Tennessee Conference Black Methodists for Church Renewal present The John G. Corry 2007 AWARDS Banquet
Saturday, April 21, 2007, 6:30 pm
Tennessee State University Barn
Our speaker for this occasion is the Rev. Vance P. Ross, Associate General Secretary, Discipleship Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship
Tickets:
Adults: $35.00 Adults
Children: $15.00
Tickets may be purchased from Joe Shelton, (President) 828-3072, William Moon (Vice-President) 292-2886 e-mail heptile@aol.com or Kathy Booker (Treasurer) at 714-3327 or e-mail bookerk2@aol.com. The ticket price is $35 per person and $15 for students.
John G. Corry Leadership Award
The award is given annually to recognize the person who best exhibits the leadership characteristics demonstrated in the life of the Reverend Doctor John G. Corry. The award alternates between a clergy or lay person of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church. This award is presented at the John G. Corry Awards Banquet, and is sponsored by the Tennessee Conference Black Methodist for Church Renewal, Inc.
Fifteen years ago the Tennessee Conference Caucus of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Inc. saw the need to recognize and celebrate the exemplary life and ministry of the Reverend Doctor John G. Corry, a clergy member of the Tennessee Annual Conference, founding member of National Black Methodists for Church Renewal, and trailblazer for the work of justice in The United Methodist Church and beyond.
The caucus felt that a lasting way to honor Dr. Corry during his lifetime and beyond was to establish a scholarship in his name to recognize the academic achievements of young people entering higher education and to affirm the work and ministry of lay and clergy persons who exemplified the Christian and leadership characteristics of Dr. Corry. It was, and still is, the belief of the caucus that we must nurture our young in order to produce strong leaders for the Church; and we must also empower the present leadership (lay and clergy) in the Conference through the recognition of their faithfulness to ministry in the Church.
This year is the first year that the Caucus has chosen to recognize other trailblazers of Tennessee Conference BMCR, who, like Dr. Corry, were a part of laying a foundation for the work and ministry of Tennessee Conference BMCR today.
All who are being recognized during this banquet exhibit the principles believed to represent Dr. Corry’s life: commitment to the mandates of Jesus Christ; genuine love and concern for others; intense efforts to achieve justice and equality for all; thorough preparation for a task (responsibility); and full utilization of God-given gifts and talents.
We are pleased to continue this legacy which allows us the opportunity to develop and strengthen leaders in our present and for our future.
About Dr. John Corry and His Ministry:
He received the Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC; the Master of Divinity degree, with highest honors (straight "A" average), from Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, GA; the Doctor of Ministry degree, with distinction, from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, TN; and the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Nashville School of Law.
Gammon Theological Seminary cited him as its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for the year 2000.
Before transferring to the Tennessee-Kentucky Conference to pastor Clark Memorial Methodist Church, Nashville, TN, the leading church in that Conference, he served as pastor of St .John's Methodist Church, Eden, NC, and St. Matthews Methodist Church, Greensboro, NC, the leading church in the North Carolina-Virginia Conference. He also served as Director, Wesley Foundation, A and T State University, and College Chaplain at Bennett College, both in Greensboro.
He has served as pastor of Braden and Patterson Memorial United Methodist Churches, Nashville. Since the abolition of the Central Jurisdiction and the reorganization of The United Methodist Church as an integrated church in 1968 Dr. Corry has been a trailblazer for African American ministers, being the first African American to serve in several important leadership positions in the Church, including the following: first African American District Superintendent in the Tennessee Conference, Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American Conference Council Director in the Tennessee Conference, and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American to be elected to serve as a delegate from the Tennessee Conference to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences of The United Methodist Church; first African American to serve as Conference Secretary in the Tennessee Conference and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American to serve as the Parliamentarian in the Tennessee Conference and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first Chair of the Southeastern Jurisdiction Commission on Religion and Race; and first African American to serve as President, Southeastern Jurisdiction Ministers Conference.
Dr. Corry currently serves as the Tennessee Conference Chancellor, a position that makes him the legal advisor to the Bishop and the Annual Conference; and is the Immediate Past Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (President of the Judicial Council) of The United Methodist Church. He is the first African American clergy person to hold either of these positions. He is also a member of the Conference Commission on Equitable Compensation; the Conference Standing Rules Committee, the Conference Nominating Committee, and is Vice Chair, Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. He is a Life Member of the NAACP.
Dr. Corry is in his twenty ninth year of employment at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, where he serves as the College Chaplain, Assistant Professor in Health Law and Ethics, and as Special Advisor to the President for United Methodist Church Affairs. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee, and has a limited solo law practice. He previously served as a faculty member at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and at American Baptist College, both in Nashville. He is the author of nine publications.
