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Herbert C. Sledge Jr.
Pastor Donald E. Soprano transitioned from a successful career as an aerospace executive to become a pastor. After earning his B.S. in Business Administration from Stetson University, in Deland, Fl...view morePastor Donald E. Soprano transitioned from a successful career as an aerospace executive to become a pastor. After earning his B.S. in Business Administration from Stetson University, in Deland, Florida in 1958, Soprano worked for two years as a Sales Supervisor for Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa, in Tampa, Florida. It was with Honeywell Aerospace, Inc., in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he served for 18 years as a Planning and Control Manager; in that role, he supervised a large staff and directed multimillion-dollar aerospace projects, which included the Viking, Space Shuttle, Trident, Mercury, Gemini, Centaur, and other systems. Soprano’s 28 years in the aerospace industry also included employment at Cessna Aircraft Radio and Control as a Management Consultant, and Assistant to the Vice President and General Manager; ITEK Corporation as a Principle Planner in its Measurement Systems Division; and, at Martin Marietta Aero and Naval Systems as Master Planning Manager responsible for implementing numerous missile structure contracts including: G.E. and P&W Reversers, Trident D-5, Titan IV Missiles, Patriot Launchers, and CI7-A Tail Cones. The career and personal transition point for Pastor Soprano was in 1981, when he graduated from Stevens School of the Bible, in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1984, he became Pastor and President of the Greater Grace Christian Church in Framingham, Massachusetts, where he served until 1987. In 1992, he became Assistant Pastor of the Greater Grace World Outreach Church, where he served as a foreign missionary in Budapest, Hungary. Upon return to the United States, he became Director of the Baltimore Academy of Excellence, an alternative school for low-income youth. After his service with Greater Grace, Soprano had a calling to form his own ministry. Today, he is pastor and founder of Rainbow Ministries International, Inc.
About the Co-Author:
Herbert C. Sledge, Jr. has authored and co-authored numerous books and publications. He met Pastor Soprano more than 14 years ago, when he was Foundation Executive Director for Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) and Soprano was Director of the Baltimore Academy of Excellence. Sledge is a graduate of Baltimore’s Carver Vocational-Technical High School, earned his BA degree in Political Science from Morgan State University, was a CLEO Scholar at Harvard Law School, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maryland Law School. His employment has included such positions as staff member for former United States Senator Joseph D. Tydings, Division Chief for the State’s Attorney’s Office of Baltimore City, staff member in the Regional Counsel’s Office of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and served as Director of Marketing at BCCC. Sledge’s range of distinctive honors includes Towson University’s Distinguished Black Marylander Award; Rotary International’s Paul Harris “Service Above Self” Award; Oxford University’s Roundtable Scholar; and, he received a Citation from the White House for his role as Chair of Morgan State University’s Institute for Political Education. About Sledge, Pastor Soprano says, “When I endeavored to write my memoirs, I immediately thought of Herb, not only to benefit from his writing skills—but to also seek his advice on how to effectively share my blessed life experiences with readers.”view less