Why African American Youth Are Attracted to Non-Christian/Non-Traditional Religions and Sects
by Joyce T. Henderson
Category: Religion

I made the monumental decision to follow Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior 50 years ago, at age 8, while attending Miles Chapel Christian Methodist Church in Little Rock Arkansas. Shortly afterward, I was baptized as a testimony to my being buried with Christ in His death and raised to a new life with Him. In 1959, I enrolled at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee where I was awarded the BS Degree in 1962. In 1977, I enrolled in Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California and, in 1979, received my MA Degree in Theology, becoming the first African American woman to graduate from the "Black, Asian, Hispanic Program. In 1980, I served as an Associate Pastor at Amos Christian Methodist Church in Los Angeles and shortly afterward at Lewis Metropolitan C.M.E. Church. Several years later, I founded and organized the Carson C.M.E. Church in Carson, California. In 1987, I servedas Pastor of the Harper Chapel C.M.E. church in Cerritos, California. During my tenure in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, I was ordained a Deacon and Elder. In 1989, I united with the First Church of God in Englewood, California and under the pastorate of the late Bishop Benja, on F. Reid. I was ordained several years later in the Church of God. In January 1997, I received my Doctor of Ministry Degree from Carolina University of Theology, and later became a Certified Christian Marriage and Family Therapist. Presently, I serve as an Associate Pastor at the First Church of God, where Dr. Gregory L. Dixon is Senior Pastor. I serve in the areas of Director of Pastoral Counseling, Instructor of Women's Ministers, and Prayer and Deliverance. I also serve as an Instructor in the Southern California School of Ministry in Inglewood, California. I have been married for 35 years to John W. Henderson Sr. and we have one young adult son, John W. Anderson, Jr.