About
The New England Annual Conference is one of seven regional Conferences within the First Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Conference spans three states; Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Boston-Hartford District, is the only Presiding Elder District of the New England Annual Conference, and had its genesis when the Boston and then Springfield Districts merged. At the time of the merger, Rev. Marcel J. Brooms was Presiding Elder of the Boston District and the Rev. F. Lemoyne Whitlock served as Presiding Elder of the Springfield District. At the convening of the “1973” New England Conference, the Boston-Hartford District had its birth with the Rt. Rev. Ernest Lawrence Hickman Presiding Bishop appointing Rev. Peter Bernard Walker to serve as the first Presiding Elder of the newly organized Presiding Elder District. Only four (4) Presiding Elders have served the Boston-Hartford District since its inception: Reverends Peter Bernard Walker, Elliot J. Mayfield, Herbert L. Eddy (33 years) and presently, the Reverend Jocelyn K. Hart Lovelace.
First Episcopal District Leadership
BISHOP SAMUEL LAWRENCE GREEN, SR.
Presiding Prelate
Like the prophet Samuel in the Old Testament, the Right Reverend Samuel L. Green Sr., was very young when he first realized his calling into the ministry. No supernatural acts of God were necessary to compel him to serve.​
Bishop Green has been inspired to take bold new approaches, including more open worship and a ministry specialized for individual needs.​
Under Bishop Green's leadership, St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal Church in Orlando, Florida, added a daycare facility and preparatory school. He served the church from 1988 to 2004, and in honor of his dedication to furthering the kingdom of God; the church renamed the Family Life Center to the Samuel L. Green, Sr. Family Life Center during his final month there. He has also held pastorates at two other Florida churches: Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church in Green Cove Springs and Greater Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church in St. Petersburg.​
In July 2004, at the 47th Quadrennial Session of the African Methodist Episcopal Church General Conference, he was elected and consecrated the 125th bishop in the history of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He has served faithfully for the past 20 years as a bishop as the presiding prelate of the 15th Episcopal District (Angola, Namibia and western South Africa), the 12th Episcopal District (Arkansas and Oklahoma), and the Seventh Episcopal District (South Carolina). Under his leadership, many ministries have been initiated to empower clergy and congregations to move to the Next Level. He is the founder of the God First Holy Convocation, a rebranded conference replacing the traditional annual AME district meeting to converge both pastors and lay leaders for change in the 21st Century. Presently, he presides over the First Episcopal District (Bermuda, Delaware, New Jersey, New England, New York, Western New York, and Philadelphia).​
Bishop Green served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Allen University in Columbia, SC. Since being at the hem of the Board, Allen’s accreditation was re-affirmed until 2027. Allen has also moved from being a Level II to a Level III school, offering now a Master of Divinity Degree through Dickerson Green Theological Seminary, fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In 2018 Collegiate Football returned to Allen University, and after fifty years Allen has a Marching Band.
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Four decades after accepting his call to public ministry, the same passion for leading others to a closer relationship with Jesus still exists within Bishop Green's soul. He views the church as a proponent of change. In his opinion, meeting the needs of the community is a priority, from economic development to housing to job training to educating our youth.​
No matter how successful, Bishop Green continues to keep his focus on the Lord and always keeps his favorite biblical verse in mind: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33 KJV).
Phyllis N. Green, a native Floridian, was educated in the public school system of Pinellas County. She furthered her education at Bethune-Cookman College (University) in Daytona Beach, Florida where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She later earned a Master’s Degree at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Counseling Education. Recognizing her work in missions, Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina conferred upon Supervisor Green an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during its’ Spring Commencement in May 2023.
She has served as an Episcopal Supervisor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, alongside her brother-in-law, the Right Reverend Samuel Lawrence Green, Sr., since 2009. This position afforded her the privilege of serving in the 12th Episcopal District, encompassing the states of Oklahoma and Arkansas, as well as the 7th Episcopal District, encompassing the state of South Carolina.
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Prior to this position, Mrs. Green worked in Higher Education at both Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida and DeKalb Technical College (now Piedmont Technical College) in Clarkston, Georgia. During her time at these two institutions of higher learning, she was a strong advocate for student success.
Throughout the years, Supervisor Green has enjoyed working with the Women’s Missionary Society, the Young People’s and Children’s Division, the Christian Debutantes and Masters Commission, and the Ministers’ Spouses, Widows, Widowers Plus P.K.s Organization (MSWAWO), where she served in many positions to include the Florida Conference M-SWAWO + PKs President. Because of her special ability to bring Clergy Families together, she was appointed as the 11th Episcopal District M-SWAWO President from 2001-2008.
Moreover, in her role as an Episcopal Supervisor, Mrs. Green was elected to a two-year term in 2019 to serve as the President of the AMEC Supervisors’ Council. During her tenure, Supervisor Green was a part of the team leading the efforts to update the AMEC Supervisors’ Council website and today this work has been completed and contains relevant information on Supervisors of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Boston-Hartford District Leadership
Reverend Jocelyn Kahn Hart Lovelace is the second of four children born to the late Filmore and Marion Kahn Hart of Baltimore, Maryland.
