Jericho Partnership Founder Passes the Baton, Steps Away from Day-to-Day Role, Named Chairman Emeritus

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOVEMBER 13, 2017

CONTACT: Carrie L. Amos (203) 791-1180

Jericho Partnership Founder Passes the Baton, Steps Away from Day-to-Day Role, Named Chairman Emeritus

Bill Beattie’s Legacy to Be Honored at Jericho Annual Gala November 30, 2017

DANBURY – William G. Beattie, Founder and Chairman of the Jericho Partnership – an organization that is changing the landscape of inner-city Danbury by mentoring and educating its at-risk youth, feeding its hungry, sheltering its homeless, and caring for its sick, struggling, and addicted - announced today that he has stepped down as chairman and has passed the baton of leadership to the next generation, to carry on the work of mobilizing ministry and transforming a city.

Carrie L. Amos, Jericho’s President, will take the helm at the non-profit ministry, absorbing Beattie’s responsibilities, which include setting and directing strategic objectives, and working with the 27 local churches, eight ministry organizations, and two foundations that comprise the Partnership. Rounding out the leadership team: Dr. Neil Tan, current Board Vice-Chair and retired executive pastor of Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, and Rev. Leroy Parker, senior pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Danbury, who will assume interim chairmen roles of, respectively, Jericho’s Executive Board and Pastors’ Advisory Board. While Beattie has stepped down from his day-to-day role, he remains committed to the Partnership and has assured all of his continued prayer, financial and testimonial support.

Beattie and his wife Kathie have poured themselves into loving and serving the most vulnerable of Danbury residents for more than 20 years, starting in 1997 when Beattie began an outreach to at-risk urban teenage boys called Pathways Danbury Mentoring Project. Its purpose: to mentor boys at-risk and provide friendship and life skills that would negate the personal and social damage caused by the ripple effects of fatherlessness. Over the years, that initiative grew into the Jericho Partnership, a multi-faceted word-and-deed Christian umbrella organization named for the biblical Good Samaritan, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2016.

The Beattie’s legacy to the city of Danbury, as well Jericho’s commitment to build on that legacy, will be the focus of Jericho’s Annual Gala on Thursday, November 30 at The Amber Room Colonnade. Though Beattie, 79, was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma and is undergoing treatment, he expects to make an appearance at the gala, which will have 500+ in attendance.

“Bill knows that I am committed to building on the legacy that he and Kathie build here in Danbury, and that I will ‘keep the mission the mission’ (a common Beattie refrain) for as long as I am called to serve here,” said Amos. “With the Gala coming, this was the perfect opportunity to pause and take the time to honor and express our gratitude to Bill and Kathie while they are present in the room, and can receive the love we have for them. It is also significant for them to know - and to see - that our community is committed to the Partnership and to carrying out our mission, and truly being better together.” 

“Bill has given so much of his time, talent and treasure to the people of Danbury,” said Tan. “He is a man with extraordinary vision, compassion and determination, and, in everything he has done, he has emulated both Jesus Christ and the Good Samaritan. The legacy Bill has built here was inspired by God, and it will carry on, to the glory of God, as the Lord leads us.”

At last week’s Pastors’ Advisory Board meeting, Rev. Parker led a time of prayer for the Beatties, for the Partnership, for unity, and for the focus of mission as the teams move forward and continue to build on the Beattie legacy.

A website dedicated to this leadership transition, and to all the Beatties have meant to the Danbury and Jericho communities, is now live at www.buildingonalegacy.org.  The website also has a place for well-wishers to leave the message of love and gratitude for the Beatties; additionally, cards may be sent to the Beatties at Jericho’s offices at 13 Rose St., Danbury.

For more information about the upcoming Gala, visit jerichopartnership.org/events.

 

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Submitted by Brookfield, CT

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