By By Ida Brown / religion editor
April 27, 2002
Meridian will be one of two Mississippi locales visited next week by the president of the Woman's Auxiliary, National Baptist Convention USA Inc.
Rosa B. Cooper will arrive in Meridian on May 4 for a three-day stay as part of her ongoing Goodwill Tour. She will stop in Jackson before heading to Meridian.
The Woman's Auxiliary and Youth Department of the East Mississippi Baptist State Convention will host the visit. On the evening of her arrival, Cooper will be honored with a welcome reception at 7 at Holiday Inn, Northeast.
The next day, she will attend worship services at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 2614 13th St. And later that evening at 6, Cooper will deliver a message of stewardship and encouragement at New Hope to the East Mississippi Baptist State Convention and auxiliaries.
In her mission statement, Cooper said, "I believe that as president of the Woman's Auxiliary, it is my mission to promote intelligent, articulate and responsive leadership in promoting spiritual growth of Christian women across the United States of America."
A Tennessee native who lives in Chicago, Cooper received an honorary doctorate degree from Tennessee School of Religion in Memphis. She has pursued further studies at Williams Bible College, Moody Bible Institute and completed Congress of Christian Education course work.
A retired nurse allergist, she received a bachelor of science degree from Cook County School of Nursing in Chicago and also attended Lemoyne and Henderson Business College in Tennessee.
Cooper is a member of Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, where she serves as director of Christian education, a teacher in the mission department and a leadership school instructor. She also is active in prayer ministry and Bible classes.
A member of the National Baptist Convention for more than 39 years, Cooper's previous national posts include leader of the national young people's department for 39 years and director of All-States Tea and Theme Interpretation for 34 years.
She also has served the convention on the district and state levels. And, she has been a delegate to the Nine World Baptist Congresses and World Baptist Youth conferences.