The Rev. Dr. Charles C. Heyward Sr. presents Jewel McCrae with an award from the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. Photo by Emily Enders Odom
The Rev. Dr. Charles C. Heyward Sr. presents Jewel McCrae with an award from the National Black Presbyterian Caucus. Photo by Emily Enders Odom
A late evening start on Saturday following the boisterous reception to meet the Assembly’s co-moderator candidates could not diminish the energy or the joy of the roomful of members and friends who gathered for the National Black Presbyterian Caucus’s “Meet the President” event.
Promising a “wonderful event you will never forget,” the Rev. Dr. Mary Newbern-Williams, transitional leader for the Presbytery of New York City and the evening’s moderator, declared, “We are all family,” setting the tone for the celebration, which was punctuated with moments of deep urgency, including the caucus’s commitment to the repair of historic harms.
After a brief introduction, NBPC president, the Rev. Dr. Charles C. Heyward Sr., an honorably retired member of Charleston Atlantic Presbytery, laid out the caucus’s ambitious mission, purpose and vision, emphasizing its focus on congregational enhancement and church growth.
“We want to serve pastors and the active session,” Heyward said. “We want to reach every member sitting in the pews.”
Featured among the event’s speakers was the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, who was named in 2022 as the inaugural director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. Following Ross-Allam’s remarks on “good news of repair and reparation,” Heyward announced the caucus’s intention to initiate a special committee on restoration.
“Although presidents come and go, this issue and concern of healing and repair will be around for a long time and is of great importance to the caucus,” Heyward said.
After Heyward walked attendees through a review of Assembly business of particular importance to the caucus, Newbern-Williams gave a passionate and personal introduction to the evening’s honoree, Jewel McRae, who retired earlier this year from her 37-year ministry with the PC(USA) national staff.
McRae, having served in a number of positions since her long tenure began in 1986, became a mission associate for Racial Equity and Women’s Intercultural Ministries in 2014, where she worked on such initiatives as Celebrate the Gifts of Women and the Commission on the Status of Women.
The National Black Presbyterian Caucus met Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo by Emily Enders Odom
“Every one of us who is a pastor, a presbytery executive, a General Assembly staff person, we all owe our career to Jewel McRae,” Newbern-Williams said. “Every success, every tear we shared; every time we contacted her, she would say, ‘Everything is going to be all right, sister.’”
In receiving the caucus’s award, McRae agreed that “we have prayed, we have cried, and we have even cussed together.”
A ruling elder in the PC(USA), McRae said that her “legacy has always been to nurture and support those in ministry.”
“God didn’t call me to be a minister of Word and Sacrament,” she said. “He called me to nurture those whom he called to serve.”
An in memoriam segment led by the Rev. Dr. Danny Murphy was followed by Heyward’s compelling reminder for all to save the date for the NBPC’s 48th Biennial Conference, “Your Labor in the Lord is Not in Vain,” which will be held in Charlotte, North Carolina, June 19-21, 2025.