6/25/2015

THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE ENGLISH EDITION (06/25/15)


The Right Reverend T. Larry Kirkland - Chair, Commission on Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, the 20th Editor, The Christian Recorder


1. TCR EDITORIAL – A SYMBOL OF RACISM, REBELLION AND TREASON:

Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III
The 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder

I am encouraged that South Carolina Governor Nikki R Haley has issued the call to have the Confederate battle flag removed from the grounds of the South Carolina State House and I cheer her action as I am sure others have done.

I am also encouraged by the response of high profile politicians and civic leaders that the “flag needs to come down.”  A call from a lot of people for the flag to come down is not a “done deal" yet.


I am more encouraged by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s order to remove the Confederate battle flag from the foot of the Confederate memorial on the state Capitol grounds in Montgomery, Alabama. Two workers "quickly and quietly" took the flag down and Governor Bentley said “It was the right thing to do.”

The Confederate flag, flying on public tax-supported property is offensive and thinking people who know right from wrong understand the offensiveness of flying the Confederate battle flag displayed and flying in areas supported by taxes.

I am encouraged that Walmart, Amazon and other retailers have halted the sales of Confederate-themed merchandise. It’s the right thing to do and the moral thing to do.

Other states are moving in the right direction. The governor of Virginia has directed that the image of the Confederate battle flag be removed from Virginia license plates.

Political leaders from both political parties in Tennessee are considering removing the bust of the Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan from the State House.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was on-target when she called the Confederate battle flag, “a symbol of our nation’s past.”

The Confederate battle flag is a symbol of racism and rebellion. 

A group of people rebelled against the United States of America and fought under the battle flag of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which we call the Confederate flag, and in doing so, committed treason. And we, as a nation, allow the flag to be flown on tax supported property.

The Confederate battle flag is to the United States what the swastika is to Germany and Germany does not allow flags with the image of the swastika to be publicly displayed. The display of flags and images associated with the Nazi regime, which includes the swastika, the Nazi salute, and other symbols of the Third Reich are subject to restriction or an outright ban. 

I am a strong proponent of free speech, but the issue of the Confederate battle flag on public property is unethical, immoral, and insensitive and I suspect illegal; and if it is not illegal it should be because it is an expression of rebellion and treason. 

It’s time for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, other denominations, secular organizations and businesses that support equal and human rights to end the racist nonsense and take a stand against the insensitive display of the Confederate battle flag on public property.

Governments and businesses understand the power of the “almighty dollar.” 

If South Carolina removes the Confederate battle flag, well and good, but if it doesn't, the AME Church should not hold any connectional meetings in the state of South Carolina.

I thought we already had a rule against holding meetings in South Carolina when the Confederate battle flag issue first surfaced, but apparently we didn’t. 

Religious organizations and other organizations of good will should refuse to hold meetings in South Carolina until the Confederate flag is removed. The AME Church should refuse to hold any connectional meetings in South Carolina and cancel those that are already planned.

And, while we are at it, we need to take a look at all of the states that blatantly display the Confederate battle flag and other nostalgic images of the Confederacy.

If the Connectional AME Church refuses to cancel meetings planned in South Carolina and other states that display images of the Confederacy, individual members should refuse to participate in meetings in those areas that are insensitive to equality. It’s time we take a stand collectively and if not collectively, do so individually.

And one more thing

I may be the only one asking the question, but I want to know where some of the men of Mother Emanuel AME Church were during Bible study and that’s not just a question for Mother Emanuel, but for other AME Churches and churches of other denominations. 

Would the events of Wednesday evening, June 17, 2015 have been different at Mother Emanuel if more men were present? Do we put our women at risk when we let them meet in our churches at night and especially in unsafe areas?

Are we, men, abdicating our responsibility of being protectors of our women?  In our churches are we satisfied letting the pastor bear the responsibility of securing the church when it's time for everyone to go home? Do any of the trustees take responsibility? Where were the steward and trustee pro tems?

I know it’s a hassle, but we are living in a different world today. Soldiers have a buddy system where soldiers are expected to look out after each other. Do we need a buddy system in churches and should men take more protective responsibility in churches? The obvious answer is “Yes!”

Would that night have been different if five or ten strong-looking men had been present at Bible study?  I suspect so.

The questions are not to place blame, but to instigate local churches to take proactive steps to insure better security in our churches.

2. FUNERAL INFORMATION FOR THE NINE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH MASSACRE:

-- Information to date received from the Mother Emanuel Website, the AME WIM Executive Board and the funeral home website. Additional information forthcoming from Mrs. Ora L. Easley, Administrator of the AMEC Clergy Family Information Center

Homegoing Services for the Mother Emanuel AME Church Nine

The Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff, Sr., interim pastor of EAMEC and presiding elder of the Edisto District of the 7th Episcopal District of the AME Church

*The Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton*
*Funeral:* Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, 7396 Rivers Ave., North Charleston *Services by:*Mortuary of North Charleston

*Sister Cynthia Graham Hurd*
*Viewing:* Friday, June 26, 2015 from 8:30-10:00 p.m. at Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St., Charleston
*Funeral:* Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Emanuel AME Church *Services by:* Fielding Home for Funerals

*Sister Susie Jackson*
*Viewing:* Friday, June 26, 2015 from 5:00-7:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun St., Charleston
*Funeral:* Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Emanuel AME Church *Services by:*Mortuary of North Charleston

*Sister Ethel Lance*
*Viewing:* Wednesday, June 24, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Royal Missionary Baptist Church, 4761 Luella Ave., North Charleston
*Funeral:* Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Royal Missionary Baptist Church *Services by:* The Palmetto Mortuary, Inc.

*The Rev. DePayne V. Middleton-Doctor*
*Viewing:* Friday, June 26, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., St. Mark AME Church, 5672 Salters Hill Rd., Ravenel
*Funeral:* Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St., Charleston *Services by:* The Palmetto Mortuary of Charleston

*The Rev. Clementa Pinckney*
*Viewing:* Wednesday, June 24, 2015 from 1:00-5:00 p.m., the Rotunda of the State House in Columbia
*Viewing:* Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 11 a.m.-4:00 p.m., St. John AME Church, 2740 Tillman Rd., Ridgeland
*Viewing:* Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun St., Charleston
*Funeral: *Friday, June 26, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., TD Arena, 301 Meeting St., College of Charleston *Services by:*Taylor Street Chapel, Columbia

*Brother Tywanza Sanders*
*Viewing:* Friday, June 26, 2015 from 7:00-8:30 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun Street, Charleston
*Funeral:* Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church *Services by:*Mortuary of North Charleston

*The Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Simmons, Sr.*
*Viewing:* To Be Announced
*Funeral:* To Be Announced
*Services by:* Taylor Street Chapel, Columbia *Sister Myra Thompson*
*Viewing:* Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St., Charleston
*Funeral:* Monday, June 29, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., Emanuel AME Church *Services by:* The Palmetto Mortuary

**Submitted by the Rev. Velma Grant, President of Women in Ministry for the 6th Episcopal District

3.  DETAILS REGARDING THE MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH HOMEGOING CELEBRATIONS OF THE WOMEN IN MINISTRY MARTYRS:   

-- Information to date received from the Mother Emanuel Website, the AME WIM Executive Board and the funeral home website. Additional information forthcoming from Mrs. Ora L. Easley, Administrator of the AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
The Reverend Sharonda Singleton is the beloved mother of Christopher, Camryn and Caleb Singleton; daughter of the late George Thomas Jones and Wanda F. Coleman-Cohen (the late Earl Cohen); sister of Jacqueline Askew (Garrett), Mark Anthony Jones (Denise), Shalisa Coleman, Earl Cohen Jr., Jerell Cohen and Joseph Holden; best friend of Rita Whidbee, Star Miller and Dr. Kennetha Manning.

