Please welcome Pastor Ericessen Cooper as he begins his one-year term as the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference President! Read on to find out more about President Cooper along with his introduction of the 2026 SDB Conference Session theme. We have a great year ahead of us.
Introducing Pastor Cooper
Ericessen Cooper has been the Pastor of the New York City SDB Church for the past 20 years, and has been serving the church in various capacities since 1981. He migrated to the United States from Jamaica in 1981, and began attending Hunter College from where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications – Media Studies. He worked for New York City Department of Social Services for 36 years and recently retired to devote more time to the church and his family. He has been married for 37 years to his wife, Crystal and they have three children, Chenille, Jibreel, and Kaila and one grandson, Jre.
Ericessen has a passion for preaching and teaching the Word of God and was fortunate to be part of a Mission Trip to Zambia in 2016, where he along with several other pastors taught classes in the TIME program.
Introducing the 2026 SDB Conference Session Theme: Follow Me, I Will Make You Fishers of Men
As we transition from Pastor Tom Davis’ theme of “Shouldn’t It be Obvious”, it focused on our lifestyle, our daily walk, the evidence of our relationship with Jesus Christ being made so glaringly obvious to everyone around us.
“Follow me, I will make you fishers of men” is an invitation to living that obvious life with a promise attached. It is all of us really seeking to follow our Savior wholeheartedly, putting him first in our lives and allowing him to take control of all our aspirations, and our daily lives. Allowing him to change us, as he guides us in his way. The scriptures tell us that in all our ways we should acknowledge him, and he will direct our paths, and truthfully speaking it is easier said than done. We have a misguided feeling of being independent, so “checking in” with God for things we feel we can do is a waste of time. This shouldn’t be so, we need to live submissive lives to our Savior (Luke 9;23), and follow him completely, then he will work in us to change us into “fishers of men”.
Jesus promised Peter and Andrew that he would make them fishers of men, a clever metaphorical play on words seeing that they were fishermen. Jesus is making that same promise to us today, no matter what our profession, he is saying I will make you into someone who will call others to me. That is our main responsibility for being followers of Christ. The Great Commission is for all of us. Jesus called us the salt of the earth; he told us to let our light shine so that men would see our good works and glorify God. You and I are God’s masterpiece on display for the world to see and want to know Him.
The apostle Paul said that he became all things to all men, so that he might by all means save some (I Cor. 9:22). Are we the salt of the earth? Or have we lost our savor? Is our light shining before men/women? Or has our light been dimmed? If so, we need to look and see who we are following. There are so many people who are wandering and wondering right in our neighborhoods, on our jobs, some right in our churches, and even our homes. Are you and I willing to come alongside them and be a friend, a confidant, a sounding board, a shoulder for them to lean on. Let’s be that person who will show them that Jesus does care.
