The Reverend Dr. Julius Harrison McAllister, Jr., affectionately known as Reverend Julius, is the 35th anointed Senior Minister of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tallahassee, Florida. A fourth-generation minister, Dr. McAllister is a 4th generation minister in the life of our church.
Dr. McAllister answered the call to ministry in 1992. He was licensed to preach and admitted to the Northeast Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District (South Carolina) of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1993. In 1995 and 1997, Reverend Julius was ordained an Itinerant Deacon and Elder in the Northeast Annual Conference. He began his pastoral ministry as a member of the ministerial staff at Mount Zion AME Church in Florence, South Carolina and Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to his appointment to the Bethel AME Church in 2008, Dr. McAllister distinguished himself as an outstanding pastor in the Detroit and Chicago areas. He was a youth minister at Oak Grove AME Church in Detroit Michigan. Subsequently, he served as pastor of Payne Chapel AME Church in Chicago, Heights, Illinois and the Greater Institutional AME Church in Chicago, Illinois.
As pastor of the Greater Institutional AME Church, 2000-2008, his devotion to community growth and development led to the creation of a Come Home For Christmas Ministry that serviced nearly 5,000 homeless, poor, and underprivileged adults and 2000 children and raised more than seven hundred thousand dollars to support needy families in Chicago during the Christmas season.
Following his ministry at Greater Institutional Church, Dr. McAllister was appointed to Bethel AME Church in Tallahassee, Florida. He believes that the Bethel AME Church ministry experiences should reflect not only the enduring love for Jesus Christ, but also for one another. He insists that “Bethel’s focus, as it turns the proverbial pages of time, should show the outside world that it is on the CARING END of ministry.” To this end, as President/CEO of the Bethel Community Development Corporation (Bethel CDC), an affiliate church ministry, Dr. McAllister has been instrumental in the construction and rehabilitation of 75 homes for low-income families in the city of Tallahassee at a cost of 14 million dollars, and has led the church in the construction of ten single-family homes for rental to low-income families. He is also
Chairman of the Board of the A Life Recovery Center that provides drug and alcohol rehabilitation to residential and outpatient clients. During his tenure, nearly 2,000 individuals have been treated for addictions. Bethel’s annual Thanksgiving Basket Ministry provides hearty meals for nearly twenty-five hundred people annually and the Families Reaching Families Christmas Ministry has provided toys, bicycles, clothes, and other gifts to thousands of needy children in the community. Prior to the pandemic, Bethel partnered with the State of Florida to provide hot meals to underprivileged school age children in low-income communities during the summer months. Approximately five hundred thousand meals, at a cost of $1.5 million dollars, have been provided. This summer food program employed 80 teenagers and young adults each year.
A few years ago, Dr. McAllister inspired the members of Bethel to renovate Bethel By The Lake, a ten-acre camp site three miles from the main worship, study, and community complex. The commercial swimming pool was renovated, six basketball courts were added, and the fellowship hall was completely restored. The church raised a quarter of a million dollars in 22 months to liquidate the mortgage. The property and facility were purchased and built during Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Jr. and Episcopal Supervisor Connie Speights Richardson’s tenure as the 33rd pastor and first lady of Bethel. In recognition of their vision, it was renamed Camp Richardson Recreation and Retreat Center.
During his fifteen-year tenure, the number of tithers has increased and he has led the Bethel Church in averaging 1.8 million dollars in tithes and offerings. Since his pastoral assignment to Bethel, over 1200 souls have been added to the ministry.
Dr. McAllister received the baccalaureate degree in criminal justice from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1993, and a Master of Divinity degree from the Turner Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. In 2007, he earned the Doctor in Ministry degree from the Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois.