Metropolitan AME Press Room
PRESS ROOM
METROPOLITAN AME CHURCH
1518 M St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
JULY 4, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Anthony Hawkins
Phone: 202-331-1426
TWO BISHOPS AND FOUR MEMBER-AMBASSADORS HIGHLIGHT
JULY EVENTS CELEBRATING 173RD ANNIVERSARY OF
METROPOLITAN AME CHURCH
National A.M.E. Historian Helps Lay Cornerstone
for Newly- Restored “Downtown Church with a Down Home
Feeling”
Under the theme, “A Season of Thanksgiving and
Recognition in Kingdom Building,” Metropolitan AME
Church will hold an array of activities in July that
will begin the celebration of its 173rd anniversary in
its newly-restored sanctuary at 1518 M St., NW.
“During the last two years, our sanctuary and church
have been restored and modernized, and all the while we
have honored the labor of those (enslaved African
Americans) whose original handiwork and devotion made
our church the great edifice that it is,” said the Rev.
Ronald E. Braxton, Metropolitan’s senior minister.
On Sunday, July 10, Bishop James L. Davis, former
president of the AME Council of Bishops, will be the
guest preacher at 9:00 am. Bishop Adam J. Richardson of
the Second Episcopal District will dedicate the new
cornerstone and Dr. Dennis Dickerson, historian of the
AME Church, will assist him and give a statement of the
occasion.
On Sunday, July 17, in a special worship service
observing the United Nation’s International Year for
People of African Descent, Metropolitan will present
citations to four of its members who have devoted a
lifetime to international diplomacy as former U.S.
ambassadors to African nations. They are: Shirley
Elizabeth Barnes, Horace G. Dawson, Jr., Howard F. Jeter
and Joseph M. Seegars.
Metropolitan’s youth will present a talent showcase
on Saturday, July 16, in the newly restored Douglass
Hall, and on the following day, Sunday, July 31, the
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity will commemorate its Centennial
Anniversary during the morning service.
The church invites the community to all events. Free
parking is available.
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