Mark Kelly Tyler contributes to PBS series ‘The African Americans’

Rev. Dr. Mark Kelly Tyler, a fully affiliated faculty member of Methodist Theological School in Ohio, is a featured contributor to the PBS series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. The series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., runs through Nov. 26 on PBS.

Tyler, who also is senior pastor of Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, appears in Episode Two, "The Age of Slavery," which is available for viewing online. During the first segment of the episode, Tyler and Gates discuss the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination by Bishop Richard Allen.

"If you look at the modern civil rights movement, really the blueprint was laid here," Tyler tells Gates during an interview at Mother Bethel, the first congregation founded by Bishop Allen.

Tyler, who began teaching at MTSO in 2007, leads classes in homiletics and African-American studies. He has been the Mother Bethel congregation's senior pastor since 2008.

Methodist Theological School in Ohio prepares leaders of many faith traditions for lives of significance in service to the church and the world. The school offers master's degrees in divinity, counseling ministries, theological studies and practical theology, as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree. For more information, visit www.mtso.edu.

CONTACT:
Danny Russell, director of communications
drussell@mtso.edu, 740-362-3322