Bishop Leath is a child of the parsonage. He was born in Huntington, New York and has lived in Norwalk, Connecticut and Inwood, New York as his father served in those places. Dr. Leath is a graduate of Yale College, Yale Divinity School (Master of Divinity) and United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio) - Doctor of Ministry. His doctoral dissertation focused on the Class Leader system in the A.M.E. Church.

Bishop Leath has served churches in New York; Rhode Island; Norristown, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. His final pastoral charge was at Mother Bethel Church (Philadelphia) where he served for fifteen years as the 51st pastor. The Rt. Reverend Jeffrey N. Leath was elected and consecrated the 128th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in July 2008 in St. Louis. In his episcopal ministry, Jeffrey Leath served in the 19th Episcopal District (South Africa) during 2008-2012, and he presently is the presiding bishop of the 13th Episcopal District (Kentucky and Tennessee).

Bishop Leath is the husband of Susan J. Leath, M.D.; the Leaths have three children: (the Rev.) Jennifer, Victoria, and Jeffrey, II.

Brother Leath is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and he is a 33rd Degree Prince Hall Mason.

Dr. Susan Jones Leath is the fourth of five children of the Reverend Harold B. and Mrs. Juanita R. Jones. Growing up in Worthington, Ohio, she has been a lifelong A.M.E. Her father served as a local elder and her mother has been honored for devoted participation in the Women’s Missionary Society. She now serves as the WMS Supervisor for the 13th Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church (Kentucky and Tennessee).

Dr. Leath is a graduate of Yale University and The Medical College of Pennsylvania. She is the wife of Jeffrey Leath, the 128th bishop of The A.M.E. Church. She is the mother of (the Reverend) Jennifer Leath, Victoria Leath, and Jeffrey N. Leath, II.

Her interests are to encourage, promote and discuss health issues. The spiritual basis for her concern is 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?" She is quite concerned about preventive health issues within the community of faith.

Dr. Leath maintains an active practice of family medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She also maintains fellowship with Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church of Philadelphia, where she leads a women's church school class each Sunday. Susan enjoys reading, gardening and her exercise regimen.

The Lexington District is the sole Presiding Elder’s District in the Kentucky Annual Conference, which encompasses the eastern half of the Commonwealth of Kentucky up to the capital city, Frankfort, Kentucky.

Rev. James Earl “Book” Smith is the Presiding Elder of the Lexington District of the 13th Episcopal District of the AME Church. He has served as the proud pastor of St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Versailles, Kentucky. He is the youngest son of the late Clara and Robert Smith. Rev. Smith, also known as “Rev. Book”, thanks to his grandmother, grew up with his three older brothers, Jack, Roy, and Van in Brewton, Alabama. He and his brothers graduated from Southern Normal High School, a private school for African American youth. He attended Alabama State University on a football scholarship and served as the captain of his football team during his junior and senior year. After graduating from college, Rev. Smith returned to his high school to teach and coach for ten years.

Rev. Smith moved to Kentucky in 1987 and has worked for the Whitley Young Job Corp and the Kentucky Department for Juvenile Justice. He joined St. John A.M.E. Church in Frankfort where his brother Jack and sister-in-law Doris are active members.

Rev. Smith received his call to preach at an early age but did not accept his call until a Thursday evening in 1997. Rev. Smith was ordained an itinerant deacon in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1999 and upon completion of the Board of Examiners, he was ordained an itinerant elder in the August 2001.

Rev. Smith is married to Renee Scott-Smith and lives in Versailles where he is actively involved in the Woodford County community.

In 2008, Rev. Smith was honored to receive the Pastor of the Year Award from the Kentucky Conference and 13th Episcopal District Lay Organization. In 2011, he received the Clergy Legacy Award during the Southern Normal High School Founders Day celebration. In 2012, Rev. Smith was elected to serve as a delegate to the General Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. He believes we should all live one day at a time and his motto is “No Cross, No Crown”.

