Conference Speakers

(Hampton, VA) – Hampton University has named the Rev. Debra L. Haggins as the university’s first female chaplain in the institution’s 140-year history. As chaplain, Haggins will serve as pastor of the HU Memorial Church, director of the Religious Studies Program and handle all religious affairs for the university. 

She will also serve as the first female executive secretary of the Annual HU Ministers’ Conference, the largest gathering of interdenominational African-American clergy in the world. 

“This appointment makes a strong statement to the world that we are all called and can be chosen for any particular task, so we need to be prepared to be sent wherever we are needed,” said Haggins. 

Bishop Roderick L. Hennings ~ a prolific speaker, renowned teacher, a powerful preacher, an apologist, one used by the Holy Ghost to “change lives in an unchanging world”. He is a lecturer, a coach, and a leadership mentor. 

Roderick L. Hennings founded Zion Dominion Global Ministries in 1993. His unique ability to communicate the Word of God without compromise attracts people from different socioeconomic backgrounds; races and nationalities; and has caused a continued growth in membership from 20 at inception to currently over several thousand.

Bishop Hennings continues to serve the International and Jurisdictional COGIC church in several capacities. On November 8, 2015 at the COGIC 18th Holy Convocation, Roderick L. Hennings was consecrated to Bishop.

Mr. Rick Love is a Certified Senior Financial Advisor and Independent Broker. He is the president and founder of All Faith Financial Services. He has been in the financial services and estate planning profession for more than 25 years. All Faith Financial Services was founded in 2002 and provides insurance products and financial services for clients all over the United States. All Faith Financial Services has been awarded an A+ Rating by the Better Business Bureau and is also listed in the Christian Blue Pages as an approved Christian business.

Mr. Love is a member of the Million Dollar Round Table, one of the premier designations in the financial services industry. Less than 10% of financial advisors in the US obtain this designation. He is listed by the Society of Market Professionals as one of the “Top Professionals in the Senior Market.” As one of the top advisors in the country, he has traveled the United States receiving advance annuity and insurance training.

Keith is a self-described “techie”.  He developed this passion while serving as the Senior Fiscal Officer (Controller) with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) prestigious Media Lab.

The MIT Media Lab is one of the world’s leading research and academic organizations.  The Lab creates disruptive technologies that happen at the edges, pioneering such areas as wearable computing, tangible interfaces, and affective computing.  Unconstrained by traditional disciplines, Media Lab designers, engineers, artists, and scientists strive to create technologies and experiences that enable people to understand and transform their lives, communities, and environments.

Today, Keith is the CEO & Solution Architect at Axtegrity Consulting, a Gold Certified Microsoft partner specializing in ERP consulting, implementations, digital transformation and cloud solutions as well as custom APP & software development.

Bishop Brandon Burdett Porter loves Jesus Christ, and leads God’s people with this love. He is the Pastor of Greater Community Temple Church Of God In Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, Prelate of Tennessee Central Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, Interim-Prelate of Ohio Southern Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, and the Church Of God In Christ Secretary of the General Board. He is a fourth-generation member of COGIC—the son of late Mother Ida M. Porter and Bishop W. L. Porter, and the grandson of late Elder George T. Flagg of Arkansas.

In 1976, Bishop Porter was called to preach, and ordained an Elder in 1978. In 1991, after serving as a pastor right out of college in Jackson, Tennessee for nearly twenty years, his father appointed him Pastor of the historic Greater Community Temple (GCT) in North Memphis. Under Bishop Brandon Porter’s leadership, GCT membership flourished to over 5,000 and expanded to the campus in East Memphis. In 2009, he succeeded his father as Prelate of the Tennessee Central Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction, which has grown to over 80 churches and counting. In 2012, Bishop was elected to the twelve-member COGIC General Board, and re-elected in 2016 and 2021, where he continues to serve. His influence is recognized by other reformations, and in 2017, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Conference of National Black Churches (CNBC).

Attorney Amos Smith has been married to Dr. Lisa Winters-Smith, a pediatrician, for 25 years. They are the proud parents of two sons, Amos Jeffrey Smith, a junior at Duke University and Austin Phillip Smith, a junior at Harrison High School, All-State Cellist and Honor Roll student.

He has been a practicing attorney for over 29 years. In his profession, he represents individuals, small businesses, not for profit entities, ministries, churches, pastors, and numerous denominations. In addition to his legal experiences, Attorney Smith has been a consultant with the CPA firms of Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen.

