Left to right: Apostle H. Daniel Wilson, and Pastor Ray Bady. Photo by Jason McCoy.
From a press release:
Apostle H. Daniel Wilson, Pastor of Valley Kingdom Ministries International (VKMI) in Chicago, and founder of the platinum-selling group, Shekinah Glory Ministry, has launched a year-long transition that will welcome Ray Bady as the 5,000-member church’s new leader in 2022.
“I am not retiring,” says Apostle Wilson, who has been the church’s pastor for 37 years. “So many only see two paths for pastors, either dying or retiring. Neither of these are on my radar just now. I will not take these gifts of God to the grave. This is not my end. I’m just getting started. Through Kingdom Entertainment Group, I’ll be creating film and entertainment projects. There are more books to write, more nations to minister in, and more revelations to release to the world.”
“Over the next year, I will talk, teach and impart everything that God has blessed me with over the years,” Wilson says of Pastor Bady, who began his career as a recording artist and as a drummer for gospel stars such as Yolanda Adams and Marvin Sapp. “The first four months will be observational as Ray watches what we do,” Wilson says of what he calls #TheBluePrint which can serve as a succession template for other ministries. “Then, the following four months will be participatory as he joins in, and the final months will be implementation as he takes the reins.”
“Most of my life, I’ve been on assignment to help build the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven,” says Bady, a Windy City native who’s currently a Youth Pastor at Windsor Village Church in Houston, Texas. “I left Chicago 16 years ago,” he recalls. “Apostle Wilson laid hands on me, to give me the apostolic go ahead to do the work I’ve been blessed to do for these past years in Texas. It is now time for my `next’ assignment, and that assignment is to come back to the city that raised me and live out what Jesus told Peter in the book of Luke, `Help strengthen my brothers.’”
VKMI is known throughout Chicagoland not only for its teaching and music ministry, but also for its community work. Its Hattie B. Williams Food Pantry has served over a million people over the last three decades. The church also has programs that raise money for educational scholarships and to help ex-offenders reacclimate to life after incarceration. The Cook County Department of Public Health has been hosting vaccination drives at the church on the weekends. “At the beginning of this pandemic, our team bought 50,000 masks and gave them out at police stations, fire stations, hospitals, and nursing homes,” Apostle Wilson says. “We donated other essentials such as gloves, sanitizer, and food too, to help people get through this rough time.”
VKMI is also known throughout the world as the birthplace of the worship music ensemble, Shekinah Glory Ministry. For the last 20 years, they have been hailed as pioneers of urban worship music with five R.I.A.A. gold and platinum certifications for projects featuring signature songs such as “Praise is What I Do,” “Jesus,” and “Yes.”
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Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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The word, entertainment, frightens me when associated with any church work. Please walk quietly and humbly when dealing with the Holy Ghost. Jesus is and never has been an entertainer. Please, for your sake, rethink this. Also, our Lord Jesus, the Apostles, and the Disciples of Christ never got paid for their work. Yes, monies were and still are needed, but they didn’t personally receive funds as payment for anything; that was the responsibility of the Levites. God teaches us in his word to be Holy, not entertainers. I am new to Holiness (ten years) and a zealot for Biblical truth. My pastor is Gino Jennings, and only vendors, such as architects, get paid in our church. Musicians and singers work for the Lord; Our church bldgs are never used as concert hall venues with disco lights, etc. I am not a spokesperson at First Church, nor authorized to speak or write about it. I am sending this email only because I feel so strongly about Holiness and entertainment and paid choirs and celebrities who have crept into God’s houses of worship. Please find other words to describe who and what you are.
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