Tennessee State University Barn
Our speaker for this occasion is the Rev. Vance P. Ross, Associate General Secretary, Discipleship Ministries for the General Board of Discipleship
Tickets:
Adults: $35.00 Adults
Children: $15.00
Tickets may be purchased from Joe Shelton, (President) 828-3072, William Moon (Vice-President) 292-2886 e-mail heptile@aol.com or Kathy Booker (Treasurer) at 714-3327 or e-mail bookerk2@aol.com. The ticket price is $35 per person and $15 for students.
John G. Corry Leadership Award
The award is given annually to recognize the person who best exhibits the leadership characteristics demonstrated in the life of the Reverend Doctor John G. Corry. The award alternates between a clergy or lay person of the Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church. This award is presented at the John G. Corry Awards Banquet, and is sponsored by the Tennessee Conference Black Methodist for Church Renewal, Inc.
Fifteen years ago the Tennessee Conference Caucus of Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Inc. saw the need to recognize and celebrate the exemplary life and ministry of the Reverend Doctor John G. Corry, a clergy member of the Tennessee Annual Conference, founding member of National Black Methodists for Church Renewal, and trailblazer for the work of justice in The United Methodist Church and beyond.
The caucus felt that a lasting way to honor Dr. Corry during his lifetime and beyond was to establish a scholarship in his name to recognize the academic achievements of young people entering higher education and to affirm the work and ministry of lay and clergy persons who exemplified the Christian and leadership characteristics of Dr. Corry. It was, and still is, the belief of the caucus that we must nurture our young in order to produce strong leaders for the Church; and we must also empower the present leadership (lay and clergy) in the Conference through the recognition of their faithfulness to ministry in the Church.
This year is the first year that the Caucus has chosen to recognize other trailblazers of Tennessee Conference BMCR, who, like Dr. Corry, were a part of laying a foundation for the work and ministry of Tennessee Conference BMCR today.
All who are being recognized during this banquet exhibit the principles believed to represent Dr. Corry’s life: commitment to the mandates of Jesus Christ; genuine love and concern for others; intense efforts to achieve justice and equality for all; thorough preparation for a task (responsibility); and full utilization of God-given gifts and talents.
We are pleased to continue this legacy which allows us the opportunity to develop and strengthen leaders in our present and for our future.
About Dr. John Corry and His Ministry:
He received the Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, from Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC; the Master of Divinity degree, with highest honors (straight "A" average), from Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, GA; the Doctor of Ministry degree, with distinction, from Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Nashville, TN; and the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Nashville School of Law.
Gammon Theological Seminary cited him as its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for the year 2000.
Before transferring to the Tennessee-Kentucky Conference to pastor Clark Memorial Methodist Church, Nashville, TN, the leading church in that Conference, he served as pastor of St .John's Methodist Church, Eden, NC, and St. Matthews Methodist Church, Greensboro, NC, the leading church in the North Carolina-Virginia Conference. He also served as Director, Wesley Foundation, A and T State University, and College Chaplain at Bennett College, both in Greensboro.
He has served as pastor of Braden and Patterson Memorial United Methodist Churches, Nashville. Since the abolition of the Central Jurisdiction and the reorganization of The United Methodist Church as an integrated church in 1968 Dr. Corry has been a trailblazer for African American ministers, being the first African American to serve in several important leadership positions in the Church, including the following: first African American District Superintendent in the Tennessee Conference, Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American Conference Council Director in the Tennessee Conference, and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American to be elected to serve as a delegate from the Tennessee Conference to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences of The United Methodist Church; first African American to serve as Conference Secretary in the Tennessee Conference and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first African American to serve as the Parliamentarian in the Tennessee Conference and in the Southeastern Jurisdiction; first Chair of the Southeastern Jurisdiction Commission on Religion and Race; and first African American to serve as President, Southeastern Jurisdiction Ministers Conference.
Dr. Corry currently serves as the Tennessee Conference Chancellor, a position that makes him the legal advisor to the Bishop and the Annual Conference; and is the Immediate Past Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (President of the Judicial Council) of The United Methodist Church. He is the first African American clergy person to hold either of these positions. He is also a member of the Conference Commission on Equitable Compensation; the Conference Standing Rules Committee, the Conference Nominating Committee, and is Vice Chair, Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. He is a Life Member of the NAACP.
Dr. Corry is in his twenty ninth year of employment at Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN, where he serves as the College Chaplain, Assistant Professor in Health Law and Ethics, and as Special Advisor to the President for United Methodist Church Affairs. He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee, and has a limited solo law practice. He previously served as a faculty member at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and at American Baptist College, both in Nashville. He is the author of nine publications.
