Dr. Cameron Madison Alexander has gained an international reputation as one of God’s preeminent preachers! His ministry has taken him all across America and many foreign countries preaching, lecturing and proclaiming God’s goodness. Known as a great builder and keen church administrator, the Reverend Alexander is presently the illustrious pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church North in Atlanta, Georgia and the esteemed former president for 26 years of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. Both institutions have experienced incredible growth under his dynamic leadership.
In 1969 when Dr. Alexander accepted the call to pastor Atlanta’s historic Antioch Baptist Church North, the congregation functioned with one part time clerical employee on a modest annual budget of only thirty eight thousand dollars and had a declining membership of less than 500 persons. Today, the mega church has 60 full and part time employees, counts among its membership more than twelve thousand persons, and operates on an annual budget of 4.5 million dollars. Lead by the Holy Spirit, Dr. Alexander has made the Antioch Baptist Church North a wonderful example of a church that stands out as a beacon of hope and an anchor in its community. His ministry combines the trained eye of the academician, the imagination and resourcefulness of the missionary, and the empathetic understanding of the loving pastor.
Thus, the establishment of Antioch Urban Ministries, Inc. (AUMI), a highly-acclaimed, social action outreach ministry inspired by the six ministries in the Book of Matthew. The seed for Antioch Urban Ministries came from the heart of Rev. Kenneth Alexander who shared his vision with his father, Rev. C. M. Alexander. Pastor Alexander then went on to implement AUMI in 1990. This ministry encompasses the following:
Seven transitional housing ministries: The Madison House, a 128-unit affordable housing facility, named in honor of Pastor’s visionary leadership; Matthew’s Place, an 18-bed facility or persons suffering from HIV/AIDS; Ruth’s Place, for women recovering form substance abuse; Luke’s Place, for men recovering from substance abuse; Project B.R.E.A.T.H. (Basic Recovery Education and Tuberculosis Healing), provides food and housing for twenty homeless individuals recovering from tuberculosis, who have been deemed non-infectious; Job’s House, a ministry for men who have a disability, who are recovering from substance abuse, and; Lydia’s House, for working women recovering from chemical dependency/chemical abuse
Six human services ministries: Atlanta School of Recovery, a Prison Ministry, Outreach Ministry; a Christian Recovery Support Group, an HIV/AIDS Prevention Education Program, and an Incarceration Intervention Program.
Several collaborations which led to the expansion of current resources: NCEI Employment Resource Center, providing a variety of employment and training resources at one central location; West End Medical Service, to provide primary health care serves to the residents; Computer Training Center, a computer lab which offers various training programs; Land of Promise Christian Recovery Home, a residential recovery facility for men suffering from addiction; Project Redirection (PRD), a pretrial intervention program that targets first-time misdemeanor offenders in Fulton County; the Odyssey Project; a ministry for youth-at-risk; Foreign Missions, to serve developing countries; Food Bank and Clothing Bank, to provide sustenance for the surrounding community.
Under Pastor Alexander’s leadership, several mission churches have been established throughout metro-Atlanta to provide spiritual support to outlying communities: Faithe Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church; New Hope Baptist Church, Rev. Gabriel Miller, Presiding Minister; Antioch Lakewood Mission, Rev. Kenneth Alexander, Presiding Minister; Antioch North Baptist Mission, Rev. Sean Smith, Presiding Minister, Antioch Lithia Springs Mission Rev. Ervin Richards, Presiding Minister; Antioch Roswell Mission, Rev. Artis Johnson, Presiding Minister; the Madison Mission, Rev. Carlton Williams, Presiding Minister; Land of Promise Mission, Rev. J. W. Calvin, Presiding Mission.
During his 36 years as pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church North, Dr. Alexander has been very aggressive in building his congregation’s church campus. Instead of moving to more tranquil suburbs as most large city churches have traditionally done, Dr. Alexander has strategically assembled countless numbers of small tracts and large acreages of land immediately surrounding the Antioch worship center, which is located within Atlanta’s urban intercity near the Georgia Dome, the Coca-Cola Company’s World Headquarters, the Georgia World Congress Center, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition to the ultra modern, multi-million dollar worship center which was dedicated in 1991, the church campus includes a bi-level administrative complex, a large formidable business plaza that houses the offices of the Antioch Urban Ministries, a community computer center, and the membership orientation facilities, four major parking lots, and a multi-functional Youth Center and adjoining recreational green space for outdoor activities. Dr. Alexander has organized the Bethursday Development Corporation to manage building development and other investment opportunities of the Antioch Congregation. In late 2003, construction began on the church campus for a 261 unit apartment building.
