Women's Day is June 24, 2012. The Ladies will be having a Salad Luncheon n June 23, 2012. The Women's Day assess ment is $100.00.

The State Rally Kick Off will begin in April. There are still states available. The event will culminate in August. Each state needs to raise $250. More details will follow.

The Stewardess Board's "Walk by Faith" Day will be May 27, 2012 at 4:30 pm, Rev. Jerry Davis, III is the speaker and all members are asked to pay $109.00. Sis. Flora Williams, President

If you need a ride, please call Chris Woods (331-223-6785) by 8 pm on Saturdays. 

ATLANTA – Morris Brown College is expected to settle nearly $10 million in debt for pennies on the dollar in an agreement pending with the U.S. Education Department, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

In the April 7 letter, the Education Department said it will forgive more than $9.4 million in debt, provided Morris Brown pays the remaining $500,000. The deal would help the historically black institution overcome a major hurdle in its efforts to regain accreditation.

"We have been working on getting this debt addressed for a year," said Morris Brown College President Stanley Pritchett. "This is a game-changer for the college. There are other financial challenges, but this will help to open the door ... to resolving our other issues."

Department of Education spokesman Justin Hamilton told The Associated Press that the agency could not comment on the agreement directly.

"We're aware of the situation," Hamilton said. "We do recognize the important role of historically black colleges and the need to help preserve their important legacy."

Pritchett said the settlement agreement could be finalized as soon as May 1 and that the payment would be due within 90 days of the signed deal. The letter, signed by Department of Education counsel Russell B. Wolff, says the agreement must also be approved by the Department of Justice.

Known for producing many of Georgia's black educators, Morris Brown College was founded by former slaves in 1881 and has roots in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Audits done by the Education Department of the college's finances for the years between 1999 and 2004 uncovered the debt.

The debt represents years' worth of unused federal aid that the school was supposed to return to the government. Typically, the government gives schools money at the beginning of the academic year for student aid and other purposes. When any of that federal money is left over at the end of the year — sometimes because fewer students than expected need assistance — a school is required to give money back to the government.

Morris Brown lost its accreditation in 2003, after President Dolores Cross was forced to resign from the college. In 2006, she pleaded guilty to allegations of financial mismanagement, but has since denied any wrongdoing, saying she took a plea deal to spare her family a public trial in an effort to move on with her life.

The scheme contributed to Morris Brown's massive debt, which currently totals around $30 million. The school owes money to vendors and other creditors. Pritchett, who came in as interim president in 2008, says most of the debt is about a decade old.

With the loss of accreditation, the school has been ineligible for federal student aid and struggling to survive with a skeleton campus and enrollment. Today, the college has three majors — down from 48 — and 85 students, a shadow the 3,000 students Morris Brown boasted at the height of its enrollment.

Meanwhile, the school has teetered on the brink of extinction but has found a way to survive. The campus was nearly shuttered two years ago after the city demanded a $380,000 overdue water bill, but Morris Brown held two rallies to raise the money to settle the debt. Alumni have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep the school afloat.

Jerry Howard, a 1970 graduate of Morris Brown, donated $50,000 after learning of the school's efforts to dig itself out of debt. The Social Circle, Ga., native retired last year as senior vice president of corporate affairs for Marathon Oil corporation after 35 years with the company and has since turned his attention to helping to save his alma mater.

"I haven't contributed as much as I probably could have over the years," Howard told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday, estimating that he may have given the school a total of $1,000 in the years since graduation and prior to last month's large donation. "I'm looking to make up for that. I hope it serves as a catalyst for other alumni. I really believe we have a great window of opportunity here to eliminate a substantial amount of debt here. We're going to give it our best shot."

All St. James members and adherents who haven't already done so are urged to donate to one of the Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are providing disaster aid and assistance to the victims, survivors, and families of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Indian Ocean area at Christmastime.

Please click this link to go to a list of these NGOs that is maintained at the Sojourners web site:

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=action.display&item=050105_aid

Local photos from the tsunami and aftermath can be found at:

http://www.matichon.co.th/tsunami/gallery.php?page=1

Even the secular media have reported this as "a disaster of Biblical proportions," sometimes with comparison to 9/11 (50x the loss of life, thus far).

By donating even a small amount, you are helping to project Christ's love, aid, and assistance into a largely non-Christian part of the world that desperately needs help now, and for the foreseeable future.

Please join us for Family Movie Night, Friday, Feb 24 at 6:30pm

Free Popcorn and snacks

Free Admission. Everyone is invited.

Movie will be: Gifted Hands: the Dr. Ben Carson Story starring Cuba Gooding Jr.

Invite a freiend....See Ya There!

The St. James Men's Day Celebration is Sunday, September 25th during the 10:30am morning service. The theme for this year's Men's Day is "Man Up!"

All are invited to attend. For additional information, contact Roosevelt Williams or Jim Brandon. 

