YACM AME ZION

“Episcopal Candidates Corner”

By

Rev. George William Whitfield

YACM Public Relations Committee Member

Associate Minister at Spradling Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, Louisville KY

Good Morning my Zionite Family!

Before I start my blog this morning I have to give a shout out to my NY Zionite family. I know you are on cloud 9 right about now. The super bowl on Sunday was awesome and I am so HAPPY that the New York Giants won.

Speaking of winning brings me to today’s Episcopal Candidate. I met this candidate at the 103rd Session of the Indiana Annual Conference. He preached a mighty word during missionary night.  At the winter meeting in Los Angeles, CA he preached on the topic “All We Do Is Win” and please believe me when I say it was a RIGHT NOW WORD.

I would like to introduce to you today’s Episcopal Candidate the Rev. Dr. W. Darin Moore. He is currently the pastor of Greater Centennial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Mount Vernon. NY. This is the same church where he grew up, worshipped with his family, received Christ and began in ministry in 1977. Rev. Dr. Moore currently is the Presiding Elder of the Nassau, Bahamas district.  

Dr. Moore is a graduate of Livingstone College, Yale Divinity, and United Seminary. His pastoral assignments include Clarksville/Morning Star, Monroe, NC; Mt. Olivet, Greensboro, NC; and Jones Tabernacle, Indianapolis, IN. He also has been the Presiding Elder of the Indianapolis District.

Dr. Moore is very active in the AME Zion Church. He is the recipient of the James Varick Leadership Award, the founding Chairman of YACM, the Vice Chairman of the Harriet Tubman Board of Directors and is a member of Livingstone College Board of Trustees. Not only is he active in the church he is active in the community. He is currently the President of GC Homes/CDC, Mount Veron Board of Education and the United Black Clergy.

He is a loving husband to Devieta, a caring father to Daron, Dana and Dion and God’s good shepherd in the body of Christ, he understands the call upon the church to be a transformational force, declaring; “It is our outreach that validates our up reach.”  When you talk to people about Rev. Dr. Moore they will tell you that he emboides the essentials of leadership that include vision, ability, and integrity.

This is how Rev. Dr. Darin Moore answered the questions:  

Why do you think we have a lack of young adult involvement in our church?

While Zion has done a great job of celebrating and protecting our rich heritage, we have failed to effectively engage young adults on all levels of our church by passionately proclaiming the Gospel in ways that connect with the practical challenges young adults face daily. We also have to be willing to take a critical view of our practices and procedures to ascertain whether they are the most effective way to do ministry in the 21st century, with a commitment to retain those traditions that are valuable and discard what no longer is effective.

As Bishop what will you do to engage the young adults?

The best predictor of what a person will do is to consider what they have done. As the founding chairman of YACM, I have been a consistent advocate for Young Adults. As a bishop, I will continue this pattern by 1) Being intentionally inclusive of young adults on the denominational, episcopal district, and annual conference levels and encourage pastors and district officers to do the same. 2) I will meet regularly with youth, YACM and YAMS leaders, establishing a youth/young adult cabinet in my episcopal district to facilitate communication and develop effective strategies for young adult ministries. 3) I will appoint an episcopal district director of communications who will manage an innovative social media ministry.

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Currently what ministries are you doing at your local church that engages young adults?

Greater Centennial has the largest young adult membership in Zion and offers many impactful ministries for and by young adults, including an active YACM. They sponsor life enrichment workshops, Bible studies, and social outings. Our Media Ministry is run by young adults. We also have strong male and female mentoring programs led by our young adults, and both a Singles Ministry and a Marriage Ministry.

Where do you see our church in the next 10 years?

I envision Zion reclaiming our identity as the "Freedom Church" and renewing it for the next generation. We will offer powerful, transformative ministries resulting in spiritual, educational, and economic liberation. I'm excited about our future because the Lord is using this season of decline to renew our focus on what matters most, not raising claims, not church politics, but transformative worship and dynamic discipleship.

If you would like to contact Rev. Dr. W. Darin Moore he can be reached at amezpastor@aol.com.