October 2nd - October 5th, 2008
Let's Rock The Boat
Our Speakers & Discussion Leaders
Bishop Carlton T. Brown
Senior Pastor, Bethel Gospel Assembly - New York, New York
Bishop Carlton Theophilus Brown has been in full time ministry since 1987. He was installed as the Senior Pastor of Bethel Gospel Assembly, Inc., in Harlem, New York in February, 2000 and consecrated to the office of Bishop in February 2008. As a visionary and servant leader the ministry of Bethel Gospel Assembly - a Loving, Learning and Launching Church with 1200 members and more than 40 auxiliaries – continues to expand and impact the world for Christ.
His secular training led him to the fulfillment of his dream in becoming a teacher with the New York City Board of Education. He served in that capacity from 1978 until the Lord called him into full-time ministry in October of 1987.
Bishop Brown received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Herbert Lehman College and later pursued graduate work at New York University and at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary – New York Center. He recently completed a Master’s Degree at Alliance Theological Seminary in New York in May, 2008.
Bishop Brown’s ministry has opened the doors for extensive travel throughout the world. He has served in short term missions’ assignments and has been a conference and crusade speaker overseas in Azerbaijan, Russia, Cuba, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Panama, South Africa, Venezuela, Jamaica, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Barbados and Aruba, as well as around the United States.
As a visionary Pastor, he founded Bethel Gospel Assembly Ministries which includes six churches in Transkei, South Africa. In addition he has founded Bethel Gospel Global Assemblies under which seven churches have been planted with locations in the Bronx, NY; Hackensack, NJ; Paterson, NJ, Stockbridge GA and Norfolk, VA. Bethel Gospel Global Assemblies also provides oversight to over 25 ministries in the Caribbean, South Africa and Harlem, New York. The Bethel Community Development Corporation (CDC) was also established under his leadership to serve as the umbrella organization for future for-profit initiatives. In October 2004 the Northeast Regional Great Commission Conference (NRGCC) was inaugurated to equip leadership and laity of the local church to transform their urban and global community through their commitment to fulfill “The Great Commission”. Also in 2004, the Christ Community Action Initiative (CCAI) was formed to address the need for advocacy on behalf of those who have been marginalized, ostracized and/or disenfranchised. He has also expanded Bethel’s short-term missions’ involvement to include medical missions to countries such as Venezuela, Nigeria, Santo Domingo and South Africa. He also launched three full-time missionaries in the last seven years; one to South Africa, one to St. Vincent and one to Jamaica - Dr. Ruth Onukwue, Rev. Cecilio Mitchell and Pastor Ridley Buchanan respectively. And he also gives oversight to several churches in Venezuela.
In January 2006, he established the Bethel Gospel Assembly Trust in Northwest Province, South Africa. Bethel also dedicated its 364 acre Harmony Estates Project in South Africa which houses a church, Christian boarding school, Youth Resource Center, and skills training program. Bishop Brown also oversees a Christian School and a recent church plant in Jamaica, West Indies with plans to launch other educational institutions with the help of God. In response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, he established the Katrina Strategic Action Commission (K-SAC), a two year commission to strategically reach out to those in the Gulf Coast states who desperately needed our help. In 2006, the state-of-the-art Becoming God’s Answer Bookstore, Inc. was completed and dedicated. Additionally a 2000-seat sanctuary is being built on the Fifth Avenue side of the existing city square block of property and is slated to be dedicated in the fall of 2008.
Bishop Brown can be heard on Bethel’s weekly broadcast, Becoming God’s Answer each Sunday at 7:00am on WLIB 1190 in the New York tri-state area. Becoming God’s Answer Publishing House will also publish several books that he is writing.
