Top evangelism award goes to Reynolds Greene, Walter Kimbrough
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The Rev. Reynolds W. Greene Jr. |
| The Rev. Reynolds W. Greene Jr. |
Jan. 26, 2005By United Methodist News Service Two Georgia pastors have been named recipients of one of the highest awards in evangelism. The
Rev. Reynolds W. Greene Jr. and the Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough are this
year’s Philip Award winners, chosen by the National Association of
United Methodist Evangelists. The
association, affiliated with the United Methodist Board of
Discipleship, presented the awards at the annual Congress on Evangelism,
held in early January in Atlanta. The
award, named for the apostle Philip, has been presented to two people
annually since 1974. Past recipients have included the Rev. Billy
Graham, the Rev. H. Eddie Fox, Charles Colson, Bishop Richard Wilke, the
late Mother Teresa and the late Harry Denman. Greene
is director of development at the World Methodist Evangelism Institute,
a cooperative ministry of the World Methodist Council and United
Methodist-related Emory University in Atlanta. He was ordained elder in
1948 and served as a campus minister, pastor of several United Methodist
congregations and superintendent of the Atlanta-Roswell District. Active
in evangelism throughout his career, he was a delegate to the Congress
on World Evangelism in Lausanne, Switzerland; director of evangelism and
missions for the North Georgia Conference; and president of the Council
on Evangelism. He also was a delegate to the World Methodist Council,
conducted preaching missions in the United States and abroad, and taught
as a visiting professor of homiletics at United Methodist-related
Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. In
1988, a massive stroke forced him to retire. Though doctors gave him
little hope of being able to preach again, he recovered to the point
where he was "preaching, teaching and leading with as much passion or
more than ever," the association said.
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The Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough |
| The Rev. Walter L. Kimbrough |
"It is no
exaggeration to say that thousands of people around the world know
Christ Jesus today because of the witness, influence and inspiration of
Reynolds Greene," the organization said.Kimbrough
is senior pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, a
church that he took over in 1974 after leading Chicago congregations
through racial transition, according to the association. "He
moved Cascade from a dying congregation of less than 100 members to a
vibrant one, relocated in a $5.2 million edifice, with more than 7,000
members," the association said. Kimbrough
is vice chairman for the North Georgia Annual (regional) Conference and
a member of the United Methodist Publishing House board. He is active
with Black Methodists for Church Renewal and has served as a delegate to
World Methodist, General and jurisdictional conferences. Also
active in civic work, he has served on the United Way board of
directors in Atlanta and the local board of the American Red Cross. He
led the Church Committee of the United Negro College Fund Telethon for
three years and was named by the governor of Georgia to the Staff
Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless Commission. He is author of Nothing Is Impossible and contributor to 365 Meditations for Men and 365 Meditations for Families. News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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