Well, I will probably make some "enemies" and hurt the feelings of some thin-skinned members but here are my top three candidates for the Bishoprick in 2004:

1. Kenneth Hill

2. Sarah Davis

3. Jeffrey Leath

If we elect two (2) African candidates that will leave three vacancies for the Bench. Gen Con 2004 should be quite interesting. QED

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2003

Answers

Bro. Bill, I know nos. 1 and 3; who is Sarah Davis?

And do you have any candidates (yourself included?) for Ken's current position?

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2003

Dear Professor The Parson from Bermuda agrees with number 1 although I am not sure of his pulpit experience. A good choice however. I do not know Rev. Davis but was impressed with her presentation at the General Board meeting last year. I don't think she will garner enough support to make it in. I believe she is a serious contender and worthy of consideration.Rev. Leath is someone I know and admire.Although the Pastor of Mother Bethel (the home of the AME Church)I see him close but not quite cigars.

I commend your approach to this subject. I believe we should elect three or four from outside the United States (for obvious reasons) and not make the condition mandatory to just Africa. The Bishop of the 13th District is held in high regard and he is from the 16th Episcopal District.

Well done my brother, God Bless You

-- Anonymous, February 27, 2003

I think Carolyn Tyler Guidry is much better known and financed than Sarah Davis and I wonder if Kenneth Hill has the pastoral experience to really do this job. He only served relatively small charges before his elevation. What about Albert Tyson? Alvan Williams or George Lovelace Champion?

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2003

Brother Gibson Very Good points I believe Presiding Elder Guidry is better known but may not be able to serve more than 2 General Conferences. With the massive increase in retired bishops and the addition of the newly elected. I believe that there may be a bias towards younger candidates. The Rev. Dr. Alvan Nathanial Johnson is a candidate of high credentials. A great preacher and teacher with years of pulpit experience. He has been responsible for encouraging many into the Ministry. The Rev. Dr. George Champion is also a well known General Officer and fine administrator of his department.

Very good points and suggestions. I hope others will follow with their ideas.

-- Anonymous, February 28, 2003

Praise the Lord broter QED. I always appreciate anad take keen interest to follow your analyses of issues pertaining to our great zion. Most of them if not all make alot of sense.

I know Kenneth Hill very well as he has been supplying to me the Journal of Christian Education for some time now.H e has a heart for global mission and i am supporting him in prayer from Zambia Africa.

Sara Davies seems to be the candidate of the moment from the talented tenth.I have isited her web site and it is excellent. I am also praying for her dreams to come true in the year 2004.

I am yet to know something about Jeffrey Leath and as soon as i his profile, i will not hesitate to make a comment on him.I bet he is one of the right candidates.

I wish to let you know that the campaign for African candidates especially for Rev N Jordan Mkwanazi has reached fever heat.He is our most prefered candidate here in the "Sensational" Seventeenth Episcopal district.

I am just getting concerned with some info from the AJC privilged officers who would like to bar African candidates who are not resident in Africa. I don't know what your comment on this matter is.Has the AME Church from 1787 ever discriminated anyone based on his place and or country of resident.In all fairness, African candidates who have interacted well with the mother church (US) are capable of bridging the gap once elected.I am praying for God's will to prevail.I solicit for your Godly insight.

-- Anonymous, March 01, 2003

Just a couple of quick comments:

• The issue of expense for retired bishops should be somewhat mitigated with the change in legislation in 2000. Bishops elected from that time on will < I>not retire with "half episcopal salary", but will have their retirement based onthe 403(b) contributions the church makes to their retirement accounts. While I don't have the figures handy, it seems to be in a much smaller neighborhood, and 5% per year seems to come to mind. This smaller, annual carrying of benefits means that a short-term bishop will not be a heavy tax in retirement to the church the way the present arrangement is.
• Dr. Sarah Frances Davis is the Standard Bearer for Episcopal honors from the Tenth District (Texas), and has the unanimous support of the district behind her. A relative newcomer to the political scene, Dr. Davis nevertheless has had connectional visibility, having served as the connectional prayer ministry coordinator in the former Department of Worship and Evangelism, and having preached at the General Conference (2000, I believe). See her web site, mentioned by Rev. Mwandu, for more background and insight into Texas's choice.
• Dr. Alvan Johnson, a grandson of Bishop Johnson, is an excellent pulpiteer indeed. Having always enjoyed his command of the language in the 30 years of our acquaintance, I was especially intrigued by a sermon he preached in 1999: "Word for Windows." Only an Alvan Johnson... :-). See His web site for more details on this veteran servant of the church.
• I regret that I did not get to talk with Rev. Mkwanazi during the just-concluded Founder's Day celebration, but keep an ear-out for news from Rev. Mwandu on the progress of his campaign.
• I can assure you that Dr. Jeffrey Leath is well-trained, and well- prepared. A graduate of the Yale School of Divinity, Dr. Leath has pastored for over twenty years in the New England Conference and the Philadelphia Conference. The work he is doing at Mother Bethel is most befitting of our leading pulpit.
• As you know, I do try to maintain a List of Episcopal Candidates on-line. For the last year I have been seeking the birthdays of the candidates so that you, the readers, may have a sense of the age issue, and how long each candidate would serve, if elected. Any encouragement you can give them to share that data would be appreciated. I have been encouraged by those who have found the site, and have forwarded their data to me directly. The table includes links to any known web-sites for the candidates, in additions to the ones given above, so you may want to take a moment to visit it and use it as a dispatch point for your investigation of those seeking Episcopal Honors.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2003

Jerryl, thanks for your hard work. I would like to lift up Dr. Dennis Dickerson (Ph.D) our church historiographer. For he too is running and I believe has a lot to offer our Zion. Jerryl to you have a bio or info on Dr. Dickerson? Thanks!!

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2003

Taken from the AME Church Review , June 2001:

Dennis C. Dickerson, General Officer in the AME Church and Executive Director of the Department of Research & Scholarship, where he serves as the 13th Historiographer and the 13th Editor of the AME Church Review; Professor of History anbd faculty member in the Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University. BA, Lincoln University (Pennsylvania); MA, PhD, Washington University; additional study, Hartford Seminary. He served as pastor to three congregations in Massachusetts, New York, and Tennessee. He taught as the tenured Stanfield Professor of History at Williams College and at Rhodes College as First Tennessee Professor; he has been a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School and Payne Theological Seminary. He has written Out of the Crucible: Black Steelworkers in Western Pennsylvania, 1875-1980 (1986); Religion, Race, and Region: Research Notes on AME Church History, (1995); and Militant Mediator: Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1998). His several articles have appeared in Church History, Journal of Presbyterian History, Methodist History, Journal of Unitarian Universalist, Church History, and numerous anthologies. He was elected and reelected by the General Conferences of 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2003

Thank you so much Jerryl!! I do believe Dr. Dickerson would make a great Bishop!!

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2003

Here are three persons to be considered: 1) James Davis, pastor of Big Bethel in Atlanta; 2) Ricky Spain, Editor of the Christian Recorder; 3) Thom Brown (He is in line to receive the sympathy vote). A few of the honorable mentions would be Sam Green in Orlando, Leroy Attles and Earl McCloud.

-- Anonymous, March 02, 2003

The Dennis Dickerson bio that was quoted only makes me believe he is emimently qualified for his current position. We need bishops who understand what it means to lead congregations of all sizes in a variety of settings. I would hope we would have more bishops who have truly come out of the pulpit rather than the general offices of the church.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2003

