| | OFFICERS | | Senior Laymen Officers Harold Simmons President Willie Burke V.P.-at-Large Richard Showers, Sr. Vice President
Southwest Region Antonio Christian Vice President
Far West Region Eddie Taylor, Sr. Vice President
West Region James Deen Vice President
Southeast Region Michael Washington Vice President
Midwest Region Jerry Williams Treasurer Thad Jones General Secretary Willie Luvert Recording Secretary Junior Laymen Officers Julius Cherry President D'Andre Richardson V.P.-at-Large Markus Snead 1st Vice President Bryson E. Collier 2nd Vice President | | Calendar of Events | | August 17 - 24, 2012 Fellowship Cruise Alaska Michael Washington, Coordinator September 3 - 7, 2012 National Baptist Convention Atlanta, Georgia Harold Simmons, 12th Annual Address September 28 - 30, 2012 Walter Cade, Jr. Southeast Workshop Jacksonville, FL James Deen, Coordinator October 26 - 28, 2012 Walter Cade, Jr. 7-State Midwest Workshop Merrillville, IN Earl Granberry, Coordinator
Darryl Koon, New Jersey 2011 - 2012 National King 
Alvin Moore, Alabama 2011 Layman of the Year 
Markus Snead, Missouri 2012 National Bible Bowl Champion 
A. L. Folmar Alabama Winner 2012 Special Projects | | | National Laymen Set for 89th Meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center for the 132nd Annual Session of the NBCUSA, Inc. 
Atlanta, GA -- On this coming September 3 - 7, 2012 the 132nd Annual Session of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc. will convene in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.The laymen's sessions will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center located at 285 Andrew Young International Blvd., NW.
All parent body sessions will be held at the Convention Center.
Monday, September 3, 2012
10:00 a.m. - Laymen's Registration Opens - Convention Center
3:00 p.m. - Laymen's Seminar Faculty Meeting - GWCC
5:00 p.m. - President's Pre-Session Meeting - Hyatt
5:00 p.m. - Wives & Women Supporter's Meeting - Hyatt
7:00 p.m. - Pre-Convention Musical - Convention Center
10.00 p.m. - Late Night Service - TBA
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
7:00 a.m. - 22nd Annual Prayer Breakfast - Marriott Marquis
8:30 a.m. - Official Convention Opening - Convention Center
9:30 a.m. - LEC Welcome Program - Convention Center
1:30 p.m. - Laymen Opening Session - Convention Center 2:00 p.m. - Message - Rev. Walter Solomon, Sr. 3:00 p.m. - Laymen Seminars - Breakouts
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
8:00 a.m. - Prayer & Praise Service
8:30 a.m. - Reports
8:50 a.m. - Adopt-a-School Presentation
9:15 a.m. - Message - Rev. E. C. Wilson, Dallas, TX
10:00 a.m. - Laymen Seminars
2:00 p.m. - Prayer & Praise Service
2:20 p.m. - Reports
2:30 p.m. - President's 12th Annual Address
5:00 p.m. - Reception for the President
Thursday, September 6, 2012
8:00 a.m. - Prayer & Praise Service
8:20 a.m. - Memorial Period Special Tributes to: Augustus Dobbins John McCormick Pamela Patterson Sheila White Melinda Cade Jerry Gash 6:00 p.m. - Evening with the Royal Court - Marriott Marquis 7:45 p.m. - John L. Webb Banquet - Marriott Marquis Friday, September 7, 2012
8:00 a.m. - Prayer & Praise Service
8:20 a.m. - Reports
8:35 a.m. - Message - Bro. I. V. Reeves
9:30 a.m. - Laymen Seminars
11:00 a.m. - Prayer & Praise Service
11:10 a.m. - Closing Message - Rev. Keith Thomas
12:00 p.m. - Official Closing
The speakers for the sessions are:
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 7:00 a.m. - Mrs. Francess Joyner, NJ
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 1:30 p.m. - Rev. Walter Solomon, Sr., AL
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 8:00 a.m. - Rev. E. C. Wilson, TX
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2:00 p.m. - Dr. Harold Simmons, KS
Thursday, Sept. 6, 6:00 p.m. - Darryl Koon, NJ
Thursday, Sept. 6, 7:40 p.m. - Dr. Leroy Adams, NE
Friday, Sept. 7, 8:00 a.m. - Brother I. V. Reeves, WA
Friday, Sept. 7, 11:00 a.m. - Rev. Keith Thomas, IL | | | Laymen Wives & Women Supporters to Observe 22nd Prayer Breakfast - Francess Joyner to be Keynote  Atlanta, GA -- This year's breakfast will be held on Tuesday, September 4, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia during the 132nd National Baptist Convention U.S.A., Inc. held at the World Congress Center. The breakfast will be held at the Marriott Marquis at 7:00 a.m.