*Viewing*
10:00 AM to 1:00 p.m., Thu. Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church

*Ivy Beyond the Wall Ceremony*
1:00 p.m. Thu., Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church

*Funeral Service*
2:00 p.m. Thu., Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church           

*The Rev. DePayne V. Middleton Doctor*, 49, of Hollywood, SC, entered into eternal rest on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

The Rev. Doctor is the mother of Gracyn, Kaylin, Hali and Czana Doctor and the beloved daughter of Rev. Leroy and Frances Middleton.

Family will be receiving guest at the residence: 5438 Salters Hill Road, Hollywood, SC 29449.

*VISITATION:*
Date: Friday, June 26, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm

St. Mark A.M.E. Church
5672 Salters Hill Road
Ravenel, SC 29470

*PUBLIC VIEWING*
Saturday, June 27, 2015 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

The Palmetto Mortuary
1122 Morrison Drive
Charleston, SC 29403

*FUNERAL: *
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 1:00 p.m.

Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC 29403

*INTERMENT:*
Live Oak Memorial Gardens
3093 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414

Sister (Lic.) Myra Singleton Quarles Thompson, 59, of Charleston, SC entered into eternal rest on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.

Myra leaves to mourn a loving, devoted, and cherished husband, The Rev.
Anthony Thompson; one son and one daughter whom she cherished, Kevin Singleton and Denise Quarles. One stepson, Anthony Thompson, Jr; twelve brothers, Mackey Singleton, who preceded her in death; Leroy Singleton (Judy); Romey Singleton, Leon Scott, Michael Moore (Joyce), Barry Moore, Rodney Moore (Renee), John Moore (Maria), Reginald Moore (Candace), James Moore, Jamar Moore, and JA Ariel Moore; three beloved sisters, Jackie Cooper (Melvin), Ruby Henry, and Maja Moore; two grandchildren, Kennedy Singleton and Kaleb Singleton; nine siblings from her extended Coakley family, Isaiah Jr., Lillian, Eunice Guyton (Jim), Marjorie McIver (Winston), Marlene Jenkins (David), Sharon Coakley, Claudette Watkins, Catherine Harrington, and Blondelle Gadsden; and a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends.

Viewings & Visitation:

*First Viewing:*
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Palmetto Mortuary
1122 Morrison Drive
Charleston, SC 29403

*Second Viewing*:
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2015 from 5:00 pm to 8 pm (The family will be receiving friends beginning at 6:00 p.m.)

Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC 29403

Homegoing Celebration:

Date: Monday, June 29, 2015 at 11:00 a.m.

Location:
Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun Street
Charleston, SC 29403

A memorial message may be sent to the family at

**Submitted by the Rev. Velma Grant, President of Women in Ministry for the 6th Episcopal District
      
4. READER RESPONSE TO EDITORIAL AND OTHER ISSUES:

-- To the Editor

RE: TCR Breaking News concerning the Mother Emanuel massacre

I would like to say thank you once again I saw The Christian Recorder (5/28/2015) about the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina and I was overwhelmed.

I express my deepest sorrows over our Emanuel Church brothers and sisters who were "called to rest" in such a manner; my Condolences to their families and friends.

The Rev Florence H. McLaren
13 Mountbatten Drive
Marlborough
Harare
Zimbabwe

-- To the Editor:

RE: "Sydnorisms for Clergy and Laity."

In a recent issue of The Christian Recorder you listed "Sydnorisms for Clergy and Laity."  Permit me to compliment you for your creativity which is born of your “calling,” Christian commitment, training, experience and transparent sincerity.  The "Sydnorisms" are profound and piercingly relevant and can be a help and guide to the ministry and mission of our Bethel.  May Jesus Christ be praised and may blessings abound as you continue your special ministry! 

Sincerely,
Frederick H. Talbot
Bishop (Retired)

5. CONFEDERATE FLAG REMOVED FROM ALABAMA CAPITOL GROUNDS ON ORDER OF GOV. BENTLEY:

June 24, 2015

On the order of Gov. Robert Bentley, the Confederate battle flag which stands at the foot of the confederate memorial on the state Capitol grounds was taken down this morning.

Two workers came out of the Capitol building about 8:20 a.m. and with no fanfare quickly and quietly took the flag down. They declined to answer questions.

Moments later Gov. Bentley emerged from the Capitol on his way to an appearance in Hackleburg. Asked if he had ordered the flag taken down, the governor said, “Yes I did.”

Asked his reasons for taking it down and if it included what happened in Charleston last week, the governor said, “Yes, partially this is about that. This is the right thing to do. We are facing some major issues in this state regarding the budget and other matters that we need to deal with. This had the potential to become a major distraction as we go forward. I have taxes to raise, we have work to do. And it was my decision that the flag needed to come down.” (Alabama Media Group)

6. NEWS AROUND THE AME CHURCH:

-- After unthinkable violence, Charleston church becomes a sanctuary once again


7. THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING - NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA:

The Eighth Episcopal District is pleased to serve as your host for the AME General Board Meeting which will be held Tuesday, June 29 & July 1, 2015, at the Hilton Riverside Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana.

There are several transportation options you may consider for transport to and from the Hotel and the airport.

1) Simms for Bishop 2016 (Complimentary) - Dr. Moses Simms - To make reservations- call (662) 417-9942

2) Airport Shuttle - $20.00 per person/$38.00 roundtrip -

3) Taxi - $33.00 for 2 passengers/ $14.00 for each additional passenger

4) Limousine Service - Call (504) 305-2450 for fares -

Again, we are pleased to serve as you host for the AME General Board Meeting.

The 8th Episcopal District AME Church
Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister, Presiding Prelate

5450 Executive Place
Jackson, MS 39206

Telephone: (601) 366-8240
Fax: (601) 366-8175

8. THE EMBRACE OF OUR MOTHER:

*Tiffany S. James

Mother Emanuel we do reside.
You birthed our resilience, our faith, our pride.
Even beyond your sacred walls
You stand in the hearts of us all.

Your walls will not be shattered. Your walls will not be broken.
Love conquers all, is what was spoken.
Your walls are bolted together by the blood of our ancestors, even as slaves.
By the blood of love of which our Lord hath gave.

Neither fire nor any grounds of hate Will destroy your pearly gates.
Mother Emanuel, in your pain, in your grief,
You remind us that God is with us
This is our belief.