Well, let me add that there will not be a dearth of quality candidates seeking the Bishoprick in 2004. The difficult task which I don't duck is an attempt to come up with a top three list. Exercises such as this are always fraught with controversy and speculation. Nonetheless, they are helpful in sorting through the thicket of eligibles. Let me address my good friend Larry Clark's observation about the implication of Kenneth Hill vacating his General Offficer duties as Director of Christian Education. This would indeed create a void but I would like to think there are some worthy candidates who combine outstanding theological scholarship and pastoral experience needed to execute the duties as Christian Ed Director for our Connection. As I am indeed humbled and flattered at my name as a coandidate, trust me I'm not in the first or second tier of deserving nominees :-) Secondly, I do believe that age may create a problem for some of our more senior candidates. While age discrimination should not enter the equation in deciding the "fitness to serve" we all know that voters tend to be forward-looking. Older candidates are at somewhat of a disadvantage simply because the actuarial computations for retirement are not in their favor (they will retire earlier). Finally, many thanks to J. Payne for producing a compact c.v. for several of the candidates. I would like to focus briefly on Dr. Dickerson. When the General Conference decided to combine the offices of the Historiographer and the Editor of the AME Review this consolidation elevated the status of Dennis Dickerson. I was personally oppossed to the merger because the duties of both professionals are not as overlapping as the merger proponents suggested. Furthermore, my first mentor in African Methodism (mid-80s) and past editor of the AME Review, Paulette Coleman, retired much too early. Dennis Dickerson's qualifications are impeccable. I have no doubt he would make a terrific Bishop, if elected. My concerns however are two-fold. First, has Dr. Dickerson indicated that he will terminate his tenured position at Vandy and devote his work exclusively to the duties and responsibilities as an AME Bishop? Severing tenured positions at elite institutions like Vandy are hard. Furthermore, it is difficult to execute the duties of the Bishop and maintain teaching and research duties at a university. Professorial "moonlighting" will result in some key constituent (AME Church or Grad Student) being slightly short-changed. Second, the position of Church Historian (Why do we use the awkward 6 syllable term Historiographer?) should always be filled by someone who is a trained and published historian like Dickerson. Interests should match qualifications. Who has expressed an interest to fill this position? I would feel a lot more comfortable with Dickerson remaining as Church Historian/Editor & tenured Professor @ Vandy. We can maintain continuity and a standard of excellence in history and editorship of the AME Review. Have I just imposed a glass ceiling? Maybe. If we had a candidates forum perhaps some of my questions can be addressed and concerns removed. QED

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2003

I think Dr. Dickerson would make an excellent Bishop! He has the pastoral experience plus he truly knows the history and strength of our denomination. Being a Bishop also means interacting ecumenically with other denominations, it means having a grasp of what is happening in the world. It also means being able to articulate the mission and assets of the A.M.E Church. Who better than Dr. Dickerson. One of the areas that all of us, pastor, laity and Bishops have to take very seriously is EVANGELISM our great zion must grow. We will need leaders who have a vision for evangelism. One of Dr. Dickerson's specialty is the "Black Church" not only does he teach on that subject but he walks the walk. I do hope we will have a variety of Bishops, with different strengths, that when combined will make our denomination even greater. Please do not rule out Dr. Dickerson because he is a professor at Vanderbilt, I would hope we would embrace someone with these special gifts into the Bishoporic. I do not have a top three list. But my two favorites are Presiding Elder Carolyn Guidry who is without a doubt the most compassionate minister I have met in my life. Her love of the church does not extend only to her conference but to all who ask her help. I know personally before I officially came into this denomination. Presiding Elder Guidry offered me support and encouragement and she did not even know me. I met her at my annual conference in 2001 and she is an awesome woman of God! And boy she can preach!!!!!! Dr. Dickerson also has so much to offer and I pray that we do not let someone of his talent and experience stay only as a general officer. But we need him as a Bishop. In terms of what his plans are regarding Vanderbilt. We just need to ask. He can be contacted by going to the Vanderbilt University web page.

-- Anonymous, March 03, 2003

In response to Rev. Moore's comment about Rev. Eugene McDuffy, I must agree with him that he is an extraordinary candidate from the 1st District. I have been to his church and I have seen the plans for the new church and they are outstanding. I had the privilege to attend one of his services and let me tell you, the place was jampacked with seats down the aisles and the place was rocking. He currently has two services and is ready to expand to three services until the new church is built in October 2003. In short, "Don't sleep on Rev. Eugene McDuffy, Pastor of St. Paul AME Church, Philadelphia, PA."

-- Anonymous, March 04, 2003

I think that the top three candidates for bishop are 1)Carolyn Tyler- Guidry, 2) Dennis Dickerson, & 3) Wesley Reid.