Besides giving leadership to Bethel Gospel Assembly, Inc., and its affiliated ministries, Bishop Brown currently serves on the board of Concerts of Prayer of Greater New York, Nyack College Manhattan Center, and the Advisory Board of North General Hospital. He is also a Clergy Liaison with the New York City Police Department. Additionally he is the Chairman of the Board of Beth-Hark Christian Care Center and Vice Chairman and CEO of Urban Global Mission Alliance, a ministry geared towards promoting the partnership of Churches committed to fulfilling the Great Commission and founded by his predecessor, Bishop Dr. Ezra Nehemiah Williams.
He resides in New York City with his lovely wife, Elder Lorna Iona Bell Brown. They have two adult children, Justin Obinne and Carla Priscilla.
Pastor J. Julian Dangerfield
Shalom Outreach, Inc - Dale City, Virginia
J. Julian Dangerfield is the Executive Director of Shalom Outreach Inc.; a Christian based non-profit organization dedicated to achieving worldwide propagation of the essentials of the historic Christian faith. In February of 1999, Julian resigned from an engineering firm to serve the ministry of Shalom full-time. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Tri-Cities Brothers in Christ, a men's group committed to attacking the ills facing the black community by teaching Biblical principles to men and thereby re-establishing the family unit. He is the Pastor of Outreach and Evangelism at Shiloh Church, in Alexandria, Virginia, where Lee Earl Serves as the Senior Pastor.
Julian's perspective is informed by over 20 years of experience in international mission work and he has traveled to over 36 countries. In addition, after earning a full scholarship to the University of the District of Columbia he finished his Bachelors degree program in Business Management. Upon completion of his Masters Degree Program, he will continue towards his doctorate.
After receiving a vision to establish Shalom Outreach, Julian successfully trained and equipped Pastors, Medical Doctors, Teachers, Social Workers, and Youth for missionary travel into the continents of Africa and South America. Julian has served as facilitator in connecting resources with human needs. He devises strategies with Ambassadors to the United Nations from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia to combat the AIDS epidemic.
After much research, examination and inquiry, he has mobilized hundreds of African American men who traveled to Africa in an effort to engage African men in behavioral discussions on HIV-AIDS. This effort is on the invitation of former President Moi and the Republic of Kenya, and will be exported as a model to other regions of the world. This connection has already fostered long-term alliances between black Americans and Africans.
Dr. Paul de Vries
New York Divinity School - New York, New York
Paul de Vries, Ph.D. is President of New York Divinity School. An ordained minister, he has had more than 20 years experience in Christian higher education administration, including at Wheaton College, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Seminary of the East. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. at the University of Virginia, specializing in the philosophy of applied ethics. He is the lead author of three books: The Taming of the Shrewd (1992, Thomas Nelson), Ethics Applied (1999, Simon and Schuster), and Business Ethics Applied (2001, Pearson) and has contributed to other books. He is founder of the Office of Community Service at the University of Virginia, and founder of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Illinois.
Marcia Madero
Eagles' Wings - Clarence, New York
Marcia Madero was involved in the Eagles’ Wings Israel Experience pilot program in 2004 while she attended law school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Following her participation in the Eagles’ Wings program, Marcia spent a semester studying law at Bar Ilan University in Israel. After returning to her law school, she helped re-establish the Jewish Law Students Association, as well as the Cardozo Society Young Lawyers division, and received a public service award from the Twin Cities Cardozo Society. Marcia is an attorney licensed to practice in New York and New Jersey, and is currently employed by Huron Consulting Group. She resides with her husband, Anthony DeGuerre, in Staten Island, New York.
Shawn McCloud
Minister & Youth Camp Speaker - Lithonia, Georgia
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Shawn McCloud was saved at the age of 5. As a teenager in the early 90’s, Shawn was a member of the popular rap group YBC (Young Brothers in Christ). It was through this ministry that Shawn developed a passion for wining souls for Christ and demonstrating for youth and young adults that living for Christ need not be boring. In 1996 God led him to Detroit, Michigan where he furthered his education at Michigan Theological Seminary and became an ordained minister.
