By Sherri Woods Emmons, DisciplesWorld managing editor

INDIANAPOLIS (7/30/09) — The National Convocation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) honored two women for their contributions to Christian education in the African American community.

Ann Pickett-Parker, co-pastor of New Generation Christian Fellowship in Moss Point, Miss., and vice president of International Disciples Women’s Ministries, and Eliza Husser Cave, former president of the National Convocation CWF, member of the Convocation’s Board of Directors, and member of First Christian Church in Aiken, S.C., received the awards at the Convocation’s General Assembly banquet.

After a musical offering by John and Libby Ray, ministers of music at Light of the World Christian Church in Indianapolis, Light of the World’s senior minister, T. Garrott Benjamin Jr., introduced the evening’s speaker.

Calling him “one of the best-kept secrets in America,” Benjamin said Jeffrey A. Johnson Sr., pastor of Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis, “is one of the most powerful young pastors of our time.”

Banquet attendees seemed to agree with Benjamin’s assessment, rising to their feet in applause several times during Johnson’s sermon on Luke 24.

Preaching on the disciples’ initial failure to recognize Christ after the Resurrection, Johnson noted that it was only when Jesus broke bread that his followers realized who he was.

“It’s not just giving the bread,” he said. “It’s breaking the bread that reveals to us something about him.”

Even at times when we are broken, Johnson explained, God is revealing something to us.
“Remember,” he said, “Jesus did not break the bread without having his hands on the bread.”