The WICKER Vision

The apostle Paul writes in the Book of Ephesians that “he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).  For the Reverend Dr. Stafford J. N. Wicker the Pauline text of Ephesians is the foundational scripture for him and his family’s journey towards the office of Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Dr. Wicker’s goal is to create a space for young men and young women called by God to do the work of ministry in this age of reason and reality.  Furthermore, Dr. Wicker is prepared to write this vision and carry it to the ends of our Zion, so that all may come into knowledge of the Son of God and the bountiful blessings one might receive if they yield to God’s call. 

Dr. Stafford Wicker is blessed to know that God has called him to engage individuals and institutions to create thriving, sustainable church communities who walk in the spirit to build the body of Christ.  The blessings are limitless through his visionary leadership in ministry.  The “Vision” encompasses development programs through Economic Development, Church Growth and Development, Spiritual Growth and Development and Educational Development.  The “Vision” is carried from the development phase to empowerment of the laity and empowerment of clergy ministry.  In this work of ministry Rev. Wicker will be supported by his wife the Reverend Constance Belin Wicker.

Economic Development

The Wicker plan for Economic Development is as clear as black and white.  Simply put, the majority of churches within the African Methodist Episcopal Church are considered rural.  Rural by definition relates to churches in small country areas with less than 200 members.  The vision is to relieve the financial pressures from the people in the pew through establishment of programming that brings financial support into the church. 

The reality of this vision is evident through the story of Antioch AME Church and the church’s relationship with Dr. Wicker.  When God lead Pastor Wicker to Antioch in 1992 the church was situated on 1.8 acres of land in Decatur and today it holds 67 + acres of land in the city of Stone Mountain.  Through the outpouring of God’s blessings the church has been able to secure its own Community Development Corporation that brings finances into the church’s financial base.    The Antioch Model includes the enhancement of the Senior Development Center, Youth Development Center, Nutritional Health Development Center, Social Service Development Center, and the existing Community Development Center.  Through various business ventures the church is able to stay afloat in the turbulent times of financial necessity due to inflation and rising cost of operation. 

Dr. Wicker realizes that it is incumbent upon the leadership to find economic development strategies to relieve the people in the pew, such as partnership with local, state, and federal governments to organize housing and life development centers to name a few.  This process is accomplished through replicating institutions where the church owns, underwrites, and/or operates different financial enterprises that take the financial strain away from the local church.

Church Growth and Development

As the “Vision” becomes clearer to the leadership of the churches and communities that Dr. Wicker will impact one will notice the planting of new congregations in new areas of population growth.  He believes in inspiring persons in ministry to move and to build wherever God leads.  He also realizes that if the opportunity is afforded and supported by the Episcopal leadership it will richly bless the local churches.

More importantly, the planting of new congregations will help in building quantitative accuracy in the membership of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Dr. Wicker knows that one can never determine where they are going if they do not know where they have been.  Full and active membership must be understood in terms that make the numbers real to agencies that might afford the church opportunities to grow in these new and churched (A.M.E.) areas. 

Techniques in evangelism and outreach that are known for producing excellent results must be utilized.  The use of marketing firms will prove resourceful to the growth of African Methodism in our communities.  To have central marketing from the Episcopal District Offices in a given district will send a central denominational message and equate  higher levels of professionalism for the entire district.  It is much more cost effective to do marketing from an Episcopal District than local churches with the responsibility of searching for marketing venues.

Dr. Wicker’s motto is “Bishops are to expand the church; pastors are to grow the church.”  Under our governmental structure it is the responsibility of the conference along with local churches, which is led by the Bishop, to encumber and sell property.  The benefit is that the local church does not have to encumber financial issues on its own and the conference will give expertise in these areas allowing the local church more avenues for negotiations. 

Educational Institutions

Dr. Wicker is a product of the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s greatest institutions of higher education.  From the small town of Greensburg, LA to the hallowed halls of Wilberforce University; to Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center where both the Master of Divinity Degree and Doctorate of Ministry were achieved.  Dr. Wicker believes in and is a strong supporter of the educational intuitions of African Methodism and because of that belief he sits on the Board of Trustees for both Payne Seminary and Turner Theological Seminary.    

While it is true that the AME Church has always been supportive of higher education, there is a prevailing need for the church to be more conscious of leading our young people to support and attend our schools.  Our schools have a nurturing aspect that is vital to building our communities, our culture, and our churches.  Theological education must be more accessible across the entire denomination through our institutions.  The accessibility factor can be combated through efforts of creating corporate support to our institutions. 

Empowerment of the Laity

Dr. Wicker envisions a Church where the laity has vested interests in the benefits of a successful local and connectional church.  A successful church witnesses denominational pride, influence in the community, increase in tithes and offering, increase in membership participation, and the lived experience of the mission and purpose of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. 

The “Vision” is manifested when partnerships are encouraged between the Bishop and Pastor to meet the needs of the un-churched and de-churched.  The un-churched are those persons who have never experienced life in the institution of church.  The de-churched relates to persons who have given up on the institution of church due to personal situations that led them away. 

The major factor becomes accountability.  Leadership must achieve trust in good stewardship.  Meetings of an  Episcopal District must consider persons in the work force.  The majority of our memberships are professionals and need to be in attendance if the proper business of the church is to be carried forth utilizing technological efforts to reach as many persons as possible. 

The voice of the young people between ages 17-35 must be heard and acted upon by the church leadership.  By listening to the youth, the church can posture itself to develop activities and programming that engage younger persons and offer Christ through mentoring avenues, building partnerships, and entrepreneurial expressions.  Antioch is blessed to have cutting edge and innovate programming for young people due to Dr. Wicker’s resilience and ability to surround himself with persons who can help make the church what it needs to be to the community.   

There must be a push for young adults to be added to future generations of the local church, and we must realize the importance and necessity to reach out to persons between the ages of 17-35 years old.  This means developing for the young adults a message and a ministry  that reaches the young adults that is real, liberating, and reconciling, thereby, implementing term leadership in the local church to combat the effects of stagnation.  This idea has been evident in the life of Antioch AME Church.     

Empowering Clergy Ministry

Dr.Wicker and Reverend Constance Belin Wicker find comfort in knowing that as members of the A.M.E. Clergy Ministry they are charged to be representatives of their congregations and community.  They believe the Clergy of our church are consistently trained in denomination meetings which deals with the “how to’s” of   the local church.  The combination of meetings in the area, conference, Episcopal, and Connectional levels will shift more time and resources  to our congregations.  Our clergy are precious jewels to our Zion and continued support of them through training, development, and spiritual guidance will prove wide reaching. 

Team building must be done in all training programs.  The connection concept is a genius of our forefathers and foremothers, but we must use the method to benefit the local churches.

The “Vision” stems from the concept of reaching people from the cradle to the grave;  thereby being about servicing the community.  We, as a church, can no longer sit idly by and not deal with the real issues.  The issues aforementioned are but a few as the church of Allen faces its future.  Ministries that meet the needs of the congregants and community are of great necessity.

The choice is as clear as black and white.  What Dr. Wicker has done as a Pastor, he is prepared to do as a Bishop.  His campaign platform rests upon the fact that God has blessed his vessel with a marvelous ministry through church Growth and Economic Development.  He envisions a changing church that understands the importance of:

Dr. Wicker finds great comfort in knowing that he feels called  for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.