HU Ministers' Conference to Focus on Celebration and Consecration

Hampton, VA - The 92nd Annual Hampton University Ministers' Conference and 72nd Annual Choir Directors' and Organists' Guild will be held on June 4-10 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.

Conference president, Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, announced that this year's conference theme will be "A Call to Celebration and Consecration."  The conference will focus on the various and diverse ways in which pastors and ministers celebrate and consecrate their ministries.

Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, senior pastor of Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, Calif., will serve as this year's conference preacher.  Other nationally acclaimed speakers for the conference include: Bishop Ernestine Reems Dickerson, pastor and founder of the Center for Home Community Church in Oakland, Calif.; Dr. William Epps, senior pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Calif., and editor of the National Baptist Voice; Pastor Rita Twiggs, director of discipleship at The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas; and Bishop Violet Fisher, pioneering female bishop in the United Methodist Church.

This year's conference will also mark Cook's fourth and final year as Ministers' Conference president.  Cook is the first female president in conference history.  She recently gave the opening prayer at Coretta Scott King's funeral on Feb. 7 at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.  King, who attended the conference in 2003, was Cook's godmother.

"This year's conference is important to ministers because it centers on two often neglected aspects of contemporary ministry.  This year's emphasis on celebration also coincides with Dr. Cook's 25th anniversary in the gospel ministry.  It is important that ministers lead the charge to consecrate their ministries to model the importance of the sacred in an increasingly secular, humanistic world," said Rev. Dr. Timothy Boddie, HU chaplain and executive secretary of the Ministers' Conference.

Another notable feature will be the father-son team of Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., and his son, Rev. Otis Moss, III, addressing the question, "Can the Moses and Joshua generations meet?" The conference will also include a panel to discuss women in ministry.

The HU Ministers' Conference is a great opportunity to enhance your ministry.  The early registration deadline is April 15 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.