Legends & Legacies
170th Anniversary Celebration!
Join us for the full 3 day celebration! includes Gala & Jazz Brunch…
Friday August 14, 2020 - 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Black Tie Gala at Virginia Union University
An event you don't want to miss includes live music by Katz Band including a reception, dinner, photo booth and much much more!!!
Saturday August 16, 2020 - 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Jazz Brunch
Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church - Bethel Center
Join us for our Jazz Brunch with the smooth sounds of The Jason Jenkins Trio, silent auction & comedic performance!
Sunday August 16, 2020 - 11:00 a.m.
Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church
Join us for a spirit filled and high time in the Lord worship service! Our guest speaker is Dr. Samuel E Haywards, III.
Ticket Donations Available on Eventbrite or by contacting church at 804 643 8157.
Jazz Brunch Only
Saturday August 14, 2020 - 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church - Bethel Center
Join us for our Jazz Brunch with the smooth sounds of The Jason Jenkins Trio, silent auction & comedic performance!
Tickets Donations Available on Eventbrite or by calling the church at
804 643-8157
The Reverend Dr. Samuel E. Hayward III, Presiding Elder
August 16, 2020 - 11 am
Dr. Samuel E. Hayward, III was born into a family of ministers and he is a fourth-generation preacher who grew up in the AME Church. He was a child of the parsonage whose father, Reverend Samuel Hayward, was a well-known AME Pastor in the Bermuda Conference of the First Episcopal District. He was nurtured and trained as a youth lay leader at Vernon Temple AMEC in Southampton, Bermuda. In 1970 he was licensed as a local preacher at Vernon Temple AMEC in Southampton, Bermuda. Shortly thereafter, he met and was mentored by Reverend Philip R. Cousin, now Bishop Cousin, and was admitted into the Western North Carolina Conference. In 1974, he was elected and ordained an Itinerant Elder in the North Carolina Conference by Bishop Henry Wendell Murph. Elder Hayward matriculated at Kittrell College, Hampton University, (graduating cum laude). He was inducted in the Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. He also matriculated at Trinity Theological Seminary, and the University of Miami where he received certification in Drug Abuse Counseling. In 2013, The Seminary of the Apostles in Norfolk, VA conferred upon him an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters in recognition of his outstanding ministry career, and the distinction with which he has served the communities and churches he has been a pastor in.