The Louisville-Paducah District encompasses the cities of Louisville, Paducah, Bowling Green, and Owensboro, along with surrounding areas. It stretches as far south as Franklin, Kentucky at the Tennessee border, and as far southwest as Clinton, Kentucky at the Illinois line.

William Webster Easley, Jr. was born in Lexington, (Henderson County) Tennessee to William Webster Easley, Sr., and Gretchen Lorraine (Funderburk) Easley.

An honors graduate of Montgomery High School of Lexington, Tennessee State University of Nashville, Tennessee, Payne Theological Seminary of Wilberforce, Ohio, William did further graduate level study at The University of Chicago’s Urban Training Center for Christian Mission, The University of Dayton, Austin-Peay State University, Eastern Kentucky State University, and the University of Georgia’s Institute for Government. During his graduate level study William was distinguished as a Richard Allen Fellow, a Ford Foundation Fellow and was awarded the Lubrizol Foundation Award for academic excellence.

In addition to serving as Pastor of A.M.E. Churches in the state of Tennessee (Long Chapel, Jackson; Salters Chapel, Henderson; Greene Chapel, Hartsville; St. Peters, Nashville; Greater Ebenezer, Clarksville; Greater Bethel, Nashville; New Tyler, Memphis; Bethel, Chattanooga), Dr. Easley also served churches in the Commonwealth of Kentucky (Asbury Chapel, Louisville; and Taylor Chapel, Bowling Green). In the Second Episcopal District, Dr. Easley served as Pastor of the historic St. Joseph’s A.M.E. Church of Durham, North Carolina for 17 years and the historic Campbell A.M.E. Church of Washington, D.C. for 8 years. Dr. Easley has also served as a Classroom Teacher, Management Trainee, Assistant Personnel Director and as an Individual and Group Therapist. His former employers include the Clarksville-Montgomery County and the Williamson County School Systems of Tennessee; the Louisville, Kentucky Public Schools, The Dayton Tire & Rubber Company, A Firestone Division Company, and the Kentucky Department of Justice, Bureau of Corrections. Dr. Easley has been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Louisville, Duke University and Bowie State University.

Called to Preach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ at the age of 12 and licensed to preach at the age of 13, he was used as a “Supply” Pastor at the age of 14. Since that time, he has built churches, remodeled churches and parsonages, purchased and acquired land for church expansion, reduced and eliminated mortgages on churches and parsonages, established endowment and scholarship funds, added hundreds of new members to churches, and provided inspiration and training to numerous men and women who answered “the call” to preach. He has been Guest Preacher at St. Paul’s College, Lawrenceville, VA, Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina and the Windward Islands Conference in the 16th Episcopal District.

Dr. Easley’s service to his denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church includes serving as a Student Observer and later as a Delegate to the Consultation On Church Union; Lesson Writer for the Primary, Junior and Senior Sunday School Quarterlies for the Division of Christian Education, Member of the Revision of the A.M.E. Book of Discipline Committee as well as the Compilation of the Discipline Committee in 1984, 1988 and 2004. He served as an Alternate Delegate to the 1972 General Conference and was elected 13th Episcopal District Delegation Chairman for the 1976 General Conference (the youngest in A.M.E. Church history). He served as a member of the A.M.E. Theological Working Papers II for the 1980 General Conference and has served as a Delegate to the 1976, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 General Conferences. In 1992, he ran as a Candidate for Bishop. He served as a member as a member of the A.M.E. Strategic Planning Initiative leading up to the 2004 General Conference and as a Delegate to the 15th, 16th and 17th Assemblies of the World Methodist Conference. For a period of 8 years, he also served as Treasurer of the Second Episcopal District of the A.M.E. Church.

Additionally, Dr. Easley has served as Chairman of the Board of Ministerial Training for the Western North Carolina Conference and the Tennessee Conference. He was Chairman of the Fourth Year Class for the Washington Conference Board of Ministerial Training. He prayed the “Prayers of Dedication” for the School of Law and the Physical and Health Sciences Buildings at North Carolina Central University as well as the People’s Security Building in Durham, North Carolina.

