Biography:

The Reverend Lester Agyei McCorn is a native of Worcester, Massachusetts. He has had a diverse and distinguished career as a pastor, community activist and civic leader. After graduating from the Worcester Public Schools, Pastor McCorn received his undergraduate education in Religion and Sociology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his theological education at Yale University Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary. He is currently a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in the area of historical theology and ethics.

Pastor McCorn has been in the ministry for more than twenty years, having been licensed to preach at the age of 16. He received his first pastoral appointment at the age of 20, while a student at Morehouse College. An activist-student leader, he was elected as President of his freshman class and President of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Chapter (Alpha Rho) at Morehouse. He also served as a student intern to famed civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis (D-GA.). He served as pastor of three different congregations in Georgia: Lawrence Temple A. M. E. Zion in Menlo, Hemphill A. M. E. Zion in Summerville and Bush Chapel A. M. E. Zion in Winder. He later served as pastor of two churches in New England: St. Luke Christian A. M. E. Zion in Boston (Dorchester), Massachusetts and Varick Memorial A. M. E. Zion in New Haven, Connecticut, the third oldest church of the denomination. While at Varick Church, Pastor McCorn led a major restoration in spiritual renewal and community revitalization. The membership doubled in five years. A non-profit corporation was established to administer a new Family Life Center, an independent living home for young men (Hilton House) and an historic home for aged women, the Hannah Gray Home. He served as the President and CEO of the Varick Development Corporation. Pastor McCorn was also the Vice President of the New Haven Board of Education.

In August of 1998, the Rev. Lester Agyei (pronounced Ahd-JAY-ee) McCorn was assigned to the Martin Temple A. M. E. Zion Church in Chicago. Under Pastor McCorn’s leadership the church has grown and grasped a new vision for empowerment in ministry, discipleship and community development. A passionate and gifted preacher and teacher, he has instituted new programs for spiritual development. He instituted a weekly “School of the Prophets” for the training and mentoring of the numerous persons who have answered the call to ministry and discipleship under his leadership. The new Martin Temple Community Foundation is a tax-exempt non-profit community development corporation which provides several programs, including a Soup Kitchen, and after school and mentoring programs. Designs are being made for a new Family Life Center and a state-of-the-art Child Care Center in recently acquired adjacent properties. Pastor McCorn is currently leading the church in a $1 million capital stewardship campaign to retire the mortgage on the modern church facility and to undertake the vision for expansion.

Pastor McCorn was is an inductee of the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse. He has been a Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Program and Leadership Greater Chicago. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, Yale Club of Chicago, NAACP and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.

He is married to Mrs. Charlene Maria (Mundy) McCorn, and they are the proud parents of three children; William Elijah Benjamin, Maliaka Kenyetta and John-Charles Wesley.