Attorney Juanita Bryant, Executive Secretary
3675 Runnymeade, Cleveland OH 44121
216-382-3516;  Fax 216-382-3516

THE ANNUAL REPORT  
OF  
THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY  
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Senior Bishop, Nathaniel L. Linsey, Bishop Paul A. G. Stewart,
Sr. Chairman of the College of Bishops, to the other distinguished members of the College of Bishops, my fellow General Officers, members of the Judicial Council, institutional executives, and members of the General Connectional Board of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church all praise and glory to God!
            I greet you in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  I give thanks and praise to Almighty God for the privileged to serve you and our great Zion in the capacity of Executive Secretary of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.  I am continually humbled by the awesome responsibility and trust you have placed in me.  Your prayers, encouragement and support have been a blessing to me and I am most appreciative.  The College of Bishops has been very supportive and they have given me both conscientious and wise counsel.  For this, too, I am truly thankful and grateful.  
          I am honored and privileged to come before this august body to make my third report as Executive Secretary of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The Executive Secretary reports directly to the College of Bishops through its chairman routinely giving updates and progress reports at major connectional meetings.   My responsibilities as outlined in the 1998 CME Book of Discipline include the following:

The CME Headquarters  
          In compliance with Paragraphs 606 and 1001.7 Section 2(a) of the 1998 CME Book of Discipline, the Executive Secretary has the responsibility of administering the operation of the CME Headquarters. The CME headquarters are located in the First Memphis Plaza Office Building in Memphis, Tennessee.   First Memphis Plaza is a three story office complex situated in a commercial area of Memphis.  Mr. Lawrence Wade has been under contract to oversee the day to day operation of the office complex including the leasing and maintenance of the facility.  The operation is efficient and tenant occupancy is 100%. 
          The Executive Secretary is required to report annually on the administration of the headquarters to the Board of Directors for the CME Headquarters.  The Board of Directors meets during the General Connectional Board.

Coordination of Connectional Meetings  
          Pursuant to Paragraph 1001.7 Section 2(b) the Executive Secretary assists in planning and coordinating the General Conference, General Connectional Board and the CME Convocation. 

CME Convocation  
          At the 2000 CME Convocation, held in Dallas Texas  I served as the on-site coordinator.  In addition to the on-site coordinator duties, the Executive Secretary facilitated two seminars.  One seminar was on funding a not for profit faith-based initiative. The second seminar highlighted three very successful faith-based ministries in the CME Church.
          In planning for the 2001 CME Convocation and the 2002 Convocation, the Executive Secretary along with Dr. Ronald M. Cunningham participated in site visitations to Opryland in Nashville, TN and the site of the 2002 convocation in Milwaukee, WI.

General Connectional Board  
          The Executive Secretary is the Coordinator for the 2001 General Connectional Board meeting.  In collaboration with the Secretary of the General Board minutes of the previous the Executive Secretary has the responsible for coordinating the registration process, allocating meeting space and facilitation of the overall logistics at the General Board meeting.

2002 General Conference  
          The General Conference of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church will be held in 2002 in Atlanta, Georgia.  In accordance with the CME Discipline[1] the Executive Secretary has the responsibility of coordinating the General Conference together with the Local Committee. One meeting was held with the local committee in October 2000 and a site visitation was held in January 2001.  By action of the 1998 General Conference voting machines will be used in the election of Episcopal leaders and general officers.  Visits were made to the AMEZ General Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina in July 2000 to witness their voting procedure and process.

Ecumenical Representation and Involvement
          In representing the CME Church, I have attended ecumenical meetings and other gatherings.  I attended the American Bible Society’s 70th Session of the National Church Advisory Council meeting in New York City, November 2000; the Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and Union in Charlotte North Carolina, December 2000 and Nashville, Tennessee in March 2001; the Congress on National Black Churches (CNBC) in Kansas City, Kansas in December 2000

·        Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and Union  
The Executive Secretary is a member of the Pan-Methodist Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union.  At its December 2000 organizational meeting, I was elected Treasurer of the Commission. The 36-member Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and Union consists of representatives of the three historically black denominations -- the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, the Christian Methodist Episcopal and the  predominantly white United Methodist Church.

 

·        Representation to the United Methodist Church’s General Boards and Commissions  
By action of the 2000 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, representatives from the AME, AMEZ and CME churches were invited to be full voting participants on the United Methodist’s 14 General Boards and Commissions.  Each denomination was given an opportunity to select four or five of the boards or commission to which to send representatives.  Those selected by the CME Church included:

v     The General Board of Discipleship (Dr. W. C. Champion);

v     General Commission on United Methodist Men  (Dr. Victor Taylor);

v     General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (Attorney Juanita Bryant);

v     General Council on Finance and Administration (Mrs. Estelle Brooks);

v     General Board of Church and Society, (Dr. Larry Batie).

·        United Methodist Church General Conference  
The Executive Secretary along with the Senior Bishop represented the CME Church at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church on May 4, 2000 in Cleveland, Ohio.  During a special service an Act of Repentance for Reconciliation the United Methodist Church apologized for historical acts of racism that prompted blacks to leave the predominantly white denomination and also for acts of racism within the church. These acts contributed to the formation of the three historical African-American Methodist denominations.  At the close of the service, Bishop McKinley Young of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bishop Clarence Carr, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Senior Bishop Nathaniel Linsey of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and the Executive Secretary of the CME Church responded and gave our reactions to the more than 12,000 members and delegates that were present.  Bishop Clarence Carr of the AMEZ church gave a most poignant remark as he reminded the  delegates that a tree is known by its fruit.  “I’m not going to be a judge, he said, “but I want you to know we will be fruit inspectors.”  A video of the event and a study guide was developed to be used throughout the church.

·        Task Force for Plan of Union AMEZ/CME Churches  
The Executive Secretary was very proud to serve as a staff person on the Task Force for Plan of Union African Methodist Episcopal Zion and Christian Methodist Episcopal Churches.  The Executive Secretary together with the College of Bishops, General Officers, CME Clergy and lay representatives were present at the AMEZ General Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina when the Plan of Union as adopted was discussed and voted upon by the AMEZ delegates.  As you are aware, the AMEZ General Conference voted to bring the issue for discussion at their 2004 General Conference.  In the interim, the two churches will seek to discuss specific details of the plan through the Commission process. 

Other Activities/Involvement of the Executive Secretary  
The Executive Secretary has participated or attended the following events:

¨      Presenter, Living Beyond the Status Quo, Alaska-Pacific Annual Conference, Anchorage, Alaska

¨      Assistant On-Site Coordinator, National Youth and Young Adult Conference, Greensboro, North Carolina

¨      National Council for Community and Economic Development (NCCED) National Conference, New Orleans, LA

¨      American Bible Society National Church Advisory Council, New York, NY

¨      Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and Union, Charlotte, NC

¨      Congress on National Black Churches, Kansas City, KS

¨      Participant, Faith-Based Institutions: 2nd Annual  Conference: The Black Church A Call to Alliance, Louisville, KY

¨      Pastors Conference and Phillips School of Theology, Founders Day, Atlanta, GA

¨      Religious Managers Conference Association annual meeting, Milwaukee, WI

¨      Workshop presenter, Ministry to Persons in a Hostile and Hurting World: Workshop on leadership and change. Dayton-Cincinnati-Indianapolis District Conference, Indianapolis, IN.

¨      Speaker, Phillips Temple CME, Indianapolis, IN.

¨      Women’s Missionary Council Executive Board Meeting, Jackson, MS

¨      Black History Speaker, Patton Memorial CME Church, Cleveland, OH

¨      Women’s Day Speaker, Lane Metropolitan CME, Cleveland, OH

¨      Workshop presenter, Leadership and Change, Cleveland-Pittsburgh District Conference, Cleveland, OH.

¨      Alabama Spring Convocation and Miles College Founders Day celebration, Birmingham, AL

¨      Communications consultant to Consultation on Church Union, Worcester, MA.

¨      Commission on Pan Methodist Cooperation and Union, Nashville, TN

¨      General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, Rosemont, IL

¨      Lay workshop presenter and meditation speaker, 2nd Episcopal District Lay Retreat, London, OH. 

The Vision for this appointed time…  
           Our great Zion, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, has made many significant strides over the past 131 years.  Our work in the civil rights movement, education, and ecumenism is second to none.  We cannot, however, rest on the laurels of the past.  In the dawn of this twenty-first century we must continue to be a leader in our communities, our nation and, in deed, the world. It is important that we take advantage of opportunities for growth of our faith-based ministries.  It is equally important that we as a church get “on-line” with the rest of the world by becoming knowledgeable and using the latest technological advances in communications to the benefit of our churches and their constituents. 
          One of my goals this quadrennial is to assist our connectional church and its member churches to improve the communication process so that our “being connected” will be more efficient, more timely and more beneficial to all concern. 
          I have had discussions with Michelle Peltier of Flashlyt.com out of Atlanta, GA. Derek Reed formerly of Achieve Incorporated, Atlanta, GA, our webmaster, Lauran James, Memphis, TN, and Theresa Duhart, CIT Committee all around the issue of improving the way our churches communicate with each other. 
          “Faithbased” is the new catch-all word today for providing to our communities what our churches have been doing since their inception—ministry to the church family and community.  I have begun a collaborative working relationship with Dr. Wheeler Winsted of the National Council for Community and Economic Development in Washington, DC to provide information and training for clergy and lay persons interested in faith-based ministries in the local church. More of this collaborative will be forthcoming this year.
          Our quadrennial theme is “A Transformed Church Living in Hope for the Life of the World.” If we are to be a transformed church about which our leaders have envisioned, we must embrace change as something that will benefit the church rather than attack any shift from the status quo as detrimental to our existence.  The church must and will move forward and become a participating and equal partner in all aspects of society that affect our members.
          Our church began with a vision from 41 former slaves 131 years ago.  That vision over time has been caught and embraced by many.  Time marches on it seems even faster than ever.  Again, I say, this is our time.  This is our challenge.  This is our opportunity.  The vision is truly for this appointed time.                              

                                                    Respectfully,
                                                     Juanita Bryant, Esq.
                                                    Executive Secretary
                                                    Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

 

 

 

 

 


[1] Paragraph  606 and 1001.7 of the 1998 Discipline