Bethel A.M.E. Staff

Meet Our Pastor Phillip Eugene Ross

Phillip Eugene Ross was born and raised in Compton, CA. He is the 2nd son of Dr. Sherridan and Angela Ross. He accepted Christ at an early age, but rededicated his life to Christ at the age of 11 at a Christian Summer Camp. Phillip grew up at Grant AME Church, Los Angeles where he was actively involved in a host of organizations. He attended Kenyon College in Ohio where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music and is currently seeking his Masters Degree from Regent University. Phillip fell in love with his teenage YPD sweetheart, Andrea Austin, and they tied the knot in 2006. In April 2021, Phillip & Andrea welcomed their baby girl, Layla Imani Ross, a wonderful angel. Phillip was ordained as an Itinerant Deacon in 2014 and began pastoring at Bethel AME Church, Blythe, CA in 2016. In October 2019, Bishop Clement W. Fugh appointed Phillip to Primm Tabernacle, Seattle, WA. Phillip is excited to continue to serve the Lord in whatever capacity God ordains.

In 2011, he was appointed the Assistant to the Pastor of First AME, Church, but the Lord elevated his work at the call of Bishop T. Larry Kirkland to in February of 2012 to become the pastor of Allen Chapel AME Church in San Francisco, where God moved in a mighty way. Allen’s membership and spirits grew almost immediately as souls were being won for Christ. New ministries were started, and existing ministries were revived. During his brief tenure there, he was elected as the Vice President of the California Conference’s Ministerial Alliance and appointed the Assistant Secretary of the 149th Session of the California Annual Conference, and the Statistician of the and 150th Session of the California Conference.

The Rev. Cecil L. Williams, Jr. was born to Cecil L. and Cynthia R. Williams in San Francisco, Ca. As a child, he was raised in church with a family of preachers, teachers, and gospel recording artists. He was taught to reverence God, love God’s people, and do Kingdom work to the honor and glory of the Savior. He accepted Christ as his personal savior in the fourth grade. Matriculating and graduating through the public and private schools of Northern California, he successfully entered college, he was conferred with the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Humanities from the New College of California. He sought out direction for his life at First AME Church in Oakland where he soon became a member, matured and accepted the call to ordained ministry under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Harold R. Mayberry (now Presiding Elder), Chairperson of the AME Episcopal Committee.

As an associate minister, he successfully completed the AME Board of Examiners, and a Master of Divinity from the American Baptist Seminary of the West. He was ordained an itinerant deacon under the leadership of Bishop John R. Bryant, and an itinerant elder in under the hand of the Bishop T. Larry Kirkland, in the 5th Episcopal District. Rev. Williams became a guest speaker on the local, conference and district levels in several experiences around the 5th Episcopal District, and ecumenically in the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area.

Meet Our Staff

Sister Kay Wallace

Church Administrator

Sister Dorothy Fuller

Church Secretary

Sister Denice Bailey Braxton

Executive Assistant to the Pastor

Rev. Dion Jordan

Itinerant Elder

Rev. Dr. Dennis Payne, II

Itinerant Elder (on loan)

Sister Genna Fisher

Licentiate

Sister Bobbi Smith

Exhorter

Rev. Cecil L. Williams

Rev. Dion C. Jordan

Rev. Dion Jordan is an ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and has faithfully served at Bethel AME since 1999. He has been the Youth Minister, the Assistant Minister, and has overseen the Media Ministry of the church. Currently, he is the Executive Minister of Bethel AME Church