Attorney Smith received his bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has received advanced legal and taxation training at the Georgetown Law Center, located in Washington DC.

Bishop Felton M. Smith, Jr., a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a renowned preacher, teacher, evangelist, prophet and professional licensed counselor.  His service in ministry has been a lifelong endeavor, in that he accepted Christ as a child at the age of seven.  He began preaching at the age of eight.  As a teenager in 1961, he established the Bread of Life Ministries, which became a multimedia organization with a focus on holistic ministry.  In 1970, he became the founding pastor of Temple of Faith Church of God in Christ, Chattanooga, Tennessee.  He has assisted in establishing churches in Atlanta, GA, Dalton, GA, Canton, OH and Jackson, MS.  Bishop Smith’s commitment to the community and service to religious civic and business communities led him to serve in the Greater Chattanooga area as Chairman of the Board of the Local “Operation Push.”  He was an active member of the city’s Ministerial Alliance.  He served as Family Counselor for the Department of Health and Education for the City of Chattanooga for three years.

Bishop Smith began his career at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, CA, where he received an Associate Degree in Electrical Engineering.  He continued his studies at Tennessee Temple University in Pastoral studies; the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga majoring in Religion and Philosophy with a minor emphasis on Psychology; American Bible Institute in Kansas City, MO, with a curriculum in Biblical Studies; Breadloaf  Bible College of Charlotte, NC, receiving his B.S. Degree in Religion and Biblical Studies.  Bishop Smith received his Master’s Degree from Oxford Graduate School, having studied Orthodoxy in Ministry and Counseling Psychology.  He received his Doctorate of Ministry from the International Bible College and Seminary of Orlando, FL and Doctorate of Philosophy from the Oxford Graduate School.

Readus C. Smith III, FACHE joined Wellvana in January of 2021 where he serves as Chief Managed Care Officer. Prior to Wellvana, Mr. Smith was the Chief Strategy and Development Officer for Island Doctors MSO, a group of preventative care physician offices throughout Northeast Florida, where he increased patient panel size by 300%. Mr. Smith brings to Wellvana extensive relationships across the healthcare system. Mr. Smith holds an associate degree from Gwinnett Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Memphis, an M.S. in corporate operations from LaSalle University, and a health law and policy degree from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law. Mr. Smith serves as the General Secretary of Health for the Church of God in Christ and its affiliates worldwide, appointed by the Presiding Bishop’s office. Mr. Smith and his wife currently reside in Jacksonville, Florida where they enjoy spending their time with their 6 children and 6 grandchildren. 

Dr. Michael A. Stevens, Sr. is the visionary founder and Senior Pastor of The City Church of God in Christ. The City Church is an innovated church with a very clear and concise vision—To Love God, Love People, and Serve the World. The City Church offers diverse and cutting-edge ministries in the Charlotte, NC and surrounding areas affecting hundreds of lives through effective evangelism, Christian education and community empowerment.

Dr. Stevens is founder and CEO of Michael A. Stevens Consulting Services – an insightful and innovated consulting practice with laser-focus expertise in the networking and sourcing space of services exclusively for the African-America church and community. Current clients include Carefield Ventures, International Fellowship of Christian and Jews and Wellsprings Holdings.

Dr. Stevens is an Ordained Elder and District Superintendent in the Church of God in Christ. He currently serves as the 1st Administrative Assistant to the Georgia Cosmopolitan Fellowship of Churches under the visionary leadership of Bishop Derrick W. Hutchins, Sr.

Evangelist Cecelia Williams-Young, a native of Buffalo, NY earned a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in English and Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Master of Divinity from Colgate Rochester Divinity. She has enjoyed an extensive career in professional ministry for more than 30 years. Her ministry roles have included: HIV/Aids program director and family advocate, women’s Shelter director, prison and hospital chaplaincy, College and Institute instructor. The Church of God in Christ Chaplaincy Department recently bestowed upon her the Bishop Ithiel Clemmons Chaplain of The Year Award during the 112th International Holy Convocation in St. Louis, MO.

She founded and directed the Mary and Martha’s Spiritual and Natural Healing Clinic for Women. She is the founder of Mary and Martha’s Oasis for women and children in crisis. She is a Commissioned Chaplain, and licensed evangelist in the Church of God in Christ and is a member of The Life Center Church of God in Christ in Milwaukee, WI where she is the director of women’s ministries. She serves in The Wisconsin First Jurisdiction as one of the Assistant Jurisdictional Supervisors for the Women’s Department.