Wrap the arms of your walls around us
As the spirit of our Lord surround us
And in your embrace we shall stand
As you did time and time again in our land.
We stand in hope.
We stand in love.
We stand in faith
In our Lord above.
Your walls are our foundation built on the Solid Rock.
We Stand.
For all other ground is sinking sand.

*Tiffany James is an artist and community organizer who is a proud AME member at Reid Chapel AME Church in Columbia, South Carolina where the Rev. Carey A. Grady is the pastor

9. THE ANSWER IS IN THE NUMBERS:

*The Rev. Godfrey R. Patterson

The recent tragic and totally incomprehensible event which unfolded so catastrophically on Wednesday night, June 17, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina has put America in a state of bereavement. Once again madness has reared its ugly head. This time in, of all places, a house of worship. It is Birmingham 1963 all over again, only with more casualties. Birmingham 1963, four; Charleston 2015, nine. Birmingham 1963, little girls! Charleston 2015, the oldest victim was 87!

It is these numbers that are astounding - 1963 and 2015.

1963. 2015. Fifty-two years. We’ve see Civil Rights laws passed, Great Society programs enacted, the Viet Nam War, and soldiers by the thousands returning from the jungles and rice fields of Southeast Asia addicted to heroin. We’ve seen a President assassinated in broad daylight, and later a “black shining prince” suffering a similar fate seconds after uttering words of peace, “As Salaam Alaikum.” Later we lived through a Noble Peace Prize winner being gunned down on a hotel balcony, a dead president’s brother shot in a kitchen after giving a campaign speech and, eventually “Tricky Dick” waving the “V” sign as he boarded a plane to fly off into disgrace and shame, at least for a while.

1963. 2015. Way back then all the way to right now, but in between there was the President who signaled to white America that it was all right to be a racist again. It was this Poor Fellow and those whispering in his ear and holding him by the hands that led the charge and sounded the trumpet declaring to all who had ears to hear that white people were suffering from the effects of a disease called “reverse discrimination.” The cure? Turn back the clock on black “progress.” Make it a lot harder for people of color, who so desired, to become “honorary white people.”

1963. 2015. Way back then all the way to right now, but in between came the massive flow of crack cocaine flooding our communities bringing with it unfathomable murder rates in inner cities all across America. Us [black people] killing us [black people] in turf wars over property that didn’t even belong to us [black people]. Then another overseas war, this time in a desert instead of the jungle. Big Bad America again making the world safe in the name of democracy (and probably a little oil) while we [black people] were often unsafe on the very streets on which we lived. Sometimes not even safe in our own homes.

1963. 2015. Way back then all the way to right now, but in between we saw the “first black president,” Slick Willie, a so-called liberal, to the joy and glee of many, dismantle “welfare.” (In the process, there was also this thing about a stained dress.) Then another ugly war, this time in a place many Americans probably, at its onset, could neither pronounce nor identify on a map. Why? Because that’s where the terrorists were hiding and “turn the other cheek” is fine to be taught to us, but America wasn’t about to turn any cheeks. Killing, killing, and more killing. And oh yes, back here at home us [black people] still killing us [black people]. Add to all this, the insanely evil shooting up schools, theaters, and malls. Killing, killing, and more killing.

1963. 2015. Way back then all the way to right now, but in between America arrived. In 2008 the unthinkable happened. A non-Caucasian was elected President of the United States. “Say it ain’t so, Valley!” Trust me, this event sent many a bigot lumbering into the kitchen of racism to stir the ingredients of a toxic stew many drank from, seemingly including the individual allegedly responsible for the Charleston Massacre. Somehow some police, a small minority though they be, have declared open season on us [black people] and feel it is okay to end our lives whenever and however they please.

1963. 2015. Way back then all the way to right now. The right now has finally and ominously arrived. The killing has gone where we never thought it would go, to church. A mad barbarian… No, that description is far too sanitized but I cannot get as “real” as I would like and have this article published and read in civilized settings. But you get my drift. Fill in this blank for me.

The right now has arrived and everybody is asking, why? The answer is as simple as it is, for most, unacceptable. The answer is in the numbers. 1963-2015. The late, great Eddie Kendrick of the fabulous singing group, the Temptations, was asked near the end of his life about having risen from poverty in Alabama to the pinnacle of success as a performer. Kendrick thought about the question for a moment then responded, “Yeah, I went all the way to the top only to find out I was at the bottom.” Has America, have we [black people] gone to the so-called top only to find that we have reached the bottom? Again, the answer is in the numbers. 1963-2015.

*The Rev. Godfrey R. Patterson is a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church presently serving a congregation in the California Annual Conference after serving congregations for many years in the Second Episcopal District in Baltimore, Washington, and the DC suburbs.

10. MANIFESTO OF SOLIDARITY FROM THE COUNCIL OF EVANGELICAL METHODIST CHURCHES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN:

- - From The Reverend Luciano Pereira Da Silva, the General Secretary of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin American and the Caribbean.  The message was sent to Mr. John Thomas III in Spanish, which he has translated into English - Both the Spanish and English versions are posted below.

MANIFIESTO DE SOLIDARIDAD, ACOMPAÑAMIENTO y LLAMADO A LA PROFUNDA ORACIÓN POR LAS FAMILIAS, LA COMUNIDAD Y LA IGLESIA METODISTA EPISCOPAL AFRICANA; ESPECIALMENTE POR LA CONGREGACION “MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH” EN CHARLESTONE, CAROLINA DEL SUR, EUA.

Consternados(as) por la noticia del asesinato de nueve (9) hermanos(as) en la fe durante la celebración de su acostumbrado servicio de oración y estudio de la Palabra en la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal Africana “Madre Emanuel” en Charlestone, Carolina del Sur.  Por la descripción de este episodio de violencia, intolerancia racial y atrocidad manifestada.  Por los seres humanos que viven enajenados del amor y la gracia de la convivencia de todas las razas. Por las familias que han experimentado en carne propia el dolor, el quebranto y la angustia en el día de ayer ante tal escena.  Por la muerte violenta, cruel y despiadada de estos hermanos(as) en fe.  El Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo de Iglesias Evangélicas Metodistas de América Latina y el Caribe (CIEMAL), queremos manifestar nuestra profunda solidaridad y acompañamiento a todo el pueblo Metodista Episcopal Africano y la Comunidad en Charlestone, Carolina del Sur. Así mismo, manifestamos nuestro más profundo rechazo a todo tipo de atentado contra la vida, deshumanización, vileza y la violencia que generan el caos que atenta contra el bienestar del pueblo de Dios en cualquier parte del mundo. Estos son actos que lastiman profundamente y desvían todo sentido de una cultura de paz y esperanza.
Como pueblo latinoamericano, como creyentes en el Dador de la vida, como gente de fe; hacemos un profundo llamado a toda la Iglesia Cristiana en el mundo para que nos unamos en  oración, apoyo y solidaridad con la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal Africana y con la Comunidad en Charleston, Carolina del Sur. Esta experiencia de profundo dolor, nos coloca ante un gran desafío: “seguir trabajando en la construcción un mundo mejor”.  Un mundo donde todas las razas, colores y etnias pueden convivir en colaboración, armonía, esperanza y paz.
Oramos para que impere el respeto por la vida, la libertad de culto y la libertad humana. Oramos para que se cumpla la Palabra de Dios en nuestros días, en nuestros pueblos y en todas las naciones"...Ya no hay judío ni gentil, esclavo ni libre, hombre ni mujer, porque todos ustedes son uno en Cristo Jesús." (Gálatas 3: 28 NTV).   Oramos seamos comunidades comprometidas con la paz.  Siguiendo el consejo de Dios por medio del Salmista: “Apártate del mal y haz el bien, busca la paz y síguela”. (Salmo 34:14).
¡Que así nos ayude Dios. Así sea, Amén!
The Rev. Lizzette Gabriel-Montalvo,
Presidenta
Caguas, Puerto Rico.
18 de junio de 2015.

