Pastor Leo Clifford Smith III

Transcription

1 of Pastor Leo Clifford Smith III

2 Musical Interlude: Holy, Holy, Holy The Program The Processional The Call to Worship (Psalm 118:24) Opening Prayer The Lord s Prayer The Ministers The Elders The Pastors The Candidate The Episcopates The Officiant, Apostle Joel D. Rudolph Pastor Claudia Walker The Prayer of Faith & Deliverance Cathedral, Newark, NJ Sister Sharlene Nelson Christian Cultural Center, Brooklyn, NY Reading of the Holy Writ The Old Testament (Jeremiah 3:15) The New Testament (Acts 20:28) Praise and Worship Pastor Jocasta Martin Strong Tower Church, Newark, NJ Pastor Perry Gillespie Sr. Emmanuel Church of Christ, Newark, NJ Tribe of Judah Greater Emanuel Temple, Neptune, NJ The Occasion The Church History Introduction of Homilist The Children of Pastor Leo C. Smith III (Tatiana, Leo IV, and Morgan) The Shepherd s Mother Minister Joyce Smith Bethlehem Community Church, East Orange, NJ Elder Norman Boatright Fresh Word Kingdom Assemblies, Voorhees, NJ The Sermonic Selection: Trust in the Lord The Homilist Provenance Apostle Thomas Wesley Weeks Sr. New Destiny Fellowship, Wilmington, DE NO PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHS/RECORDINGS PERMITTED DURING SERVICE

3 The Installation The Chief Consecrator - Bishop Edgar Robinson The Chief Consecrator: The call of Bethlehem Community Church to Elder Leo C. Smith III as Senior Pastor has been duly considered and confirmed. After inquiring into all circumstances, he has signified his willingness to accept thereof. We are here this time by appointment and order of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. and by its authority; we do now proceed to install him as the Senior Pastor of the Bethlehem Community Church, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Chief Consecrator: Are you willing to take charge of this congregation, as Senior Pastor, agreeable to your declaration at accepting its call? Elder Smith: I am now willing. The Chief Consecrator: Do you conscientiously believe and declare as far as you know in your own heart that in taking upon you this charge, you are influenced by a sincere desire to promote the glory of God and the good of the church? Elder Smith: I so believe and declare. The Chief Consecrator: Do you solemnly promise that, by the assistance of the grace of God, you will live a holy, consecrated life and endeavor faithfully to discharge all the duties of a Senior Pastor to the congregation; and will be careful to maintain a deportment in all respects becoming a minister of the Gospel of Christ and agreeable to your ordination agreement? Elder Smith: I do. The Chief Consecrator: To the members and to the entire congregation, who are in support of this installation, please raise your right hand and respond I affirm. The Chief Consecrator: Do you, the people of this congregation, continue to profess your readiness to receive Elder Leo C. Smith III whom you have called to be your pastor? Congregation: (raise your hand and say) I affirm.

4 The Chief Consecrator: Do you promise to receive the Word of Truth from his mouth, with meekness and love, and to submit to him in the due exercise of discipline? Congregation: (raise your hand and say) I affirm. The Chief Consecrator: Do you promise to encourage him, in his arduous labor, and to assist him in his endeavors for your instruction and spiritual education? Congregation: (raise your hand and say) I affirm. The Chief Consecrator: Do you promise that while he is your pastor, you will assure his adequate maintenance by continuing to pay tithes and give offerings and whatever else may be needful for the honor of religion and his comfort among you? Congregation: (raise your hand and say) I affirm. The Chief Consecrator: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Head of the Church, and by the authority of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, I do pronounce and declare that Elder Leo C. Smith III is duly constituted the pastor of the Bethlehem Community Church. Let us therefore pray unto God, the Fountain of all Grace, and Glory that He may be pleased to sanctify with His heavenly blessing this relationship between pastor and people which has now been established in His Name. The Final Charge: The Officiant Apostle Joel Rudolph Almighty God our Father, even the Lord Jesus Christ, who hath given unto Pastor Leo C. Smith III the desire to do Thy will, grant unto him strength and power of the Holy Ghost to perform the same; that he may indeed accomplish your work assigned to him, the work that was begun through the very ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. II Timothy 4:1-5: I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

5 The Anointing and Laying On of Hands by the Presbytery: Pastor Leo C. Smith III Bishop Edgar Robinson, Apostle Joel D. Rudolph; Bishop Leo C. Smith Jr., Apostle Thomas Wesley Weeks Sr., Bishop-designate Wynell Freeman, Bishop William T. Cahoon and Bishop Gwendolyn Weeks The Anointing and Laying On of Hands: First Lady Aimie Smith First Lady Catherine Gillespie, First Lady Vanessa Robinson, First Lady Joyce Smith and First Lady Beverly Allen Song: To God Be The Glory The Investiture: The Cassock The Stole The Cross The Bible The Staff Prophetic Proclamation: Suffragan Bishop Joseph Allen, Officiating Bethesda Apostolic Church, Newark, NJ Bishop Leo C. Smith Jr. and Minister Joyce Smith Bethlehem Community Church, East Orange, NJ Pastor Elijah Bryant Holy Ghost Celebration Church, Phillipsburg, NJ Dr. Willie Moody Chosen Generation Community Church, Plainfield, NJ Pastor Isador Davis Jr. Compassion Outreach WholeLife Ministries, Richmond, VA Bishop-designate Wynell Freeman Fresh Word Kingdom Assemblies, Voorhees, NJ A Time of Blessing: Monetary gifts for Pastor Leo C. Smith III Family Remarks: Apostle Rudolph and BCC Trustees The Father of the Shepherd The Mother of the Shepherd The Mother-in-Law: Elder Lachone McKenzie The Aunt: Assistant Pastor Sylvia Smith The Aunt: Bishop Gwendolyn Weeks Remarks: Pastor Leo Clifford Smith III and First Lady Aimie Smith The Benediction and Blessing of the Food: The Officiant, Apostle Joel D. Rudolph The Pastoral Reception will be held immediately after service in the Fellowship Hall.

