The Right Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie, International Preacher, to Deliver the Word
Church Triumphant: Last week, The Reverends David B. Cousin and, far left, Valerie E. Cousin, pastors of Bridge Street AME Church in Brooklyn, stood, for a few minutes, with two parishioners Sister Anna Spurling and Deaconess Phyllis Johnson, smiling, in contemplation of this coming Sunday’s 258th year church anniversary celebration. The event promises to be grand, regal and memorable. This year, 63 elders, eighty years of age and older, will be honored as Bridge Street Church Legends.
Our Time Press appreciates the pastors’ sharing the full list of Legends with our eaders. “Sadly,” The Rev. David B. Cousin told Our Time Press, “Four of our legends — Deaconess Pollie Kimbro, Edith Russell, Priscilla Sedney and Louise Spencer — have passed, but we will honor them posthumously.” (The Honor Roll of 63 is presented in this week’s centerfold.)
All Legends will receive a special gift. Also, a commemorative journal with the Legends’ biographical information will be available for purchase as part of Bridge Street’s ongoing fundraising campaign.
Internationally known, Bridge Street Church’s place in history is established and also legendary.
The faith institution claims status as the oldest continuous congregation of worshippers of color in New York State, striving since 1766 — the year America adopted the Declaration of Independence — and fully active and community-engaged a century before the Civil War.
It is a church of many firsts, among them this year’s praiseworthy tribute to elder foundation keepers.
Delivering the word will be the Right Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie, retired bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, current president and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of the USA, and national chaplain of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
The public is welcome to attend the special service which begins at 10:00 am this Sunday, February 25 at Bridge Street AME Church, 277-279 Stuyvesant Avenue in Brooklyn, NY.
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