While a student at Tennessee State University in Nashville, William was a participant in the sit-in movement in downtown Nashville. In 1968, Dr. Easley served as Liaison Representative for the National Council of Churches and the SCLC during the Poor Peoples Campaign in Washington, D.C. He has been a Member of (two) National Council of Churches IMPACT Briefing Sessions in conjunction with the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Bill and the Fair Housing Bill in the Congress of the United States; served as Secretary of the Louisville NAACP Ministerial Coalition during the busing for integration crisis; Member of the Kentucky Department of Justice’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Recruitment and Retention of Women and Minorities in State Government; Delegate to (three) American Correctional Association Conventions; Member of the Miami Valley (Ohio) Personnel Association; Appointed Participant in the North Carolina Educational Policy Seminars; Chairman of the Education Sub-Committee for the Durham Affairs of Black People; CO-ANCHOR of “Interchange” for Durham Cablevision 8; Invited Participant at the White House Religious Consultation on the SALT II Arms Limitation Treaty between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., Invited Participant with the Presidential Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad for the U.S. State Department; Invited Participant at the White House Briefings on the Africa Trade Bill; Invited Participant at the White House Rose Garden Reception for the newly elected President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela; Member of the National Panel of Consumer Arbitrators; Chairman of the Southeastern Region of P.I.E. (Partners In Ecumenism) and President of Durham Congregations In Action.

Dr. Easley’s Awards and Recognitions include: “The Brotherhood Award”, presented by the Grand Lodge of North Carolina Free and Accepted Masons (PHA); Commissioned a “Kentucky Colonel” by the Commonwealth of Kentucky; “The Governor’s Award” and “Certificate of Merit” from the State of North Carolina; “Award of Excellence” from United Way of America; “Featured Preacher” in The Washington Times Newspaper’s Pulpit Series; (Three) “Certificates of Appreciation” from the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon benefiting the United Negro College Fund; “Certificate of Appreciation” from Wilberforce University; The Doctor of Laws (LL.D) and the Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) from Monrovia College, Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa; “Certificate of Appreciation” from the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and “The Pastoral Leadership Award” from the Black Alumni Seminarians at Duke University.

Dr. Easley’s publications include: “The Power To Set Men Free”, a collection of Sermons on Liberation Themes, 1978; “The Economics Of Justice In Society”, A Look at Prisons and Prison Reform, The A.M.E. Theological Working Papers II, 1980; and “Reason For Being” and other Messages of Faith, The A.M.E. Sunday School Union, Nashville, 1988.

Dr. Easley is married to Ora L. (Seats), the Immediate Past President of The Connectional Ministers’ Spouses, Widows and Widowers Organization, Plus P.K.’s of the A.M.E. Church and presently the Administrator of the A.M.E. Church’s Clergy Family Information Center. They are the parents of one son, William Webster Easley, III who is married to Sonja Elaine (Tyler) who reside in Bowie, Maryland.

Dr. Easley’s travels and ministry of service has taken him throughout the United States of America including Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad, Greece, the Netherlands, France, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Brazil, Singapore, the Cayman Islands and the Republic of South Africa.

The Chattanooga District is the sole Presiding Elder’s District in the East Tennessee Annual Conference, which encompasses the eastern and south central region of the State of Tennessee. These areas include the major cities of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Pulaski, and Fayetteville.

The North Memphis Presiding Elder's District is one of two districts that comprise the West Tennessee Conference. The Mighty Mississippi River borders it on the west and the Kentucky State Line borders it on the North. The Tennessee River is its eastern border, while South Parkway and Sam Cooper Blvd. in Memphis and Interstate 40 to the Tennessee River is its Southern most border. The North Memphis District, which "embraces a more excellent way" in its overall ministry, comprises 22 churches and over 4,500 members and is 142 years old.

C. Robert Finch somehow knew while growing up as an adolescent that there was a calling upon his life and that God had a greater mission for him. Years later under the guidance and teaching of a good mentor, friend and pastor, Rev. Dr. E. N. Bates, he answered the call to the Gospel Ministry and realized that God was moving him toward the pastoral ministry.

