Rev. James R. Watkins

Rev. James Watkins serves as the Development and Outreach Coordinator for the 11^th Episcopal Sons of Allen Men’s Ministry.  His task is to assist the local churches to form and develop men’s ministries to lead men to Christ, also to give direction and understanding that men are called by God to lead, protect, and be a priest in the home.  It is my sencere wish that men will receive the call and come with a mind to serve the church of Jesus Christ as well as the community.

Rev. Watkins studied music and psychology at Grandview College in DesMoines, Iowa from 1971 to 1973.  He continued his studies in psychology at Daytona Beach Community College from 1976 to 1978.  After 2 years of teaching at Orange County Public Schools, he was hired in 1980 by United Technology at Kennedy Space Center as Quality Control Inspector and worked for 16 years.  While at Kennedy, he was called by God to  ministry in the early eighties and attended the Institute of Theology and The International Seminary.  He retired from the Space Center in 1996 and returned to Orange County Public Schools where he worked with children who struggled with behavioral challenges for 13 years and retired in 2009.

In 2008, he was appointed coordinator of the Sons of Allen Men’s Ministry of the Orlando District and elected to the Episcopal level in 2011 for the state of Florida and the Bahamas.  He is now serving as the Pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Umatilla, Fl. with a congregation of 100 plus parishioners.  He also serves as Religious Affairs Chair for the Orange County Branch NAACP, Vice President of Stop the Violence and Embrace, Inc. Organization, and serves on the Mission Committee at the YMCA.  Rev. Watkins feed and cloth the homeless,  mentor the youth in church and community as well as the youth who are incarcerated at the Orange Intensive Academy in Orlando.

The work is all divine !