Our Leadership

St Joseph AME Church Lay Organization was established under the leadership of Reverend Melvin Chester Swann in 1964.  The Lay Organization is a "sub-group" of the Official Board.

• To create a love and appreciation of the history and principle of the African Methodism.
• Keep the memory of Richard Allen alive.
• Respect constituted authority.
• Stimulate and educate the laity in the total program of the church.
• Study the discipline and learn the laws of the church and encourage accountability.
• Encourage financial support of the church's program.
• Teach and practice stewardship and work with the youth to teach them Methodism.

The goal of the Lay Organization includes study, worship, fellowship and service at the local, conference, district, and connectional levels. 

Our aim is to be Christ-centered and to strengthen the church. Our concern is for the total church and to maintain a happy working relationship between the pastor and the lay.

We encourage every home to purchase and study the AME Discipline which outlines the workings of the church.

Church leaders often look to the Pastor as responsible for "growing" the church”.  The responsibility of growing the church "rests primarily with the members".

Members of the Lay Organization are un-ordained members of the AME Church.  Lay persons are tasked with organizing and training the laity of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (the teaching arm of the church).