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He has been the recipient of many scholastic and civic honors,
including ‘A Better Chance Scholarship’, which allowed him to attend
high school at the prestigious Delbarton School in Morristown, New
Jersey. He graduated in 1978 from Wesleyan University in Middletown,
Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American History. He
continued his academic pursuit by matriculating at the Candler
School of Theology of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he
received the Benjamin E. Mays Theological Fellowship Award among
others.
In 1981, he received his Master of Divinity Degree. In
1996, he received the Doctor of Ministry Degree from the United
Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. His theological focus is in
the field of homiletics and social ethics.
Dr. Samuel has served as professor in the Religion and
Philosophy Department at Clark Atlanta University, and has served as
a Teaching Assistant in homiletics at the Candler School of
Theology, Emory University.
Doctor Samuel’s first book, entitled Solomon’s Success: Four
Essential Keys for Leadership has recently appeared as the number
one best seller under Pilgrim Press in The Christian Century.
Doctor Samuel was licensed as a Minister of the Gospel on his 23rd
birthday, August 5, 1979, at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in
Atlanta, Georgia, under the pastorate of the Reverend Doctor Joseph
L. Roberts, Jr., and Pastor Emeritus, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. He
was ordained in 1982 also at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta.
Believing that our love for Jesus should never be separated
from our passion for Justice, Doctor Samuel has engaged himself in
the struggle for Human Rights through numerous agencies, which most
recently include serving as Vice-Chair of the African American
Leadership Council of People For the American Way (Washington,
D.C.), Board Member of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Georgia, Trustee Board Member of the Pacific School of Religion
(Berkeley, CA), Advisory Board Member of the Interdenominational
Theological Center (Atlanta, GA) and Board Member of Leadership
DeKalb (the premier Leadership Development program in DeKalb County,
GA).
Dr. Samuel organized the Victory for the World Church in March 1987.
Situated in a growing eastern suburb of Atlanta called Stone
Mountain, the Victory Church seeks to address the total needs of the
total person through a broad array of ministries and services which
promote the spiritual development, educational enhancement, physical
fitness and social empowerment of every child of God – regardless of
race, gender, culture, class or sexual orientation.
In 2001, Dr. Samuel and the Victory Church completed construction on
a 3,000 seat Worship Center, replete with classrooms, offices, a
library, a bookstore, a recording studio and a 500 seat Fellowship
Hall. In addition, the Kenneth L. Samuel (KLS) Community Life
Center houses a full court gymnasium, additional classrooms, offices
and a computer lab. The 25 acre Victory campus also houses the
Victory Christian Academy, which serves grades K3 through 5th grade.
Dr. Samuel is the proud parent of one daughter, Kendalle
Marye, and resides in Lithonia, Georgia. |
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The Rev. Michael S. Piazza, who will
lead a workshop on multimedia worship on Monday as well as
our Church Professional Event, is a spiritual visionary, author and
social justice advocate who currently serves as Dean of the
Cathedral of Hope, a congregation of the United Church of Christ,
known as the world’s largest liberal Christian church with a
predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender outreach.
He is also President of Hope for Peace
and Justice, a non-profit ministry of Cathedral of Hope whose
mission is equipping progressive people of faith to be champions for
peace and justice.
A native of Georgia, Rev. Piazza
has served in ministry for more than three decades, pastoring
churches in Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida.
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