A Reflection from CONVO XI
Dr. Brandon A. A. J. Davis, Contributing Columnist
Attending CONVO XI was an experience and privilege I’ve yet to enjoy before. It was a new learning experience to see the connectional work preparing the laity and clergy for the pending and forthcoming legislation to be presented at the General Conference in August 2024. CONVO XI was called to order with a devotion period led by Presiding Elder LaCretta Rutledge Clark, Ph.D., Presiding Elder of the Cleveland District (North Ohio Annual Conference), and several pastors. The devotional message was preached by the Rev. Roderic K. Reed (Lee Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, Cleveland, Ohio). His message “Put Some Respect on that Name” sparked the people’s interest and responses as he articulated not just the supremacy of the name Jesus Christ but what that name means to the people of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and beyond. With energy and homiletical fervor, the Rev. Roderick Reed opened CONVO XI by invoking the name Jesus Christ as we deliberated the church’s and ministry’s work.
Following a rousing devotion, Bishop Michael Leon Mitchell (12th ED) and Bishop Elizabeth Anne Henning Byfield (13th ED) gave felicitations and welcome on behalf of the council, established protocol, and Bishop Byfield called the roll of members of the connectional Church that were present for CONVO XI. Following Bishop Byfield, we were further greeted and welcomed by the host Bishop of the Third Episcopal District, Bishop Erroneous Earl McCloud, Jr., along with the pastors and laity of the 3rd District who were excited to have the connectional Church present in “The Arch City.”
Additional greetings came from the 53rd Mayor of the City of Columbus, Mayor Andrew Ginther, who was eloquently presented by Judge Derek H. Anderson, Secretary of the Judicial Council of the AME Church and the Assistant Director of Equitable Contracting and Engagement for the City of Columbus, Ohio. Mayor Ginther praised the African Methodist Episcopal Church for its centuries-old commitment to serving and meeting the needs of people and not just the members of our Church. He thanked the AME Church for choosing the 12th largest City in the United States to hold its 52nd Quadrennial Session of the General Conference at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Following Mayor Ginther, Senior Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, Jr. (10th ED) delivered a profound and timely message to the connectional Church. He reminded the people of our response to God in times of difficulty and uncertainty and how, above all else, we were to remain a people of hope.
While various sessions took place throughout the Hilton Convention Center, I was privy to two sessions: Oversight and Accountability and Ministry and Order. Oversight and Accountability moderators were Bishop Reginald Thomas Jackson (6th ED) and Bishop Ronnie Elijah Brailsford (19th ED). The Respondents were Dr. Alphonse Allen, Jr (Allen Temple AMEC, Cincinnati, Ohio), Sis. Cynthia Gordon-Floyd (CPA, CFE, Willing Steward Ministries, LLC) and General Officer Marcus Henderson (CFO, AME Church).
Much of the commentary centered around the need for severe measures to be enacted regarding oversight of the process and procedures of the Church, the need for a general inspector for the denomination, and for stricter enforcement of celebrated and notarized financial protocols as instituted in various corporate entities. Bishop James Levert Davis (2nd ED) stirred the crowd as she fervently admonished the Church that you cannot legislate integrity, to which Bishop Jackson echoed, “You get what you elect.”
Ministry and Order were moderated by Senior Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister (1st ED), and Bishop Michael Leon Mitchell. The Respondents were Dr. Toni Belin-Ingram (Presiding Elder North Augusta District, Augusta, Georgia) and Dr. Keith Mayes (Vernon AMEC, Tulsa, Oklahoma). Their conversation centered on matters of change for the instruction of ministers, educational requirements for persons seeking ordination, professional counseling services for pastors, getting rid of the Ministerial Efficiency Committee, and the prohibition for pastors to be allowed to marry same-sex couples in the AME Church without penalty of loss of ordination and license to preach.
The closing and final day was opened with a devotion led by Dr. James Henderson Harris, Sr., Presiding Elder of the Southwestern Pennsylvania District (Pittsburgh-West Virginia Annual Conference), and I preached the devotional message. Philippians 3:8 reminds you and me of the worth of choosing Jesus and what we gain when we abandon everything else. As I preached “What’s in a Choice,”I reminded the connectional Church that while choosing what makes sense to you is your prerogative, allow others the same grace to choose what works for them.
Ultimately, as the AME Church continues to choose Jesus, we essentially choose peace. As we prepare for the General Conference next summer, I hope we will choose to love each other, supervise the much-needed work of the AME Church, and choose peace instead of chaos and social and spiritual violence. After all, in the words of the Senior Bishop, Bishop Adam Richardson, “I still have my Hope.” Amen.
