Hood Theological Seminary
Hood Theological Seminary will host its annual Endowment Convocation on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room on the seminary campus at 1810 Lutheran Synod Drive.
Each year, the twelve Episcopal Districts of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church send representatives to present donations to the Hood Permanent Endowment Fund. Most of the sitting Bishops will attend and will make the presentations from their respective Episcopal districts. Last year, more than $125,000 was brought forth during the convocation.
Bishop Dennis V. Proctor, presiding Bishop of the Western Episcopal District, will be the featured speaker. Dr. Albert Aymer, president of Hood, invites all Zionites to attend this convocation and bring a “generous spirit” with them.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Proctor received his B.A. (summa cum laude) from Livingstone College and his M.A. in pastoral care and counseling from Ashland Theological Seminary. He also earned a juris doctor from the Ohio State University College of Law and a Doctor of Ministry from the United Theological Seminary where he was named a Samuel D. Proctor/Otis Moss Fellow. He was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College, Atlanta. Proctor was honored by his alma mater by receiving the doctor of divinity from Hood Theological Seminary and Livingstone College. He has also been a featured lecturer at Hampton Ministers Conference at Hampton University. In addition, one of his sermons is published in “Outstanding Black Sermons, Volume 4,” Judson Press.
Proctor has held pastorates at St. James AME Zion Church in Massillon, Ohio, and St. Luke AME Zion Church of Wilmington. He pastors the historic Pennsylvania AME Zion Church in Baltimore, Md. He was elected bishop on July 18, 2008, at the 48th Session of the General Conference as the 97th bishop in succession of the AME Zion Church.
Proctor is the Founding President of the Congress of National Black Churches (Baltimore Affiliate). He serves on the Connectional Budget Board. He co-authored “Christians Under Construction” with Dr. Staccato Powell. He is the Chair of the Finance Committee of the Philadelphia-Baltimore Annual Conference (Mid-Atlantic II Episcopal District) and an active member of the International Minister’s and Lay Association of the AME Zion Church.
Hood Theological Seminary, located at 1810 Lutheran Synod Drive in Salisbury, is a graduate and professional school sponsored by the AME Zion Church where intellectual discourse and ministerial preparation occur in tandem within the framework of a community of faith. Its student body currently comprises persons from 16 different denominations. As a theological seminary, it provides for the church an educational community in which Christian maturity and ministerial preparation take place together.