Rev. Dr. A. R. Bernard, Sr.
President

The Reverend Dr. A. R. Bernard is the President of the Council of Churches of the City of New York representing 1.5 million Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians. He is also the founder and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center (CCC). Located in Brooklyn, this faith-based organization currently has over 28,000 members and is situated on a welcoming 11-acre campus.

Dr. Bernard sits on the NYC Economic Development Corporation Board; NYC School Chancellor’s Advisory Cabinet and served on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2001 Transition Team. Recognized as a New Influential – 25 Leaders Reshaping New York (Crain’s New York Business, September 2008); Most Influential NY Clergyman (NY Daily News, February 2008); Most Influential African American New Yorker (NY Post, February 2008); New York’s Most Influential (NY Magazine, 2006); Bernard was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by Consulate General of Israel in NY in conjunction with the Jewish Community Relations Council and, Jewish National Fund. He has been personally cited in the Congressional Records.

In 1993, Dr. Bernard founded Brooklyn Preparatory School, a premiere early childhood education institution. He continues to revitalize communities; recently partnering with Common Ground to build and develop affordable housing in the East New York/Canarsie section of Brooklyn and leading a transformational team to purchase one of the nation’s largest Mitchell Lama Programs (Starrett City, Brooklyn, NY).

In addition to establishing Christian Cultural Center's Food Pantry, Prison Ministry, Domestic Violence Initiative and Family Life Center, Bernard organized a rapidly growing male mentoring program with more than 1000 male mentors.

Dr. Bernard has a Master of Urban Studies and a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. In May of 2009, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary. Married 37 years to his wife, Karen.

Mr. G. Morris Gurley, Esq.
Vice President

Mr. Morris Gurley, vice president, was in the banking and investment field in New York City with Chemical/Chase Bank from 1962 to 1987. He specialized in the field of Trusts and Estates and headed the Personal Administration Department at the time of his retirement in 1987.

In 1985, he co-founded the National Center for Victims of Crime which works to aid and to protect the rights of victims of violent crime. Under his leadership, this coalition grew to include not only victims groups and agencies, but also city government, law enforcement, the religious community, and labor unions.

From 1984-2000, he was Chairman of the Distribution Committee of the Annie Laurie Aitken Charitable Trust which supported many of the major institutions in New York City.

In 1986, he co-founded the Brain Trauma Foundation/Institute of Neurosciences which specializes in the field of neurological research and treatment.

Rev. Dr. Adolfo Carrion, Sr.
Vice President

The Reverend Dr. Adolfo Carrion, Sr., treasurer, has served as a pastor, director of the Education Department, and, from 1966 until his retirement in 1999, as Superintendent of the Spanish Eastern District of the Assemblies of God. In that capacity he supervised more than 300 churches in the northeastern part of the United States.

He participated in organizing the denomination’s Spanish Districts in Puerto Rico and in Florida. He organized two Districts, the District of Puerto Rico, Assembly of God, and the South Eastern Spanish District of Florida. He served in many different leadership roles including president of the Association of Latino Superintendent, Assembly of God; President/Organizer of the Association of Interdenominational Pentecostal Leaders; Executive President Teen Challenge, Puerto Rico; Executive Director Bible College of Puerto Rico Assembly Of God; Executive Director, Radio Vision Cristiana which covers the Northeast area of the U.S., Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and Ecuador; Executive Director, Christian Children Parade; Trustee, Valley Forge Christian College; Executive Member, New Hope USA; and Executive Member, A.M.E.N. International Evangelical Leaders.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Young-Choon Chang
Vice President

Rev. Dr. Joseph Young Choon Chang has served the Council of Churches of the City of New York as its Korean American Committee Chairperson and also as its vice president. Dr. Chang is the Founding Senior Pastor of the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens, leading the congregation with over 3,000 members. His outstanding leadership and service to the community has been recognized by Governor George Pataki with the 2005 Asian-American Heritage Achievement Award among others. He is also the president of the Korean Christian Press which serves over 50 countries worldwide.

Dr. Chang founded the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the East which raised numerous outstanding pastors and missionaries. He has chaired the Billy Graham New York Crusade Korean Outreach Committee.

Rev. Jon Norton
Treasurer

Jon Norton was born into an Illinois farm family that eventually settled in Tucson, Arizona. There he first experienced getting to know and appreciate those of different races and cultures: American Indian, Mexican and African-American. During college and seminary he was submerged in the Holland, Dutch culture of the Reformed Church in America. Upon graduation from seminary, in his first church in Fort Lee, New Jersey he ministered among a middle/upper middle class, Caucasian community. His second church in Spring Valley, New York, was a multicultural congregation made up of Caucasian, Latino and Caribbean people. His third congregation was a “downtown, tall-steeple” church in Hackensack, New Jersey, a congregation serving those of a wide variety of class and economic status. Sixteen years ago he was called to serve as Executive Minister of the Regional Synod of New York, Reformed Church in America (RCA). In that position he is responsible for providing various services to approximately 160 Reformed churches. Rev. Norton’s lends a listening ear to the problems and important issues facing the pastors and governing bodies of those churches. These churches present him with diverse and complicated work.

Rev. N. J. "Skip" L'Heureux, Jr.
Secretary

The Reverend N. J. L’Heureux, Jr., secretary, has been Executive Director of the Queens Federation of Churches since 1978. He is president of the Queens Interfaith Hunger Network and a past chair of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing. He is an advocate for religious freedom in the United States and abroad.

He served as the chairman of the Committee of Religious Leaders in the City of New York and continues to chair the New York State Interfaith Commission on Landmarking of Religious Property. His national leadership includes 13 years of service as Registrar of the National Association of Ecumenical and Interreligious Staff. He is currently moderator of the Committee on Religious Liberty of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA and a member of its Justice and Advocacy Commission.