: Missouri News
A.M.E. Church to hold convention in St. Louis
Apr 30, 2008, 08:12
Cheryl Wittenauer
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest predominantly black denomination in North America, will hold its convention here this summer despite boycott pleas by local black residents unhappy with the city's white mayor.
More than 40,000 delegates, church leaders and other A.M.E. visitors from around the world will meet to decide a high-profile church abuse case, discuss violence and poverty, and just maybe, hear from three presidential candidates.
The church, which claims 2 million members in three dozen countries in Africa, Europe, and more recently, Asia, meets every four years to enact laws, assign bishops, and review policies on social justice issues, said conference chair Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the A.M.E. Church's first female bishop.
"We'll be deliberating on things," she said.
City Hall couldn't be happier with the church's decision to hold its quadrennial event here July 3-11. Mayor Francis Slay, flanked by a dozen A.M.E. leaders at a news conference Tuesday to announce the convention, is the target of a recall effort by a group of black St. Louisans who also have waged a campaign to have conventions boycott the city.
They object to last year's dismissal of the city's first black fire chief, Sherman George.
Bishop John Richard Bryant, the host bishop whose district includes states west of the Mississippi River, said planners already had signed contracts committing the convention — and its estimated $30 million economic impact — to St. Louis before learning of the boycott.
Besides, "in speaking with the mayor and the council of local pastors who have worked with Mayor Slay in the past, we have no regrets," Bryant said.
"We see in St. Louis black business persons and a climate that allows this to take place. We'll bring millions to the community and the community will be better off for it."
Slay said hosting a convention of this size "shows what we're really about."
Bryant said he's invited all three presidential candidates — Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — though none has made a firm commitment to attend.
The convention agenda is still being developed, but several key issues are sure to dominate, including crime, poverty, the social crisis affecting black men and youth, and economic development, Bryant said.
"There'll also be an emphasis on get out to vote," he said.
The A.M.E. convention in St. Louis also will be the "final place of deliberation" for a pastor who Bryant defrocked after church investigative committees in St. Louis and Los Angeles accused him of child sexual abuse. Sylvester Laudermill won an appeal of a church ruling two years ago. A final decision on whether he may lead an A.M.E. church again will be made here in July.
The alleged 2004 St. Louis case is still open, but no charges have been filed, chief warrant officer Ed Postawko said.
While the A.M.E. Church is historically and predominantly black, Bryant said it has made inroads with whites and Hispanics in the U.S., and with India's Dalits, or "untouchables," societal pariahs who often are subjected to discrimination. He said 21 Christian congregations of Dalits in India are seeking to become part of the A.M.E. Church. Two delegates will represent them when their request is considered at the July convention.
"It's our first inroad into Asia," he said. "When they heard the story of the A.M.E. church, it resonated so much with their own experience." The women, especially, were moved when they learned the A.M.E. Church has women pastors, presiding elders and bishops, he said.
More than 40,000 delegates, church leaders and other A.M.E. visitors from around the world will meet to decide a high-profile church abuse case, discuss violence and poverty, and just maybe, hear from three presidential candidates.
The church, which claims 2 million members in three dozen countries in Africa, Europe, and more recently, Asia, meets every four years to enact laws, assign bishops, and review policies on social justice issues, said conference chair Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the A.M.E. Church's first female bishop.
"We'll be deliberating on things," she said.
City Hall couldn't be happier with the church's decision to hold its quadrennial event here July 3-11. Mayor Francis Slay, flanked by a dozen A.M.E. leaders at a news conference Tuesday to announce the convention, is the target of a recall effort by a group of black St. Louisans who also have waged a campaign to have conventions boycott the city.
They object to last year's dismissal of the city's first black fire chief, Sherman George.
Bishop John Richard Bryant, the host bishop whose district includes states west of the Mississippi River, said planners already had signed contracts committing the convention — and its estimated $30 million economic impact — to St. Louis before learning of the boycott.
Besides, "in speaking with the mayor and the council of local pastors who have worked with Mayor Slay in the past, we have no regrets," Bryant said.
"We see in St. Louis black business persons and a climate that allows this to take place. We'll bring millions to the community and the community will be better off for it."
Slay said hosting a convention of this size "shows what we're really about."
Bryant said he's invited all three presidential candidates — Sens. John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton — though none has made a firm commitment to attend.
The convention agenda is still being developed, but several key issues are sure to dominate, including crime, poverty, the social crisis affecting black men and youth, and economic development, Bryant said.
"There'll also be an emphasis on get out to vote," he said.
The A.M.E. convention in St. Louis also will be the "final place of deliberation" for a pastor who Bryant defrocked after church investigative committees in St. Louis and Los Angeles accused him of child sexual abuse. Sylvester Laudermill won an appeal of a church ruling two years ago. A final decision on whether he may lead an A.M.E. church again will be made here in July.
The alleged 2004 St. Louis case is still open, but no charges have been filed, chief warrant officer Ed Postawko said.
While the A.M.E. Church is historically and predominantly black, Bryant said it has made inroads with whites and Hispanics in the U.S., and with India's Dalits, or "untouchables," societal pariahs who often are subjected to discrimination. He said 21 Christian congregations of Dalits in India are seeking to become part of the A.M.E. Church. Two delegates will represent them when their request is considered at the July convention.
"It's our first inroad into Asia," he said. "When they heard the story of the A.M.E. church, it resonated so much with their own experience." The women, especially, were moved when they learned the A.M.E. Church has women pastors, presiding elders and bishops, he said.
