By Rev. TaShara Void, TCR Staff
One word that best describes the African Methodist Episcopal Church Growth and Development Seminar 2025 is intentionality. From hospitality, including transportation, food, and welcome, the Rev. Dr. Marcellus A. Norris fostered an environment that made you glad you came. The worship services served as the jolt of energy necessary to push the conference along. The Dean, Rev. Dr. Anton G. Elwood, introduced the theme for the year, stimulating our theological thought. He postered that “the most effective outreach starts with intentional in-reach,” inspiring us to ask, “what are we leaving for the next generation.” He called us to redefine who we consider hungry declaring that the hungry do not look like the traditional markers of hunger – signs, tattered clothes, homeless, etc. – but rather they look like the people within our churches, driving nice cars, etc. He closed his statement with a clarion call for all of us to “G.R.O.W. Together” – Gather, Reclaim, Outreach, and Win. Over the next couple days, workshop presenters from across the connection dived deeper into the each of these tenets, all dealing with some aspect of the book of Acts.
Pastor Jonathan Everett used the second chapter of Acts to unify our thought declaring, “if the problem is in the pew, the provisions are in the pew” reiterating the Dean’s point to look within before reaching out. Pastor Everett furthered his point by stating “ministry is driven by the needs of the people [and] if [we are] not meeting needs, [we] cease to be effective in ministry.” He concluded his session by asking “are you leading or responding?”
Bishop Ronnie E. Brailsford, Sr., alongside his daughter Veronica-Carol Brailsford, broke down the first tenet of our call, Gather. Following the theme of “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing,” refuting the notion that busyness equaled productivity. He outlined that gathering consisted of five movements – worship, glorification of God, soul winning, edification of saints in spiritual growth, and equipping of the saints to do the work of ministry, prompting us to go beyond a simple Sunday morning or Wednesday evening invitation. Quoting Bishop Reginald T. Jackson’s stance that “the church at its best is not the church gathered. It’s the church scattered,” inviting us to sit with the question “why is my church not growing?”
Veronica-Carol Brailsford broke down the identity, vocation, and concerns of millennials, those the church interchangeably refers to as young adults. She reiterated that millennials are not interested in what they can do in the future church, but are ready to serve now, “not because they have to, but because they want to.” Sharing some common values shared by this demographic – efficiency, productivity, accessibility, variety, progress, and truth – she warned against placing all millennials in a monolithic box, disregarding the skills, values, and education they bring to the table. She advised us to ask ourselves “is there space for [millennials in your church]?” before instructing us to “go get them.”
Newly elected Historiographer and Director of Research and Scholarship, Rev. Dr. Mark K. Tyler, took us on a historical journey of reclaiming our history through “Lessons on Evangelism from the Past: The Unlikely Story of How the 42nd Bishop led the 39th President to Christ in the Early 20th Century” using the eighth chapter of Acts. He shares the story of how the encounter and exchange of two unlikely people impacted their life and work, serving as a foundation for the men they grew into. Using this lesson, he encouraged us not to “let the tough times define when [we’re] going to do ministry,” move beyond what we physically see to engage people on a different level, and “don’t confuse our people with God’s people.”
Rev. Tony Lee explained outreach from the perspective of data collection. He celebrated AMEs for the outreach we do well, acknowledging that “food distribution was foundational to the early church,” expounded upon in Acts 6:1-7. He posits that “we don’t understand how well we do [outreach]… and let everyone talk about what’s wrong.” He affirmed that making a difference in our communities is in our fiber, and we need to “show people what we are doing to get funded.” He closed his session with a challenge to move from grants to opportunities, stating, “If we take care of people’s needs, it will bring us favor among the people.”
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia P. McDonald closed out the tenets by redefining what it means to win. W.I.N. is to have Worship that transforms, Intentional Discipleship, and Neighborly Love in Action. She pushed the conference to “see beyond numbers, as numbers show an increase in size but not development or transformation. Prioritize encounters with God over entertainment and focus on quality over quantity.” Taking a firm stance, she asked, “Can your community live with you?” If the answer is anything other than no, a reevaluation is needed to determine if we are winning. She left us to reflect on what we need to empty ourselves of, challenging us to tell the truth for “The truth dismantles our sense of power and control we think we have in the church.”
The Reverend Dr. Teresa Fry Brown closed out the sessions with a riveting presentation, asking us, “When did God abdicate the throne?” To grow, we must be honest about “our complicity in what is going on [and] take responsibility for what is happening to [us]… acknowledging the fear, worry, and waiting for God in this season.” We are not God; therefore, we cannot know for certain what will happen. The best we can do is “give [people] something to anchor themselves in to survive.” Before taking her seat, she prompted us to evaluate our integrity, transparency, community, and accountability.
The workshops concluded with an energetic second line led by the newly elected Bishop, the Right Rev. Erika Crawford, resulting in the salvation of three community members. Bishop Crawford sent us home with the command to “Keep It Moving” (Acts 14). People will try to stop the good work. “They will stone you. They will drag you outside the courts. They will give the benediction, shake the dust off your feet, and throw it in your face, [but] I don’t care what they do to you, keep it moving!”
Attending the AME Church Growth and Development Seminar 2025 was a resource well spent, as we left with not only tangible strategies to implement but also soul-searching questions to wrestle with, within ourselves and collectively as a church body. The question now is, are you ready to G.R.O.W. Together?
