Ellen Frazier, Metropolitan AME Church, Washington DC
On Saturday, March 10, 2018, the Potomac District (Washington Conference, Second Episcopal District) Church School Council hosted the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Timothy S. Hay Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund. The site was Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington, Maryland, where the Rev. Dr. Grainger Browning, Jr. is the senior pastor and Sister Cassandra Jordan is the host Church School Superintendent.
The theme for this celebration was “Living the Legacy.” The focus of the program was to honor the life and legacy of the late Brother Timothy S. Hay, who served as the Potomac District Church School Superintendent from 1980 until his death in 1994. The Scholarship Endowment was established the year prior to Brother Hay’s death (1993) by members of the Church School Council who wished to pay tribute to the man who had led the Council for more than a decade. Church School students throughout the Potomac District paid homage to the late Brother Hay by giving reflections of his life as a member of the US Armed Services, a husband, father, brother, public school educator, and as a Church School Superintendent, both at his local church of Seaton Memorial AME Church in Lanham, Maryland, and on the District level.
Several members of Brother Hay’s family were on hand for the event and were delighted and thrilled with the program and how Brother Hay’s life had been portrayed. His widow, Geraldine Hay, commented that she knew Tim was looking down from heaven and smiling.
Several of the participants on the program were former recipients of cash awards from the Fund. Over the 25-year history of the Fund, close to 100 scholars, who were members of one of the church schools in the Potomac District, have been recipients of cash awards. All former recipients were listed in the program.
In addition to the reflections of the life of Brother Hay, attendees also enjoyed a selection by the Youth Liturgical Dance Ministry of Ebenezer, a mime performance by the Seaton Memorial MIME Ministry, and several selections by the Timothy S. Hay Memorial Scholarship Choir. It was truly an afternoon of song, dance, praise, and worship.
Also attending the celebration was the Potomac District Presiding Elder, the Rev. Dr. Ronald Eugene Braxton. The Rev. Braxton gave thanks and praise to the Timothy S. Hay Memorial Fundraising Committee under the leadership of Sister Geneva P. Chadwick of Jerusalem AME Church in Clinton, Maryland. Other members of the Fundraising Committee include Sisters Cassandra Jordan, Ebenezer in Ft. Washington; Felecia Scott, Campbell in Washington, DC; Margaret Talbot, First AME Church in Alexandria, Virginia; and the Rev. Verna M. Young, Embry in College Park, Maryland.
The major highlight of the afternoon was the financial report. The event raised more than $10,000 in support of the Endowment. The 25th Anniversary Celebration demonstrated the Potomac District’s commitment to continuing the legacy of the late Brother Hay and continuing the investment in the future of the young scholars of the Potomac District.
The Potomac District Church School Council consists of Church School Superintendents and workers representing 42 AME churches in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The Council is currently under the leadership of Co-Superintendents Sister Teria Drayton of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC and Sister Glenda West of Greater Mt. Nebo AME Church in Bowie, Maryland.
