PASTOR'S PAGE

Derrick-Lewis Noble is an award winning preacher/pastor and motivational speaker, having recently been cited as one of the top 20 young preachers in America (“The African American Pulpit” Magazine).  He began preaching as a teenager and has been in the preaching ministry now for nearly 20 years, having served as a youth pastor for 11 consecutive years, a Senior Pastor and a denominational leader.  He is highly sought after as a revivalist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and motivator, and is a past member of the National Speakers Association.  Among other honors, he is a past Conference Preacher for The Symposium on Worship - an annual, international, ecumenical event sponsored by The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and The Center for Excellence in Preaching, and has served as the Bible Study Leader for the national gathering of Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR).  Derrick was recently selected by Abingdon Press and the United Methodist Publishing House to write both the adult and teen curriculum for Vacation Bible School for the year 2013.  In the corporate world, he has presented on topics as diverse as peak performance, customer service, educational excellence, and leadership in the workplace.  
     From March 2006 until June 2008, Derrick served as Pastor of the Abundant Life United Methodist Church of Lufkin, Texas.  Under his leadership, the Abundant Life family grew from less than 40 in regular attendance to over 400 members in two years, earning it the prestigious Copeland Award for Evangelism (2007), awarded to the 5 fastest growing churches in the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Abundant Life baptized more people and added more new members than any other church in the East District, and grew from having been in debt to being 100% financially sound in less than two years!  As a result of his work at Abundant Life, Derrick was asked to serve as one of 10 members of the Black Church Transformation Task Force for the Texas Annual Conference, a group charged with the responsibility of helping Black churches to grow to their full potential and stem the tide of decline.
     In June 2008, Derrick became founding pastor of Impact United Methodist Church of Port Arthur, TX.  Impact UMC was recognized as having been the “the most successful African American new church start” in the Texas Annual Conference.  Impact UMC has been featured in national magazines and had a far-reaching evangelistic ministry that distributed free school supplies and immunizations to over 1,200 students in the Port Arthur area, and regularly fed boxed meals to the homeless on the streets of Port Arthur. Derrick received his second Copeland Award for Evangelism (2011), as pastor of Impact UMC.       On June 6, 2012, Derrick became an Elder in full connection with the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and was appointed to serve as pastor of Crenshaw United Methodist Church of Los Angeles, CA.  To initiate a new chapter of ministry at the historic Crenshaw, Derrick has outlined a 4-part revitalization plan that focuses on: dynamic worship, comprehensive outreach, total life stewardship, and internal re-organization. 
     Derrick is currently both a national board member and a Mentor/Coach with SBC21 (Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century), a United Methodist initiative that seeks to directly impact growth and health among African American congregations within the UMC.  As a veteran church planter, Derrick represents SBC21 on the board of Path 1 New Church Starts, another UMC initiative which seeks to cultivate and develop leaders for new churches across the country. 
     Derrick-Lewis Noble was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated from the historic Little Rock Central High School where he served as Student Body President.  He then attended Angelo State University (San Angelo, Texas) and was awarded the Bachelor of Arts Degree in English with a double minor in Speech Communication and Psychology.  He later attended Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center (Atlanta, GA) where he earned a Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) in Christian Education, having graduated as valedictorian of his class. 
     On May 3, 2008, Derrick successfully defended his doctoral dissertation and was awarded the Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degree in Black Church Studies at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio, having graduated with a 4.0 grade point average.  His professors/mentors during his doctoral studies were some of the world’s most respected theological scholars, including Drs. Cain Hope Felder, William H. Myers, Marvin A. McMickle, Dwight Hopkins, and Cheryl Townsend Gilkes. Derrick’s dissertation is entitled: Rescuing, Reconnecting, and Renewing the Village: Liberative Pedagogy and the Impact of Teaching Black Liberation Theology to Black Youth.
     Believe it or not, Derrick does occasionally have free time!   He is a rabid NBA fan (with season tickets to the Los Angeles Clippers), is a huge classic jazz fan (particularly John Coltrane, Art Tatum, and Miles Davis), and also plays jazz trombone himself.  In addition, Derrick is an avid golfer (not a great one), loves to travel, enjoys playing his Xbox 360, and has a massive collection of martial arts DVDs.  Derrick’s purpose in life is to be used by God to speak truth into the lives of others, thereby enabling them to make a permanent, positive impact upon their world.