Elder James E. Turner, Sr., Executive Director:

Elder Turner has been in active ministry for over 25 years and has served as Executive Director of the Neighborhood Christian Centers for over 13 years.

Elder Turner received his Bachelor of Science from Jackson State University and his B.B.S. in Religion Education from C.M. & I College.He has also received additional training from Wesley Biblical Seminary and Tougaloo College.

Before coming to NCC, he served in the United States Air Force for 21 years and has been licensed by the Church of Christ Holiness since 1981, where he served as Pastor to Mt. Zion, Marl Grove, Greater Mt. Bethel and Galilee Church of Christ Holiness U.S.A.

Elder Turner is a member of the Amos Network, The Fellowship of Hope, Mission Mississippi, the CCDA, National Black Evangelicals Association, and was a founding member of the Jayess Christian Community Development Association. Elder Turner also serves as founding a member of Transformation Jackson, a faith based community development movement in the city of Jackson.



Mrs. Johnnie Bruce, Academic Enrichment Coordinator:

Mrs. Bruce has 35 years experience in the educational systems and has been After School Tutoring and Summer Programs Director at NCC for 7 years. Mrs. Bruce received her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Specialist Degree in Education from Jackson State University. She received additional training during courses at the University of Southern Mississippi as well as through the Mississippi State Department of Education Division of Vocational Education.

Her teaching experiences includes: the Laurel City Schools, The Early Childhood Education Center at Jackson State University, Madison County Schools, Day Care Services of the City of Jackson, Rankin County Schools, JPS, Hinds Community College (GED/ABE), Henley-Young Juvenile Justice Educational Complex and The Educational Solutions, Inc. She is an activemember of the Lanier High School and Jackson State University Alumni Associations.

She is certified Dean of Christian Education through the Sunday School Publishing Board of The National Baptist Convention and has successfully completed several Special Project Awards through the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education. She is an active member of the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church and married to Mr. Bose Bruce, Sr., she is mother of one son and one grandson.

She has a B.A. in Art and Sociology from the University of Mississippi, and a M.S. in Art from Mississippi College. She has also taken a number of seminary courses at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Miss. After graduating from college, she served for three years as a Campus Crusade for Christ staff member in Montana, Utah and California.

The majority of her development experience has been "hands on" in raising financial support for her own mission endeavors, and for other full-time missionaries.

She served as a Supervisor of Advertising at Mississippi Valley Gas Company, working with a team of marketing professionals.

She has had the opportunity to be involved with a number of cross-cultural ministries, both here and abroad. She served as a volunteer prision chaplain at the women's prison facility in Pearl, Miss., and as a volunteer with Campus Crusade for Christ's Jesus Film Ministry in Bangalore, India. She is active in the Internationals Ministry at her home church, First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, where she also served on the Missions Committee for a number of years.