9/28/2017

Plans are now underway for the William Pierce Bailey, Jr. Academy of Congregational Leadership in memory of Dr. Bailey, who died in January.

Bailey was a Memphis Conference elder who retired in 1997 after 43 years of active ministry.

A steering committee of lay and clergy friends of Bailey has established a fund for the academy that will have as its first event a day-long education session in Jackson, Tennessee, in late winter 2018, according to Paula Atkins, committee member.

Atkins said the speaker will be retired Bishop Joseph E. Pennel, Jr. Rev. Michael Bailey, district superintendent in the Western North Carolina Conference, also will participate. Michael Bailey is William Bailey’s son.

Lana Clement, another committee member, said academy events will “help train lay people and young ministers in congregational leadership.”

Donations for the academy are now being received by the United Methodist Foundation for the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences, 304 S. Perimeter Park Dr., Suite 3, Nashville, TN 37211. They should be designated for the Bailey Foundation. Individuals and churches may make contributions.

Among other Memphis Conference positions, the Memphis Conference Journal shows Bailey served the following Memphis Conference churches during his career: Highland Heights, Georgian Hills, Davant Avenue, Collierville, Bartlett, Asbury and Huntingdon.

For more information about the academy or its funding, contact Rev. Bill Evans at 731-614-4892, Paula Atkins at 731-694-8470 or Lana Clement at 731-225-9762.

**Article courtesy of Memphis Conference News.