INDIANAPOLIS (BP)--The sixth volume of The Journal of African American Southern Baptist History will be presented during the 13th annual meeting of the Black Southern Baptist Denominational Servants Network June 8.

The network's meeting, held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, will begin with a catered meal at 2 p.m. Sunday at Gabriel Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Suggested donation for the meal is $15.

"This is a great opportunity for fellowship and recognition of those who have made significant contributions to racial equality in denominational service," said Sid Smith, executive director of the network and retired director of the Florida Baptist Convention's African American ministries division.

The theme for the network's meeting will be "Pioneering in Progress" while the theme for the 2008 journal is "Evangelism in the Black Community."

"This is probably our most practical issue to date," Smith said, "because it provides not only the theoretical but a hands-on emphasis on evangelizing people in the African American community." Smith said the journal is divided into three parts: historical perspectives, personal perspectives and specialized perspectives.

The journal will be available for download from the network's new website -- www.blackdenominationalservants.org -- at no cost, Smith said.

Journal articles from the historical perspective are "The Early Black Baptists: Slavery and the Great Awakening" by James Jenkins, a regional strategist with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, and wrote David Hopewell, minister of evangelism at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., wrote

From a personal perspective: "My Experience in Evangelizing in the Black Community" by Frank S. Smith, pastor of Tangelo Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla.; "Effective Evangelism: Things I Learned in my Ministry" by Lincoln Bingham, pastor of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.; and "Multicultural/Racial Evangelism in Vacaville, California, an African American Senior Pastor's Qualitative Perspective" by Leroy Gainey, pastor of Vacaville (Calif.) First Baptist Church and a professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.

From specialized perspectives: "Evangelizing the Black Man" by Steve Caudle, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn., and a former vice president for community development with Progressive Baptists in Florida; "Witnessing to the Nation of Islam and Black Males" by Jerry Buckner, host of the Christian radio program "Contending for the Faith" in the San Francisco Bay Area; "Evangelism in an Age of Excellence" by Narri Cooper, director of operational excellence at New Seasons Church in San Diego and a member of the California Southern Baptist Convention's executive board; "An Evangelistic Conversation with Those with Alternative Lifestyles" by Eric C. Redmond, second vice president of the SBC and pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Md.; and "African American Churches Reaching the City for Christ" by William M. Blackford IV, pastor of More Than Conquerors Church in Louisville and a Ph.D. student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The Journal this year will be dedicated to those who have served as president of the Black Southern Baptist Denominational Servants Network: Tom Kelly, 1996-98; Ken Weathersby, 1998-2000; Roy Cotton, 2000-02; Rosevelt Morris, 2002-04; Dennis Mitchell, 2004-06; and Ken Ellis, 2006-present.

In addition to reports from the communications, nominating and history committees, and an address by the network's president, Ken Ellis, people group/interfaith evangelism leader for the North American Mission Board, five awards will be presented during the session, including the Kennedy-Boyce Award, named for the pastors who, in 1953, led their churches to become the first African American congregations in more than 50 years to join the Southern Baptist Convention.

"Come to the meeting," Smith encouraged the 250 or more African Americans employed as denominational servants in the SBC's associational, state/regional conventions and national entities. "Come for the fellowship, stay for the networking and much more."

In December 1996, when blacks in denominational roles in the SBC met to discuss whether there might be a need for a national fellowship, the consensus was that there was, according to the network's website.

"The response reveals several needs," the website reported: "A need to know each other; a need to know about each other's ministry; a need for mentoring relationships; a need for information sharing; a need for news publications sharing; a need for a mechanism for common problem-solving."

Officers in addition to Ellis as president and Smith as executive director include Dexter Hardy of Michigan, vice president, Jeffrey Curtis of California, treasurer; Willie McLauren of Tennessee, parliamentarian; Ervin McWilson of Pennsylvania, secretary; and Alma Surrency of Florida, financial secretary.

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