The Reverend Harold Lorenzo Barnwell

Pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church, October 31, 2004 to present

Harold is a native of Jacksonville, Florida, and a graduate from New Stanton Senior High School. After graduating from Kentucky State University with a Bachelor of Art degree in Sociology, he taught Special Education one year at Kentucky State Development Training School. He then relocated to Gary, Indiana, and began his vocation as a social worker at Lake County Department of Public Welfare.

In 1969, Harold began a career at Lake County Public Welfare Department, which ended with his retirement May 31, 2003. Through the years, he held the following positions: Caseworker C1, Caseworker 7, Caseworker Supervisor 4; Division Manager, Bureau of Family Protection and Preservation, and CEO, of the Lake County Federal Credit Union from, 1993-1995. Additionally, he completed the Senior Executive Program (SEP) for Child Welfare Managers, University of North Carolina, School of Social Work. Because of his full-time employment and pastorate, he enrolled part time at Garrett Theological Seminary. In May 2000, Harold graduated from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, with a Master of Divinity degree.

Harold’s parents, Leroy (deceased April 15, 2004) and Thelma Vine-Barnwell, instilled in him and his siblings, Henry, Paul, and Eugene, a great love for the Lord through family worship and the spirit of giving in Emanuel Baptist Church, as well as in the community. Because of their examples and his involvements, Harold developed his ministry theme, “God Is Love; Communing Through Sharing and Giving Is God’s Love.”

In 1977 during a revival at Greater Saint James A.M.E. Church, Gary, Indiana, Harold had no inkling God had chosen him to be His servant until he was touched by an overwhelming anointing of the Holy Spirit that overtook his whole being. After several years of relying on the Lord to direct his thoughts and words, Harold accepted the call to Christian ministry and decided to study the Word, which began formally with correspondence courses at Moody Bible Institute. He also completed the required Course of Study from the Board of Examiners of the Indiana Conference. After fulfilling these requirements, Harold was ordained Itinerant Deacon and Itinerant Elder by the late Bishop Hubert Nelson Robinson.

Pastor Barnwell’s ministry began at Bethel A.M.E. Church, Logansport, Indiana, in 1981. In 1984, the late Bishop Samuel S. Morris assigned him to Saint John A.M.E. Church, East Chicago, Indiana. God guided him and the members through financial crises and burning the mortgage.

On June 9, 1973, Harold and Vivian Beamon, a native Mississippian, were married. A graduate of Jackson State University (B.S. degree, English) and Indiana University (M.S. degree, Secondary Education), she is an educator in the East Chicago Public School System. They are the parents of Harold Rashaud, a graduate of Jackson State University. Also, from a previous marriage, Harold is the father of Alease Barnwell-Carter (Calvin, deceased July 2003), a graduate of Clark-Atlanta University, and grandfather of Calvin Carter.