MANIFESTO OF SOLIDARITY, SUPPORT AND DEEP CALL TO PRAYER FOR FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITY OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH; ESPECIALLY FOR THE CONGREGATION "MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH" IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA.

Dismayed by the assassination of nine (9) brothers and sisters in faith during the celebration of their usual service of prayer and study of the word in the "Mother Emanuel" African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. From the description of this episode of violence, racial intolerance and expressed atrocity. By humans who live alienated the love and grace of coexistence of all races. For families who have experienced firsthand the pain, the grief and anguish in yesterday before such scene. The violent, cruel and ruthless death of these brothers and sisters in faith. The Executive Committee of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL), we express our deep sympathy and support to the people of African Methodism and the Community of Charleston, South Carolina. Likewise, we express our deepest rejection of any kind of attempt on the life, dehumanization, meanness and violence that generate the chaos that threatens the welfare of God's people anywhere in the world. These are acts that hurt deeply and divert all sense of a culture of peace and hope.

As Latin American people, as believers in the Giver of life, as people of faith; we make a profound appeal to the entire Christian Church in the world to unite in prayer, support and solidarity with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Community in Charleston, South Carolina. This experience of deep pain, confronts us with a great challenge, "keep working on building a better world". A world where all races, colors and nationalities can live together, harmony, hope and peace.

We pray for respect for life, freedom of religion and human freedom. We pray that God's Word fulfilled in our day, in our peoples and all nations "... There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3: 28). We pray communities committed to peace. On the advice of God through the Psalmist: "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14).

And in this way, may God help us. And so be it, Amen!

The Rev. Lizzette Gabriel-Montalvo,
Presidente
Caguas, Puerto Rico

Submitted by John Thomas III, Coordinator of Youth and Young Adults
World Methodist Council

11. MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE BRAZILIAN BLACK METHODISTS CONCERNING THE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL MASSACRE:

The "Methodist family" should be gathered in prayer and crying because nine people in its "Body" were murdered brutally! But talking at length about this is something that many people want to avoid…The "magic word": RACISM!! So present there, but not absent here!!!

"... The history of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston (South Carolina) is directly linked to the fight against slavery in the southern United States. Also because their existence is due to the fact that blacks wanted to have a place to manifest their faith without conflicting with the desire to be free.

In the early 19th century, slavery was still permitted in the southern US states. The church was not out of the process, and many openly accepted this situation. Blacks were banned or had to stay in separate rooms. This led to the division of churches, with the emergence of some geared specifically for black pastors and faithful.

Thus arose the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1816 in Philadelphia. This church, like the Black community, has become a place for meeting and debate movements against racial discrimination and slavery.   Soon, the movement migrated to the southern US region where the question was more delicate. In 1818, the first African Methodist Church in the south emerged:  Emanuel AME Church in Charleston (known as Mother Emanuel) ..."
Ras André Guimarães, Rolf Malungo de Souza and I, Kaká Omowale, were privileged to share with Bishop Sarah Frances Taylor Davis, here in Brazil. She spent her time lovingly with us.  And so I had the opportunity to know the AME Church through Bishop Sarah.

I cannot and I will not speak on behalf of the Methodist Church in Brazil, but I can speak in my own name!

Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant and Bishop John Bryant, I am one with you! I believe that Rolf and André feel the same!!! We are ONE BODY with this Community, with the force of history, determination and courage to "Mother Emanuel"! We are a SINGLE BLACK BODY with this community, and we are Methodists…

Racism is there, but is also here ... and so present, so palpable, so hurtful ... so brazen, so explicit, disguised as "implicit". We see it very well!!!

I can say (I believe André, Rolf, and Rev. Eliza Santos feel the same!) my heart is with you ... who are part of us…we are BLACK and Methodists and reject this "ghost" we haunts daily ... Its name? I repeat: RACISM!

Brother John Thomas III, we share our sorrow...  Our heart is still an open wound.

The Rev. Kaká Omowale
Pastor, Methodist Church in Brazil
Rio Ecclesiastical Region

12. MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN ZAMBIA CONCERNING THE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL MASSACRE:

The Council of Churches in Zambia joins the world in mourning the loss of nine precious people of God who met their gruesome end by the hand of a gun man who obviously is a deranged man.

The AME Church is a member church of our Council here in Zambia and we feel their pain and their sadness at such wanton loss.

All the 23 other member churches send their heartfelt condolences to the immediate families of the deceased and also to the worldwide family of the AME Church.

May God help the families to remain strong and not to give up praying, trusting and believing God's infinite wisdom and power to see them through this difficult time.  We are with them in prayers for solace.

The Rev Dr Alfred Kalembo, President

The Rev Dr Suzanne Membe-M

13. THE FREEDOM CHURCH:

*By Robert Mshengu Kavanagh

In Charleston, South Carolina, a white youth, sporting the colours of Verwoerd’s South Africa and Smith’s Rhodesia and a hand gun he had been given by his father as a present, guns down a pastor in his church and seven of his congregants. Their church is the Emanuel Temple and its denomination the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC).

It is very likely that few people, following the coverage of this hateful act, will know very much, if anything at all, about the African Methodist Episcopal Church – and yet it is rooted in the history of the region and in Africa as well. How many people, for instance, know that the South African heroine, Charlotte Maxeke, was instrumental in bringing the AME to South Africa in 1896 and that she and her husband were AME missionaries in Polokwane (then Pietersburg) and later in Idutywa, Eastern Cape? How many will know that the late National Hero and Vice-President of Zimbabwe, Simon Muzenda, was a member of the AME?

It is also possible that quite a few have heard of Rosa Parks and the role she played in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States when she refused to leave her seat on a segregated bus. She too was a lifelong member of the AME and a deaconess.

The history of the AME is a history of the struggle of black people for freedom and equality. It is a church founded on the rejection of racial discrimination. In the United States the AME goes back to the days of slavery. In Africa too it was an integral component of the struggle for African independence and freedom. The AME is a pioneer in the movement of Africans to worship in churches run by Africans – and that is why the AME can claim to be the freedom church.