Presiding Elder Finch is a native of Tennessee, the oldest of three children born to the late Clarence and Virginia Finch. Rev. Finch accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior at the young age of twelve at his home Church, St. John AME Church in Winchester, Tennessee under the pastorate of Rev. L. C. Adkins.

Rev. Finch enjoyed a successful secular career path. He worked as a Corporate Manager/Executive for three corporations and one large insurance conglomerate: Cutter Laboratories - Production Manager; Goody Products - Shift Production Manager; American General Insurance - Regional Sales Manager; and Brock Candy Company - Superintendent.

Elder Finch holds a BS, AS, M. Div. and PhD. He has pastured churches in Lynnville, Tennessee, Pulaski, Tennessee, Fayetteville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in Memphis, Tennessee.

Appointed Presiding Elder by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie in 2004, Rev. Finch and his wife Linda are the parents of three children: Christopher, LaChanda, and Ian; and are the grandparents of twelve.

The boundaries of the South Memphis District are the Mississippi River on the west, the Tennessee River on the East, the Mississippi state line on the south and on the north by the street of South Parkway, Sam Cooper Boulevard and interstate 40 to the Tennessee River. The district is over 140 years old and consists of 20 Churches with 4,350 members.

Presiding Elder Linda Faye Thomas-Martin was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, where she attended Memphis City Schools. After graduating from Northside High School, she graduated from Sawyer College of Business, Memphis, TN.

Continuing her education, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin focused her graduate studies in ministerial education classes in Pastoral Ministry, Pastoral Counseling, and New Testament Studies at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) in Atlanta, GA, and received a Systematic Theology Certification with a concentration in New Testament Studies at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Louisville, KY. Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin has also obtained additional graduate work at Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tennessee.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin served as the first female Dean of the 13th Episcopal District, West Kentucky Conference. On the connectional level of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was appointed as the Chairman of the Election Committee, Connectional Women’s Missionary Society, for two quadrennials; 1991 and 1995; and also served as Past President, West Kentucky Conference Branch, Women’s Missionary Society, for two quadrennials; 1987 – 1995. As an Administrator, she worked as the Property/Site Manager of Henry M. Greene Apartments - a 125 multi-family facility owned and operated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Presently, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin is serving as the first female Presiding Elder of the Thirteenth Episcopal District; appointed by Bishop Fredrick H. Talbot in 2003 of the Louisville-Paducah District, West Kentucky Annual Conference. On December 1, 2007 Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was appointed to the South Memphis District of the West Tennessee Annual Conference by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie. She has served as a member of the Kentucky Council of Churches (Board Member), Churches Uniting In Christ (Local and Regional Task Force), Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition, NAACP, and World Federation of Methodist Women. Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin is also a Certified Occupancy Specialist through the National Center for Housing Management in Washington, D.C., and is currently serving as President of the 13th Episcopal District Presiding Elder’s Council for a second time. Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was elected Treasurer of Citizens Housing Corporation, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky, and a member of the Board of Directors of Greater Community Housing, Inc. and Clothe-A-Child Consortium Board of Directors, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin pastorates include Ward’s Chapel AME Church, Scottsville, Kentucky and Greater St. James AME Church, Louisville, Kentucky where under her leadership a massive renovation was completed and the church grew spiritually and numerically. Her highest accomplishments at Greater St. James AME Church, Louisville, Kentucky was a corporate partnership with Nationwide Insurance Company, a weekly radio broadcast, and the Brotherhood Fellowship (A ministry for male empowerment), and a sainted and soulful “Diamonds in the Rough” ministry that enlightened and encouraged women in various walks of life that provided many outstanding services in the community and city.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin has conducted workshops and classes on such topics as Church Administration, Evangelism, Staff Training and Development, New Testament Studies, and Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In addition to ministerial responsibilities such as preaching, counseling, and teaching, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin founded “Those Preaching Women”, a Friday Night Revival in the West Kentucky Conference, and Sisters of Strength Ministry (S.O.S), an educational ministry of the church that is responsible for discipleship and development of new and old members, along with various other ministries inclusive of men, women, boys and girls.

