CONGRATULATORY Listings APRIL 2023

* Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font , General Of ficers; and Blue font , Connectional Officers.

Bishop Frederick Calhoun James, the Ninety-Third Elected and Consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Oldest Living Bishop in Methodism in the USA, Still Lives Holding “True to His Christian Social Action Legacy.” Bishop James’ One Hundred and First Birthday was April 7, 2023.

Episcopal Centenarian Plus One - Bishop James’ 101 st Birthday Party

Bishop Frederick C. James was born on April 7, 1922, in Prosperity, South Carolina, to Rosa Lee Gray and Edward James. James received his Associate of Arts in 1941 from Bettis Junior College in Trenton, South Carolina, his Bachelor of Arts in history and English in 1943 from Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina, and his Master of Divinity in 1947 from the Howard University School of Divinity, in Washington, District of Columbia. He also attended Dickerson Theological Seminary, in Columbia, South Carolina, and Union Theological Seminary, in New York, New York.

He became pastor of Friendship African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1945 and of Bishop Memorial AME Church in 1946, both in Columbia, South Carolina, and of Wayman AME Church, in Winnsboro, South Carolina, in 1947. In 1949, he became dean of Dickerson Theological Seminary and, in 1950, pastor of Chappelle Memorial AME Church in Columbia. In 1953, James moved to Sumter, South Carolina, to assume the pastorship of Mt. Pisgah AME Church. In 1960, James was elected director of Social Action of the AME Church. In 1962, the Rev. James helped organize and chaired the Sumter Citizens Committee. In 1963, he became president of the Effective Sumter Movement. In 1972, he was elected the 93rd bishop of the AME Church. He served the 18 th and 15 th Episcopal districts from 1972 to 1976, the 12 th from 1976 to 1984, the 7 th from 1984 to 1992, and the 2 nd from 1993 to 1996. James led Shorter College, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to full accreditation in 1981 and Allen University to full accreditation in 1992. That same year, he served as ecumenical bishop and chaplaincy endorsement officer of the AME Church. Bishop James retired in 1996.

He has served as chairperson of Allen University and of the Howard Junior High School Center in Prosperity, South Carolina, and as a member of the Columbia Housing Authority. He was a member of the delegation to attend the inauguration of South African President Nelson Mandela in 1994. James is a former member of the White House Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and of the United States Department’s Advisory Board on Religious Freedom and served as national vice president of the Interfaith Alliance. Bishop James is a life member of the NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and is a 33-degree Mason. He also served on the board of directors at the National Bank of South Carolina and as a member of the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce.

Bishop James holds an honorary doctorate of humanities from Monrovia College in Liberia. James received the Order of the Palmetto in 2003 and the Leon A. Love Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Carolina African American Heritage Foundation and Columbia SC 63: Our Story Matters in 2020. James has been inducted into the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame and the Columbia Housing Authority Wall of Fame.

He lives in Columbia, South Carolina, where he resided with his late wife, Theressa Gregg James.

Bishop Philip Robert Cousin, Sr., the 96 th Elected and Consecrated Bishop and Retired Senior Bishop of African Methodism, Celebrated His 90 th Birthday Sunday, March 26, 2023.

Please send birthday greetings and expressions of love to:

Bishop Philip Robert Cousin, Sr.

1322 Rosemary Drive • Bolingbrook, Illinois 60490 • prc7696@aol.com

Bishop Philip Robert Cousin, Sr., was born on March 26, 1933, in Pittston, Pennsylvania, to Mary Lena (Johns) Cousin and the Reverend Sylvester Alvin Cousin. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in West Palm Beach, Florida. He went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and English from Central State University, in Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1953, his Master of Divinity from the Boston University School of Theology, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1956, and his Doctor of Ministry as a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow in Black Church Studies from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, in Rochester, New York, in 1975. He also studied at the Boston University School of Education (now Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development) and the Educational Administration Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

In 1956, he was assigned as pastor of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Danville, Virginia. In 1958, he was reassigned to Trinity AME Church in Norfolk, Virginia. He became president of Kittrell College, in Kittrell, North Carolina, in 1960, serving until 1965, when he became pastor of St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, North Carolina. In 1967, he established a curriculum for Black Church studies at Duke University Divinity School. He began lecturing at Southeastern Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was consecrated as the 96 th bishop of the AME Church in 1976, serving the Ninth, Eleventh,

First, and Fourth Episcopal districts until his retirement in 2008. In 1982, he was appointed first vice president of the National Council of Churches, becoming president the following year and serving until 1988, and reading the Protestant position paper at a 1987 meeting with Pope John Paul II. On November 4, 2008, he led the opening prayer for Barack Obama’s presidential election victory speech in Chicago, Illinois. He also has pastored Allen Temple AME Church in Riviera Beach, Florida.

Bishop Cousin has served as a second lieutenant, infantry (reserves) in the United State Armed Services; a delegate to the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois; a trustee of Lincoln Hospital in Durham, North Carolina; chairman of the Durham Human Relations Commission; and a member of the Durham County Board of Social Services and the Durham County Board of Education.

He has received honorary doctorates from Kittrell College and Payne Theological Seminary, in Wilberforce, Ohio, among other institutions. He also has received several honors and awards, including the Kellogg Fellowship in Junior College Administration and the Keeper of the Flame award. He has twice been named one of the “100 Most Influential Black Americans” by Ebony magazine.

Bishop Cousin and retired Supervisor Cousin, Margaret Joan (Grier) Cousin, live in Bolingbrook, Illinois. They have five sons: Philip, Jr., Steven, David, Michael, and Joseph, all of whom serve as ministers in the AME Church.

John Thomas III Is the 21 st Editor of The Christian Recorder—The Official Organ of the 2.5 Million-Member AME Church. He Is the First Layperson to Serve in This Role and the Youngest Elected General Officer in the History of the AME Church.

Announcing the graduation of John Thomas III, University of Chicago.

Convocation: Main Quadrangle – June 3, 2023, 9:15 a.m.

Doctor of Philosophy

Political Science

Well wishes can be sent to: PO Box 74, Whites Creek, TN 37189-0074 • JThomas3@uchicago.edu; PayPal: $jt3182; Zelle: jthomas3@uchicago.edu.

Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr., Pastor of Bethel AME Church Baton Rouge, to Receive the George H. Deer Distinguished Teaching Award f or

Outstanding Teaching

Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr., pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, will receive the George H. Deere Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching. The award will be given at a special ceremony on April 25, 2023, at The Lod Cooke Hotel on the Lousiana State University campus.

Dr. Kelly teaches in the Education Department in the African and African American Studies Department at Louisiana State University. Dr. Kelly is state champion in The Senior Games and a National Senior Games participant in swimming.

George H. Deer Distinguished Teaching Award: This award is made in memory of George H. Deer, Ph.D., former dean of University

College (1959-1966) and a distinguished faculty member of the College of Education for over 25 years (1940-1966). The purpose of the award is to recognize outstanding teaching at Louisiana State University.

2023 University Faculty Awards: Congratulatory messages can be emailed to: hkelly1@lsu.edu (Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr)

On behalf of Publications Commission chair Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., president/publisher of the AMEC Publishing House (Sund ay School Union) the Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, and editor of The Christian Recorder Dr. John Thomas III, we celebrate and applaud your achievements. “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NRSV)

To share or receive information about Connectional clergy family bereavements and congratulations, please contact the AME Church Clergy Family Information Center: Mrs. Ora L. Easley, administrator • 5981 Hitching Post Lane • Nashville, TN 37211 • 615.833.6936 (CFIC Offi ce) • amecfic.org • facebook.com/AMECFIC. ❏ ❏ ❏

Necrology

Listings

* Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font , General Of ficers; and Blue font , Connectional Officers.

Mrs. Lula Shaw Cleckley, the immediate past president of the Connectional Ministers’ Spouses, Widows, and Widowers Organization, Plus P.K.’S and life member of the Women’s Missionary Society

Brother Willie J. White, Sr., father of the Reverend Willie White, Jr., pastor of Johns Chapel AME Church in Enterprise, Alabama, in the Southeast Alabama Conference of the Ninth Episcopal District

Mother Lillian Canty died on her 85th birthday; she was the mother of the Reverend Vivian Canty, pastor of St. James AME Church, Dickson, Tennessee, Thirteenth Episcopal District

The Reverend Charles Cloy, itinerant elder in the New England Annual Conference of the First Episcopal District, the pastor of St. James AME Church in Danbury, Connecticut, and the husband of Mrs. Cherita Cloy

Deacon David “Junior” Myers, Jr., age 85, of Swansea, South Carolina, the brother in love/law of Bishop Harry L. and Episcopal supervisor Reverend Sherita Seawright

Mrs. Madge Daniels of Bermuda, the sister of Mrs. Vivienne Anderson, Episcopal supervisor retired, widow of the late Right Reverend Vinton R. Anderson

Sister Joan D. Gantt, of Norfolk, Virginia, the beloved sister of the Reverend Kevin Wilson, pastor of St. Paul AME Church, Winchester, Virginia, and sister-in-law to First Lady Priscilla Wilson; Portsmouth Richmond Roanoke District, Virginia Conference of the Second Episcopal District

The Reverend George W. Brown, Jr., retired itinerant elder; his last pastoral assignment was St. Luke (Sumter) African Methodist Episcopal Church, Sumter District, Northeast Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church

Brother Montraze Slater of Mobile, Alabama, the son of the Reverend Willie Burns, pastor of Greater Ruth AME Church in Mobile, Alabama, in the Southwest Alabama Conference of the Ninth Episcopal District

Dr. Elizabeth Dwomo Fokuo, the wife of Dr. Yaw Fokuo, presiding elder of the Ashanti District and pastor of the

April 2023

Episcopal Worship Centre, was the 14th Episcopal District president of the Women’s Missionary Society and also served on the Board of Trustees of the African Methodist Episcopal University

Mrs. Joe Ann Hoffman, the widow of the Reverend William Hoffman, who pastored in the Northwest Texas Conference, a WMS life member, and former Connectional PME director serving from 1991-1999

Dr. John Q. Owens, who served with distinction for many years as the director of the Commission on Social Action of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the spouse of Dr. Dorothy Owens, founding president of the Connectional Minister’s Spouses, Widows, and Widowers Organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Reverend Emmanuel Vaughn, Sr., spouse of the love of his life, Sister Mary Vaughn, served as pastor to five churches in the Fourth Episcopal District, Bethel AME, Seymore, Indiana, Spruce Street AME, Terre Haute, Indiana, Allen Chapel AME, Marion, Indiana, First AME, Gary, Indiana, and Grant Memorial AME,