The scriptural text for the Convocation will be Jeremiah 3:15: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.Three clergymen that have served as sole pastor of a congregation for forty consecutive years or greater will be the guest lecturers and preachers for the Convocation. The focus of the lectures will be on the pastoral relationship with the congregation. Each lecturer will share about his sustained pastoral relationship of forty or more years with his congregation, highlighting the challenges, multi-faceted dynamics, and richness of the protracted experience.Dr. Ralph W. Canty, pastor of Savannah Grove Baptist Church, Effingham, (Florence County), will lecture on ministry in a Rural Environment for forty-two years. Dr. Howard Allen Chubbs, The Providence Baptist Church, Greensboro, North Carolina, will lecture on ministry in a Suburban Environment. Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Pastor Emeritus, Allen Temple Baptist Church, Oakland, California will share about ministry in an Urban arena for four decades.

RALPH W. CANTY, SR. – the youngest son of the late Reverend Benjamin F. and Rena Smith Canty, Sr. was born in Sumter, South Carolina. He is married to the former Toye J. Richburg, the father of four children and the grandfather of six children. He acknowledged his call to the ministry in 1963 and was licensed to the Gospel Ministry by First Baptist Missionary Church, the Reverend Dr. William S. Randolph, pastor; a year later he was ordained through the Wateree Baptist Association, Lower Division, the Reverend Dr. L. W. Williams, moderator.

A 1963 graduate of Lincoln High School, Dr. Canty matriculated at Morris College where he received the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Bachelor of Divinity degree. He also earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Hood Theological Seminary. Morris College and Benedict College awarded him the Doctor of Divinity degree and the Doctor of Law degree, respectively.

Dr. Canty was extended the pastorate of Savannah Grove Baptist Church (Effingham, SC) in November of 1968. Prior to this protracted service history, he served Mount Rona Baptist Church, Effingham; Second Baptist Church, Hartsville, and Silent Grove Baptist Church, Loris, South Carolina for brief periods.

He is the moderator of the Pee Dee Baptist Association, board member, Sumter School District #17, local advisory board for the Salvation Army, the Manning Avenue Free Studio Board of Directors, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the NAACP (Life Member) and the Goodfellows Social Club.

Dr. Canty is a past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the South Carolina Congress of Christian Education and the South Carolina Morticians Association. A former legislator and member of the Legislative Black Caucus, he served on the Medical, Municipal and Military Committee, the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee and the Joint Judicial Screening Commission. He is a former member of the General Council of the World and National Council of Churches of Christ and the Baptist World Alliance, the Morris College Board of Trustees and the Community Immediate Care Facility.

HOWARD ALLEN CHUBBS– Dr. Howard Allen Chubbs, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee accepted his calling into the ministry at 10 years of age. Dr. Chubbs was licensed to the ministry in April of 1946 by the West Side Baptist Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee and ordained in January of 1958 by the Greater Bethesda Baptist Church of Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Chubbs holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Tennessee State University (1957); Master of Divinity Degree from Virginia Union School of Theology (1962); Certification in Church Management from Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University (1979); Master of Divinity Degree from Drew University, (1983); Doctor of Ministry Degree, Post Doctoral Studies, Drew University (1990).

He began his pastorate at Mosby Memorial Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia serving from September 1959 to June 1966. In June of 1966, Dr. Chubbs became the pastor of Providence Baptist Church of Greensboro, North Carolina, where he serves to this day. He led in the rebuilding of the 100-year old historic Providence Baptist Church in 1967 and later, a $1 million expansion in 1987. The erection of a $4 million Family Enrichment Center was begun in the spring of 2006 and completed in November 2007.

In addition to his commitment to the church, Dr. Chubbs has served in various positions on an array of community boards including: President of the Greensboro Ministers Fellowship, and Greensboro Pulpit Forum; Chairman of the North Carolina A&T State University Board of Trustees, Center For Creative Leadership, and Community Foundation Board of Trustees; and board member for the National Conference For Community and Justice.

Dr. Chubbs married the former Louise Miles of Richmond, Virginia in April 29, 1961. Dr. and Mrs. Chubbs are the proud parents of one son, Howard Douglas Chubbs, who is married to the former, Deloria Pride of Douglasville, Georgia.

J. ALFRED SMITH – Pastor Emeritus of Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland, California, and professor of Preaching and Church Ministries at American Baptist Seminary of the West.

The J. Alfred Smith Institute was developed in 2008 to encourage work on behalf of prophetic justice. An illustrious of thinkers have inspired attendees.

• Dr. Smith is past president of the American Baptist Churches of the West and the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
• He holds a Doctor Of Ministry degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and an Master’s Of Theology degree from the American Baptist Seminary of the West.
• A vocal opponent of the Apartheid Government of South Africa, Dr. Smith Sr. testified before the United Nations in New York City on April 14, 1989 in an effort to end Apartheid in South Africa.
• For two years consecutively, Dr. Smith was one of Ebony Magazine’s Most Influential Black Americans, and was among the magazine’s Top 15 Greatest Black Preachers of 1993.
• He is the author of more than a dozen books. Many of his readers claim On The Jericho Road to be his signature work.

On August 12, 2007 Mrs. Joanna Goodwin Smith, who had been married to Pastor Smith went home to be with the Lord. Dr. Smith is the epitome of God’s love in action. Dr. Smith, Sr. is the father of three sons, two daughters, fourteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

J. D. BALLARD began preaching the gospel in 1955 while stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was ordained in 1958 by the Rowan Baptist Association and served as pastor of First Institutional Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for six years before spearheading the merger of First Institutional and West End Baptist Churches. He became the pastor and founder of United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church in 1965.

Reverend Ballard’s roles and achievements in the civil rights struggle are many and impressive. They range from serving as chairman of the local chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality to serving on the civil rights commission of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. The School of Religion at Virginia University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg, Virginia, has launched a rare initiative and we are communicating to request your support.

There is a trend that is swiftly shifting among clergy of African descent in the United States. There was a time when ministers in unusually large numbers served as the sole pastor of the same congregation for forty consecutive uninterrupted years or more. It is our position at Virginia University of Lynchburg that within twenty-five years this trend will almost be non-existent. There are many dynamics contributing to the alteration of the trend.

Virginia University of Lynchburg has embraced the divine mission of becoming the repository for gathering the names of pastors of African descent in the United States that served the same congregation for forty consecutive years or more, or are presently serving a congregation where he or she has been the pastor for four decades or greater. Names will also be applied retroactively (if a minister is deceased but served a congregation for forty years of more during his or her life time, the name will be listed.)

The information being collected will serve a useful purpose and we wish to insure that this data is available for researchers when it is needed. This project is a fresh approach to scholarship and the ecclesiastical history. The data being compiled will be beneficial to researchers in the future— psychologists, sociologists, ecclesiologists, and professionals in other disciplines.

The most efficient manner to collect the information is to request that the presidents of local, state, regional and national ecclesiastical bodies forward our request to their constituents.

An email box has been set up to receive the information. Please find attached a template for submission. Information should be forwarded to pastorallegacy@vul.edu The collection of names will continue for many years.ere

Click here for the Pastoral Historical Legacy Project Template.