Pastor Ronald Slaughter, a native of Orlando, FL an adopted son of Georgia is now calling St. James AME Church in Newark, NJ home. Following in the footsteps of deep family traditions, Pastor Slaughter accepted the call to preach in June of 1996 under the spiritual leadership of Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr. The call on Pastor Slaughter’s life was both challenging and rewarding. It was rewarding as the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church gave him an opportunity to spread the good news of Jesus at a young age and it was challenging because he was forced to wrestle with what God has called him to do.
God, in His infinite wisdom and grace, has deposited into Pastor Slaughter’s mind, body, and soul a passion for Kingdom building, through teaching and preaching. He has a genuine love of people and his goal in spreading the Gospel is to not only to enlighten people, but also to educate them. God has prepared him intellectually by guiding him through Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Florida, through Paine College in Augusta, Georgia where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. Through his spiritual Episcopal parents, Bishop William and Dr. Pam DeVeaux, who encouraged and supported Pastor Slaughter to earn his Master of Divinity Degree from Turner Theological Seminary at the I.T.C. in Atlanta, Georgia graduating with Honors on May, 2007.
During his illustrious career, Pastor Slaughter has been the recipient of several awards and honors. He received the John Hurst Adams Award; the T.J. Davis Award; making the Dean’s List, and receiving an Honor Student Award from Turner Seminary. He is also the recipient of the Golden Five Star Award from the Jones County Sheriff’s Office; he was named one of the Top 40 African Americans Under 40 in Georgia by the Georgia Informer. Added to these honors, Pastor Slaughter has been featured in the AME Church Christian Recorder as “evidence the AME Church is not dying”, and he was cited as “a rising star in Georgia”. He is a proud member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. In addition to his scholastic achievements, Pastor Slaughter was also a stellar athlete.
Rev. Slaughter’s pastoral career privileged him to pastor several churches during his 15 year ministerial career. While still a junior at Paine College, he was appointed pastor at Hickman Tabernacle AME Church in Augusta, GA by the late Bishop Donald George Kenneth Ming. The following year, Bishop Ming appointed him to Butler Creek AME Church, also in Augusta. In 2002 under the Episcopal leadership of Bishop Frank Curtis Cummings, another one of his spiritual fathers, he was appointed pastor of the Greater Jordan Chapel A.M.E. Church in Haddock, Georgia. For the next five (5) years Pastor Slaughter called Haddock his home and God blessed his ministry to be productive and fruitful. During this time, he became involved with the Joshua Generation under the tutelage of Dr. William D. Watley, another father in ministry. It was May 11, 2007, through the Godly judgment of Bishop William P. DeVeaux, Pastor Slaughter was appointed the Senior Pastor of Saint Paul A.M.E. Church in Macon, Georgia.
Upon accepting his appointment to Saint Paul, Pastor Slaughter was immediately faced with the challenge of leading the church out of dangerous waters related to the $3.5 million mortgage the church held. Pastor Slaughter also faced the task of developing a plan to secure additional funding to complete the construction of the new facility, which had been under construction for three years prior to his appointment. Pastor Slaughter openly claimed on several occasions that “the Lord will make a way somehow.” And, in October 2007, God showed His goodness and mercy by allowing them to convert the $3.5 million construction loan into a permanent loan. That same year, God allowed Pastor Slaughter and Saint Paul to find favor once again as the bank granted the church an additional $800,000.00 loan to complete the construction of the facility in November 2007. The construction of the building was completed in March of 2008 providing Saint Paul with an additional 9 classrooms, 5 administrative offices, a boardroom, a resource room, an archive room, a finance room, and a 350-seat multipurpose room.
Pastor Slaughter credits his season at Saint Paul with helping him better develop his business and financial practices as well as his conflict resolution and negotiation skills as he and the Saint Paul team lead the church to dry land. During his tenure there, over 300 souls were added to the church roll in just 4 years.
According to Pastor Slaughter, God has done all of this to prove that He can use someone who is yet “a work in progress” and believes with all his heart that “the best in Christ Jesus is still yet to come”!
