2012 C.M.E. Pastor's Conference
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The Phillips School of Theology was founded on May 30, 1944, by the action of the Lane College Board of Trustees in Jackson, Tennessee, under the leadership of Bishop J. Arthur Hamlett and Bishop C. H. Phillips. While the formal Founders' Day Service was on December 12, 1944, the school's academic program began on January 2, 1945, with the enrollment of eighteen (18) students and seven professors. The purpose of the school was to train ministers and other religious workers for the Christian (then known as Colored) Methodist Episcopal Church and other religious bodies. Dr. Joseph A. Johnson, Jr. (elected in 1966 as the 34th Bishop of the C.M.E. Church was elected dean of the school in 1945 and served until 1954.
The 1950 General Conference of the C.M.E. Church decided to make Phillips School of Theology, a Connectional school. This placed Phillips with the other five (5) C.M.E. schools in the sharing of the general Church's educational financial appropriations.
On May 27, 1990, the Reverend Dr. Thomas L. Brown, Sr. was elected Administrative Dean. The Board of Trustees officially elected Dr. Brown as dean in February 1991. The Pastor's Conference is one of his many achievements since his election as dean.
Excerpt from "The Seminary of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church"