The Arkansas First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ will sponsor the fifth annual Auxiliaries in Ministry convention Monday through Friday, June 8-12, at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Delegates represent more than 100 churches in cities from Blytheville to Dumas.
AIM features five auxiliaries of the Church of God in Christ: music and youth, missions and evangelism and Sunday School.
Morning sessions are held daily at 8 a.m., mid-day events at 11:30 a.m. and evening programs at 7:30 p.m.
Speakers include Monday evening, Karl Barnes; Tuesday, Oliver Smith in the morning, Leatha Richardson at mid-day; Wednesday, Fred Lee in the morning, Dedric Jones at mid-day; Thursday, Linda Diggins Durden in the morning, Leato Walker Jr. at mid-day, Cedric Smith in the evening; Friday, Alvin Coleman Jr. at mid-day, Bishop Jewell Withers Jr. in the evening.
Derrick Hutchins II, speaker for Tuesday evening, is the founder and pastor of Victorious Believers Ministries Church of God in Christ in the South Carolina Jurisdiction.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Superintendent Michael Golden Jr., speaker for Wednesday evening, is the pastor of greater Emmanuel Temple COGIC in Hampton, Virginia.
Clydell White, author of “I Once Was a Preacher” and senior pastor of Word of Life Ministries Inc. of Texarkana, will speak Thursday evening and host a book signing Friday morning.
Elder Tyrone Clegg, a Malvern native, will provide entertainment at the youth extravaganza late evening on Thursday. Clegg is a radio personality for Joy network radio.
The convention will present a gift to the community at a press conference at 9 a.m. Friday, June 12, at the convention center. A late night musical will close the convention Friday evening.
The convention is under the leadership of Bishop Jewel R. Withers Jr., jurisdictional prelate, and Elder Cedric Smith, jurisdictional chairman. Associates include Leato Walker Jr. and Linda Diggins Durden, of Little Rock, Sunday School; Oliver Smith of Forrest City and Leatha Richardson of Little Rock, evangelism; Fred Lee of West Memphis, Missions; Alvin Coleman Jr. of Wynne and Dedric Jones of Pine Bluff, music; Karl Barnes of Benton and Minnie Hill of Pine Bluff, youth.
A registration fee is required to attend the workshops. Other activities are free. Pine Bluff District No. 1 is the official host for the convention and is led by Superintendent Joe L. Stocker and Wanda Jean Jones, supervisor of women. Superintendent Linwood Dillard of Memphis, Tennessee, is the national chairman of AIM. Bishop Charles E. Blake of Los Angeles, California, is the presiding prelate of the Church of God in Christ.