6 A Historical Sketch Bethlehem Community Church On April 5, 1970, with the consent and blessing of his pastor, the late District Elder Joseph Solomon Sanders, Elder Leo C. Smith Jr. established Bethlehem Temple in Irvington, NJ. The first service was held in his home at st Street, Irvington, NJ. In attendance was his wife Joyce, Evangelist Sylvia Smith, Brother Douglas Smith, Mother Mae Fisher and seventeen month old Leo C. Smith III. The church later relocated to the FOE Hall on Montgomery Avenue, Irvington, NJ and later migrated to Montgomery Hall where Sunday School classes were held and grew to well over 100 attendees. During this time all other Sunday services, bible class and prayer services continued in the home of the Smith s. In 1976 Elder Smith's parents Leo Sr. and Lucille Smith opened the doors of their 349 Keer Avenue, Newark, NJ home and allowed the church to hold services in their basement. In 1977, the church relocated to 429 Chancellor Avenue, Newark, NJ and remained there for approximately seven years. In August 1980, the church became incorporated under the name change of Bethlehem Community Church (BCC). BCC left Chancellor Avenue on October 21, 1984 and began holding Sunday afternoon service at the Christian Union Center where Reverend Thelda Lambert was the Pastor. On January 1, 1985, the church relocated to its present facility 77 North 14th Street, East Orange, NJ. From this location their borders have been enlarged through the acquiring of several other properties in the surrounding area. During the forty-seven year existence of the church, its Pastor and Founder, Leo C. Smith Jr., remained faithful to God and the ministry and thereby received several ecclesiastic elevations. In 1982 he was appointed to the office of District Elder by Bishop Willie Burrell. Later, he was consecrated to the office of Suffragan Bishop by Bishop Thomas Wesley Weeks. In 1994 under the leadership of Presiding Bishop Paul A. Bowers he was elevated and consecrated as the Diocesan Bishop of the 36th Episcopal Diocese of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc., namely the Eastern Caribbean Council of Nations. The installation service as Diocesan Bishop was held on the island of Montserrat, British West Indies in For over four decades Bethlehem Community Church has birthed, fed, taught, spiritually nourished, and armed many sons and daughters to carry out the work of ministry. To date, many of its offspring have relocated country wide and now serve as Apostles, Bishops, Pastors, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers, and Entrepreneurs, effectively utilizing the knowledge, wisdom, and tools for life that they obtained while members of BCC. Currently under the direction of its newly appointed Pastor Leo C. Smith III, BCC continues to work together all with one accord meeting the needs of the church and the community through its auxiliaries, departments, Saturday Brown Bag Feeding Program, and the Bethlehem Community Development Corporation.

7 Leo Clifford Smith III Biographical Sketch Leo C. Smith III was born in Livingston, New Jersey. He is the eldest of two children born to Bishop Leo C. Smith Jr. and Shepherd Mother Joyce Smith. He was educated in the East Orange, New Jersey school system and graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor s of Science Degree in Business Management and Accounting. He has worked in the financial industry as an accountant and auditor. Elder Smith was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ at the age of nine and received the gift of the Holy Ghost at age eleven. He was born and raised in the church; first attending the Emmanuel Church of Christ with his parents and then attending the Bethlehem Community Church (formally Bethlehem Temple). As a member of the Bethlehem Community Church, he has served in the following capacities: Bookkeeper/Trustee, Christian Men s Department President, Sunday School Teacher, and Assistant Pastor. Within the New Jersey District Council (NJDC) of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Elder Smith has served as an Usher, Assistant Treasurer and Treasurer of the NJDC, Young Peoples Union President, and Assistant Treasurer of the NJDC Brotherhood Department. On a national level within the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, he had the privilege to serve on the Treasury staff of the International Pentecostal Young Peoples Union. On June 9, 2006, Elder Smith received his Ministerial License and on April 20, 2012 he was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ Worldwide by the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World. Understanding the weight of the call and the need to personally prepare, Elder Smith successfully participated in the NJDC Ministerial Orientation and Pastoral Training Courses for which he holds certificates of completion. He has also taken other ministry courses at Aenon Bible College through the Bethlehem Theological Institute. On May 20, 1995, Elder Smith was married to Elder Aimie Smith and from this union they have three beautiful children; Tatiana, Leo IV, and Morgan. A man of great faith, Elder Smith believes the Word, according to Joel 2:32 whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be delivered To that end, his focus is to preach the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ to those that are lost, sick, and in captivity, so that they may be saved, healed, delivered, and set free.

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