Its first churches in Africa were in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where black people, returning from slavery in the United States and going back to Mother Africa, settled – and in South Africa, where Charlotte Maxeke negotiated the coming together of the so-called ‘Ethiopian’ African independent churches and the AME in 1896. It was from South Africa that the church later crossed the Limpopo and established itself in Zimbabwe.

But why is a church founded in the United States called the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The ‘episcopal’ part is easy. It describes a church that has bishops (episkopos, Greek for bishop’). What about the African bit? Many people think that this church, founded by a former slave and formed in order to escape white racism in the established Methodist church, called their church ‘African’ in a spirit of identification with their
roots. This is mistaken.

Before and after the liberation of the slaves as a result of the victory of the North in the American Civil War, black people and their institutions – e.g., schools and churches – rather than be referred to as ‘negro’, with its connotations of slavery, chose to be ‘African’. However, when the movement to send black people back to Africa began to gain way in the United States, blacks stopped using the name ‘African’ out of an insistence that there
was no way they were going to allow the whites to ship them off to Africa Instead they claimed their rights and their citizenship in the country to which they had been brought as slaves and now lived as free men and women.
The AME however retained the name.

The AME Church was founded in the United States by Richard Allen, a freed slave, in 1794. It came to South Africa a hundred years later. The AME in South Africa was one of the first of the African Independent churches, closely associated with the so-called Ethiopian movement in South Africa. Churches that were seen to be part of this movement believed that in Africa Christian churches should be run by Africans themselves. At that time, Ethiopia was the only part of Africa that had not been colonised by the Europeans. It was also influenced by the prophecy of African redemption in Psalms 68: "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hand unto God."

Allen founded the AME in the United States for similar reasons. It grew out of the Free African Society (FAS) as a reaction to rampant and shameless racism in the white-run churches. As the official online history of the AME has it: “When officials at St. George’s MEC (Methodist Episcopal Church) pulled blacks off their knees while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans”

After Richard Allen and others left the white Methodist Church to escape racial discrimination, the Bethel Church was dedicated in 1794 with Allen as pastor. To establish Bethel’s independence from interfering white Methodists, Allen successfully sued in the courts for his congregation’s right to exist as an independent institution. Because other black Methodists also encountered racism and wanted to be independent, Allen called a meeting to form a new Wesleyan denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Emanuel Church in Charleston, where the tragic killings took place, was first dedicated by members of the AME in 1816.

In the American Civil War (1861-5) the southern states had fought for independence so as to continue slavery, which was the backbone of their economy, white privilege and wealth. So until the South was defeated and slavery abolished, it was obviously not easy to establish an-all African American church in much of the country. As a result, the AME before 1865 was limited to the Northeast and Midwest, in cities like Philadelphia (where the AME was founded), New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Chicago. Most black people lived in the South so it was very difficult for the church to establish itself there though it is amazing that even some of the slave states boasted AME congregations, including the Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina was a vociferous slave state and the first shots of the war were fired in Charleston Harbour.

The church free to spread everywhere in the United States only after the South was defeated and slavery abolished in 1864-5. This is the time when the AME really took off. AME pastors and deacons moved into the old slave states and brought thousands of people into the church. “I Seek My Brethren” was the title of a sermon delivered by Theophilus G. Steward and this became the rallying call for the AME in the South. By 1880, fifteen years after the end of the Civil War AME membership had reached over 400 000!

It was Bishop Henry M. Turner who first brought the AME to Africa. One may well ask, why Liberia?

The roots of the founding of Liberia were in the same segregationist and racist feelings that had made the AME break away from the white mother church. Many whites were alarmed at the growing numbers of free black people living in the North. They jumped at the idea of sending as many of them as they could back to Africa. However there were also others, including many black people, for whom the call to return to Mother Africa was an emotional and inspiring one.

At first those supporting the project tried to buy land in Africa but the indigenous inhabitants resisted. Eventually they were forced to cede some land in that part of West Africa which came to be Liberia. The settlement took root and in 1847 Liberia declared independence from the United States and became only the second black republic after Haiti, which had won its independence from France in 1803.


In the beginning things did not go at all well for the church in Liberia and Sierra Leone. As in most parts of Africa at that time, Africans were really not very interested in people coming from the outside and converting them to their religion. In 1820, Daniel Coker of the AME Church came to Africa and devoted himself to evangelising in Liberia and in Sierra Leone, Liberia’s neighbour to the north-west but by 1918 the total AME membership in Liberia was only 436. The breakthrough was made in Sierra Leone where the AME missionaries decided to think out of the box and incorporate aspects of local indigenous culture into their services.

The coming of the AME to Southern Africa was quite different – and it is here that Charlotte Maxeke played such an important part. The movement to Africanise the European Christian churches that had come to Southern Africa dates back to the establishment of the first independent African churches in Southern Africa. One of them, the National Tembu Church, was founded in 1884 by Nathaniel Xoxo Tile, who was a Methodist but fell foul of the colonial authorities. The church was intended to act as a unifying agent for the Tembu nation. Tile could be said to be a forerunner of the Ethiopian Movement, which saw Africans calling for African churches to be run by Africans.

Another ex-Methodist minister, Mangena Mokone is credited with starting the movement when he broke away to form the Ethiopian Church in 1892. Charlotte Maxeke had visited both the United Kingdom and the United States as a singer in the Jubilee Choir and the McAdoo Singers. In the first she learnt to speak English fluently and in the latter she was able to create an opportunity for herself to study at Wilberforce University in Ohio. She was able to inform people back home about a church that had been established by African Americans for African Americans. Word reached Mokone and Charlotte acted as a go-between in the amalgamation of the Ethiopian Church and the AME. Subsequently, not only did the AME develop a large following in South Africa but it also spread into many countries all over Africa, including Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia.

Zimbabwe’s unique contribution to the growth of the Ethiopian Movement was the work of Johane Masowe, ‘The Black Messiah’, founder of the Apostolic Church. He was born in 1914 in Rusape and having had a life-changing call when he was 18 he travelled to various countries in the region, including Botswana, South Africa and Zambia. He founded a church in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and another in Nairobi, Kenya.

The AME Church was founded in an attempt to worship God as His free and equal children. A full 221 years later, the very iniquity the church was founded to avoid, namely racial atrocities and discrimination, is still there and it struck last week. And so through this hateful hate crime, which seems to have been motivated by the success of the struggles of black people in South Africa and Zimbabwe to be free, the wheel has turned full circle - as it is a pastor and members of a church, the AME, which played such a key role in those struggles, that have yet again been called upon to sacrifice for its cause.

*Robert Mshengu Kavanagh is a South African and a published author, cultural activist and academic, who has lived in Zimbabwe from 1984 to the present.

14. EMANUEL AME CHURCH: THE LATEST VICTIM OF VIOLENCE AGAINST BLACK CHURCHES:

Adelle M. Banks

June 18, 2015

(RNS) For many, the massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C., is simply another mass shooting.

But for African-Americans, church violence has historic dimensions.

The attack Wednesday (June 17) at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church reflects “a pattern of random, racialized violence against religious institutions,” said Valerie Cooper, associate professor of black church studies at Duke University.

