James Levert Davis is the 123rd elected and consecrated bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He was elected to the office of bishop at the 47th General Conference of the AME Church in 2004. He served as the presiding prelate

Prelate

A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...

 of the 19th Episcopal district of the church comprising KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Free State in the Republic of South Africa. At the 48th General Conference of the AME Church in 2008 he was appointed the Presiding Prelate of the 9th Episcopal District, which comprises the State of Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

. Prior to his election, Davis served for twelve years as the pastor of historic Big Bethel AME Church

Big Bethel AME Church

The Big Bethel AME Church is the oldest African American congregation in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, and is the mother church of African Methodism in North Georgia...

 in Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

. Bishop James L. Davis is the President of the Council of Bishops & Co-Chair of the COMPILATION COMMITTEE. Bishop James L. Davis currently serves as the servant prelate of the 9th Episcopal District which encompasses the entire state of Alabama.

See also

• Methodism
  Methodism
  Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
  
  
• African Methodist Episcopal Church
  African Methodist Episcopal Church
  The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...
  
  
• List of African Methodist Episcopal Churches