Rev. Dr. C. Edward “CJ” Rhodes II, director of religious and spiritual life at Alcorn State University, will attend the Full Baptist Church Fellowship International’s Young Pastor Roundtable. During the event, invited participants will fellowship and discuss current issues with Presiding Bishop Joseph Warren Walker III. This event will take place at Abundant Life Tabernacle in New Orleans, La. on July 8.

About the invitation, Rhodes stated, “I am blessed to serve on the International Young Pastors Council for Full Gospel. Over the past few years, we have been able to bring Bishop Walker into a laid-back setting with young leaders so that we can share in a more direct conversation with him. I am honored to also be able to share insights from my leadership context. To have Bishop Joseph Warren Walker III, one of the nation’s most recognizable transformational leaders, freely give insights on leadership alongside younger pastors will be an impactful and inspiring time for leaders navigating complex decisions.”

Rhodes has functioned in ministry for most of his adult life. He shares that he was called to serve a month after graduating from high school.

“I served in various ministerial settings before being called to my first and only pastorate in 2010, when I became the youngest pastor of Jackson’s oldest Black congregation—Mt. Helm Baptist Church. In 2013, I was invited to serve as rector of Oakland Memorial Chapel and have continued to serve as Alcorn’s pastor since that time as a bi-vocational minister.

Rhodes also functions as director of the Hiram Rhodes Revels Institute for Ethical Leadership. Named for Senator Revels, the first African American member of the United States Senate and founding president of Alcorn University, the Institute aims to cultivate spiritually sensitive, morally anchored, critically thoughtful, and socially engaged persons to serve in leadership capacities.

Rev. Rhodes stated, “I am proud to serve Alcorn and to be one of the custodians of our knowledge and character legacy that dates back to Hiram Rhodes Revels and continues through myriad alums, students, faculty, staff, and administration for more than a century and a half.”

A thoughtful leader, Rhodes is the author of two religious self-help publications.

He shared, “7 Leadership Principles of Service and Success helps readers to understand servant leadership as essential to true success in life. My other book, Deeper Still: Ministry Empowered by the Holy Spirit helps us to appreciate… that spiritual empowerment, coupled with education and experience, causes us to accomplish more than we can ever dream or imagine.”

Both books are available on Amazon.

July marks 24 years of ministry for Rev. Rhodes. During his time at the roundtable, he hopes to draw insight from his years of service to bring value to the group discussion. “I hope to speak to what it means to serve legacy institutions at a relatively young age,” he said.

He also hopes to share his philosophy of facing the human challenges of the day.

“How do you bring vision and vigor to places and people that hope for more but who also long for glory days that may or may not return? We are called to serve the present age, informed by the past, while also inspired by a better future. That mindset shapes the way I pastor Mt. Helm and serve Alcorn. I hope to speak to that reality and how I have, by God’s grace, achieved much in ministry right here in the great state of Mississippi.”

For more than 30 years, the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International has provided a space for young pastors and leaders to flourish in their unique gifts, skills, and contexts.

Similarly, a number of campus ministries, including the historic Oakland Memorial Chapel, provide opportunities for the campus community to express their faith and to be inspired. Various revivals, conferences, and lectures accentuate campus life with a commitment to answering deep questions, regardless of religious affiliation. Campus ministries include AMP Ministries, Chosen Generation, COGIC Club, Poimne Ministries, and the ASU Wesley Foundation.

For more information on faith-based initiatives at Alcorn, visit https://www.alcorn.edu/student-affairs/religious-life/.