NASHVILLE, TN — Greater Bethel A.M. E Church, located at 1300 South Street, will hold its annual Men’s Day Service on Sunday, August 19 at 10:30 a.m. The annual event will feature Dr. Michael Brown, president of Payne Theological Seminary as the keynote speaker. This year’s theme is “Strong & Courageous Men of God,”
Dr. Brown is an internationally recognized biblical scholar, minister, and public intellectual. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University, a Master of Divinity degree and Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Chicago. Prior to joining Payne, Dr. Brown served as Associate Dean of Wabash College, and was the Director of the Malcolm X Institute on Black Studies (2011-2013). Dr. Brown has authored four books, What They Don’t Tell You: A Survivor’s Guide to Academic Biblical Studies, Blackening of the Bible: The Aims of African American Biblical Scholarship, The Lord’s Prayer through North African Eyes: A Window into Early Christianity and The Lord’s Prayer and God’s Vision for the World: Finding Your Purpose through Prayer. In addition he was a leading contributor to the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.
Dr. Brown was on the ministerial staff at Greater Bethel while a student at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Rev. Walter W. Reid, pastor of Greater Bethel and says, “We are delighted to host one of the sons of Bethel as our keynote speaker for this occasion. We are proud of his accomplishments and welcome him home.”
The Men’s Day program is co-chaired by Judge Carlton Lewis and Mr. John Johnson. “Though it is Men’s Day, we always have the support of women and whole families to make the event a success,” said the co-chairs. Greater Bethel is located at the mouth of the Gulch in South Nashville and is a magnet for growth and development in faith based and secular activities that build families and a quality of life that is glorifying.
Dr. Brown serves at the 16th permanent president of Payne Theological Seminary. The institution has a long history of empowering women and men for ministry in communities of African descent in the United States and across the globe. As one of the theological institutions of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest African American denomination in America, the institution has the privilege of preparing a global ministry for a global church.
The committee will have a health initiative, including seminars and workshops, specifically on men’s health, that includes a health lunch. This will be Saturday, August 25 at 10 a.m.
For information on the Men’s Day program, contact Greater Bethel at 615-256-1509.