The keynote speaker will be Francess Joyner of Camden, New Jersey. She is the wife of Quinton B. Joyner, Jr., long time national laymen supporter and former district laymen president.
Francess has supported her husband in the laymen's work and ministries and she has been active in working with the Wives & Women Supporters prayer breakfast and other ministries. Doris Simmons states, "come and hear this spiritual woman of God"
The 22nd Annual Wives and Women Supporters Prayer Breakfast received a new name during the Mid-Winter Board meeting this past January. It was renamed the Melinda J. Cade Laymen Wives & Women Supporters Prayer Breakfast. It received its new name in honor of and the memory of the late Melinda J. Cade.
Cade passed away on October 27, 2011 after a long battle with cancer. She was the wife of the late and 4th National Laymen president Walter Cade, Jr. Melinda was an integral part of the National Laymen and assisted Walter in a great way as a secretary, personal assistant, administrative assistant, travel planner, program layout artist and many other roles.
Following Walter's death, she remained involved and close to the work, program and the men and women. She was instrumental in the establishing of the prayer breakfast and gave leadership during Walter's administration. She was appointed program chairwoman of the breakfast and served faithfully until her passing.
| | Antonio Christian Announces Classes for Annual Session
San Leandro, CA -- Second Vice President Antonio Christian who gives leadership to the laymen's education ministry has announced the line up of classes for the annual session to be held in Atlanta, GA September 3 - 7, 2012.
The laymen leadership is aware that men come to the convention looking to enrich themselves and to take information back to their home churches. Therefore the national teams always tries to meet a need and to help build up the local church. BECOMING A PRODUCTIVE MAN BRO. ERNEST TINSLEY, Instructor THE MINISTRY OF THE DEACON BRO. LUTHER LEWIS, Instructor PRISON MINISTRY BRO. EMERSON TURNER, Instructor ADOPT-A-SCHOOL TRAINING Charles Ewing and Robert Pope, Instructors CHRISTIAN WOMEN: CONFIDENCE UNDER CONSTRUCTION SIS. JOICE TINSLEY, Instructor THE MAN PROJECT REV. ROGERS JACKSON, Instructor TRAIN THE TRAINER (Training Men to Teach Teen Age Boys) BRO I.V. REEVES, Instructor | | Empire State Laymen Holds Annual Workshop - Junior Laymen President Final Address | 
| | Keenan D. Glover | Rochester, NY -- The laymen of the Empire Missionary Baptist State Convention will held their annual Clemmon H. Hodges Workshop on July 18 -21, 2012 at the Rochester Plaza Hotel. The workshop is an annual event on the Empire State laymen calendar where the attendance always exceeds expectations. James Josey is the president of the Empire State Laymen. His special guest for the workshop was President Harold Simmons. While there, Simmons heard the state junior laymen president's annual address by Keenan D. Glover. Because of his delivery and message, Simmons wanted to share it with the membership. It is below. Dry Bones in the Valley By: Keenan D. Glover, Empire Baptist Junior Laymen President Final Presidential Address given on July 19, 2012 Rochester, NY I don't know about you, but there are few things I enjoy more than a really good story; that's one straight from the Bible. I love to think them, whether they are old favorites or new ones I hear in the Sunday sermon. There's a kind of magic in them, something that goes beyond the simple combination of words or the events they portray. The stories speak to us about life. They have the ability to tell us about ourselves. Biblical accounts remind us of where we've been and they can hint the possibilities of where we might go. Stories are powerful. The Valley of Dry Bones is one of the most prominent chronicles of the Old Testament and the Bible as a whole. It tells us a vision of the future God showed to Ezekiel. This story is not really meant to be about raising the dead, but rather it's a message of hope for broken and shattered promises, renewal, and new life. God brought Ezekiel to a valley full of broken and barren bones. The dried carcasses of which belonged to the people of Israel. These Israelites had been exiles of Babylonian captivity. Their land was devastated. Their temple was ransacked and families were scattered about. So