Boayue, Charles S. G.
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4
CHARLES SEI GALAYI BOAYUE, JR.
Home Church:
College:
Seminary:
Appointment:
b
I 93
Detroit:Metropolitan United Methodist Church
University of Liberia, 1983
Bethune-Cookman College, Rorida, 1984 B.S.
Florida Southern College, 1986 M.B.A.
Duke University Divinity School, 1989 MDiv.
Detroit: Jefferson Avenue United Methodist
Church on the Detroit East District
Statement to Conference:
May God bring to fulfillment in me the calling to which I have been called and may our ministry
together be guided by the Spirit of Christ's love to the end that, being transformed, we might offer
salvation and wholeness to a broken world. Amen.
-
DEACONS 1991
Back row (1-r) Linda Slaughter, Jill Hardt, Nancy Sparks, Diana Goudie, Marjorie Munger, William
Bergstrom, Raymond Wightman, Alger Lewis and Charles Boayue. Front row (1-r) Nancy Frank, Doris
Crocker, Bea Fraser, Chong Voub Won, Marquis L:yles and William Bartlett.
Deacons, 1991
Probationers
These persons were received
as probationary members of the
Detroit Conference and were ordained on Friday evening .
William Peter Bartlett .
Spouse-Lee Ann . Home
church- Ironwood: Wesley UMC.
Gogebic Comm . College, A.A.,
1985; · Michigan Technological
Univ ., A . B. , 1987; United
Theological Seminary, 1991 .
Appointment-to attend United
Seminary.
William Allan Bergstrom.
Spouse- Linda Susan. Home
church-Lapeer: Trinity UMC. St.
Clare County Comm ., Assoc.,
Bus., 1972; Oakland Univ. , B.S.,
1976; Asbury Theological Seminary, 1991 . Transferring to North
Indiana Conference.
Charles Sei Gala~l Boayu~
Jr.' §pause Ellzabeil N. Ffome
church-Metropolitan UMC .
Bethune-Cookman College,
Florida , B.S. , 1984; Florida
Southern College, M.B.A., 1986;
Duke Univ. Divinity School, 1989.
Appointment-Detroit: Jefferson
UMC .
Doris Crocker. SpouseArnold Wesley. Home churchWyandotte: First UMC. King' s
College, Univ. of Durham ,
England, 1958; ETC, GETS , and
United Theological Seminary.
Appointment-Samaria: Grace
Lulu UMCs.
Nanc y Ka t hlee n Frank.
Spouse-Daniel Lee. Home
church:Dexter UMC . Eastern
Michigan Univ. "B.F.A., 1988;
/\,..a,...,,""''
Th,.•u"\ lnni,...o l
Col"'r'\inQ r \.1
Collei!.~.t.({g~f~.A.
"1965;
United Theological Seminary,
1988-present. AppointmentAssoc ., Milan: Marble Memorial
UMC.
_
Jill Ann Hardt. Home
church-Troy: Big Beaver UMC.
Asbury College, B.A., 1988;
Asbury Theological · Seminary,
present.
B .A ., 1983; Iliff School of
Theology, 1991 . ApointmentManistique: Fir~t UMC.
Chong Youb Won. Home
church-Korean: First Central
UMC. Mokwon Methodist Univ.,
Korea, B. Mus ., 1976; Wayne
State Univ., B. Mus ., 1987;
Boston Un iv., School of
Theology, 1988 to present.
Denette Bourke receives congratulations from sponsors, Joy Arthur (r) and George Spencer (1), after her consecration by Bishop
Judith Craig on Friday evening .
Alger
Thomas
Lewi s .
Spouse- Ruth Marie. Home
Deacon Assoc. Member
1
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church :Dexter UMC . Eastern
Alger
Thomas
Lewis .
Michigan Univ. B.F.A. , 1988;
Asbury Theological Seminary, Spouse-Ruth Marie . Home
present. Appointment-Norway : · church-Bay Port-Hayes UM
Charge. Midwestern Baptist ColGrace and Faithorn UMCs.
Bea Barbara Soots Fraser. lege and seminary, B. B., M.R.E.;
Spouse-Stephen K. Fraser. GETS, .ETC, 1990 to present.
Home church-Grosse Pointe Appointment-Bayport- Hayes
UMC. California State Univ., UM Charge.
Marquis Denzel! Lyles. Home
Fullerton, B.A. , 1974; School' of
Theology at Claremont, 1971 ; church: Detroit: Scott Memorial
GETS, 1991. Appointment- UMC. Grinnell College, B.A.,
Assoc ., Cass Community UMC . 1981; GETS, 1983-86; United
Diana K. Goudie. Spouse- Theological Seminary, 1991 .
Robert F. Ball State Teacher's Appointment-Assoc ., Detroit:
Scott Memorial UMC.
Mar.jorie Munger. SpouseDennis. Home church- Glacier
Way UMC. Univ. of Michigan,
B.S., 1969; United Theological
Seminary, 1991 . AppointmentBristol, Dimond UMCs.
Kat herine Ray Robinson.
Home church-Metropo litan
UMC. Monteith College, Wayne
State Univ., Bph , 1966; College
of Education, Wayne State Univ.,
1966; United Theologic al
Seminary, 1988 to present.
Appointment-West Ohio Cont.
Linda Slaughter. Home
church-Detroit: Calvary UMC.
Wayne State Univ., B.A., 1988;
SS Cyril and Methodius
Semin ary, 1986-89; Un ited
Theologic al Seminary, 1991 .
Appointm ent-Oak Park: Faith
. UMC.
Raymond David Wightman.
Home church- Auburn UMC.
Saginaw Valley State College
Deacon Assoc. Member
Nancy F. Sparks. SpouseWayne. Home church-Rockland
UMC. Gogebic Community College; Northern Michigan Univ.
Five year course of study, 1987.
Appointment-Crystal Falls :
Christ; Amasa: Grace UMCs.
Diaconal Minister
This person was consecrated
on Friday evening.
Donette L. Bourke, SpouseG.eorge .
Hpme
churchBelleville: First UMC. Adrian College, B.A ., 1979 ; GarrettEvangelical ·
Theological
Seminary . Cert ific ation as
Associate in Christian Education,
1988. Service AppointmentAssociate in Christian Education
and Youth Ministry, Jackson:
First UMC.
From Ganta Mission to Detro.it: Charles ' Story
.
s>/.6/l?rI
.
country's parliament, had been Quick.
MCA correspo_ndent
born with high rank (the son of
In Hawaii he was elected as a
the
Chief
of
the
Mano
tribe).
The
member-of
the executive commitCharles S.G. Boayue , Jr. had
carried the picture in his pocket Sei in the name of both father and tee of the World Methodist Confor eight years, for reasons he son stands for "first born" ; ference and chairperson of the
.cannot recall. Probably because "Galayi" translates as "within Youth Committee. This entailed
it was the only picture of a church the (Chief's) fence." Charles, travels about the world on behalf
ever given to him by a minister. although the ninth of 22 children ; . of the World Methodist ConferOr-maybe because it was the pic- as a Jr., gets to keep both names. ence. (He would later be elected
The elder Boayue was con- to the eight member Pres,ldium of
ture of a middle western U.S.
church, located half-way around verted to Christianity at the the World Methodist Council.)
In spite of his world travels,
the world from his home in Stephen Trowen Nagbe United
Methodist Church in Monrovia, Charles was still naive as far as
Monrovia, Liberia.
He had been attending a World named for the first Liberian native the U.S. was concerned . -A team
from UMCOR was visiting
Methodist conference in Hawaii elevated to bishop.
Young Charles grew up in a . Liberia, and a member of that
as a youth conference president
in 1981. A conversation with a · strong Christian environment, team, Dr. Charles Bronson, Sr.
pastor attending the same confer- perhaps best characterized by President of Bethune-Cookman
ence about his church in a city in his deep-seated belief in Christ as College, saw Charles conducting
the Middle West, led to a prom- the Redeemer: " Jesus stayed in a Youth session of the Liberian
ise to send Charles a picture of Galilee, and went to Jerusalem. Annual Conference. A lively corthe church. The pastor was Bill He went to Calvary and stayed on respondence developed between
Quick and the church was Detroit · the cross. I thank God that Jesus the two. A second meeting of the
stayed on the cross. If he had left two occurred when Charles was
Metropolitan.
the cross, like some asked him to to assume a leadership role in the
THE PICTURE, an interior view do, in order to show his glory, it World Methodist Council's Interof the sanctuary, arrived as prom- means at least in part, that there national Christian Youth Conferised and Charles put it in his wal- is a certain point where God ence in the Bahamas,
let , where it is to this day. He would retreat to defend God himLOOKING AT a map, Charles
never dreamed that his path ~elf, rather than stay for us."
noted that the Bahamas were
would again cross that of Bill
Quick and Metropolitan Church . THIS YOUNG man at an early located close to Miami. ·What
But as Charles continued his long age began a significant involve- thing better than to meet his
journey
in
connectional ment with .the United Methodist friend in Florida, Dr. Bronson.
