The Black Methodist For Church Renewal (BMCR) is gearing up for the annual 2018 John G. Corry Scholarship Banquet to be held on Saturday, May 19th. The public will gather at Gordon Memorial UMC Reclamation Center, Inc., 2334 Herman Street, at 5:30 p.m. for the reception and dinner to follow. Bishop James King will give the keynote address.

The John G. Corry Scholarship Banquet is named in honor of Dr. John G. Corry, retired pastor of Patterson Memorial United Methodist Church where he was when the banquet began. “At this event we recognize those who share in his values, dedication, and practice of leadership in the church as well as raising funds to contribute to young people who are planning to go on to pursue higher educa-tion,” said BMCR leader, Shirley Corry.

“We look forward to this year’s speaker, Bishop James R. King, Jr.,” said BMCR coordinator, Stella Venson. “It is not often we hear from Bishop King since he has been retired in the South-eastern Jurisdiction. Members of the comm-unity know that this will be a special treat to hear from Bishop King,” said Venson.

Bishop James R. King, Jr. is a native of Ashland, Alabama, where he was ordained deacon and elder by Bishop W. Kenneth Goodson. He then served as a minister of divinity in Roanoke, Ala. and in Richmond California following his graduation at the Interdenominational Theological Center. He then moved to Nashville where he served for one year at the Wesley Foundation at Tennessee State University before being named associate director and then director of the Tennessee Conference Council on Ministries. In 1984, he served as an evangelist on a mission team in Grenada, West Indies, and then 10 years (1985-95) as pastor of Clark Memorial United Methodist Church. Following his tenure at Clark, King was appointed as superintendent of the Murfreesboro District. In 1999 he was named pastor of the Brentwood Church, which had over 4,500 members. Upon completing his work there, King was elected to the episcopacy by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference in 1999 at Lake Junalusk, North Carolina. He was then assigned to the Louisville area where he served until 2008 when he was assigned to South Georgia.

James King is married to Rosetta ‘Rose’ Hayden, and they are parents to two sons and one daughter.
Each student who meets the expectations and application requirements of the John G. Corry Scholarship will receive a $750 scholarship.

“The more funds we raise the more scholarships we will be able to present; therefore, we are grateful for each ticket purchase along with sponsorships,” said Venson.

Scholarship sponsor-ships are as follows: Bronze level contribution is $50-99; Silver level is $100-249; Gold level is $250-499; Platinum level is $500-999 and Granite level is anything over $1,000.
Banquet ticket purchases are $50 for adults and $20 students.

For additional information, sponsorships or ticket purchases, contact S. Corry at scorry008@ gmail.com.