Miss Ada became Moderator of the Presbytery eight times. She was a delegate to the General Assembly four times. In her pastoral career, she delivered almost five thousand pastoral sermons. In her long dedication to her divine calling, she gave three thousand evangelistic sermons. Furthermore, to her credit, Sister Ada presided over thirteen hundred funerals and three hundred and twenty weddings. The minutes from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the early 1900's reflected her as presenting the need for a missionary initiative for the Presbytery. She won the appointment as Head of Missions by the General Assembly. The Reverend Ada Caston Slaton Bonds ministered at churches all across north Louisiana and one church in Texas. In her fifty-seven years, her travels exceeded 750,000 miles. During her many journeys, she also gained the acknowledgment and credit for organizing three new Cumberland Presbyterian Churches. Reverend Ada Mentora Caston Slaton Bonds was one of the most colorful ministers ever produced by the great Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Beyond all doubt, she overcame more difficulties and passed through more heartach3es than any minister ever known to preach the 'Whosoever Will' gospel. Testimonials Wow! I have laughed, and I have shed tears throughout the reading of this novel. What an awesome woman Miss Ada was. I pray my faith can become as strong as hers! - Beatrice Emotional, inspirational, and a great story about a lady in the clergy in the late 1800's to the mid-1900's who overcame many obstacles because of her faith in God. - Scarlett The words in this novel brought back my faithful training in my early years when we had church revivals. Miss Ada indeed showed her parishioners that yes, 'Jesus is in this place!' I was fortunate to be able to attend a 2014 revival honoring the MEMORY of Reverend Ada Caston Slaton Bonds. It will always be a special day in my life. Now that I have read these memoirs, I feel I now her joys, sadness, her love of family and her love of God. - Josephine Ada Slaton was received under the care of the Louisiana Presbytery as a probationer, October 1, 1914, at 7:30 pm at the Progress Cumberland Church. Ada delivered her first sermon on October 15, 1914, at the Old Bethany Cumberland Presbyterian church seven miles outside Coushatta, Louisiana. Ada Slaton On November 5, 1920, was ordained by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery. She was the first ordained 'Lady of the Cloth' of the Louisiana Presbytery. Ada Slaton was the first elected to establish Missionary Auxiliaries in the Presbytery on November 3, 1932. This can be found in the minute's pp 200-204. Ada Slaton motioned and first to propose to all ministers and elders to establish "Fifth Sunday Rallies" as regular activities for the youth of the Presbytery. Ada Slaton elected to the honorary post of Moderator at the General Assembly eight times, the first coming on October 23-25, 1941 as shown in the minutes. Birmingham News reports Reverend Ada Slaton Bonds as having the longest tenure of active service as a woman minister in the United States on June 20, 1958.
Author Biography:
Sidney St. James is a popular American novelist, pumping out title after title over the last two decades. His writing career has spanned over forty years under other pen names in different genres. Synopsis Sidney St. James was born in Eagle Lake, Texas, in the early 1950's. He wrote his first historical novel in 1972, while attending Texas A&M University called Adversity - Face to Face. Although written in the '70's, it was not published until 2005. Over the next several years, James' love for writing delved into creative historical nonfiction with true and exciting novels in the Faith Chronicles, The Lincoln Assassination Series, and the Texas Outlaw Series. One of the top selling novels in the Faith Chronicles, Faith - Seventy Times Seven, made the best seller status on Amazon.com and helped launched his career worldwide. The story was inspired by his grandmother, Ada Caston Slaton Bonds, the first ordained woman minister in the state of Louisiana for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. This novel has also received an invitation for a screen write for worldwide distribution. James is working on this project, but it has taken a back burner for his Vincent Gideon Detective Series to be completed in 2017. After a dozen novels in creative historical nonfiction, he went from his original pen name, Sean E. Jacobs, to Sidney St. James in his writing of The Blue Flaming Sword, a paranormal romance. The novel that kicked off the Storm Lord Trilogy Series, was an immediate success and he became a fan favorite, in the process of transforming the paranormal romance genre. Early Years Born in Eagle Lake, Texas, to parents of German descent, the middle son of three boys, James always loved reading, which was fueled by his professional studies in genealogy research. James married his wife, Barbara, after five years from graduating from Texas A&M University. He had two daughters who later gave him four wonderful grandchildren. He spent the next 20 years writing history books. Some were Eagle Lake High School, 1920-1972, The First 100 Years of the Presbyterian Church, SMITH, and others. He spent numerous years with his other passion in life, hunting and fishing in many different locations around the world.