stuck in new Babylonian soil, some sat by the river and sang old songs, while others jeered. But nevertheless, they were already like a field of bones: dry, dusty, sun bleached, and dead still. Without breath, without optimism, without aid, without hope. They had hit a dead end (Allen-Nelson). So God placed Ezekiel in the midst of the valley, right in the middle of things, and said, "Ezekiel. Take a look at all these bones." It's as if Popeye's, KFC, and Churches picked the hottest and most arid place to dump all their jumbo sized chicken bones without a single gram of protein left on them. If you were to turn a full 360 degrees, you would see nothing but skulls, femurs, ribs, hip bones, patellae, fibulas, pelvises, and many other parts of our skeletal system. When things get down to the bone, there is no life. The brutal truth is, your bones will be the very last to rot in your grave. When you get to the bone, there is nothing left to offer and nobody but God can step in and intervene. Ezekiel couldn't run nor hide from where God had brought him to. He had no choice but to hold his peace and follow the directions of our Master. Many times we as Christians get uncomfortable where we are. Just like some are doing now, we rock side to side, look left and right, tap our feet relentlessly, and all other sorts of kinesthetic motions. We just aren't satisfied with our present conditions. We itch and we fiend to the point of desperation to get ourselves out of our current situations. But tonight, I'm here to tell you to hold on to every last bit- of your tranquility. We must be still. God already has the proper directions and guidance toward our next destination and if we keep on moving off of the path, it will be that much harder to get back on. We would constantly have to refresh and start all over again. You may not understand why you're going through what you're going through, but God has a given set of directions just for you. Wherever you may be in your walk of life, God already knew you would be there. You may not know how long you will be stuck in this moment. But, know that God will keep you pressing forward on your journey and that the final destination- is home in heaven. Now listen to this. God had asked Ezekiel if the bones could live (Look up and repeat if they didn't catch it). GOD ASKED EZEKIEL! Now usually, it's us, the children of our Father God, who ask Him the questions. On the surface, this almost comes off to me as one of those "duh" kind of questions. How can a bunch of dry bones have life? Whether in the midst of difficult times or a vision from God, we're often tempted to look at the questions before us as those obvious, "duh" kinds of questions. Now, I'm not sure what kind of face he made when God asked him that question, but I think we can learn something from Ezekiel's response. In verse 3 he replies, "Lord, only you know the answer to that question." This is an answer of faith. Notice that his answer was not, "God, these bones can live if you bring them to life". Faith does not presuppose anything about the answer to the question - whether what the answer is or what it signifies. Rather, faith simply affirms that God knows the answer, regardless of what that answer actually is. It isn't the answer that really matters - what matters is that the God who knows, is the God who can be trusted, and in the end, when the story finally plays out, we can have peace in the assurance that when God acts, things are as they should be. The answer of faith says "God, you know (Lunsford)." God then says to Ezekiel, "prophesy over these bones and speak life into them!" Poor Ezekiel, the Lord sure had him do some mighty bizarre things in his day. Eating a roll, cutting off all his hair, lying on his right side 390 days and on his left side for 40 days, eating cow dung, and now he's got to preach to dead bones. Can you imagine yourself talking to dead bones? I'm sure Ezekiel felt a bit funny talking to all those bones. But as funny as it seemed, he obeyed the voice of the Lord. Ezekiel did just as God told him to do (BlogSpot). Now sometimes we hear God speaking to us offering us guidance. Whether it is directed through the Holy Spirit, a preacher, a teacher, friends, or family, we know when the Lord is trying to get a hold of us and tell us something. When the Lord calls upon us, we can't just put him on silent and