HU Ministers' Conference to Explore the Practice of Preaching

Hampton, VA - The 93rd Annual Hampton University Ministers' Conference and 73rd Annual Choir Directors' and Organists' Guild will be held on June 3-8 at Hampton University. The HU Ministers' Conference, which focuses on the tradition of worship in the African-American church, is the largest group of interdenominational African-American clergy that meet anywhere in the world.

This year marks the first conference where the Rev. Dr. William Curtis, senior pastor of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, Penn., will preside as conference president, replacing outgoing conference president Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook. Curtis is the youngest president in conference history.

Curtis announced that this year's conference theme will be "The Form and Shape of Preaching" and will focus on the various and diverse ways in which pastors and ministers approach the awesome task of gospel proclamation.

Providing peerless insight on this theme as the headliner for Dr. A. C. D. Vaughn, Sr. Statesmen's Hour will be Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, retired senior pastor of Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, N.Y. Known as one of the nation's most influential preachers, Taylor was a friend and mentor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s and in 2000 was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.

The Rev. Ralph West, senior pastor of Brookhollow Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, will serve as this year's keynote conference preacher. Other nationally acclaimed speakers for the conference include: Bishop Vashti McKenzie, presiding prelate of the 13th Episcopal District of the AME Church; Dr. Cleo LaRue, eminent professor of practical theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, N.J.; Pastor Jimmy Baldwin of Shiloh Christian Community Church in Baltimore, Md.; and Dr. Cheryl Sanders, noted professor at Howard University's School of Divinity and pastor of the Third Street Church of God in Washington, D.C. The conference will also feature the annual Women in Ministry luncheon.

The HU Ministers' Conference and Annual Choir Directors' and Organists' Guild is a great opportunity to enhance your ministry. The early registration deadline is April 13 and the pre-registration fee is $150. The onsite registration fee is $175. For information regarding registration, please call (757) 727-5367 or (757) 727-5681 or visit www.hamptonu.edu/minconf to download a registration form. For more information, please email ministersconference@hamptonu.edu.