Annual Martin Luther King Shabbat Service at WRT

Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) will hold its annual Shabbat service honoring the legacy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Friday, January 21, 2011 at 7:45 p.m. Rev. Dr. Dennis V. Proctor, a bishop in the Pennsylvania A.M.E. Zion Church of Baltimore, Maryland, will be the guest speaker. Bishop Proctor will be joined by the voices of choir members from Greater Centennial AME Zion Church, Mt. Vernon, NY.

Bishop Proctor has held three pastorates, St. James A.M.E. Zion Church in Massillon, Ohio, where he led the congregation in the building of a new church and purchased a parsonage. His second pastorate was the St. Luke A.M.E. Zion Church of Wilmington, North Carolina. There he led the congregation in remodeling the church, purchased a new parsonage and commissioned a life-size mural. He currently pastors the historic Pennsylvania A.M.E. Zion Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He was elected bishop on July 18, 2008 at the 48th Session of the General Conference as the 97th bishop in succession of the A.M.E. Zion Church.

Bishop Proctor is the Founding President of the Congress of National Black Churches (Baltimore Affiliate) and serves on the Connectional budget Board. He co-authored Christians under Construction with Dr. Staccato Powell. He is the Chair of the Finance Committee of the Philadelphia-Baltimore Annual Conference (Mid-Atlantic II Episcopal District) and an active member of the International Minister’s and Lay Association of the A.M.E. Zion Church. His extensive educational background includes receiving his Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) from Livingstone College, Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling, from Ashland Theological Seminary, with a C.P.E. Diploma from Western Reserve Psychiatric Habilitation Center, a J.D. from The Ohio State University college of Law, and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary, where he was named a Samuel D. Proctor/Otis Moss Fellow. He was inducted in Martin Luther King, Jr., Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia. He was honored by his Alma Mater by receiving the Doctor of Divinity from Hood Theological Seminary and Livingstone College. Bishop Proctor has also been a featured lecturer at the prestigious Hampton University, Hampton Minister's Conference. In addition one of his sermons is published in the book of Outstanding Black Sermons Volume 4, Judson Press.

This event is free and open to the public at Westchester Reform Temple, located at 255 Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale, NY. For directions or information, call the Temple at 914-723-7727, email to office@wrtemple.org , or visit the web at www.wrtemple.org.