In 2008, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was elected by the 13th Episcopal District Delegation to the serve as the Chairman of the 13th District Delegation 47th Session of the General Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. This was a historical journey as the first female elected as Chairman in the history of the Connectional Church and 13th Episcopal District led by the first female elected and consecrated Bishop (117), Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie. In 2012, she was elected, once again, by the 13th Episcopal District Delegation to the serve as the Chairman of the 13th Episcopal District’s Delegation during the 49th Session of the General Conference in Nashville, TN.

In 2009, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was selected by Dr. James Wade, Executive Director of Church Growth and Evangelism, to teach a class to all Presiding Elders in attendance on the “Presiding Elder’s Perspective on Church Growth” in Jacksonville, Florida.

In February, 2010, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was appointed to serve on President Barack Obama’s 2010 Census Faith-Based Summit for Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was a contributor of several articles, commentary in “God’s Fearless Prophet”, and “Pastors new role in the 21st century” Courier Journal Newspaper. She also has received honors and awards such as YMCA Black Achiever, Kentucky Colonel, and Church Woman United Service Award. She is also a contributing writer to Not Without A Struggle, 2012 revised edition by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie.

Recently, Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin was reappointed to the South Memphis District as Presiding Elder by Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath, Presiding Prelate of the Thirteenth Episcopal District. She was also elected as Chair of the Judicial Committee for the West Tennessee Conference under the administration of Bishop Jeffrey Leath.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin is single, and has three wonderful children; Rickey Clyde Martin, Fionna Renee Hall Martin, and Lula Marie Martin-Sanderson (Jamal Sanderson), and two grandchildren; Alexis Faye “Miracle” Martin and Zion Thomas “The Greatest” Martin.

Presiding Thomas - Martin is a wise woman with a dream and vision: preaching and teaching to congregations by utilizing the numerous ministries established under her leadership. Under her ministry she emphasizes “Victory Through Prayer and Praise” leading retreats, seminars, and workshops. She is a preacher of power and clarity; full of integrity and articulation. Trying to relate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to men and women in all walks of life, while making the eternal work live in the present age.

Presiding Elder Thomas-Martin is abundantly blessed to be serving in the "Super Sensational" South Memphis District of the West Tennessee Annual Conference.

The Nashville District includes churches in the heart of the City of Nashville Tennessee.

Troy Merritt, Jr. is a native Nashvillian. He is a 1966 graduate of Pearl High School. He received both the Bachelor of Science (1970) and Master of Arts (1973) degrees from Fisk University. In 1990, while serving as pastor of historic Avery Chapel in Memphis, he received the degree of Master of Divinity, Cum Laude, and the Alston Award as the Outstanding Black Student, from Memphis Theological Seminary. He has also studied at American Baptist College, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Tennessee State University.

The Reverend Merritt has worked with at-risk youth in a variety of city and state government programs as well as in private not for profit mental health centers. Positions held include teacher, counselor, counseling supervisor, program director/coordinator, for the various programs. He has taught graduate level courses and trained many teachers in the area of classroom and behavior management. In addition, as a trainer of department supervisors/managers, and a policy compliance monitor, he traveled across the State of Tennessee serving prison and juvenile facility staffs.

Reverend Merritt accepted the call to preach at Lee Chapel, Nashville under the Reverend Charles A. Jones in February 1978. He was ordained a Deacon, by the late Bishop Howard T. Primm in 1979 at Greater Bethel, Nashville, and appointed to two churches. In 1981, he was ordained an Elder at Lee Chapel, Nashville, by the late Bishop William F. Ball, Sr. He has been privileged to pastor Sulphur Spring, Cunningham, Tennessee and Mt. Zion, Bellsburg, Tennessee (a circuit); Ebenezer, Clarksville, Tennessee; Avery Chapel, Memphis, Tennessee; St. John, Frankfort, Kentucky; Salem, Nashville, Tennessee; St. Paul, Columbia, Tennessee; and St. John, Nashville, Tennessee.

