The recent 49th Quadrennial Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, held in Nashville, Tennessee saw the election and appointments of bishops throughout the connection, noting their prior achievements in current posts and forecasting great expectations for the next four years with new assignments. Turner Theological Seminary proudly reports that two Turner alumni were among those worthy of note in the personages of Bishop Preston Warren Williams, II and newly consecrated Bishop Reginald Thomas Jackson.
Turner welcomes Bishop Williams, a native Georgian, as he returns to Georgia as the Presiding Prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District and Chair of the Turner Theological Seminary Board of Trustees. Consecrated as the 119th Bishop of the AME Church in 2000, his first appointment was in Central Africa, presiding over the 17th Episcopal District encompassing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), the Congo, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Malawi. He left that post after growing the 17th District to 16 annual conferences, requiring 86 Presiding Elder Districts, with 250,000 members and 1,040 churches, and ultimately splitting to form a new 20th District.
Bishop Jackson’s various community service achievements include: Chairman of the Board of Essex County College, president of Orange County Public Schools Board of Education, member of the Board of United Way, the Newark Alliance and the NAACP. He is the recipient of hundreds of awards for outstanding community service including the New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s Man of the Year for 2000, the United Way William Ashby Award, and the Newark North Ward Center Martin Luther King Jr. Award. Repeatedly, Bishop Jackson has been named among the 25 most influential people in New Jersey.
Dr. John F. Green, President-Dean of Turner Theological Seminary at ITC, invites the community’s salute to these honored alumni who are serving the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the community with distinction to the glory of God.
For additional information about these appointments and other conference related activities, contact Rev. Rae D. Fitch in the administrative office of Turner Seminary at 404-527-0080.
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