The College of Bishops of the CME Church Congratulates President Barack Obama on Winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

Dear Connectional Members and Friends,

The College of Bishops and the Commission on Social Justice and Human Concerns of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church extend our congratulations to President Barack Obama for being selected the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize earlier today.

President Barack Obama joins a distinguished group of U.S. presidents to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the first president to receive the prize during his first year in office, the third to win it while in office and the fourth to win the prize. By the end of President Obama's term in office, we expect great changes that will benefit the entire world!

President Obama continues to be an inspiration and a sign of hope to persons in America and around the world. President Obama stands ready to forge a peaceful world. The Nobel Peace Prize gives President Obama both a greater opportunity and a challenge to continue encouraging the world to walk towards freedom and peace, healing both old and new wounds, to reconcile and learn to live together in harmony. We are proud that President Obama represents a new vision of what is possible when there is determination to overcome obstacles and to focus on hope.

At this historic moment, we send congratulations and best wishes to President Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. May God continue to bless President Obama and his family.

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, under the leadership of Senior Bishop William H. Graves and its College of Bishops, is a 138-year old historically African American Christian denomination with more than 800,000 members across the United States, and has missions and sister churches in Haiti, Jamaica, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For additional information about the CME Church, visit www.c-m-e.org .

Senior Bishop William H. Graves, Sr., CEO

Bishop Othal H. Lakey

Bishop Edward Lynn Brown

Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr.

Bishop Paul A. G. Stewart, Sr.

Bishop L. L. Reddick, III, Secretary, College of Bishops

Bishop Henry M. Williamson, Sr., Chairman of Social Justice & Human Concerns

Bishop Ronald M. Cunningham

Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr., Chairman, College of Bishops

Bishop Kenneth W. Carter

Bishop Dotcy I. Isom, Jr.

Bishop Marshall Gilmore

Bishop Nathaniel Linsey