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Annual Conference 2008 Guest Speakers

Bishop Alfred Gwinn is the Episcopal Leader for the Raleigh Area (North Carolina Annual Conference). He has pastored rural, town, inner city, and urban congregations in the Kentucky Annual Conference. He also served as Associate Director of the Conference Council on Ministries in the 1970s and was Lexington District Superintendent from 1997 to 2000. He was elected Bishop in 2004. Bishop Gwinn received a B.A. from University of Kentucky and M.Div. from Asbury Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Joyce, have two adult daughters and sons-in-law and four grandchildren. Bishop Gwinn will preach at the Service of Commissioning and Ordination on Monday.

Bishop Ann B. Sherer is the Episcopal Leader for the Nebraska Area. She was elected and consecrated to the Office of Bishop in 1992 and was assigned to the Missouri Area in September 1992. Prior to that she served churches in the Texas Conference. Bishop Sherer was the chairperson for the Council of Bishops Initiative on Children and Poverty. She holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University, an associate degree from Mars Hill Junior College (N.C.), a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a master's degree from Andover Newton Theological School (Mass.). Her grown children and their families live in Texas. Bishop Sherer will preach Monday morning at our Opening Worship.

Dr. Leonard Sweet is the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism at Drew Theological School (Madison, NJ) and Visiting Distinguished Professor at George Fox University (Portland, OR). Author of more than 100 articles, over 600 published sermons, and dozens of books, Dr. Sweet is the primary contributor (along with his wife, Karen Elizabeth Rennie) to the web-based preaching resource www.preachingplus.com. His latest book is The Gospel According to Starbucks (2007); other best-selling books by Sweet include FaithQuakes (1994) and Soul Tsunami (1999). He is a member of the West Virginia Annual Conference. Dr. Sweet will lead our Bible Study on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Hope for Africa Children's Choir will join us for our Mission and Ministry Celebration on Tuesday. Read more about the choir here.