WS Chronicle

BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY 

THE CHRONICLE

The Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV) is set to have elections for president and vice presidents on Tuesday, Dec. 20, after its weekly meeting.

The conference holds elections bi-annually to choose new leadership.  Bishop Todd Fulton, the current president, has led the conference for the past two years.

The two candidates for president are Dr. Lamont Williams of Diggs Memorial Baptist Church and Anthony Jones of United Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church.

Both men currently serve as first and second vice presidents of the MCWSV.

Williams says he decided to run for president because his desires are very much in line with what the conference stands for. He says he deems himself  a “champion of social justice” because the cause is so close to his heart.

“My true definition of who I am is really about serving others,” Williams said.  “It’s the benchmark of a real leader that you seek to inspire those around you by getting them to do what maybe they would not have done, and in the end, you make them feel like it’s their objective.”

He says the conference not only speaks to the spirituality of a minister, but is very much a social justice organization with all they are involved with in the community.  He said he has been in Winston-Salem for seven years and the conference found him and asked him to join because of his community work efforts.

Williams works with the Black Lives Matter movement, holds an annual community day each year in which he brings in services people in the community may not be able to afford and orchestrated two city-wide revivals that highlighted female pastors in the area.

He thinks involving more young members inside of the conference will be beneficial as well.  His involvement with the My Brothers Keeper initiative and the Triad Mentoring Coalition mean a great deal to Williams.

He thinks people should vote for him because he says he is the “candidate for the people.”  He said he has a passion for this and not just when people are looking but at all times he is able.

Before Jones, expanded on his platform,  he said he wanted to acknowledge the previous leadership of Willard Bass and Bishop Todd Fulton, whom he says has done an outstanding job leading the conference the past four years.

Jones says he is running for the presidency out of gratitude because of how helpful the conference has been to him.  He also believes that God has given him some ideas to further strengthen the conference.

He says if elected he wants to make the education task force and social justice ministry full-fledged committees.  He thinks sometimes the conference can be very reactionary but prefers to become more proactive with certain causes.

He would like to connect with Wake Forest Divinity School to bring other religions together to build the bond with ministers of other faiths to all worship together.  He says he would like to highlight the similarities and not focus on the differences of the faiths.

Another goal of Jones’ is to work more along side Forsyth County jail and prison ministries to asses the needs of the inmates.  He would like to see how the conference can help the inmates in any fashion.

The relationship of the local police department and the community is high on the list of priorities for Jones.  He says he would work to strengthen the relations between the people and the police department.

“I have had the pleasure of working on a project that was a collaborative effort between my church, the southwest neighborhood association along with Main Street Academy and Parkland High School, where we put on a community day here on the south side where we passed out over 1,000 book bags. We fed them and brought in vendors from all over the city,” said Jones.

He says he is very involved with social justice as well with his work with the Moral Monday movement, in which he was arrested, and has reached out to the Silk Plant Forest Committee to help make sure Kalvin Michael Smith receives his proper reparations for his years in prison.[Smith was released from prison on time served. He maintains he is innocent of the crimes he is accused of regarding the Silk Plant Forest store.]

Jones says people should vote for him because he is not about winning but more concerned with serving.  He doesn’t want any personal recognition; he just wants to help the community.