department of christian education
The role of the Department of Christian Education in the African Methodist Episcopal Church is vast and requires a host of laypersons and ministers and other church workers and volunteers doing a wide variety of things to continually build Christian education throughout the Church. There are certain aspects of the department's role which impact all churches, as spelled out in The Book of Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and these are very simply and clearly stated:
- The Department of Christian Education shall develop a comprehensive and unified program of Christian Education which shall lead to a knowledge of the holy Scriptures, the Christian Religion, and the Christian Church, and an implementation these values in daily living.
- The Department shall provide source materials for all the educational work of the Church, and shall provide for developing standards and preparing programs and offering techniques of Christian Education in the local and general church in accordance with the provisions set forth in the A.M.E. Discipline.
- In cooperation with the Department of Publication, the Department shall have general oversight of the Sunday schools of the A.M.E. Church. They shall also seek ways and means of promoting the attendance of children, youth and adults in all church school organization.1
Developing, conducting and/or providing training opportunities for pastors, teachers, church officers, and other leaders in the church should also be included among the very vital aspects of the role of the Department of Christian Education.
The work of the Department of Christian Education is work which seeks to contribute to the welfare of the children of God, which in the spirit of our Lord seeks to serve the purpose of God. Whether or not work is Christian, derives not entirely from what is done, but why and how it is done. In Christian Education activities and services, what happens to people is of great importance.
1 The Book of Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Forty-third Edition (AMEC Sunday School Union, Nashville, TN 1988), 159.
THE FIRST EPISCOPAL DISTRICT
The Division of Christian Education
Rev. Dr. James E. Deas, Sr., D.Min., Executive Director
396 Elmwood Avenue
East Orange, New Jersey 07018
Home : (973) 673-2484
Rev. Jay Broadnax, Chairman
Rev. Dr. Earl R. Jefferson, D.Min., Consultant
2229 North 53rd Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131
Home: (215) 477-0108
Directors |
Chairpersons |
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| BERMUDA Rev. Maureen Clemendor Jolly Cottage 12 Bourne Drive North Shore St. George, Bermuda Home: (441) 297-3467 |
Rev. June Ann Furbert 39 Old Road Shelly Bay Hamilton Parrish, Bermuda |
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| NEW JERSEY Mrs. Ellen Miller 19 Karen Street Kendall Park, NJ 08824 Home: (732) 297-6080 |
Rev. Dennis Hughes 320 S. Harrison St. Apt #9N East Orange, NJ 07018 Home: (973) 266-9538 |
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| DELAWARE Rev. Frances Benson 142 Milby Street Harrington, DE 19952 Home: (302) 398-8561 |
Sister Doris Palmer 553 Plymouth Road Felton, DE 19943 Home: (302) 248-9542 |
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| NEW YORK Mrs. Joyce Washington 1455 Allerton Avenue Bronx, NY 10469 Home: (718) 547-8947 |
Rev. Paul Owings 629 Lenox Road Baldwin, NY 11510 Home: (516) 377-0377 |
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| NEW ENGLAND Ms. Glorine Townsend 65 Lincoln Avenue Extension Norwalk, CT 06854 Home: (203) 853-1186 |
Rev. Donald Tucker 50 Grumman Avenue Norwalk, CT 068512 Home: (203) 847-3299 |
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| PHILADELPHIA Miss Fannie L. Sherrod 2000 S. 58th Street Presbyterian Apartments Ann Thomas Apt. #503 Home: (215) 729-4332 |
Rev. Gerald Hesson 778 Providence Road Apt. #109 Aldan, PA 19018 Home: (610) 394-0906 |
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| WESTERN NEW YORK Mr. Charles Rogers 14 Gaslight Drive Albany, NY 12205 Home: (518) 869-3817 |
Rev. Jocelyn Hart 1228 Calumet Avenue Niagara Falls, NY 14305 Home: (716) 285-5924 |
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