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2003

Mr. Anderson,

Bishop Williams was duly elected and consecrated the 119th Bishop in 2000 A.D. He now is Presiding Bishop of the Seventeenth Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2003

Brother Anderson,

Since the e-mail address you used here has some flaw, it is impossible for me to respond to you direct.

Bishop Preston Warren Williams II was pastor of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church, which is not only in my Annual Conference but on my Presiding Elder District as well. I was present not only at his election during General Conference 2000 in Cincinnati, OH but at his consecration as well.

If you will go to the to the link of Active Bishops under the ABCs of of the AMEC, on this very AME-Today website, you will find his picture and the District over which he presides--the 17th Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church.

The A.M.E. Discipline or any other Official A.M.E. website or publication will also bear me out.

-- Anonymous, March 10, 2003

Brother Anderson: Two things are certain in my mind.

A. You are not referring to Bishop Preston Williams.

B. You are not well-connected to a local AMEC or the Connection.

As Bob Matthews correctly notes, Preston Williams ran and won the office for Bishop at the General Conference in 2000 along with Bishops Norris, MacKenzie and Ingrahm. Now perhaps there is another AME minister named Preston Williams and this may be the source of the confusion. But, in the absence of another Preston Williams, I, like Matthews and countless others know beyond doubt that Preston Williams is already a Bishop in the AMEC. I understand that sometimes information is slow in dissemination. But, despite the problems we AMEs have in relaying timely and updated info, the AMEC does a terrifc job, if nothing else, in publicizing information about her Bishops. QED

-- Anonymous, March 11, 2003

Rev. Moore God has indeed answered your prayers that Bishop Preston Williams be elected as Bishop. He was in 2004 one of our board members Rev. Mwandu in Zambia has him as Bishop. Below is an article from Wesley Seminary alumni news as they speak of the Bishoporic of Dr. Preston Williams. Rhis piece is from 2000. Feel free to contact Wesley Seminary for more proof though many of our ame web pages have him listed correctly as Bishop of the 17th district.

Two Wesley Graduates Elected Bishops

Two Wesley graduates were elected Bishops in their respective denominations this July during Jurisdictional Conference season. Warner H. Brown, Jr., a 1974 M.Div. graduate, was elected a Bishop in the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Rev. Brown most recently had been the Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Bakersfield, CA. A native of Baltimore, MD, he will serve his first term as Bishop in the Denver Area. Bishop Brown received the Society of John Wesley Award from Wesley Seminary in 1991.

Preston Williams, a 2000 D.Min. graduate, became a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church this July. Rev. Williams has been serving the Allen Temple AME Church in Atlanta and completed his D.Min. Project Thesis on "Evangelism and Worship in the African Methodist Episcopal Church: From Modernity to Post-Modernity." He has been assigned to an episcopacy district in Africa, including the Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Bishop Williams will be moving to Africa in September.

In addition to Rev. Brown and Rev. Williams, five other United Methodist Wesley graduates were endorsed for the elections, including Lew Parks in the Northeastern Jurisdiction. Dr. Parks is the Associate Dean for Church Leadership Development at Wesley in addition to being a Wesley graduate. He received the second highest amount of votes out of the twelve who had been endorsed. Other Wesley graduates endorsed in the Northeastern Jurisdiction were: Galen L. Goodwin, M.Div. '70; Jeffrey Greenway, D.Min. '99; Eugene Matthews, M.Div. '78; and Marcus Matthews, M.Div. '74.

For additional information on Graduate News: Ann Keeler Office of Institutional Advancement 202-885-8632 or 1-800-882-4987 x3 graduates@wesleysem.edu http://www.wesleysem.edu

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2003

Oops the above line should say the Bishop was elected in 2000. Sorry.

-- Anonymous, March 12, 2003

my top three are:

1. Frank Reid

2. thomas brown

3 R.J. king

-- Anonymous, April 13, 2003

Is it true that Frank Reid is running for bishop in 2004?

-- Anonymous, April 30, 2003

I have been informed that Dr. Frank M. Reid, III, Pastor of Bethel, Baltimore is officially running for the office of Bishop in our Zion.

-- Anonymous, May 01, 2003