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2 - The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, March 28, 2012
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
The Savannah Tribune Celebrates Women’s History Month
Rev. Joyce Hall, Pastor of Living Hope
Community Fellowship
Rev. Joyce Hall
Pastor Joyce C. Hall, an
internationally sought after
preacher and teacher, is the
senior pastor and founder of
Living Hope Community
Fellowship in Savannah,
Georgia. This groundbreak
ing evangelistic ministry
began in October of 1999,
through a collaborative effort
with Overcoming by Faith
Ministries and networking
with Living Vine, Savannah
Baptist Mission Training
Center, Savannah Care
Center, Emmaus House and
Hitch Village Residential
Association.
Pastor Joyce took on
the awesome challenge of
ministering to the needs of
urban communities. Her
goal is to address the disease
of hopelessness by providing
them with an opportunity to
experience the life changing
force of Christ. It was grow
ing up in Hitch Village, a
public housing complex, as a
small child that God placed
deep inside her a commit
ment to make a difference.
Once a weekly Bible
study, Living Hope
Community Fellowship now
has a thriving membership of
over 500 and boasts several
outreach ministries that
serve the surrounding com
munity to include youth
detentions, the homeless,
and most recently Armstrong
Atlantic State University and
Savannah State University
college campuses. Pastor
Joyce and this ground-break
ing ministry has been fea
tured on TVOne and in sev
eral national and internation
al conferences.
Pastor Hall accepted
her call in to the ministry in
1985. It was under the lead
ership of Pastor Ricky
Temple, that she attended
Word Alive Bible School, an
affiliate of Life Bible
College of Los Angeles
California. Upon graduation,
Pastor Hall took the office of
Assistant Minister at
Overcoming By Faith
Ministries. She faithfully
served in many areas of lead
ership there for over fifteen
years until the start of Living
Hope.
Pastor Joyce is the
devoted wife of Mr. Thomas
Hall. They have been mar
ried for twenty-eight years,
and they have two sons,
Broderick (21) and Brandon
(18).
What are some of her
fondest experiences as pastor
of Living Hope Community
Fellowship?
“I have been afforded
many fond experiences from
a congregation that express
es love, respect, and devo
tion towards me,” Rev. Hall
said. “Having had the oppor
tunity to reach so many peo
ple from a diverse back
ground has proven to be
some of my most memorable
experiences”
Rev. Cheryl Parris, Pastor St. Matthews
Episcopal Church
Rev. Cheryl Parris
From a life centered in
prayer, my ministry is one of
radical hospitality and serv
ice that seeks to empower
people to go out in the world
to exercise their Baptismal
Covenant.
Rev. Cheryl is the fifth
Rector of St. Matthew’s
Church. “As a Pastor, my
hope is that our congrega
tion's leadership and mem
bership continues to seek
greater levels of spiritual
maturity,” Rev. Parris said.
Rev. Parris has many
fond experiences as pastor of
St. Matthews Episcopal
Church.
“Each year has it's own
blessing and challenges!
For 2012, the fondest experi
ence thus far has been the
Episcopal Church presence
at the Martin Luther King
Day Parade,” Rev. Parris
said.
“In 2008, my first expe
rience of the Parade, we had
7 people; this year we had
well over 150 people, repre
senting most of Savannah's
Episcopal churches.”
The road to St.
Matthews was not an easy
one as she face discrimina
tion.
“When I first spoke
with my parish priest about
priesthood, he went as far as
acknowledging my call, but
would not sponsor me
because of my gender, Rev.
Parris said. “I had to leave
my home parish and that
began a 17-year journey. I
did not know if I would ever
get ordained, I just knew that
I was called to be faithful.
Time and time again, God's
faithfulness proved to be
stronger than all the other
challenges.”
She is a native of the
Bronx, New York and also a
first generation American,
holding a dual citizenship in
the United States and
Trinidad and Tobago.
She graduated from
Iona College in 1988 and
New York University in
1991. A Certified
Rehabilitation Counselor,
she served as the Vocational-
Educational Coordinator of
LUCHA Vida, a drug treat
ment facility in Spanish
Harlem until going to semi
nary. She received the
Master of Theological
Studies from Colgate
Rochester Divinity School in
2000 and the Master of
Divinity from Bexley Hall
Seminary in 2002.
Rev. Cheryl applied for
Holy Orders in the Diocese
of Western New York, was
ordained a deacon in
December 2002, and priest
in September 2003. While
serving as the Associate for
Social Ministries at St.
Bonaventure University, she
served as Assistant and then
Associate at St. Stephen’s
Episcopal Church, Olean,
New York.
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