The assessment for adult male members of St. James AME is $50.00

To God Be The Glory

The AME church continues to honor African Americans “Leaving a Legacy” and St James of Elgin will follow suit by hosting a Golf Classic on August 11, 2011 at Bartlett Hills Golf Club. Tee-off is 11:00am and dinner will be served at 6:00pm.

The history of African Americans in Golf is a strange and winding tale of racism, discrimination, and segregation. Golf has always had an air of mystique and perception of a game for the rich folks. African Americans have excelled in every aspect of life, including holding the highest office in the land. The golf course is no exception, but even in the North the discrimination was evident and some of our golfers remember how difficult it was to play some courses and clubs.

The AME Church has a history of breaking ground and providing for all opportunities spiritual, educational, and recreational. St James AME of Elgin wants to celebrate its 130^th anniversary by hosting a community wide Golf Classic honoring those pioneering African American duffers from the 1950’s. The classic is in the name of Dr. Carroll Williams, William Small, Jack Steele, Therman Stevens, Floyd Brown and Carver Leach.

We are also donating a portion of the proceeds to the RONALD O’NEAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND. Ron was a member of St James and epitomes our theme “LEAVING A LEGACY”.

You may support us in several ways: join the golfers as part of the team, buy Advertising space in the Leaving a Legacy Golf Classic Souvenir Booklet, or by sponsoring a Hole on the course.

Golf Packages are $125.00 per person and includes: 18 holes, Cart, Snacks, Beverages and Dinner.

Dinner only is $37.00 per person.

Sponsorship levels are:

Platinum: $1000.00

Gold: $800.00

Silver: $600.00

Bronze: $400.00

All sponsorship levels include 2 dinner tickets to the banquet, Adds, Hole on the course named after the sponsor and table tent recogntion at the banquet.

Souvenir booklet adds are:

$200.00 full page color

$100.00 full page B&W

$75.00 Half page B&W

$50.00 Quarter Page B&W

$30.00 Business Card Size.

For additional information, please contact Dr. LaVeta Small: lavetasmall@aol.com or Dr. Carolyn O'Neal: COneal343@aol.com. The deadline for submission is July 21, 2011.

Registration form, Click below:

http://www.stjameselgin.org/f/docs/NewsArticleAttachments/STJAMESGOLFREGISTRATION2.pdf 

 Please click the link above for th registration fr.PPhttp://www.stjameselgin.org/f/docs/NewsArticleAttachments/STJAMESGOLFREGISTRATION2.pdf 

Thanks in advance for your support.

Join us at St. James: Saturday, December 31, 2011 10:30 pm

If you live or grew up in a Black community in the United States, you have probably heard of "Watch Night Services," the gathering of the faithful in church on New Year's Eve. The service usually begins anywhere from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and ends at midnight with the entrance of the New Year. Some folks come to church first, before going to out to celebrate. For others, church is the only New Year's Eve event.

Like many others, I always assumed that Watch Night was a fairly standard Christian religious service -- made a bit more Afrocentric because that's what happens when elements of Christianity become linked with the Black Church. And yes, there is a history of Watch Night in the Methodist tradition. Still, it seemed that most predominately White Christian churches did not include Watch Night services on their calendars, but focused instead on Christmas Eve programs. In fact, there were instances where clergy in Mainline denominations wondered aloud about the propriety of linking religious services with a secular holiday like New Year's Eve. 

However, in doing some research, I discovered there are two essential reasons for the importance of New Year's Eve services in African American congregations. Many of the Watch Night Services in Black communities that we celebrate today can be traced back to gatherings on December 31, 1862, also known as "Freedom's Eve." On that night, Americans of African descent came together in churches, gathering places and private homes throughout the nation, anxiously awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation had become law. Then, at the stroke of midnight, it was January 1, 1863, and according to Lincoln's promise, all slaves in the Confederate States were legally free. People remained in churches and other gathering places, eagerly awaiting word that Emancipation had been declared. When the actual news of freedom was received later that day, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy as people fell to their knees and thanked God. 

But even before 1862 and the possibility of a Presidential Emancipation, African people had gathered on New Year's Eve on plantations across the South. That is because many owners of enslaved Africans tallied up their business accounts on the first day of each new year. Human property was sold along with land and furnishings to satisfy debts. Families and friends were separated. Often they never saw each other again in this earthly world. Thus coming together on December 31 might be the last time for enslaved and free Africans to be together with loved ones.

So, Black folks in North America have gathered annually on New Year's Eve since the earliest days, praising God for bringing us safely through another year and praying for the future. Certainly, those traditional gatherings were made even more poignant by the events of 1863 which brought freedom to the slaves and the Year of Jubilee. Many generations have passed since and most of us were never taught the African American history of Watch Night. Yet our traditions and our faith still bring us together at the end of every year to celebrate once again "how we got over." 

