Dear Friends in Christ,
The Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells will be leaving his current position as our Director for Evangelical Mission effective May 1, 2019. Mr. Branden Dupree will serve as the Interim Director for Evangelical Mission.
Lamont has served in the role as Assistant to the Bishop as a DEM and as a leader in synodical and churchwide ministries. The portfolio that he has carried is no doubt the largest of any synodical DEM.
Lamont has been a strong supporter for resources that we have received in the MNYS. His ability to plan, to teach, to advocate, and to be a leader has blessed our synod in many ways. As a proclaimer of the Good News, he has reached many people through sermons, personal sharing, and in his witness. His passion for justice is seen in advocating for equality for those who are marginalized in society and in the church.
I thank Lamont for his six years of service and ministry. I believe the scope of his work has been a blessing to this synod and will continue to be realized even after he leaves his service. On behalf of the synod, I wish him well as he looks toward his future ministry in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Lamont shared these words with me, and I want to share them with you:
“ In this season of discernment within our Synod for new leadership (Bishop), I believe that I also need to use this time to decompress from the intense six years that I have been serving as DEM. I desire to use the remaining time in this current call to enter into a professional development season for study beginning May 1, 2019. As I discern my next call opportunity, I intend to rest, research, and return to my next vocational challenge revived after the brief period of study and reflection. I have served this current call well and intend to pivot and begin again soon. My participation in the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Metropolitan New York Synod has produced some wonderful fruit that I know will remain and flourish for many years to come. As my ecclesiastical marathon continues, I will engage in study in three areas: 1) leadership for diversity & inclusion; 2) research in missional ministry in the African Diaspora (American, Caribbean, and African contexts); 3) interviews and a writing project about civil rights leader’s engagement in Faith and Politics. May God be with us all.”
In Christ,
Bishop Donald McCoid
Metropolitan New York Synod