HU MINISTERS' CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE OF MINISTERS
First female president of the conference to address attendees

Hampton, VA - Ministers from around the nation will converge at Hampton University on June 2-7 to discuss for the 89th annual Ministers' Conference.

The theme for this year's conference is "Making the Connection: The Contemplative Life of the Minister." The conference will address the role of private and personal reflection with God in preparation for ministry. The conference topics are Deepening the Contemplative Life, Manifestations of a Contemplative Life and Praxis of a Contemplative Life.

The first female president of the Ministers’ Conference, Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook, senior pastor of the Bronx Christian Fellowship, will address the attendees at the conference’s opening session on June 2 at 7 p.m. at the Hampton University Convocation Center. Special guests including human rights advocate Coretta Scott King, Presidential candidate Carol Mosely-Braun and Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women, will be at the opening session to hear Cook’s historic address.

The Ministers' Conference is held in conjunction with the 69th Annual Choir Directors' - Organists' Guild Workshop. The Charles H. Flax Memorial Concert will be held at Hampton University Convocation Center on June 5 at 7:30 p.m. Under the direction of Royzell Dillard and James Abbington, the choir will present a wide variety of sacred music.

Other leading presenters at the conference include Dr. William Watley of Newark, N.J.; Bishop Donald Hillard of Perth Amboy, N.J.; the Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, the Rev. W. Darin Moore, Bishop Ernestine Reems and Dr. Joan Parrot.

The HU Ministers' Conference, which focuses on the tradition of worship in the African-American church, is believed to be the largest group of interdenominational African-American clergy that meets anywhere in the world. The Ministers Conference began in 1914 for leaders in the black community to gather for a week of reflection and theology in an interdenominational setting.

The first small group of ministers, teachers and farmers met in the Memorial Chapel, but when attendance grew to nearly 900 in 1976, conference meetings were moved to Ogden Hall. Participation in recent years has again more than doubled, forcing conference planners to relocate again to the Convocation Center, completed in 1993. In fact, Ministers' Conference attendees raised more than $2 million towards the arena's construction. Current attendance is approximately 7,000.

On-site registration is $150 per person for the weeklong conference. The opening session and the Charles H. Flax Memorial Concert are free and open to the public. For registration information, call (757) 727-5367, send e-mail to ministersconference@hamptonu.edu or visit the Hampton University web site at www.hamptonu.edu and click on Hot News.