“Persons burned churches because they thought the congregating of blacks together meant that that was a foment for some kind of revolutionary action,” said the Rev. Teresa Fry Brown, historiographer of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a black church expert at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.

Here are some examples of black church violence over the years:

1) The Charleston, S.C., church was torched centuries ago.

It burned in the 1800s during a controversy surrounding Denmark Vesey, one of the church’s organizers, who was the leader of a major slave rebellion in that city.

“Worship services continued after the church was rebuilt until 1834 when all black churches were outlawed,” the church’s website notes. “The congregation continued the tradition of the African church by worshipping underground until 1865 when it was formally reorganized, and the name Emanuel was adopted, meaning ‘God with us.’”

2) The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., was bombed in 1963.
 
Four girls who were in the church perished on Sept. 15, 1963.

“Those little girls were there for Sunday school,” said Cooper. “There were four people killed but there were lots of other people maimed. One little girl lost an eye, for example. There are people, in other words, still walking around with the scars of that bombing.”

The church was a key meeting place of civil rights leaders who were planning voter registration and other activities.

“It was timed to go off so when the most number of people would be there,” said Fry Brown.

3)  The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother was killed in church.

Alberta Williams King died on June 30, 1974, just after playing “The Lord’s Prayer” at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Her son was assassinated six years earlier.

“She was killed playing the organ on Sunday morning,” said Fry Brown.

4) There was a spate of black church arsons in the South in the 1990s.

The Center for Democratic Renewal recorded 73 black churches that were burned, firebombed or vandalized between January 1990 and April 1996. President Clinton created the National Church Arson Task Force, which reported on arsons at churches black and white, small and large, but made particular note in 1998 of the effect of the fires on African-American congregations.

“When actual or perceived racial hatred has sparked the arson of a church, the crime is even more egregious. In the African American community, the church historically has been a primary community institution,” the Justice Department task force’s report reads. “So, for the African American community, it was decidedly disturbing to see the number of churches being burned.”

5) Black church arsons took place in the north, too.

Hours after the 2008 election of President Obama, Macedonia Church of God in Christ in Springfield, Mass., burned.

Two of the three co-defendants admitted that they doused the partially built church with gas and set it afire to denounce the election of the nation’s first black president.

“My faith sustained me to declare that we would rebuild. The thought never came that we would abandon this project,” said Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., pastor of the church, when it was dedicated in 2011, a newspaper reported. “We were delayed, but not denied.”

*Used with permission of the United Methodist News Service

15. RACE AND VIOLENCE IN AMERICA:

There are moments that the brain cannot fathom.
That the mind cannot hold fast.
That the heart cannot let go.
There are moments when everything shifts and shudders
And changes so completely that in years to come,
We will mark time in before and after that moment.
 
Wish You Were Here (In Memoriam) A Poem by Pearl Cleage

As a country grappling with issues like affordable healthcare, education reform, and economic stability, the mass shooting in the Emanuel A. M. E. Church in Charleston, SC, is a shocking reminder that race and violence in America have become shamelessly reacquainted. The senseless mass shooting has shaken a community and a nation and is only made more horrifying by where it happened and by whom.  A 21-year old white man gunned down African American churchgoers attending a Wednesday night Bible class.

The motive for the massacre was simply racism. I do not subscribe to the belief that the shooter was just another crazy man. His friends have verified his racist rants and social media has documented his photos. His actions at Emanuel AME were calculated and his deadly intentions premeditated. He acted on his hatred. That is our truth. Racism has reared its ugly head and reminded a nation of its despicable and grisly past. Racism has tenacious roots in American soil but it does not have to spread like persistent bindweed into future generations. The National Council of Negro Women is an organization committed to advocating for women of African descent and their families and communities; we have a responsibility and a duty to continue the public debate and dialogue that will advance greater understanding of the issue of race and violence in this country and we will do so.

While the courts begin the legal proceedings for the gunman and families begin the painful ordeal of saying good-bye to their loved ones, it is important to not be distracted by the headlines and sound bites. How long the massacre was planned-doesn't matter. Where the shooter got the gun-doesn't matter. That he had black Facebook friends-doesn't matter. What matters most is how we as a nation respond and reckon with this kind of violence. Crimes against African Americans because of race are a significant part of America's shameful history. The laws against such crimes have been refined over the years to increase the penalties based on race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. Today forty-five (45) states and the District of Columbia have statutes criminalizing forms of hate crimes and yet funerals are being planned for victims of a hate crime committed in a church. Stiffer gun law legislation will make it more difficult for racists to get a weapon. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless."

There are some piercing questions that we have to ask ourselves if we hope to avoid Charleston's pain in another city: How can we earnestly tackle the racial demons of our past? What can we do to collectively dehumanize hate? What can each of us do to affect change?  Answering these questions strike me as our most abiding obligation to the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., the Rev. Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Tywanza Sanders, Sharonda Singleton and Myra Thompson. 

May God bless and keep their families. 

Ingrid Saunders Jones
National Chair

16. WE ARE DOING A NEW THING IN THE MISSOURI CONFERENCE OF THE FIFTH DISTRICT:

The Missouri Conference Lay Organization (MCLO)" stepped out of our box" this year and provided a new and different event! A Lay Weekend held at St. Paul AME Church on June 13 & 14.

We planned a Saturday Workshop around a dialoged session with our special guest Bishop Clement W. Fugh (14th Episcopal District). Everyone in the Missouri Conference was invited to submit questions for a 'Question and Answer' session to be held after the workshop. As the workshop began, Bishop Fugh communicated that he was going to incorporate our questions into his workshop agenda. This made it a very real and relevant experience as he wove our questions into his already planned presentation. This was our first confirmation that we were going to have a unique experience and it was! We had over 75 Clergy and Laity in attendance. We were joined by Lay members from 3 of our Boot Hill churches (a 2-3 hour drive one way) and an excellent representation from all the Missouri Conference Local Lay Organizations.

The idea was to have a relaxed atmosphere and Bishop Fugh made it even more comfortable by coming to the middle of the room. He was not positioned up on a stage or at the very front away from the group, but he stood among the people. He told us up front to bring our Discipline and our Bible and both were used extensively. It was a refreshing experience and very enlightening.

The second confirmation came as the MCLO came back together on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 for a spiritual worship service where the Missouri Conference Laity presided and participated on all levels: the Missouri Conference Choir rendered uplifting music; the Missouri Conference Ushers, Stewardesses and Deaconesses were on duty, all to ensure a very moving service. Bishop Fugh's message "Building True Community" (John 13:3-12) was right "on time," as the Missouri Conference continues to live under the influence of the tragedy of Ferguson, Missouri. He spoke from the theme of the Connectional Lay Organization "Laity Fulfilling the Great Commission." It was a message about getting out of ourselves and bringing the community in. He said that we are called by Christ to make disciples and the only way to do that is to step out of our comfort zones and go evangelize.

A note of gratitude to Nona Simpkins and Louise Welch (Co-Chairs) and their committee, to St. Paul and Rev. Spencer Booker for their hospitality, to Presiding Elder Edmund E. Lowe, Sr. for his guidance and support, and to MCLO President Pamela Williams for taking us to a new height in our worship and service to God!