ignore him because the phone will ring until we pick it up. We must face God and answer his callings. And depending on how we answer that call, we must be ready to deal with the consequences, good or bad. But nevertheless, pick up the phone and talk to him whenever Lord's has you on speed dial. Now as we reach what is perhaps the climax of the text, the bones begin to rattle on the floor of the valley! Ezekiel is not even finished saying everything the Lord told him to before the locomotion start. As they rattle, the bones scatter and begin to connect with one another. Before long they are covered in muscle followed by flesh and then the skin. By now full human figures lay around Ezekiel. The final touch was God telling Ezekiel to call upon the winds to give the now humans breath. Verse 10 says, "The breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet. An exceeding, great army." What seemed dead, really wasn't. We serve a God that can see past face value. He took valley of bones and raised an army of folk just like that! It's those dry...bones. That foot bone. Before God stepped in, those dry, ashy feet had you walking the street corners night and day, trying to find the next come up. Ohh but after the Lord stepped in, after he put flesh on, and life into those feet, they would be on their way to the next job interview or better yet, in the church stomping for the son Jesus the Christ. The legs bones. When they were naked without nutrients, they would fall for anything and stand for nothing. Now with the helping breath of our Lord, they will do jumping jacks to heaven and stand strong on the Lord's side. The kneecaps. Before, they would kneel to ungodly idols and imps. Now they only kneel before the altar, praising the almighty God. The hips! The hip connects the upper body to the bottom half. Before, you couldn't support yourself. You didn't know how much longer you could stand, both figuratively and literally. You couldn't turn side to side to see what life would throw at you next. But now that that hip has been touched by the Lord, it keeps the body together and everything working as one. Glued by the Holy Spirit the body can walk, twist, turn, and soar to any occasion, anywhere at any time. The rib cage; it protects the vital organs like the heart. People used to play with it, walk all over it, and not think twice about it. They toyed with your emotions and took your love for granted. But now, those ribs are fully restored and things are undisturbed. Your heart is finally set on Jesus and his unconditional and everlasting love for you fills it day by day. The spine was once weak and fragile. It had you hunched over; looking at those dry feet and the floor you walked on. Your head, always fixed to where you were and not where you were headed. Now you can stand tall with your back straight and can identify anything coming your way. The cranium, the skull, once filled with confusion and nonsense, has now been restored with great knowledge and some good sense. God can take the bad and turn it into good. Marriages in the water will discover new winds. Hopeless drunks will turn to sobriety. Those cold with greed will come alive with compassion. Both poverty of spirit and paycheck will be drenched in riches. Those who are wrung of depression will be a washed with laughter (Allen-Nelson). Death won't carry the last say because it ain't over until God says so. As I close, I want to leave this with my fellow junior laymen. Stay focused! There are many distractions that the devil will heave in your way: A pretty girl that is throwing herself at you, that friend trying to drug you up and strike you down, or even those urges to sleep in class. WAKE UP and smell the coffee that is steadily brewing. Life and all of its opportunities will pass you by once you get caught up in all the mess out here and you know what mess I'm talkin' about. Maybe you all are thinking of the mess in your life right now. And if you find yourself trying to figure out whether it's mess or not, more than likely, it probably is. Unify with one another. Us as black brothers cannot stand divided. If you think you can do this by yourself, think again. For when a group of brothers come together, we can start something mighty powerful that some say we can't. The State of the Black Brother's Union is slowly becoming a valley of dry bones. Killings, drug wars, gang violence, and babies having babies are drying up our communities, and it's not hard to see. Our generation needs to take charge and start managing our own future. We must educate ourselves and be just as smart as the next. We must lead the way for those younger than ourselves, for they look to us. Listen to God and be full of faith, for He will step in and replenish the dry bones that cover our valley. Thank You & Be Blessed! Keenan D. Glover Work Cited Allen-Nelson, Roger. "Dead Ends & Dry Bones." 