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Bishop Proctor serving as Annual Conference 2018 ordination speaker
March 6, 2018 / By Kathleen Christiansen
Bishop Dennis Proctor of the North Eastern Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Church will serve as the ordination speaker for the 2018 Upper New York Annual Conference session (UNYAC).
“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to speak to young ordinands,” Bishop Proctor said. “As a Methodist Bishop, I feel that the setting aside of young women and men in ministry is indeed a sacred privilege. As such, the charge delivered at the ordination service is weighty!”
Bishop Proctor is a native of Buffalo and graduate of the Syracuse public school system. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Livingstone College, a Master of Arts in pastoral care and counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary, a clinical pastoral experience diploma from Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center, a Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University College of Law, and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary.
In addition to his education, he is the founding president of the Congress of National Black Churches, Baltimore Affiliate, co-authored Christians Under Construction, and served on his denomination’s Connectional Budget Board and Overseas Missions Board.
Bishop Proctor has held three pastorates: the St. James AME Zion Church in Massillon, Ohio, where he led the congregation in the building of a new church and purchased a parsonage; the St. Luke AME Zion Church of Wilmington, N.C., where he led the congregation in remodeling the church, purchasing a new parsonage, and commissioning a life-size mural; and the Pennsylvania Avenue AME Zion Church in Baltimore, Md., where he remodeled the facility, acquired additional property, created a full-time ministerial staff, and implemented over 20 ministry areas.
As ordination speaker, Bishop Proctor said he will attempt to place a counter-culture argument to these preachers in the Wesleyan tradition, “one intent on being a credible Christian example to the flock of God.”
Bishop Proctor said through the invitation to serve as ordination speaker at this year’s UNYAC session, Upper New York Area Resident Bishop Mark J. Webb is demonstrating the full scope of itinerant collaboration.
“We are shepherds of the Lord’s sheepfold. Different sheep, same needs,” Bishop Proctor said. “This is more than symbolic reconciliation; it is the format for the construction of the beloved community.”
The Service of Commissioning and Ordination takes place June 2 at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse. For more information about this year’s AC session, click here.
Editor's Note: Some information from this article came from amez.org.