Service to the church includes: Director of Christian Education (1990-2002), Dean Tennessee Conference Board of Examiners (member since 1992, Assistant Dean 2000-2002) 2002-2004, Dean South Nashville District Board of Christian Education (1992-2004), Boards of Examiners, member – West Tennessee, Kentucky, Tennessee Conferences (1985-2004).

From October 2004-2012, Reverend Merritt has served as Presiding Elder of the South Nashville District having been twice appointed to this office by Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie, Presiding Prelate of the 13th Episcopal District. After a short period where he returned to pastor St. John AME Church in Nashville, Tennessee, Reverend Merritt was appointed Presiding Elder of the newly formed Nashville District in 2014.

Reverend Merritt is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., the NAACP, Fellowship of Christian Educators (FCE), Tennessee Counseling Association, Nashville Education Association, the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship (IMF) Nashville, and the Presiding Elders Connectional Council of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Reverend Merritt is married to the former Brenda Rhodes, who is the Assistant Dean of Student and Academic Affairs at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. They have three (3) children: Deanna Merritt Ross, a 4th grade teacher in Memphis, Tennessee; Troy Rhodes Merritt, a respiratory therapist and licensed real estate broker in Nashville, Tennessee; and Justin Andrew Merritt, a sophomore student at the University of Memphis, majoring in Business Administration and Finance.

The North Nashville District sits among the rolling hills of Middle Tennessee and includes churches in the North Nashville area all the way to the Kentucky state line.

The Reverend Walter Winstead Reid, Jr. was born January 15, 1960 in Louisville, Kentucky to the late Rev. Walter W. Reid Sr. and the late Mrs. Jerrie L. Reid. He is married to Evangelist Brenda L. Reid and is the proud father of three daughters, Kimberly, Brennan, and Shaquita; and grandfather of two, MaKayla and MaKenzi.

He has successfully matriculated as an alumnus of Trevecca Nazarene University where he holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management. He also holds an Associate Degree in Business from Nashville Community State College. Reverend Reid has furthered his post graduate studies at the Memphis Theological Seminary and at Trevecca Nazarene University for the Master’s Degree in Religion.

Reverend Reid’s extensive experience in the Banking Industry led to his personal and professional associations with the Minority Banker’s Association and the Chamber of Commerce. This same experience of over 20 years further lends itself to his significant accomplishments in the areas of finance and construction, more specifically, a variety of projects that were initiated or completed during his pastorates. Most notably, those projects have included the building of an Educational Facility and Sanctuary expansion at St. John A.M.E. Church in Springfield, Tennessee, along with the acquisition of land. Rev. Reid also served as coordinator for a substantial tornado restoration project at St. Peter A.M.E. Church, Clarksville, Tennessee, an important landmark that is recorded on the National Register of Historic Places.

Under the auspices of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, he is a fifth generation A.M.E. minister. Previously, he has served as Pastor of St. James A.M.E. Church, Memphis, Tennessee; St. Peter A.M.E. Church, Clarksville, Tennessee; St. John A.M.E. Church, Springfield, Tennessee; and Clayborn Chapel A.M.E Church, Williamsport, Tennessee. He is currently appointed as the Presiding Elder of the North Nashville District of the Tennessee Annual Conference.

The South Nashville District is comprised of churches in the southern middle Tennessee region.

The Reverend Harold M. Love, Jr. is the pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a Degree in Economics and Finance with a minor in Political Science, from Vanderbilt University School of Divinity with a Master’s Degree in Theological Studies, and is pursuing a PhD in Public Administration at Tennessee State University. An ordained itinerant elder, he has served Hopewell AME Church in Columbia and has served St. Paul since 2002.

He currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Tennessee State University Foundation, Advisory Board Member for the Meharry Medical College Elam Mental Health Center, The 18th Avenue Family Enrichment Center, past V.P. Of Scout Reach for Middle TN Boy Scout Council, the State of Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth and 2nd Vice-President of the Nashville Branch of the NAACP. He is an elected State Representative for District 58 where he serves on the Education Committee and the Insurance and Banking Committee for the Tennessee House of Representatives.