Courtesy Photo

Rev. Julius Harrison McAllister Sr.

During the 48th Quadrennial Session of the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which was held July 4-11 in St. Louis, Mo., the Rev. Julius Harrison McAllister Sr., the pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in Florence, was elected and consecrated a bishop.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, having been established in 1787, has a membership that exceeds 4 million. Its members are from the United States, the continent of Africa, South America, and London, England. Those persons attending the General Conference in St. Louis included delegates, alternates, and observers, boosting the attendance to more than 10,000 persons.

Bishop McAllister, the 129th elected and consecrated bishop of the AME Church, is a native of Darlington, and a son of the Rev. Joseph McAllister Sr. and the late Mrs. Gladys Marks McAllister. He is a 1968 graduate of Mayo High School, Darlington; Essex County College, Newark, N.J. (associate’s degree); Morris Brown College, Atlanta (BA degree); and Turner Theological Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta (master of divinity degree).

Bishop McAllister, the father of three and grandfather of five and who has been married to his wife Joan for more than 38 years, stated, “For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a preacher.” He was licensed to preach at Allen Chapel AME Church in Omaha, Neb., in 1972. He served as an associate minister of Israel Memorial AME Church in Newark, N.J., and Turner Chapel AME Church in Atlanta.

During his 36 years in ministry, he served as pastor of Trinity AME Church in Spartanburg, Bethel AME Church in Anderson, and, for the past 24 years at Mount Zion AME Church in Florence. As pastor of Mount Zion, he led the congregation in the building of a new edifice and an office and classroom complex. Many new ministries were established under his leadership, to include a “Come Home for Christmas” Ministry, which has provided cash donations of more than $300,000 to needy families with children, community organization, and global ministries. The Mount Zion Apartments, a 108-unit apartment complex, was erected in 1972 and renovated several times in the 1990s and once in 2000.

Bishop McAllister started “running” for bishop in 1998, prior to the General Conference that was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2000. He came within four votes of being elected at the General Conference in 2004 (Indianapolis).

On the eve of the departure of Bishop McAllister and campaign volunteers for St. Louis, the church and campaign sponsored a prayer vigil. It was at that worship experience that Bishop McAllister told the congregation, “I have the divine assurance that everything is going to be all right. I feel that I will be elected a bishop at this upcoming General Conference.”

Joining Bishop McAllister and family members were more than 150 volunteers, neatly adorned in campaign attire, displaying McAllister for Bishop signs and posters, and distributing literature and other campaign paraphernalia.

It is the duty and responsibility of an AME bishop to serve as general superintendent/chief administrative head of the district to which he or she is assigned. That includes, but is not limited to, placement of personnel, communication of long-term vision and institutional policy, and ordination of deacons and elders.

Bishop McAllister’s last Sunday at Mount Zion will be Oct. 12.