The Reverend Dr. Kenneth Q. James is a native of New York City. He is the second son of three children born to the late Earl M. and the late Joan E. James. Dr. James was educated in the New York City public schools, and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bronx, New York in 1976. Dr. James is a graduate of Clinton Junior College in Rock Hill, South Carolina, from which he graduated in 1978 as the Valedictorian of the class; Livingstone College in Salisbury, North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1980 with honors; and Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, North Carolina, from which he graduated in 1984. Dr. James earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury in May, 2006. Dr. James accepted Christ as his Savior as a youth. He received his early Christian nurture in the Mother A.M.E. Zion Church in New York City. He answered the call to the Christian ministry in 1975. He was ordained to the ministry by the late Bishop Herbert Bell Shaw, and was ordained an Elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church by the late Bishop Ruben L. Speaks in 1984. He has served as pastor of Pierce Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church in Clarkton, North Carolina, Blackwell Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church in Jamestown, New York, Bailey Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church in Buffalo, New York (which he organized in 1987), Duryee Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Schenectady, New York, and currently, Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church in Rochester, New York. Dr. James has been involved in and committed to working with youth over the course of his career, as a staff member at LaSalle High School and Niagara Falls High School in Niagara Falls, NY, as well as through the years working through the Christian Education ministries of the A.M.E. Zion Church. Dr. James is the Director of Evangelism for the Western New York Annual Conference, and Secretary of the Western New York Annual Conference. Dr. James is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Dr. James is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Preaching at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, and also serves on the Advisory Board of Black Church Studies at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester. He is the author of The First Yes: Rediscovering the Integrity of the Call to Preach, Strength for the Journey, and A Principle Within: An Earnest Appeal to Persons of Reason for Methodism in the 21st Century, and the soon to be released book, Go Crazy - Just Don't Expect Me To Go With You. He keeps busy with fulfilling the many invitations he receives to preach and teach. He has one son, Frank, two granddaughters, A'Jaya and A'Janae, and one grandson, Nehemiah Quinton.