In His Service,
Mrs. Brenda Simpson
MCLO Financial Secretary
Member, St. James AMEC, St. Louis, MO

17. CHURCH SECURITY: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?:

The Reverend Michael Hopkins

Psalm 91:1-2 says: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”

Last week, an armed gunman walked into Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, sat in on a bible study class being attended by at least twelve members of the congregation for one hour, and then began his rampage against black people, killing nine members of the church, including the Honorable Rev. Clementa Pickney, Pastor of Mother Emanuel AME.  Since that time, people have gathered together around the country, and the world, at many of our sister AME churches.  We have held prayer vigils and even read Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Jr.’s special litany on this past Sunday, stating that “The doors of the Church are still open.”

Now the question is this: “If the doors of the Church are still open, how do you plan to protect me from any other incident happening?”  This question has been posed in so many different ways.  From news media outlets to our own parishioners, even fellow clergy, are asking pastors this.  Pastors, be it for a congregation of ten members or ten-thousand members, are faced with this question more so now than ever before.  Do parishioners and clergy have to worry about whether they will be safe or not in the coming days, weeks, and months ahead?  What about the bible studies held mid-week? Or the choir rehearsal held on Thursday night?  What about the YPD meeting on Saturday?  Do we need to wait to schedule anything until Sunday, when we have more people in attendance?  These are real questions that need to be answered.  So what is the answer then?

First and foremost, you keep going.  2 Timothy 1:7 says that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  Yes, this incident occurred.  Yes, this did happen during mid-week bible study.  Yes, there were only a few parishioners there.  There were many other AME churches doing the same thing, and will continue to do the same thing for the weeks, months and years to come.  Do not let the devil creep in and disrupt what God has already ordained to be so.  Continue to “…..press toward the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Philippians 3:14)

Second, establish a security team.  Some will say, “Well, that is what I have my trustee board for.  They are the ones responsible for the grounds of the church and security is part of that.”  That’s fine and good; however, if we are honest for a moment with ourselves, look at the age of your trustee board.  Moreover, the trustee board does more than just security.  Again, they take care of the grounds of the church as well as the facility itself.  Then you have the “It’s the usher’s responsibility for security” type of mentality.  Again, the ushers are doing much more than just security.  And they wear uniforms for different Sundays.  Pastors, think outside of the box for a moment.  Men want to be involved in the church, but they only want to be responsible for one thing and not several different items of things all of the time.  Having a security ministry is ideal for the man (or woman) that wants to be able to contribute something positive towards kingdom building.  Your security team is important because it creates an atmosphere of safety without the team having to look like a police force has invaded your church or create the fear of something is wrong.  Your security team can be, or really should be, comprised of those persons who have the experience and training in security, law enforcement, or military operations.  You will find that there are a number of persons like that within your congregation and are ready to serve on a moment’s notice.

Third, conduct a security consultation.  There are a number of security companies out there that are willing to conduct a security assessment for non-profit organizations (my own company being one of them).  Some are free; others have them at a reduced price.  Shop around and find out how extensive their consultation goes and what additional services are offered.  Also, look within the security team just formed.  You may find what you need right within your inner circle!

Fourth, build a security plan and implement it.  Once you have your security consultation, next is to build your security plan, or what I like to call your Emergency Action Plan (EAP).  This should be a broad-based plan that covers your most basic incidents, from medical emergencies to mass casualty events such as Mother Emanuel.  It will not detail step-by-step on everything that you will need to do because every situation is different, however if you place some general steps of what can be forgotten in the time of emergencies, it will be a quick reminder to the persons responding and set up the path for overcoming the incident.

Fifth, liaison with local emergency response agencies.  After the mass casualty incident at Mother Emanuel, I immediately got in contact with the City of Phoenix Police Department’s Community Relations Bureau and spoke with them about the protection of two of our AME churches in close proximity of each other.  Establishing that contact allowed for us as a church and Phoenix police to be able to conduct security operations during all prayer vigils and Sunday morning services without incident and the parishioners not even knowing that there were police officers on sight.  The lead officer even stated to me, “I enjoyed worshipping with you all and got fed so much; I’m just going to have to come back when I’m not on duty and bring my family next time.”  This interaction was not just only critical in the sense of community building, but also spiritually in kingdom building.

Finally, trains…train…train!  Some churches have the previous four points I discussed in place, however they also fail to train to responding to events.  When I was in the military as a Physical Security Director, we built scenarios based on previous events with points of emphasis that were graded upon to improve our training standard so that the security teams could always build upon what they did both right and wrong.  Same is the case here.  It is always important to understand that practice does not make you perfect…..it only makes you proficient at what you do!  As long as you continue to train your security teams, the security ministry will be one of not only service and support, but in the unfortunate event that something goes awry, the persons that you can rely on the most to bring a situation under control with the help and aide of God on their side will be there when you need them the most.

Brief Biography:

*The Rev. Michael Hopkins is an Associate Minister and the Security & Emergency Response Ministry Coordinator for Historic Tanner Chapel AME Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

18. SECURING GOD’S SANCTUARY:

*The Rev. Mark Whitlock

The vicious killing of nine people attending Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC has created a national concern for church safety. Most churches, as did Emanuel AME Church, welcome random, unknown visitors.  
Do we know who is coming inside church doors? Seldom does the church investigate a new person’s background to determine if the person has been diagnosed mentally unstable, prone to violence, pedophiles, rapists, or has a violent criminal history. Many large and small churches don’t have external and internal security cameras, metal detectors, armed security guards, or published security policies. Often, children are left alone with volunteers who have not had a background check. Pastors and pulpit workers are vulnerable to anyone freely entering the pulpit. It is the responsibility of the Pastor, and church officers to secure God’s sanctuary.

The first step, establish a safety committee to research safety policies for children, women, and church personnel, building security products, and security personnel. Depending on the size of the church, these items are costly, but what is the cost of one life? 

Next step, church officers approve a written security plan to include budgeted funding, developing policies to encompass the process of entering and exiting the church building in a case of an emergency, and finally educating church officers and members about the security plan.

The last step, purchase security products, and hire professional security personnel, and train church staff. One source of training is on Active Shooter Preparedness: www.dhs.gov/active-shooter-preparedness. Homeland Security has a free on-line training course available including a printed certificate.  Contact local policing agencies and recruit church members with policing backgrounds. There are several books on the subject, Church Safety and Security:  A Practical Guide Paperback – January 1, 2005 by Robert M. Cirtin.    

There are some churches who believe God is all the church needs for protection. Yet, God gives instructions on safety. The Bible says in Nehemiah 4:15-16 “When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work. 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah.”

It’s time to take church security seriously.

*The Rev. Mark Whitlock is the Senior Minister, Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine California

19. A TRIBUTE TO PASTOR CLEMENTA PINCKNEY:

*The Rev. Sam Jenkins

I am about to go on a journey of hope and healing. We are all aware of the recent murders in South Carolina, of the church members and their pastor. I am going to attend the funeral services for the pastor. I am making this journey for several reasons. Several years ago before I moved to Illinois; I organized and led a team of volunteers who went to South Carolina to rebuild a church that had been burned in a hate crime arson fire. It was a moving experience seeing hope rise from the ashes.

