My aspiration for 2016 is the office of Bishop in our great Church. My goal is to ignite the passion and rekindle the fire and desire of laity and clergy. As a body, we have a responsibility to all who belong to the family of believers. We have individual members, as well as myriad churches, who would benefit from the collective power inherent in our Connectional bonds. It is essential that we take advantage of every opportunity to do good. As your Bishop, my servant leadership will serve as a model for building responsible, caring communities.

As we channel the spirit of the original Free African Society, out of which the AME Church evolved, we must take seriously our call to minister to the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional, and environmental needs of all people by spreading Christ’s liberating gospel through word and deed. At every level of the Connection and in every local church, we will seek out and save the lost, and serve the needy through a continuing program of (1) preaching the gospel, (2) feeding the hungry, (3) clothing the naked, (4) housing the homeless, (5) cheering the fallen, (6) providing jobs for the jobless, (7) administering to the needs of those in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, asylums and mental institutions, senior citizens’ homes; caring for the sick, the shut-in, the mentally and socially disturbed, and (8) encouraging thrift and economic development.

This is an exciting time in the life of our Church. This is not the time to give up; this is the time to effect change. We have the opportunity and the responsibility to elect persons to the Episcopacy who are committed to fostering growth, development, and empowerment at all levels of the Connectional Church. We must choose leaders who are both compassionate and competent. I am committed to that goal, what about you?