The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr., will be the speaker at revival services being sponsored by the Church of the Open Door in Miami’s Liberty City community at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26.
Forbes, 76, is senior minister emeritus of The Riverside Church, an interdenominational, interracial and international church built by John D. Rockefeller Jr., in 1927 in New York City.
The 2,400-member church is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches and the United Church of Christ. Forbes, an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches and the Original United Holy Church of America, was installed as the fifth senior minister on June 1, 1989, and retired on June 1, 2007, the first African American to serve in that capacity at the multicultural congregation.
Forbes, who was born in Burgaw, N.C., also serves as president of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, a national ministry and movement that positions him to promote the spiritual revitalization and healing of America.
He has earned three degrees and has been awarded 13 honorary degrees and several honors from organizations.
He holds a Doctor of Ministry from Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y., a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Howard University, Washington, D.C. He earned his Clinical Pastoral Education Certificate from the Medical College of Virginia at Richmond.
In national and international religious circles, Forbes is known as the preacher’s preacher because of his extensive preaching career and his charismatic style.
As a renowned preacher and lecturer in the U.S.A. and abroad, Forbes has led workshops, retreats and conferences for various churches, including the National Council of Churches of Christ USA, the National Association of Campus Ministry, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Roman Catholic Church, the American Baptist Churches, and the United Church of Christ.
He participated in the Charles Finney Colloquium at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School and the World Pentecostal Fellowship in Nairobi, Kenya, and in the Department of Justice Round Table on Youth Violence at the White House in 1998.
He also delivered the keynote address at the President’s Initiative on Race meeting in New Orleans on Dec. 26, 2003.
The theme of the revival is “Unifying Praise” and the church is inviting the community to the services. Church of the Open Door is located at 6001 NW Eighth Ave., Miami. The Rev. Dr. R. Joaquin Willis is the pastor.
Photo: Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes Jr.
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