The son of a prominent Baptist minister, Dr. Alexander was born and raised in Atlanta and graduated from Booker T. Washington High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Morehouse College and a Master of Divinity Degree from the Morehouse School of Religion. Dr. Alexander also has Doctor of Divinity Degrees from the United Theological Seminary (Louisiana) and the Morehouse School of Religion.
Prior to accepting the call to Antioch, Dr. Alexander was the pastor of the St. John Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia between 1965 and 1969. His other pastoral callings were at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Cartersville, Georgia, the Flagg Chapel Baptist Church in Milledgeville, Georgia, and at the New Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Macon, Georgia where he was pastor from 1958 until 1965.
Having served as president of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. since 1975, Dr. Alexander has transformed the body into one of the nation’s strongest and most respected state-wide religious organizations. Since his election as president, he has maintained a unified budget reflecting the expenditures and income of all auxiliaries, departments and Districts within the Convention and hired a full time executive secretary to manage the daily operations of the Convention. His successful capital campaigns and real estate acquisitions have been unprecedented, resulting in the Convention’s purchase of a generous nine room headquarters building and adjacent facilities to house the Convention’s book and church supply store in Atlanta. His leadership and tenaciousness have been instrumental in transforming the Convention’s Bryant Theological Seminary into a highly respected, thriving academic learning institution that provides accredited training for Baptist from all across Georgia and the nation. His fundraising skills have helped to renovate and modernize the Seminary’s Benton and Terrill dormitories and study hall and he provided strong fiscal leadership for the building of the Marshal Stenson Dormitory and the spacious C. M. Pearson Multipurpose Building, which includes the campus library, kitchen and dining hall, assemble hall and spacious visitors’ sitting room.
Known nationally simply as “the Land of Promise,” Dr. Alexander provided the leadership for the Convention’s purchase of a 273 acre working farm in Colloden, Georgia, which serves as a Christian Recovery Home for men addicted to drugs and alcohol. Since its founding, more than two thousand men have benefited from the Land’s extensive rehabilitation program. Other successful evangelism outreach ministries established by Dr. Alexander for the Convention have included the Annual Soul Bowl, Missions Evangelism Conference, and S.W.A.T. (Saints With A Testimony). Additionally, Dr. Alexander established an Annual Minister’s Conference and Summit on the Bible to provide informative, inspirational training sessions, statewide workshops, seminars and professional support services to strengthen the pastoral leadership within Convention churches. The Baptist Youth Convention which was designed to inspire and train future church leaders serves young people between the ages of 16 to 25, while Dr. Alexander’s Children’s Convention and Camp serves youth between 7 and 15. Most recently, Dr. Alexander organized the Ushers Ministry, which has been unparalleled in its fundraising activities and leadership training for ushers within local district churches.
Dr. Alexander has been extremely involved in local and national organizations. He has served as treasurer and chairman of the board of trustees for the Morehouse School of Religion, and has been a member of the boards of the Interdenominational Theological Center, the Morehouse School of Medicine, the Atlanta Baptist Ministers Union, and the Atlanta Research Institute. He has also provided leadership and service to the United States Department of Commerce’s Bureau of the Census, and has served as chairman of the Atlanta Football Classics.
A life time member of the NAACP and the SCLC, Dr. Alexander is a former vice president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and former dean for the Sunday School and Baptist Training Union Congress, an auxiliary of the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. Dr. Alexander has also served as the General Chairman for the Atlanta Host Committee for the National Baptist Conventions held in Atlanta in 1985 and 1992, and will serve again as the General Chairman when the National Baptist Convention returns to Atlanta in 2005. In 1995, he served as co-chairman of the Atlanta Billy Graham Crusade.
Dr. Alexander has been profiled in Look and Fortune Magazines, the Atlanta Daily World, the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, and Georgia Trend. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the NAACP National Religious Award, the C.L. Harper Ministers Award, recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change Social Justice Award, Alumnus of the Year for the Morehouse College Alumni Association, Cited by the Prince Hall Masons of Georgia for ardent civic leadership, and recipient of the prestigious 2000 “Bennie” Award for Service from his beloved Morehouse College.
Dr. Alexander is married to Barbara Jackson Alexander. They have four children and eight grand children.