Methodism, he would encounter Church . He rose rapidly in the Correspondence ensued betranks of the Youth Ministry in the ween the two, and Charles was
Bill Quick again .
1 Charles Sei Galayi Boayue, Jr. Liberian Conference which is a invited to visit the Bronsons in
conference of the American their home.
.
~as born into a Methodist family
The outcome of the visit was
oh t~e grounds of Ganta Mission, United Methodist wing of
Liberia, the first Methodist mis- Methodism, finally becoming the offer of a full scholarship to
sion in the interior of the country, president of the Youth Council. It Bethune-Coo kman . Business
and still one of the largest mis- was this office that took him, by Administration attracted him at
sion complexes in the world. His invitation, to the World Methodist first, to the attainment of a BA
father, who was a legislator in the Conference in Hawaii and his degree at Bethune-Cookman and
chance encounter with Dr. Bill an MBA at Florida Southern. But
his destiny lay elsewhere.
An opportunity presented itself
to attend Duke Un iversity School
of Theology (they do teach something beside basketball there!),
under the almost complete sponsorship of First United Methodist
Church of Jacksonville , Florida,
pastored at that time by Dr. Thomas Farmer: The scholarship
was supplemented by opportunity for summer internships . One
such opening was at Detroit's
Metropolitan.
"God works in mysterious
ways," Charles explained.
"When I received the picture,
eight years before, from Bill
Quick, I had no idea that I was going to be an ordained pastor, that
I was ever going to be in Detroit
to pay a visit to Metropolitan
Church, and that Bill Quick would
come to Duke University to interview ten interns for one slotI"
GROVENOR
N.
GRIMES
CHARLES BOAVUE'S selection as a summer intern thus initiated him into a big city church
in the city of Detroit, which was
the largest city he had stayed in
for more than a month outside of
Monrovia, in spite of having been
in many other world class cities .
Two years later, upon graduation from Duke, he would return
to Metropolitan as associate pastor. Notable during his stay there
was the formation of a new Sunday school class numbering in
the sixties, and a major neighborhood youth project.
In the 1991 Detroit Annual
Conference Charles received his
ordination as a deacon, and an
appointment to Jefferson Avenue
United Methodist Church in
Detroit.
While on the staff of Metropolitan, he was married to the love
of his life, Elizabeth Duncan, also
from Liberia, who as this article
is being written is graduating
from Bethune-Cookman College.
Elizabeth's ancestry was in the
Kru tribe, from the coast of
Liberia.
Charles and Elizabeth met in
1980 in UMYF, the beginning of
a ten-year courtship, culminating
in their marriage in 1990 at Metropolitan . Cupid was aided and
abetted by Dr. Bronson who,
when Charles was graduating
from Duke, suggested that now
was the time to bring Elizabeth
over. He obtained a full scholarship for Elizabeth also at
Bethune-Cookman College.
CHARLES' FATHER and his
brother, Pei, trapped by the violence of the civil war raging in
Liberia, were able to make an
escape to neighboring Sierra
Leone, after a harrowing journey.
.
I.
'
~
Charles S.G. Boayue
• I
Almost thwarted by diplomatic
pitfalls , they were finally able to
make it to their new home in
America to live with Charles and
his bride. His mother, currently
living in Gambia, is president of
the Ganta 'District United Methodist Women.
Charles now turns a new corner in his life as he assumes the
pulpit at Jefferson Avenue UMC.
While he is still continuing some
of this work initiated at Metropolitan, his focus on the futu re points
towards his ministry of love and
reconciliation.
" I believe that God wants all
churches to grow in more than
one direction. God wants every
church to grow vertically towards
God and horizontally· towards
other people. There is no one
who has a monopoly on the love
of God. ·God. loves all people;
whether rich or poor, the high or
the low, the black or the white,
the literate and the illiterate. And
it is our mission to engage in
healing ministries which bring
reconciliation of our relationships
to God and to each other. " 0