Bethel’s celebration. Anderson recalled how he worked with First National Bank in Wellston in the early 1960s to help finance the sanctuary at Bethel.
Anderson was then the pastor at St. Paul AME Church. Now retired, he will participate in this week’s General Conference along with the rest of the denomination’s world-wide leadership.
“This is what we call a ‘quadrennial,’ a four-year General Conference,” said the Rev. Charles G. Pennington Jr., pastor of Bethel.
“All of our bishops in the world will be in St. Louis.”
Other than St. Paul, the largest AME congregations in St. Louis worship at Wayman (where the Rev. Dr. Timothy E. Tyler is pastor) and St. Peter’s (where the Rev. Brenda Hayes is pastor), according to Pennington.
The AME Church, which “developed the reputation for social concerns and freedom fighting,” has more than three million members in more than 7,500 churches in America, Africa, the Caribbean, England, and Canada.
For a full conference schedule, click here.
For more information on the conference or Gospel Concert day passes, please call the Platinum Group, Inc. at (618) 910-0306 or (314) 580-3500.
