Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Reverend Ernest Ferrell to Keynote Martin Luther King Convocation

Reverend Ernest Ferrell will keynote Florida A&M University’s Martin Luther King Convocation scheduled for Thursday, January 15, at 10:10 a.m. in Gaither Gymnasium. The general public is invited to attend.

Ferrell is the president of the Tallahassee Urban League and serves as pastor of Saint Mary Primitive Baptist Church in Tallahassee.

His church leadership began when he was a youth singing in the choir, the Lincoln High School Chorus, and a gospel group named the Walls of Zion. In 1972, he produced a recording album titled “The Ferrells in Concert,” with his brother and sister. The album was waxed in Nashville, Tennessee. From singing, he progressed to the church pulpit as a young gospel preacher. He became an ordained preacher, and in 1969, he was installed as pastor of his first church, Galilee Primitive Baptist Church.

Reverend Ferrell has advanced through the ranks in the Primitive Baptist denomination. He held the positions of assistant secretary, secretary, vice president, and president of the Florida State Primitive Baptist Convention. In the National Primitive Baptist Convention of the United States of America, he held the position of vice president and served a successful three-year term as president. He was re-elected in August 2008 to serve another three-year term as president of the National Primitive Baptist Convention of the United States of America. This convention consists of more than 600,000 members located in 18 states in the United States.

His community leadership began as a volunteer with the Tallahassee Urban League in 1970. Because of his successful level of achievement as a volunteer, the Board of Directors appointed him to the position of acting chief executive officer (CEO) in 1973. Five years later, he was appointed president/CEO and has served with distinction. Through the leadership of Reverend Ferrell at the Tallahassee Urban League, thousands of individuals and families in the Tallahassee and surrounding communities have received many services. These services include housing, crime prevention, youth services, victims’ rights assistance, emergency food and shelter, and many more.

Ferrell has been the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award from FAMU, the City of Tallahassee Reginald L. Rolle Minority Business Leadership Award, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year Award, and was nominated by the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce for the Distinguished Citizen Service Award. Also, the City of Tallahassee presented him with the Reverend Ernest Ferrell Day Proclamation Award. He received the Florida House of Representatives Leadership Award and many others.

Reverend Ferrell is married to the former Mary E. Richardson.

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