NAAF to spotlight initiatives

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SAN ANTONIO (BP)—San Antonio's Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church will host the opening session of the National African American Fellowship's annual meeting at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 10, in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention's June 12-13 annual meeting.

Macedonia, led by Pastor Jerry Dailey, organized a community development corporation in 2001 to involve and empower its southwest San Antonio community in improving their part of the city via collaborative models of restoration and development with local public, nonprofit and private organizations.

"Pastor Jerry Dailey has been a key African American Southern Baptist pastor in Texas, who also resides in the San Antonio area," said Mark Croston, NAAF president and pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va. "We just thought it would be great to be in his church for this occasion."

Michael Brown of True Vision Baptist Church in San Antonio will bring the evening's message and the Macedonia choir will lead in worship. Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church is located at 963 SW 40th St.

"Pastor Brown's church was a church plant out of Macedonia and is one of the leading churches in the city of San Antonio, worshipping in two locations," Croston said. "It will be good to hear what God has to say to us through him."

The NAAF meeting will resume at 4 p.m. Monday in Room 203B of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center's concourse level, with a message by K. Marshall Williams, pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pa., president of the Pennsylvania/South Jersey Baptist Convention, president of the state convention's African American Fellowship and president of the fellowship of state convention presidents.

"He is certainly a great preacher and pastor," Croston said of Williams. "We're happy to see him move onto the national scene."

During its afternoon business session, the NAAF will elect officers and hear updates from the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources concerning last year's African American Task Force report, with Croston noting, "There really has been some great and exciting progress that's been going on."

The evening session, set for 6 p.m. in Room 204A/B of the convention center, also on the concourse level, will open with a banquet. Tickets, at $20 per person, should be purchased by June 1. Checks should be mailed to NAAF-SBC, Attn: Tamara McBride, P.O. Box 1834, Suffolk VA 23439. Online information can be accessed at www.naafsbc.org or by e-mail to [email protected].

Croston will bring his presidential address and Gale Hall, a contemporary Gospel artist and wife of a church planter in Chesapeake, Va., will bring special music from her latest of four CDs, "Newest Heavenly Places."

Three tributes are planned:

• recognition for Croston as outgoing president.

• special appreciation for retiring NAAF secretary Frankie Harvey.

• memorial for past President George O. McCalep Jr., who was pastor of Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga., until his death last December.

"Frankie Harvey has been our capable and resourceful secretary for the National African American Fellowship for at least 10 years," Croston said. "Her contributions to the organization have been invaluable, keeping us organized and on task.

"Dr. George O. McCalep Jr. has been an invaluable part of the National African American Fellowship," Croston continued. "He served as our president and was a great encourager and supporter of other pastors in our fellowship and our denomination.

"He has been a very successful pastor and always saw his success as something to be shared with others who are also trying to build the Kingdom," Croston said. "His presence will certainly be missed by us."

A multi-media presentation is being prepared of McCalep's life and ministry. His widow, Sadie, has been invited to be on hand.

"The National African American Fellowship seeks to support and undergird the work of the Southern Baptist Convention and to provide a place of fellowship and connection for African American churches in the convention," Croston said of the organization that encompasses 3,000 African American churches with an estimated 1 million members.

"If you attend our meetings you'll be able to tell by the updates of NAMB and LifeWay—as a result of the task force they initiated—the positive effect NAAF is having on SBC life and the minority presence in SBC life.

"This (NAAF annual meeting) is a great time of fellowship and inspiration, and one you'll want to attend just to be able to be sure you're plugged into what's happening among African Americans in the SBC," the president continued. "We expect to have a great meeting. Everything in Texas is bigger."