About The Author
About The Author
Robert Christopher
Wade
Presiding Elder Robert Christopher Wade was born in South Georgia to the late Deacon Andrew Thomas Wade, Sr. and Mrs. Anna Mae Wade. He reached maturity in Orlando, Florida, where he completed primary and secondary education in the public school system (Jones High School). Presiding Elder Wade was raised in a Christian home and received Christ at an early age. He accepted the call to preach at age twenty.
Presiding Elder Wade is a veteran of the United States Navy, where he served three years aboard ship duty. He has earned an Associates of Arts Degree in Sociology from Morris Brown College, Atlanta, Georgia; Bachelor of Arts Degree in Religious Education from United Bible College, Orlando, Florida; a Masters of Divinity Degree in Christian Education from the Interdenominational Theological Center (Turner Seminary) Atlanta, Georgia. Presiding Elder Wade has an earned Doctor of Ministry Degree, in Church Administration & Urban Ministry from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Presiding Elder Wade’s honors and awards are significant. He was awarded the Veteran’s Administration Chaplain’s Award, the John A. Middleton Memorial Award, and the Bishop William A. Wilkes Memorial Award for academic excellence. He is published in “Who’s Who’ in Colleges and Universities” and in the National Dean’s List of America, 1989. He is the President of the New Jersey Council of Churches, New Jersey’s largest Ecumenical Organization with sixteen Protestant Denominations and Organizations and over three thousand Congregations. On April 8, 2009 he was appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine, of New Jersey to the Interagency Council on Preventing and Reducing Homelessness. This Council prepared a report to the Governor, containing findings and recommendations for preventing and reducing homeless, ending chronic homelessness, and improving services to individuals and families who lost their housing, and additional reports as the Council deemed necessary. The Council also reviewed data, activities, funding, and programs in areas including but not limited to housing, health care, employment, education, and mental health and substance abuse. Presiding Elder Wade is the CEO for the Camden-Trenton District Community Development Corporation. In addition he is a consultant for the Board of Examiners of the New Jersey Annual Conference; Member of the New Jersey Annual Conference Board of Trustees; Board Member and Treasurer for the New Jersey Human Development Corporation and Secretary for the First Episcopal District Presiding Elders’ Council. Elder Wade is a member of the Connectional Council of Presiding Elders of the AME Church; a Master Mason, of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge Temple Association of Pennsylvania, Inc. and Member of the Masonic Doric Lodge # 115, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For the first time in the history of the New Jersey Annual Conference, under his leadership, the Camden-Trenton District hosted the 134th session of the New Jersey Annual Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Cherry Hill, New Jersey. All pre-Conference and Conference Activities were housed under one roof, hosted by 22 churches.
Presiding Elder Wade has served fifty-five years in the Parish Ministry, including twenty-one years as a Presiding Elder. He has served in three Episcopal Districts: the Eleventh Episcopal District – Florida & Bahamas Islands; the Sixth Episcopal District – Georgia, and the First Episcopal District. Presiding Elder Wade is the former Pastor of Israel Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church, Newark, New Jersey. On November 6, 2003, Presiding Elder Wade was appointed Presiding Elder of the Camden-Trenton District of the New Jersey Conference, African Methodist Episcopal Church, by The Right Reverend Zedekiah Lazett Grady. Presiding Elder Wade has the distinct honor and privilege of working with twenty-four pastors and more than three- thousand families calling “sinners to repentance” on the Camden-Trenton District. On Thursday, November, 12, 2009 at the First Episcopal District Fall Convocation Celebration at First District Plaza, the Reverend Dr. Robert C. Wade after much prayer, much soul searching and in consultation and support of Bishop Richard Franklin Norris announced his candidacy for Episcopal Service. He solicits your Prayers, your support, and your vote at the General Conference 2012, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Most importantly, Presiding Elder Wade is blissfully married to the former Prudence Hope Brown of Trenton, New Jersey.
- Elect Lady Prudence Hope Wade
- B.S. Biochemistry, M.S. Biochemistry, M.S. Environmental Science
- Ph.D. (abd) Biochemistry and Environmental Science
- First Lady, Consultant, and Wife of the Author
