Order of the Day Sermons

A native of New York City, the Reverend Dr. John Mendez has pastored the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winston-Salem for the past 24 years after leaving the congregation of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wendell, NC.

Dr. Mendez is a graduate .of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC; Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC also received his Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is a recent graduate from the Post Graduate Center of Mental Health in New York City in Pastoral Counseling Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. He was a part of the Pilot Project on the Black Church's Economic Responsibility for a New Urban Agenda at Harvard University Divinity School. Dr. Mendez presently mentors five candidates for the Doctor of Ministry degree at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio.

As pastor he led the church in the construction of a multi-million dollar edifice. He instituted varies ministries including a Howard Thurman professional counseling and spirituality service, Christian Education Convocation which connects the church with the academic academy, the Kemet Academy for the study of African and African American culture and spirituality, the after school tutorial and the Benjamin Mays scholars academy, the Singles Ministry, the Social Justice and Action Ministry, Ikose w'aye Infant Ministry, Cancer Support Ministry, Caregivers Ministry, the Young Lions Mentoring Ministry, the Women in Ministry, and the Marriage\Wedding Ministry, Frank Lennon Christian Education Institute, the Ministry for the study of Biblical Scholarship, WEB DuBois Lectureship and etc. Under his leadership the church affiliates with Nation Council of Churches, World Council of Churches, Progressive National Convention, Baptist World Alliance and General Baptist State Convention., and the Rowan Association. Dr. Mendez is assistant professor of Philosophical Theology and African American Philosophy and Religion at Shaw University Divinity School.

Dr. Mendez is married to the former Sarah Lee Howard who is a Client Liaison Coordinator in Information Services at North Carolina Baptist Hospital. The couple is the proud parents of two adult children: Sekou and Jamila.

Scripture: Luke  5:6  Topic: "Enough Faith"