03/09/2008. Keynote. "Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones." BlogSpot. N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 10 Jul. 2012. <blogspot.com>. Lunsford, Michelle. "Ezekiel 37:1-14." Fly Church of the Nazarene, Santa Fe, TN. 4/24/2005. Keynote. | | Letter From Royal Court Co-Chairman | 
| | Walter Brown, Jr. | Dear State President: At last we are able to write with information about the Royal Court and the John L. Webb Banquet, which will be held on Thursday, September 6, 2012 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Avenue, N. E. Atlanta, Georgia 30303. The Royal Court will take place at 6:00 p.m. and the John L. Webb Award Banquet will follow at 7:45 p.m. Having said all of that, WE NEED YOUR HELP, WE ONLY HAVE A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME TO MAKE THIS THE GREATEST AFFAIR EVER! WILL YOU HELP? Remember, your State commitment for the Royal Court, a minimum of $750.00 for your contestant to march with his escort. We need your reply as soon as possible to ensure that we have enough trophies. A resume' is attached for the contestant. All contestants need to be at the hotel by 5:00 p.m. Additionally, all contestants and their escorts must have a banquet ticket. Please let me know the number of banquet tickets you need. The cost of the ticket is $50.00. Please respond by e-mail to Walter Brown, Jr., (sajb619@cs.com); my home telephone is (732)74l-0807 or my cell (732)371-8436. A floor plan is also enclosed. Let us make this event a true Royal Affair. Men in our black tuxedo with white Shirt and bow tie. Women with your dressy dresses. Let's work the plan! We thank you in advance for your assistance. Yours in Christ, Harold L. Simmons, President Thad Jones, General Secretary James Deen, Banquet Chairperson Walter Brown Jr., Banquet Co-Chairperson | | August Calendar of Events August 14, 2012 - Moses Garrett, OH - 1st Annual Address August 16, 2012 - Levorn Robinson, IA - Annual Address August 17, 2012 - Larry Taylor, CO/WY - Annual Address August 17, 2012 - National Laymen Fellowship Cruise August 18, 2012 - First District Laymen of Georgia 4th Annual Banquet Pilgrim Baptist Association Center James Deen, Keynote Speaker New Junior Laymen Officers Named The Junior Laymen Department has named new Junior Laymen Officers for the 2012 - 2013 year. They are: President - Julius Cherry, GA Vice President At-Large - D'Andre Richardson, KS 1st VicePresident - Markus Snead, MO 2nd Vice President - Bryson E Collier, IL | | Laymen Going Cruising !Alaska Here They Come! 
Auburn Hills, MI -- The National Laymen will be departing Seattle, Washington tomorrow, August 17th for their seven day Alaskan fellowship cruise. The cruise schedule and port of calls are listed below. Arrive Depart Fri Seattle, Washington 4:00 pm Sat Cruising Sun Alaska Inside Passage / Juneau 11:00 am 8:00 pm Mon Skagway, Alaska 7:00 am 8:30 pm Tues Tracy Arm (Sawyer Glacier) Alaska 7:00 am 12:00 pm Wed Cruising Thur Victoria, British Columbia 9:00 am 6:00 pm Fri Seattle, Washington 7:00 am | | Goals & Mission  - To enlist and coordinate the man power of the local congregation for an effective performance of essential Christian activities.
- To cultivate the Christian life of laymen through study, worship, fellowship and service.
- To enlist unchurched men for fellowship in and service through the church and to bring unsaved men into vital relations with God in Christ through personal commitment to Him.
- To inspire men to support the total program of the Church in the local congregation, the community, the denomination and the world.
- To Cooperate with the pastor, officers, and other organizations in developing and stimulating the work of the Church in the local congregation.
- To Promote boys' work in the local congregation.
| | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment