NASHVILLE, TN — Roderick Dwayne Belin is President/Publisher of the AME Sunday School Union, the publishing house for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is an anointed preacher and teacher with a prophetic voice and a global mission to empower God’s people to reach their full potential and fulfill their divine purposes.
In over 35 years of Christian ministry, Rev. Belin has traveled across the United States, and to Jamaica, West Indies, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Bermuda, Israel, England, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Turkey, and the Republic of South Africa where he preached, counseled, facilitated workshops, and ministered in song. He is highly respected within national and international circles, leading people of different faiths into needful dialogue and healing.
A graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Rev. Belin earned the Master of Divinity Degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York as a “Union Scholar,” and the Doctor of Ministry Degree in Adaptive Leadership from Payne Theological Seminary. In 2014, Rev. Belin was one of the inductees into the highly revered Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.
A third generation minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Rev. Belin has served as Executive Minister/ Assistant Pastor of the Greater Allen AME Cathedral, Jamaica, NY under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Floyd H. Flake. He served as the pastor of Williams Chapel AME Church in Orangeburg, South Carolina which experienced exponential growth before returning to his native Nashville, Tennessee in 2004 to plant Kairos Community AME Church. Rev. Belin served as Presiding Elder of the South Nashville District before being appointed as Pastor of historic Lee Chapel AME Church in North Nashville. Within two years of this appointment, he led the planning and construction of a 15,550 square foot building with sanctuary seating for 500-plus persons at a cost of $3,500,000.00. This new building was dedicated in August 2015.
As Publisher, Rev. Dr. Belin published the 2016 Book of Discipline in Spanish for the first time in the church’s history; updated the Book of Worship to make the language inclusive; and, made essential books and resources available digitally including the Book of Worship, Church School Quarterlies, and the new “We Lift Our Voices” a word hymnal. Under Rev. Dr. Belin’s leadership, a new 38,000 square foot award winning edifice was erected at a cost of $10,866,000.00. The new AMEC Publishing House also houses the General Departments of the AME Church.
Most notably, during the pandemic Rev. Dr. Belin deftly pivoted to meet the emergent needs of the church and community by offering AME Church School classes and other enrichment offerings weekly on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube. Discerning participants’ need for more spiritual enrichment, Rev. Dr. Belin currently leads, “INSIGHT: Life in the Spirit,” a daily prayer service which takes place Monday through Saturday at 12 noon eastern on Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube.
A gourmand, Rev. Belin is passionate about the imperative of true Christian hospitality and acted upon this through gatherings at his table for good food and transformative conversation. He continues this practice through the use of technology, encouraging his guests to open their hearts to the other. Rev. Belin continues to bring new ideas and approaches to make positive differences in the lives of others. He is committed to using technology and social media to spread the Gospel and share information through this expanded means of interaction. Rev. Belin believes, “telling the story gives faith a way to travel from one heart to another.”
He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated and is a part of a family of Christian ministers. He is the son of Bishop Henry A. Belin, Jr. and Mrs. Lucinda Crawford Belin, and brother of the Reverend Dr. Henry Allen Belin, III and the Reverend Dr. Toni Belin Ingram.