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Reverend Lovelace is an Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She acknowledged the call to preach in 1993 at Bethel A.M.E. Church of Reading, Pennsylvania under the pastorate of the late Rev. Bealie Stancil, Jr.
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In June 2016 Presiding Elder Lovelace was appointed Presiding Elder of the Boston Hartford District of the New England Annual Conference. Here she serves 25 congregations spanning the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Under her leadership three congregations have been established. Presiding Elder Lovelace created two volumes documenting the Boston Hartford District’s response to COVID 19 and “Pastoring In A Pandemic: The First Episcopal District’s Response to COVID 19”. In 2021 Presiding Elder Lovelace was appointed President of the First Episcopal District Presiding Elders Council.
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Prior to this appointment, she served as Presiding Elder of the Philadelphia District of the Philadelphia Annual Conference. In this capacity Presiding Elder Lovelace facilitated the first church merger in the Philadelphia Annual Conference. She also assisted the efforts of the Bensalem Heritage Foundation in the renovation of Bensalem AME Church. Lead on by the Township Mayor, this project involved every area of the community: Bensalem AME Church, Town Council and Township Departments, youth agencies, social service agencies, educational institutions, veterans, labor unions and retailers. All to the glory of God and bringing a community together in ways no one could have imagined.
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In 2012,2016, and 2021 Presiding Lovelace was elected to the General Board of The African Methodist Episcopal Church. She is currently the Vice Chairperson of the Commission on Ministry and Recruitment.
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Prior to her elevation to Presiding Elder, Reverend Lovelace served for five and one-half years as Pastor of Hickman Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she distinguished herself as the first woman to be appointed as lead pastor to a charge of this caliber. During her tenure at Hickman Temple, Presiding Elder Lovelace served as Chairman of the Board of Examiners, a Conference Trustee, and was twice elected a Delegate to the General Conference. Additionally, under her leadership, Hickman Temple was selected as a Partner for Sacred Places, effected major needed improvements to the physical plant, and was blessed with a successful hosting of the 193rd Session of the Philadelphia Annual Conference. An inspired and anointed preacher, Presiding Elder Lovelace was honored to deliver the Annual Sermon for the195th Session of the Philadelphia Annual Conference in May, 2011.
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Presiding Elder Lovelace has served in the Western New York Annual Conference as Pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Schenectady, NY and St. John’s A.M.E. Church in Niagara Falls, NY. There she was a member of the Board of Examiners, a Conference Trustee, the Conference Treasurer and Christian Education Chairperson. Presiding Elder Lovelace has also served as Pastor of Bethany A/M. E. Church in Parkesburg, PA and Associate Minister of Administration and Training at St. Mark A.M.E. Church in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Presiding Elder Lovelace has been very active in the communities in which she has lived; serving on boards and committees that address health care, education and the needs of the elderly and youth. She was a founding member of NOAH: Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope, a congregation centered, community organizing group, and established AMEmerge, a community development corporation in the West Philadelphia community served by Hickman Temple. She was recently appointed to the Simsbury Greater Together Advisory Committee of The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; and elected chairperson of the committee.
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Presiding Elder Lovelace maintains an interest in and devotion to local and global mission. In 1999 she traveled to Kenya East Africa for a two -month preaching and teaching tour. In 1997 Presiding Elder Lovelace was among a delegation of 50 African Americans who participated in the Travel and Study Institute of the All-Africa Conference of Churches General Assembly held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2008 she was selected to an elite group of clergy for a pastoral retreat in the Holy Land and has subsequently been invited to return several times for preaching and teaching missions.
Presiding Elder Lovelace served on the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia Urban Theological Institute Committee of Advisors, as well as an instructor in the Certificate Program. She has also served as an adjunct professor in the Department of African America Studies at the University of Buffalo and instructor for the Payne Theological Seminary Alternative Theological Education Program held in Albany, New York, in addition to holding positions as Assistant Dean of Admissions at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania; Team Manager of the Greater Philadelphia Girl Scout Council and Field Executive for the Tarheel Triad Girl Scout Council.
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Presiding Elder Lovelace has distinguished herself in the academic community. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from High Point College in North Carolina, a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Divinity Degree in theology from Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. While enrolled at the I.T.C., Presiding Elder Lovelace was a Dean’s List Scholar, the recipient of several denominational awards and the 1997 and 1998 recipient of the United Negro College Fund Pennsylvania Scholarship. Presiding Elder Lovelace was also included in the 1997 edition of the National Dean’s List and the 1997 and 1998 editions of Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. In 2018 Presiding Elder Lovelace was inducted into the Turner Theological Seminary Alumni Hall of Fame. Presiding Elder Lovelace was also nominated for recognition in the Ninth Edition of International Who’s Who of Professional and Business Women and the 2001 Women of the Year. Presiding Elder Lovelace was appointed as a biographical candidate into the Manchester Who’s Who of Female Christian Leaders and Professionals 2005/2006 “Honors Editions.”
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Presiding Elder Lovelace is married to Mr. Eddie J. Lovelace. They look forward to many years of serving the people of God.