Paul A. Stewart, Sr. was born June 21, 1941, to Leroy and Bessie Agnew Stewart in Baldwyn, Mississippi, where he spent his childhood. [1] On July 1, 1998, he was elected the 50th Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.) Church at its Thirty-Third Quadrennial Session and the Thirty-Fourth General Conference. [1]
Baldwyn is a city located in Lee and Prentiss counties, Mississippi, located in the northern part of the Tupelo micropolitan area. The population was 3,297 at the 2010 census.
The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations to form the Methodist Church. In 1968, the Methodist Church merged with the Evangelical United Brethren Church to form the United Methodist Church.
Stewart attended Mississippi Industrial College, Holy Springs, Mississippi, and in 1961 obtained a Master of Divinity Degree from Phillips School of Theology of the Interdenominational Theological Center, and then in 1965 Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling, University of Mississippi. [1] In 1975 he graduated from the United States Military Academy for Chaplains, Staten Island, New York, and also 1975 received Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Training for Ministers, Fort Hood, Texas. In 1977 he attended training courses for ministering to cancer patients, University of Alabama. [1] In 1980 he received an honorary Doctorate of Divinity Degree from Reed School of Religion, Los Angeles, CA, and in 1996 the Doctorate of Humane Letters from Miles College, Birmingham, May, 2002. [2]
Mississippi Industrial College was a historically black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi. It was founded in 1905 by the Mississippi Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. After desegregation of community colleges in the mid-20th century, it had trouble competing and eventually closed in 1982. The campus was listed as a historic site on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and was acquired by Rust College in 2008.
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divinity schools. In many Christian denominations and in some other religions the degree is the standard prerequisite for ordination to the priesthood or pastorship or other appointment, ordination or licensing to professional ministry. At accredited seminaries in the United States this degree requires between 72 and 106 credit hours of study.
The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia. ITC is operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest free-standing African American theological school in the United States.
Stewart is married to the former M. Earline Gardner. [1] They have three children: Gloria Jean Stewart-Wicks, a teacher, Paul Jr., an Engineer, and Shinar LaDonna Stewart-Parnell, a teacher. [1] They have two grandchildren. [2]
Stewart was elected and consecrated bishop in 1998 at the 33rd Quadrennial Session and 34th General Conference. [1] He was assigned to the Fifth Episcopal District of Alabama and Florida. [3] In 2002 he was assigned to the Third Episcopal District: Southeast Missouri, Illinois & Wisconsin Region, the Michigan-Indiana Region and the Kansas-Missouri Region of churches in ten Midwestern states. [3] He is the Chaplaincy Endorsing Agent for the Church, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Phillips School of Theology, Atlanta, Vice Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Miles College, Birmingham, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Church Administration and Management. [1]
Miles College is a private historically black liberal arts college in Fairfield, Alabama. founded in 1898, it is associated with the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and a member of the United Negro College Fund.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church or AME, is a predominantly African-American Methodist denomination. It is the first independent Protestant denomination to be founded by black people. It was founded by the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists. It was among the first denominations in the United States to be founded on racial rather than theological distinctions and has persistently advocated for the civil and human rights of African Americans through social improvement, religious autonomy, and political engagement. Allen, a deacon in Methodist Episcopal Church, was consecrated its first bishop in 1816 by a conference of five churches from Philadelphia to Baltimore. The denomination then expanded west and south, particularly after the Civil War. By 1906, the AME had a membership of about 500,000, more than the combined total of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, making it the largest major African-American Methodist denomination. The AME currently has 20 districts, each with its own bishop: 13 are based in the United States, mostly in the South, while seven are based in Africa. The global membership of the AME is around 2.5 million and it remains one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world.
Marshall Gilmore, the 41st bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, was born in Hoffman, North Carolina, January 4, 1931. From infancy, his early Christian nurture was within the bosom of the Pleasant Hill CME Church family. Upon his hearing and answering the call to preach, his home church granted license on January 2, 1954 – two days short of his 23rd birthday. The North Carolina Annual Conference admitted him on trial in 1955, and in the same year, Bishop William Yancy Bell ordained him deacon. The following year Bishop Bell ordained him elder.
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