Today, Shawn continues to impact the lives of young people by speaking regularly at schools, conferences, churches across the country. He is also a well sought after youth camp speaker. God has opened doors for Shawn to share at a Billy Graham Crusade as well as minister both nationally and internationally in Missouri, Illinois, Florida, Iowa, New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin, Canada and the Bahamas in both rap and the preached word.
Shawn worked for several years at St. Jude Recovery Center as a House Manager serving recovering substance abusers. Shawn is currently a real estate investor and works for Behavioral Health Link as a counselor serving Hurricane Katrina evacuees who have relocated to the Atlanta area from New Orleans. Eventually his desire is to start a boys home for at risk youth.
Shawn attends New Life Christian Church in Lithonia, Georgia and welcomes any and every opportunity to spread the word to the lost, as well as encourage and challenge those who are saved.
Pastor Mohamed Alim Mursalin
Operation Crescent Moon - Guyana
Operation Crescent Moon (OCM) is a Ministry founded by Pastor Mohamed Alim Mursalin and it specializes in reaching Muslims anywhere in the world.
OCM provides training for local churches that are interested in reaching Muslims in their communities and elsewhere. The training is conducted by means of seminars on a wide range of topics on Islam. In addition it helps local churches to develop strategies for Muslim Evangelism and provide valuable opportunities for field experiences in Muslim Communities in Guyana. These field trips include visits to mosques and homes of Muslims under very safe and non-threatening conditions.
Pastor Mursalin was born in Guyana into a very strong Muslim family. He was in training to become a Muslim priest and by the age of eleven years was to recite in Arabic, all one hundred and fourteen surahs of the Qur’an.
In 1973 he had an encounter with Jesus, which changed his entire life and perspective about God. Coming from a Muslim background, it was not easy for him to serve the Lord, several times his life and that of his family were threatened by Muslims radicals, but the Lord was faithful in His protection.
Today, he is pastoring two churches in Guyana and focusing heavily on Ministry to Muslims. So far he has travelled to eighteen countries conducting seminars and equipping local churches on Muslim evangelism.
Lamont O'Neil
New Life of New York City - Jamaica, New York
Lamont is a member of The Christian Cultural Center and serves as a Praise and Worship leader to its congregation.
He attended Philips Exeter Academy for four years and later received his Bachelors degree from Oberlin College. After spending a year abroad studying Spanish, he earned his Master's degree in Spanish from Pennsylvania State University.
In 1994, during his tenure a teacher of Spanish at JHS 231 in Springfield Gardens, Queens, Lamont started the Nubian Gents out a hunger to address the evident lapses in self-esteem, identity, and overall perception of spiritual capability in young teenage men. The organization was designed to give them a positive and productive affiliation, using step as a vehicle of expression. In 1995, the team received first prize in a local Christian Step Competition, a victory which has transformed this team from an extra-curricular school activity into a ministry.
Excellence breeds excellence. While the Gents perfected their characters and their steps, a group of young women organized themselves unofficially in the back of the auditorium. After a few months of their unofficial gathering, Lamont prayed for a female teacher with a heart for the young women as well as a heart for God. God answered and sent Ms. Hargrove, who emerged for a vital season and helped lay the foundation for Feminine Fire. During their first official year, God honored their efforts and they received acclaim, winning first place in the McDonald’s Gospel Fest as their brother team had done in years before.
Lamont came to know of New Life of NYC from a former project director with whom he served as a volunteer. For several years, Lamont worked part time with New Life before joining the staff full time in 1999. For the last ten years, and with the support of CCC and New Life of NYC, The Nubian Gents have ministered abroad during summer mission trips in countries that include England, Holland, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, South Africa, Australia, Spain, Singapore and New Zealand. Lamont believes that anything your talent, skills and abilities build for you, your character can tear down. For this reason, he is committed to creating programs that build Godly character.
Rev. Dr. Raymond Rivera
Latino Pastoral Action Center - Bronx, New York
Rev. Raymond Rivera is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Latino Pastoral Action Center, which serves the Highbridge community in New York City's South Bronx.
