Monty Royster
St. John AME Church, 1117 W. Pullen St., will host its 33rd annual Pew Rally, Family and Friends Worship Service at 3 p.m. March 17.
The theme is A Consequential Life: Judiciary Trailblazers with Mark 10:4 as the guiding scripture, according to a news release.
A special presentation will honor local Judiciary Trailblazers Judges Earnest Brown Jr., Alex Guynn, Jackie Harris, John Kearney Sr. and former Judges Leon Jamison Sr. and Berlin Jones.
The featured speaker will be the Rev. Monty Royster, pastor of Union AME Church of Little Rock, and his choir will sing.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Pastor Monty Royster M.S.W., M.Div. is an International Preacher and teacher, who is known for his strong prophetic gift and dynamic preaching anointing. His ministry gifts have blessed many ministries around the world. He has delivered God’s word ushering others in His presence and has witnessed God heal, save and deliver His people all over the country,” according to the release.
He earned a Bachelor of Psychology degree, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Master of Social Work degree. He is an alumnus of Norfolk State University and member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. He also served 25 years in the United States Army.
He is a member of the Rotary Club, a national organization that mentors and helps underprivileged youth and adults, and volunteers with the prison ministry.
Royster founded and organized the New Jerusalem Prayer Connection in March 2016, which reaches more than 100 followers by conference call every morning across the United States. Royster has served and assisted chaplains at military installations across the United States as well as Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and India.
Royster is married to Yontra Winslow Royster, an elementary school counselor for the Birmingham City School District. They have seven children.
The Rev. Chestine Sims Jr. is the pastor at St. John AME Church. The community is welcome to attend the service at St. John in person or virtually via Zoom Meeting ID: 380 457 5496, Code: 1117; call-in: 13126266799 and when prompted dial: 3804575496#, 1117# or Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/St.JohnPineBluff/.
GVI University set March 25
The Pine Bluff Group Violence Intervention will conduct GVI University from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 25 at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
GVI University is a one-day working session to educate key city partners and stakeholders on the key components of the Group Violence Intervention. The public is invited to attend, according to a news release.
GVI University is a seminar-style discussion with key executive stakeholders from the city such as multi-agency law enforcement leadership, community leadership, and committed social service providers.
Led by Kevin Johnson and Debra Higens, National Network for Safe Communities (NNSC) staff, GVI University provides a comprehensive overview of GVI.
The session is also an opportunity for NNSC to begin to discuss with key stakeholders how the framework can be tailored to suit Pine Bluff’s particular on-the-ground violence dynamics.
The main topic areas of the GVI University workshop are as follows:
Current violence dynamics in the city (briefing from city partners) GVI overview: theory, problem analysis, implementation process, and maintenance.
Strategic law enforcement.
Community moral engagement.
Outreach and support.
Custom notifications.
Governance structure.
City partners and stakeholders will come away from the GVI University workshop with a full understanding of the GVI strategy, as well as concrete, actionable steps to implement the strategy in Pine Bluff, according to the release.
Workshop attendees will understand how the three main components of the GVI (law enforcement, community, and outreach and support) work together to reduce gun violence, minimize the use of incarceration, and reset relationships between law enforcement and the community.
Kevin Crumpton Sr. is the director of the Pine Bluff Group Violence Intervention.