SUMTER — The Diocese of Charles-ton’s Office of Black Catholics will have its Annual Day of Reflection from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 25 at St. Jude Church, located at 611 W. Oakland.
The theme of this year’s Day of Reflection is “Stewardship: the gateway to parish stability and growth.” The keynote speaker will be Father Donald A. Sterling, pastor of New All Saints Roman Catholic Congregation in Baltimore. He will speak on stewardship and the experience of black Catholics.
Father Sterling has ministered as parish priest, counselor, lecturer, researcher, university professor, author, revivalist and community leader. He was ordained as the first African-American priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1974. He is a graduate of St. Mary’s Seminary College in Catonsville, Md., and received a master’s of divinity degree and a doctorate in ministry from St. Mary’s Seminary and University. He is a past president of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus and a former chairman of the Community Relations Commission of Baltimore City. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Transplant Center of Maryland.
The Day of Reflection will include prayer, workshops, lunch and the annual meeting. It will also feature a youth track for sixth- through twelfth-graders with Brother Henry Fulmer and seminarian David Fisher.