Bishop Donald George Kenneth Ming, Presiding Prelate of the First Episcopal District, as well as a son of the First Episcopal District, welcomed home another favorite son Monday night, the newly elected Bishop, the Right Reverend Richard Franklin Norris, the Presiding Prelate of the 14th Episcopal District.

The occasion was the opening service of the Christian Education Congress being held between Monday July 24 and Thursday July 27 at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Philadelphia. Bishop Ming had tapped Bishop Norris, the 116th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church elected at the recent General Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio,  to be the preacher for the opening service of the Christian Education Congress held Monday night.

Before Bishop Norris even had a chance to stand, Bishop Ming made sure the welcome could not be any warmer nor could his concern for a fellow alumni of the First Episcopal District be any greater.

When it came time for the Missionary Offering to be raised, Bishop Ming said that he was earmarking the offering for Bishop Norris and his family.  Not for the payment of campaign bills but he urged him to use the money to relax body and mind, with a little time off, in light of the campaign and its stresses.

Then Bishop Ming spoke his mind. 

"I don't think well  of how he (Bishop Norris) was assigned or where he was assigned," Bishop Ming stated without hesitation. ""When you were just first in your class, you don't get treated as last.  I apologize for what happened."

Bishop Ming said he was recovering from illness at the time of the General Conference and was not able to be as involved in the assignment process as he would have like to have been.

"I stayed in bed too long," he said of his recovery. "I would have raised havoc if I knew what was going on.  Richard is my friend."

Bishop Ming said in situations like this you have to trust in God.

"I believe every assignment is God sent," he explained. "God is a fair God.  But I am not altogether happy with what we do."

" I want every penny of this offering to go to  Maryann and Richard  so they can go and get lost for a week.  And this offering has nothing to do with his honorarium! ...This is a demonstration of our love."