The Men of St. James will sponsor a fish fry to be held on Saturday, September 17^th from

11:00am-3:00pm. Tickets are

$7.50 and delivery is available.
 

For tickets or more information, see Dr. Wes Scott or any of the participating men of the congregation.

Join us May 4-6, 2011 at 7:00pm nightly for our annual Church Revival. Guest ministers this year include:

May 4: Rev. Darryl Jenkins, Pastor, Christisan Tabernacle Church

May 5: Rev. Blaine Ramsey, Retired AME Minister and former Pastor of St. James AME Church, Elgin

May 6: Rev. Theonita Bedford, Pastor, Bedford Memorial, Milwaukee, WI.

Everyone is invited, Bring a Friend.

Our quarterly conference with Presiding Elder, Rev. Walter R. Bauldrick Sr. is scheduled for April 28, 2011 at 7:00pm in the sancturary. All are invited to attend.

The Inspirational Youth Choir will rehearse Saturday May 28, 10:00am-11:30am and will sing during the Sunday, May 29th morning service (10:30am). All youth ages 3-18 are invited. Bring your voices and your instruments! For more information, please contact Dr. Wes Scott, Director.

Please join us for the celebration of Founder’s Day & Black History month on Sunday February 13, 2011 during the morning service. This year's theme is "Continuing the Legacy of Richard Allen" with a scripture reference of  Galatians 5:1, and 13-16. There will also be a reception following the morning service.  African or traditional attire is encouraged for this day. The Founder’s Day assessment is $25 per adult member. All are invited to attend.  For more information, please contact Dr. Wes Scott

The Sunday School Department of St. James will sponsor a Book Drive during the month of November 2010. The goal of the book drive is two-fold. We will create a resource center at St. James that can be used for anyone in the congregation to read, use for research or enjoy books at their leisure. Secondly, duplicate books and those that are not selected for use in the Church’s resource center will be sold through an online site. All proceeds from the sale of the books (after shipping and listing costs) will be used to support Youth Ministries here at St. James. All standard fiction and nonfiction books, CDs and DVDs in good condition are welcome, especially African-American History, Professional and Academic collections. This includes textbooks from 2005 and newer and law books. We are also looking for donations of book cases in good condition for the Resource Center. Donations can be dropped off in the Fellowship Hall. Pickup is possible for the book cases or for larger collections.

For more information, please contact Dr. Scott 847.652.2995

A few safety tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission can protect children who plan to go trick-or-treating this Halloween.

Treats: Warn children not to eat any treats before an adult has carefully examined them for evidence of tampering.

Flame Resistant Costumes: When purchasing a costume, masks, beards, and wigs, look for the label Flame Resistant. Although this label does not mean these items won't catch fire, it does indicate the items will resist burning and should extinguish quickly once removed from the ignition source. To minimize the risk of contact with candles or other sources of ignition, avoid costumes made with flimsy materials and outfits with big, baggy sleeves or billowing skirts.

Costume Designs: Purchase or make costumes that are light and bright enough to be clearly visible to motorists.

• For greater visibility during dusk and darkness, decorate or trim costumes with reflective tape that will glow in the beam of a car's headlights. Bags or sacks should also be light colored or decorated with reflective tape. Reflective tape is usually available in hardware, bicycle, and sporting goods stores.
• To easily see and be seen, children should also carry flashlights.
• Costumes should be short enough to prevent children from tripping and falling.
• Children should wear well-fitting, sturdy shoes . Mother' s high heels are not a good idea for safe walking.
• Hats and scarfs should be tied securely to prevent them from slipping over children's eyes.
• Apply a natural mask of cosmetics rather than have a child wear a loose-fitting mask that might restrict breathing or obscure vision. If a mask is used, however, make sure it fits securely and has eyeholes large enough to allow full vision.
• Swords, knives, and similar costume accessories should be of soft and flexible material.

Pedestrian Safety: Young children should always be accompanied by an adult or an older, responsible child. All children should WALK, not run from house to house and use the sidewalk if available, rather than walk in the street. Children should be cautioned against running out from between parked cars, or across lawns and yards where ornaments, furniture, or clotheslines present dangers.

Choosing Safe Houses: Children should go only to homes where the residents are known and have outside lights on as a sign of welcome.

• Children should not enter homes or apartments unless they are accompanied by an adult.
• People expecting trick-or-treaters should remove anything that could be an obstacle from lawns, steps and porches. Candlelit jack-o'-lanterns should be kept away from landings and doorsteps where costumes could brush against the flame. Indoor jack-o'-lanterns should be kept away from curtains, decorations, and other furnishings that could be ignited.

For further information on product safety, consumers may call the U.S . Consumer Product Safety Commission's toll-free hotline on (800) 638-2772. Hearing impaired consumers may use TTY (301) 595-7054.