Mapson to Open 127th Annual Session of National Baptist Convention

The Rev. Dr. J. Wendell Mapson, Jr. will give the opening address at the 127th Annual Session of The National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Mapson is Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Foreign Mission Board, Chairman of Musical 2007; and Pastor of the Monumental Baptist Church in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Mapson, who has pastored for 38 years and is widely recognized as a preacher par excellence; is also the keynote speaker for the Legends Awards Banquet on Thursday, September 6, 2007.

Rev. Dr. Mapson was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, and raised in Newark, New Jersey. The son of a Baptist minister, Reverend Mapson was licensed and ordained at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where his father is Pastor Emeritus.

Doctor Mapson received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia; a Master of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (formerly Crozer Theological Seminary); Chester, Pennsylvania; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer Theological Seminary). In 2002 Palmer conferred upon him the honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree. While at Morehouse Dr. Mapson was president of the minister's union and served as student minister under the late Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Associate to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pastor of the West Hunter Street Baptist Church.

Reverend Mapson is the author of the two books; THE MINISTRY OF MUSIC IN THE BLACK CHURCH, published by Judson Press; and STRANGE FIRE: A Study of Worship and Liturgy in the African American Church". An article entitled, Music and Worship in the Black Church appears in "Readings in African American Church Music and Worship" published by GIA Publication Inc. Also, Dr. Mapson's lecture entitled "AN UNCERTAIN SOUND" has been selected as one of the best presentations delivered at the prestigious Hampton Minister's Conference and was included in the Spring 2002 Best of Hampton issue of the "AFRICAN AMERICAN PULPIT".

He served as Pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey from 1969 to 1987. In June 1987, he was called to pastor the historic Monumental Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in the year of our Lord, 1826. Under his leadership, Monumental has reached unparalleled heights, as he seeks to make real the church motto "The Church Where Jesus Christ is Central".

Doctor Mapson is Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A. Also, he is an adjunct professor at the Palmer Theological Seminary (formerly Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary), and the former President of the Baptist Ministers' Conference of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

In 1994 Reverend Mapson was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia; and in 1995 he was presented with the Benjamin E. Mays Footprint Award by the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Morehouse Alumni Association. Also he is a member of the Trustee Board at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

He is married to Shirley Jones Mapson, and they are the parents of three sons; Keith, Brian, and Jesse III.