Announcement of Candidacy for Bishop in the AME Church | 4/10/25

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Article written by the Rev. Ricky Ciapha Dennis, Jr.

Rev. Dr. James A. Keeton, Jr., pastor of historic Morris Brown AME, announces candidacy for Bishop at Seventh District’s Mid-Year Convocation

The Rev. Dr. James A. Keeton, Jr., pastor of historic Morris Brown AME in downtown Charleston, S.C., has announced his candidacy for the episcopacy, outlining a plan to exalt Christ, equip local congregations, expand community relationships, and have earnest communication with laity and clergy.

Dr. Keeton made the announcement on April 10, the first day of the Seventh Episcopal District’s Mid-Year Convocation in Florence, SC, hosted by Bishop James Levert Davis and Mother Arelis Davis, the episcopal leaders of South Carolina.

We have to be a church where we can speak the truth in love, where we’ll be able to sit down and express our concerns, champion our causes, and be the church God has called us to be,” Dr. Keeton said to the several hundred people assembled on the first day of the Mid-Year Meeting at the Florence Center.

Bishop Davis allowed all of the Seventh Episcopal district candidates running for connectional office a chance to speak. Bishop Davis’s vision for the district - to ignite the flame that exists within the hearts of God’s people - provided space for those running for connectional offices to share their plans for how they might spark a flame within all people in the AME connection.

Bishop Davis said his prayers are with the Keeton family as Dr. Keeton runs for the office of Bishop in the AME Church when the General Conference convenes in 2028 in Kansas City, MO.

“Our prayers are with you, and while you travel the church, that the church will hear your voice and hear your message and the strength that goes along with that,” Bishop Davis said.

Dr. Keeton, a child of the parsonage, demonstrated early on a desire to preach. The son of the late Rev. James A. Keeton, Sr., and the late Mrs. Rosemary James Keeton, a young James would put on his bathrobe and stand behind a space heater and re-preached his father’s sermons. His younger sister, Melody, was his musician. Tea and crackers served as their holy communion elements.

Dr. Keeton answered the call to ministry at age 24. He has served congregations in Georgia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In Nov. 2016, Dr. Keeton was appointed pastor of Morris Brown AME Church. He came with a vision to increase the church’s involvement on a gentrifying peninsula.

Under Dr. Keeton’s tenure, Morris Brown has: implemented the Sojourner Truth Unit within the Carrie R. Grady Women’s Society that provides breakfast; increased its involvement in the Charleston Area Justice Ministry, a coalition of 40 congregations who addressed community concerns, such as affordable housing and environmental injustice; created a new church website; grown its digital footprint and ministries by streaming Sunday services regularly; added two flat screen monitors in the sanctuary; established a partnership with the International African American Museum to host an annual, community-wise Watch Night service.

Upon coming to Morris Brown, Dr. Keeton’s plan was to engage the surrounding neighborhoods, businesses, and civic leadership.

“We have to expand our community relationships in order to do things together that we can’t do on our own,” Dr. Keeton said.

Dr. Keeton serves in the following capacities within our Zion: Dean of the Palmetto Conference Board of Examiners; Chairperson of the Committee on Presiding Elder Salary and Upkeep; member of the Conference Board of Trustees; executive board member of the Emanuel-Morris Brown-Ebenezer (EME) Apartments, Inc; board member and the chaplain for the Iva M. Lester Memorial Scholarship Committee.

Dr. Keeton is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Prince Hall Lodge #46 (PHA), and the George Washington Carver Consistory #162 (PHA). He is also a member of the Order of the FLAME of World Methodist Evangelism.

Dr. Keeton has experience on the connectional level of the AME Church, having served as the co-chairperson of the Legislative Task Force of the Seventh Episcopal District during the 52nd Quadrennial Session of the General Conference of the AME Church in 2024.

Dr. Keeton is married to the former Leslie Gooch of Thomaston, GA and they share two sons: Tyson and Jeston. He loves to travel, listen to jazz, read and write.

To learn more about Dr. Keeton’s campaign for Bishop, visit jameskeetonjr.com.