The lecture will include a 40-minute screening of the recently released award-winning documentary “The Gulfside Assembly Story.” The documentary includes the Story of Bishop Robert Elijah Jones, the first African American Bishop of the Methodist Church, including his life and vision for his people, how he established Gulfside Assembly and stories of those who have had the “Gulfside Experience.”
The screening will be followed by a discussion of
• Gulfside as a physical and psychological refuge where African Americans could exist without fear or humiliation.
• The transformative impact of Gulfside Assembly’s Chautauqua experience.
• Gulfside as a spiritual refuge that restored dignity and a sense of sacred worth.
• Gulfside today.
• Questions and answers.
Cheryl Thompson has served as Executive Director of Gulfside Assembly for four years. Her responsibilities include supporting the board of directors’ strategic objectives, advancing Gulfside’s advocacy mission, communicating Gulfside’s history and marketing current programs, managing Gulfside’s assets, overseeing day-to-day obligations and supervising the Community Outreach Coordinator. She represents Gulfside in the community, serves on several boards, and is an Ambassador for the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Prior to serving as Executive Director, Thompson served on Gulfside’s board of directors for over 10 years. She has a passion for Gulfside and is grateful for the critical role it played in her life and in the lives of others in her community.
Thompson retired in 2018 as Chief Nursing Officer at Garden Park Medical Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. Her nursing career spanned more than 50 years. She worked in hospitals across the country and in Lagos, Nigeria, as the embassy nurse. Thompson is a native of New Orleans. She graduated from Dillard University with a degree in nursing and later earned a master’s in Nursing Administration from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York. She has been married to John Thompson for 52 years, and they live in Diamondhead, Mississippi.