The center offers various holistic programs, such as its New Hope After School Academy, a Welfare-to-Work program, the Greater Heights recreational program, the P.R.A.I.S.E. gang intervention program, and a program providing GED/ESL/SAT classes. It also operates a charter school, the Family Life Academy.
Rivera has been a community activist, pastor, preacher and community organizer for more than 35 years, and he has been instrumental in helping many churches start their own faith-based nonprofit organizations.
Rev. Mimsie Robinson
Missions Minister, Bethel Gospel Assembly - New York, New York
Rev. Mimsie Robinson was born in New York where he graduated from elementary school and the Bronx High School of Science. Envisioning a medical career, he entered Brown University on a 7 year Medical Program. During his first year at Brown, he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. This experience would later influence his choice to pursue careers in ministry and teaching. In June 1996, Rev. Robinson’s contributions as an educator were recognized by the Board of Regents and he was named the 1997 New York State Teacher of the Year. It has been his privilege to speak to students, teachers and parents throughout the New York area about issues related to education since that time.
Rev. Robinson has earned a Master of Arts in Science Education from New York University and a Masters in Urban Ministry from Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack , New York . He is presently working on a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies at Alliance . This is his first step towards working on a Doctorate in Missiology. In 1999, Rev. Robinson entered into full-time ministry at Bethel Gospel Assembly. As an elder of the church, he gives oversight to the Missions Ministry, the Married Couples Ministry and the intercessory prayer ministry.
Rev. Robinson derives great pleasure and personal satisfaction from helping young people overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. He is actively involved in mentoring young men. In addition to his other responsibilities, he gives leadership to a Christian support group known as Brother to Brother which has been strengthening men in the church and community since 1990.
Rev. Robinson resides in New York City with his lovely and talented wife Beverly. The Robinsons have been involved with the leadership board of the Married Couples Ministry of Bethel for over twelve years. This ministry offers family enrichment seminars and retreats to church members and community residents. The Robinson’s have two teenage children, Michelle and David.
Rev. Mark L. Williams
Associate Minister, Bethel Gospel Assembly - New York, New York
Born and raised in New York, Rev. Mark L. Williams
has committed his life to reaching the world for Jesus
Christ by any means necessary. For more than twenty
years, he has functioned in different ministerial capacities,
both on the local and international levels. To this
day, Rev. Mark still wears many hats in the Kingdom
of God. A former deacon, Rev. Williams is currently
serving as an Associate Elder at Bethel Gospel Assembly
where Pastor Carlton Brown is Senior Pastor. He is the
Director of International Ministries for Urban
& Global Missions Alliance, Inc. (UGMA), an
international missions organization with various branches
in the United States, the Caribbean, and South America.
Rev. Williams has conducted numerous missionary journeys
to India, Panama, Aruba, Venezuela and St. Vincent,
and continues to do so as commissioned.
Rev. Williams is also a noted Bible Teacher and serves as an instructor for the Bethel Bible & Missions Training Center. Rev. Williams teaches several introductory classes including Bible Study Methods, Bible Doctrine, and Old/New Testament Survey. He also teaches several advanced courses, such as, Soteriology, Christology, Hermeneutics, Eschatology, and Homiletics. With all of these responsibilities, Rev. Williams also teaches a widely successful and extremely popular weekly adult Sunday school class that began over 16 years ago. This class still has record numbers in attendance each week. Recognizing his gifting for clear, practical and effective teaching, Rev. Williams is often called upon for conferences, seminars, workshops and retreats. An excellent writer he serves as Associate Editor of the Bethel’s Voice, Bethel Gospel Assembly’s weekly publication. An accomplished vocalist, Rev. Mark often uses his gift of music as one of Bethel’s worship leaders. He is most recently engaged in the development of a new church youth initiative for the purpose of outreach to local community youth called the Lion’s Whelp Federation.
Rev. Williams and his
wife, Deacon Miriam Williams have three children:
Israel, Kendra and Alyssa.