WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

The Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV) recently held elections for the new leadership cabinet.  The Rev. Dr. Lamont Williams, senior pastor of Diggs Memorial United Holy Church, was elected as the conferences’ new president.

Williams ran against the Rev. Anthony Jones for the position of president.  The vote for president took place on Dec. 20 at Emmanuel Baptist Church.  There was a large turnout for the vote. Williams was elated with the result.

“I have to be honest, I was humbled and shocked by the result,” Williams said.  “I wouldn’t say that I was surprised but I was certainly just caught in the moment of what I felt was going to be true actually coming true.”

Williams said before the results were announced, he remembered an encounter he had with Mayor Allen Joines earlier this year where they were discussing the mayoral elections and Joines said “never underestimate your opponent.”  Williams said he knew that one wrong word or gesture could mean the difference between winning and losing.

Williams said that just four years ago, there were many pastors who were walking away from the conference but credits Bishop Todd Fulton with resurrecting the MCWSV.

“To see all of what he [Fulton] has done is amazing,” said Williams.  “I felt like people were applaud-ing Fulton because they knew this conference has made some major strides under him and I felt like they were saying to me the mandate is on me to not let it fall but to take it higher.”

When asked his thoughts on Williams as he new president of the conference, Fulton said, “I think Dr. Williams will continue to flow in the vein of the conduit that the conference has already laid. He will be a great president to move us forward with forward thinking and being very action oriented.”

Williams said he wants to take the model that Fulton has built and expand upon that.  Each of the three vice presidents will lead a different committee and form their own individual staffs to achieve the necessary goals of that committee.

The committees under Fulton are Ministry of Education, Ministry of Food Justice, Ministry of Social Justice, Ministry of Health and Wellness and Ministry of Economics.

One of the goals that Williams wishes to accomplish while in office is to double the amount of pastors in the conference before he “passes the mantle off” to the next president.  He also plans on choosing two communities twice a year to hold a Community Day. During the Community Day, he wants to bring in resources for the community they otherwise may not have access to.

Along with the Community Day, Williams plans to organize a trip to Cuba once a year with local leaders, pastors and organizations for a revival. He has previously visited the country and has formed a strong bond with some in the religious community there.

Bringing in more young people and female pastors to the conference is paramount for Williams. He says his spirit of inclusion is very important to him.

“It is a benchmark to the leadership that I wanted to have a woman in the cabinet,” Williams continued.  “It was a necessary requirement for me so I was glad that it all played out that way.  That speaks to the leadership style that I will be imploring.”

Williams closed by saying he wants the signature of his time as president to be the minority male mentoring program named the Triad Mentoring Coalition.

“If you believe in the work then I want  you to join the struggle of changing the narrative of our young men of color,” Williams said of those who wish to help young men of color.