Last week SPARKS told you about a Life Changing Ministries event at Bishop Dale C. Bronner's Word of Faith Cathedral in Austell. Rev. Randy Boyce, the affair's co-architect, touched base with us to report on how the event turned out.

"We think we bridged some important gaps. We brought families -- our men, our women and our children together in ways that are not often done. For instance people think hip-hop has nothing positive or relevant to say, but we brought in recording artist Canton Jones, who has a serious Christian message in his music. As a result, we had the old as well as the young, grooving to the same musical message.

"The BRC has helped us a great deal," continued Rev. Boyce. "We look forward to working with you in the future to carry the message that our people can and should be involved in entrepreneurship and making our own economic opportunities, which was another theme of the Character Conference."

Earlier this week, SPARKS took a few minutes out of the busy schedule of Ms. Donna Tate, an insurance broker, and longtime BRC business supporter this week to ask about her line of work and what the BRC meant to her.

"I try to help people find the most appropriate insurance. My job is to help folks find the package that fits their particular situation, their family circumstances, their business plan and situation. An insurance agent works for one company, offers the plans and products of one vendor. But as a broker, I have access to multiple insurance vendors.

"A broker can do comparison shopping to get the best possible match between the needs of a client and negotiate to develop a custom product that is the best possible fit for a family or for a business. For instance, I've made it a special area of concentration to construct plans for the special circumstances of our clergy, our ministers, whose needs vary quite a lot. Some have put in ten and twenty or more years with a Fortune 500 company or for the public sector while others haven't. A couple of vendors have developed coverage lines specifically to answer these special needs, and again, as a broker I am able to comparison shop among them and other vendors to get my clients the best possible deal. That's what it's about - getting the best deal for my clients.

"Over the years I've used the services of the BRC quite a few times. I have taken advantage of their space to conduct business meetings and do presentations to prospective clients, for instance. It's a marvelous resource for the money, and can help take your business to a whole new level. So I'd recommend it to any and everyone in business."

A native of Buffalo, New York and a longtime BRC member, Attorney Don Edwards' professional accomplishments reflect a distinguished career. He has for the past three decades served his clients, his profession and the African American community in Atlanta. He has fashioned legal cases and landmark million dollar verdicts for his clients. As a civil litigation specialist, his professional focus is on personal injury cases. His work has earned him the Martindale-Hubbell "AV" rating, the highest rating offered by this nationally recognized law directory.

An agent for social change, Edwards has an array of board affiliations with several major community and professional organizations. His personal commitment has been recognized with many awards and citations for leadership and service including the 2004 Inductee to the Gate City Bar Association's "Hall of Fame", NAACP's Thurgood Marshall Award "For Dedicated Service To The NAACP In The Fight For Freedom And Justice." Recently, the State Bar of Georgia recognized Attorney Edwards during its Annual Meeting with the "Chief Justice Robert Benham Community Service Award" for exemplary community service as a legal professional.

Edwards is currently involved with organizations that address issues affecting family, community, church,health care and world peace. He is currently Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Ethics; Immediate past Chair of the South Atlanta District for the Boy Scouts of America, where he has received the 2002 Silver Beaver Award, the highest award issued by the Atlanta Area Council for volunteer service; Founding President of Southwest Hospital Foundation and a Trustee of Southwest Hospital; Past Board President of the Christian Council of Metropolitan Atlanta; founding president of the Association of Metro Atlanta DFACS Boards, and the past chairman of the Board of the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services, where a dormitory for boys in foster care was named after Attorney Edwards. Edwards is a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta and Leadership Atlanta. Edwards is also a past president of the Gate City Bar Association, and is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of American and the National Bar Association, where he has served as a member of the Board of Governors.

An activist in pursuit of a more peaceful world, Don is the Southeast Coordinator of Every Church A Peace Church, and producer-host of the TV program, Every Church A Peace Church, which received the 2004 Allen Award presented by Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters for best continuous faith based program in 2004. Don's peace work also earned him the World Council of Churches "Blessed Are The Peacemakers Award", personally presented to him by the WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia in October, 2004.Edwards is an active and long time member of Atlanta's Hillside Chapel and Truth Center, where he had served as Chairman of the Trustee Board for several years.

"I am very much a beneficiary of the civil rights struggle of the 1950's and 1960's," he says. "Not only did I learn the importance of people becoming active in social change, I also saw lawyers leading that change." With that motivation, Edwards completed Boston University School of Law in 1973, after graduating with honors from Morehouse College to begin his legal career as a civil rights lawyer in the firm of well known former Atlanta attorney, Howard Moore, Jr.

A well-respected trial lawyer, Edwards' firm specializes in serving clients involved in automobile accidents, medical negligence, wrongful death and personal injury claims. "Clients who are injured or killed because of someone else's fault have the same civil rights to obtain full compensation for their losses as the civil right to vote and to work without being discriminated against. My three decades of experience tells me that it requires competent, ethical and aggressive legal representation to assert those rights on behalf of injured victims."

Attorney Edwards resides in Southwest Atlanta with his wife, Jo Roberson Edwards, a businesswoman, eleven year old daughter, Nia and six year old daughter, Domia. Edwards remarks: "My family is my most important accomplishment".

After a hiatus of several months, the BRC's quarterly newspaper will return this summer.

"We've been retooling" said BRC's Interim Executive Director H. J. A. Alexander, "putting together a first-class web site, acclimating some new staff and volunteers, and it's almost time to unveil an entirely new package. Together the new web site and its services, the quarterly newspaper, the SPARKS weekly e-mail bulletin, and the projects we envision to enhance the business ministries of our member churches bring BRC's effectiveness to an entirely new level."

"We mean to communicate the urgency of recirculating black dollars, and controlling the economic destiny of our own communities. All of us have a contribution to make to this effort -- our churches, our civic organizations, and of course our businesses and consumers.

"So for those that have asked when the next issue of the Conductor will appear" concluded Alexander, "I can tell you not only that you won't have to wait much longer, but that it will be worth the wait."