AME Church Publishing House Holds Virtual Groundbreaking
TCR Staff Report
On June 1, the AME Church Publishing House, led by the Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, its President/Publisher, held a virtual groundbreaking formally launching the construction of the new facility at 900 13th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee. The previous site at 500 8th Avenue South was sold in 2018. The new site was identified in 2019 and after several months of negotiations with city officials to navigate the permit process, clearance was finally given for the project to begin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the customary groundbreaking was adapted virtually with the participants sending in videos that were put together by the Publishing House staff.
The program was presided over by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the chair of the Publications Commission of the General Board. The invocation was given by Senior Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Jr. and the ascription of praise by Retired Bishop Henry A. Belin, Jr., the father of the current publisher and the 6th Publisher of the AME Church. The opening hymn was “O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing” was recorded by the Rev. Roderick Belin. Scripture readings were read by General Officers Dr. Richard A. Lewis, the Church’s Treasurer/CFO, and Mr. John Thomas, III, the editor of The Christian Recorder.
Community and ecumenical greetings were given by Mr. Ben Mosely, T.W. Frierson Construction, Inc.; Dr. Derrick Jackson, National Baptist Convention Sunday School Publishing Board; the Rev. Brian Milford, United Methodist Publishing House; and Mr. Herbert Watkins, AME Zion Headquarters/Publishing House. Greetings from the Connectional AME Church were also received from Bishop Harry L. Seawright, the president of the Council of Bishops; the Rev. Dr. Jeffery B. Cooper, General Secretary/CIO and president of the General Officers Council; Dr. Deborah Taylor-King, the president of the Women’s Missionary Society; Mr. Matikane Abednego Makiti, the president of the Connectional Lay Organization; the Rev. Dr. Erika D. Crawford, the president of the Connectional Women in Ministry; and Mr. Richard Franklin Norris, III, the president of the Connectional Young People’s Division of the WMS.
Mrs. L’Tanya Moore-Copeland, the minister of music for St. Phillip AME Church in Atlanta, rendered a solo, “I Speak Life.” Several bishops prayed for the construction project, including Bishop Jeffery Leath; Bishop McKenzie; and Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram, the president of the General Board and the chair of the Board of Trustees for the AME Church. A responsive reading from Psalm 24 was read by the Rev. Dr. Teresa Fry Brown, Historiographer and the executive director for the Department of Research and Scholarship; and the Rev. Garland Pierce, the executive director of the Department of Christian Education.
After completing the liturgy, the video of the actual groundbreaking with Dr. Belin, Mr. Lewis, the Rev. Pierce, and Mr. Frierson, using ceremonial shovels, proclaimed, “In the name of God the Creator, Christ, and Holy Ghost, we break this ground!” Dr. Belin gave brief remarks immediately after the groundbreaking, extending thanks and recognizing various persons for their participation in the construction process.
The Rev. Dr. Cecilia Williams Bryant, the retired senior Episcopal Supervisor, offered a powerful intercession for the building project. Afterward, Dr. Belin gave a formal address outlining the significance of the occasion and the outline for the building project. He stated, “The new AME [Church] Sunday School building is the determination of our denomination that we are neither surrendering or conforming to this age. We are building for the future.”
The closing prayer was offered by the Rev. Dr. Elaine M. Flake, the executive pastor of Greater Allen Cathedral AME Church in New York. The benediction was given by the Rev. Henry A. Belin, III, the vice-chair of the General Board and the publisher’s brother. The ceremony closed with videos of various Publishing House staff and their family members using ceremonial shovels to break ground with “My Hope Is Built” sung by Dr. Belin playing in the background.