Pastor Pinckney, who was killed, he and I are pastors in the same church denomination the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I am going to mourn him and the others who lost their lives so tragically. I am also going to share the burden, and uplift the joy of overcoming evil with good. Martin Luther King said that unearned suffering is redemptive. We as a community and a nation must learn a lesson of redemptive love. Love is a verb, an action word that must be brought to life by direct action that is born in compassion and hope.

I am also going because a few days ago I was teaching a Bible class myself, and in the midst of the safety of that fellowship I reminded everyone that I had made a resolution a long time ago to “confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy”.  This Friday morning in the glow of the South Carolina sunshine and in the midst of President Obama’s eloquent eulogy I will be doing all three things. I ask your prayers as I travel for a safe journey and prayers for those who so graciously have decided to help me get to Charleston. Most of all I hope you will pray for our nation that we will turn away from the quick sand of hatred, racism, and violence. Pray that we become a great race; the American Race. The American Race that will become the beloved community that Martin Luther King dreamed about, and that you and I have a chance to make happen.

*The Rev. Sam Jenkins

20. YOU GO TELL THEM, SIT BESIDE THEM AND GUIDE THEM:

A Reflection of Acts: 26-35

February 21st through May 22nd, 2015, the Sixth Episcopal District conducted an inspired series of seven annual conferences throughout the state of Georgia, U.S.A. At each annual conference a host of anointed preachers and teachers proselytized and professed God’s Holy Word to all who came to hear the good news.

One of this season’s outstanding sermons was delivered on April 28th, the opening day of the Macon Georgia Annual Conference, at Allen Temple AME Church in Byron, GA, by The Reverend Alan H. Wicker, Presiding Elder of the East Macon District and President of the Sixth District Council of Elders. Elder Wicker’s sermon was drawn from Acts 8:26-35 and entitled, “You Go Tell Them!” His thesis was that as God told Philip to go into the wilderness and Philip obeyed and went, God also sends us into and out of wilderness situations to encourage, affirm and restore one another along our Christian journey.

Elder Wicker explained that throughout the book of Acts, the primary actor bringing about the success of the spread of Christianity is not the body of new believers or even the apostles. Instead, the main actor, the instigator in Acts, is God. Philip's action of taking the road from Jerusalem to Gaza is directed by "an angel of the Lord" who gives Philip instructions to go this way (vs. 26). God sent Philip down a "wilderness road." This is an indication that in our quest to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth, faithful disciples should not be surprised to find themselves on wilderness roads.

Elder Wicker asked, “Now what must we do to encourage, affirm and restore one another under God's reign?” He preached, “First we have to get up and go! In this chapter of Acts, an angel of the Lord challenges a Christian named Philip to, ‘get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ The angel is ordering Philip to leave the city of Jerusalem and go in a new direction off the beaten path. As I read my bible, in most cases it is an agent of God that brings the message to the individual, not God speaking directly to the individual. In the AME Church we have agents of the Lord and they are called bishops. Bishops are God's agents in our Zion that send us where God would have us to go. Presiding elders are God's agents that manage elder districts according to God's will. Pastors are God's agents that go to the churches, some of which are both physically and spiritually in the wilderness, to help people work out their souls' salvation. Simply put, when God says, ‘Get up’ we must get up; and when God says, ‘Go,’ we must go. But some of us act like our get up and go, got up and went.

To all pastors and church leadership, YOU go tell your congregations that God sent you to teach the Holy Bible. YOU go tell them God sent you to teach the AME Discipline. YOU are God's agent to the people in a dark world. YOU are the light that's shining in the darkness of ignorance, despair, poverty, hopelessness, voter apathy, hunger, selfishness, and all things anti-God. YOU go tell them God sent me here. Take thou the authority and go!

You go teach Bible study; you go teach Sunday School; you go prepare an annual church budget and a successful plan to finance the local church's obligations; you go start a lay organization; you go develop a Christian education leader and ministry; you go study and preach God's word; you go fill out the quarterly conference report form; you go fill out the pastor's annual report blank; you go get financial software to keep up with and be accountable for the church's finances. YOU reverend, your sir, you madam, go and do your work! Philip got up, went and did his work and so must we!

A second lesson that can be learned from this passage of scripture is to encourage, affirm and restore one another by sitting beside and guiding one another. Philip approached the chariot and heard the Ethiopian eunuch reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth’ (vs. 32-33).

Philip asks the man, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The Ethiopian replies, ‘How can I unless someone guides me?’ He then invites Philip to get in his chariot and sit beside him (vs. 30-31). Philip joins the Ethiopian eunuch and helps him to understand Scripture.

That's precisely what we need to do today … take steps to sit beside and guide one another. When we do this we are able to encourage, affirm and restore one another. The Ethiopian eunuch asks, ‘About whom, may I ask, does the prophet say this, about himself or someone else?’ Philip answers that the prophet is talking about Jesus. He proclaims to him the good news about Jesus (v.35). He tells him that Jesus died on the cross like a sheep led to slaughter, to demonstrate just how far He will go to show His love for us. This sacrifice brings us forgiveness of sin and the restoration of a right relationship with God, whether we are American, Ethiopian, man, woman or eunuch. And to prove that death is not the end, God raised Jesus from the dead and raises us as well. That's the Jesus story, as simple as can be. It's what the Ethiopian eunuch needed to hear and what people in our society need to hear. It's a story we can tell again and again if we sit beside and guide one another as loving Christians.

21. THE BALTIMORE ANNUAL CONFERENCE RESOLUTION

-- The 199th Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference the Second Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church convened at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church 1300 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland April 8 – 10, 2015
 TO:  The Right Reverend William P. DeVeaux, Presiding Prelate of the Second Episcopal District:  Dr. Patricia Ann Morris DeVeaux, Episcopal Supervisor;  The Presiding Elders, Cordell E. Hunter, Sr. and Ernest L. Montague Sr; Delegates and Members of the 199th Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference; Visiting Guests, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

We, the Committee on Resolutions, submit the following report:

WHEREAS, the 199th Session of the Historic Baltimore Annual Conference convened on Wednesday, April 8, 2015, at the Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland, at the call of our Presiding Bishop, the Right Reverend William P. DeVeaux, Sr.  The Opening Session began at 10:00 am with the processional of Bishop William P. DeVeaux, Sr., the Reverend Ernest L. Montague, Sr., Presiding Elder of the Baltimore District, the Reverend Cordell E. Hunter Sr., Presiding Elder of the Eastern District and the clergy of the Baltimore Annual Conference.  We blended our voices one more time to sing “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.”

WHEREAS, the weekend preceding the Annual Conference under the direction of the Baltimore Annual Conference Young People's Division Director, Wanda Ragster-Wilson, convened on April 4, 2015 at Camp Ramble Wood, Darlington, Maryland. Their Theme: “Are You Anchored? Transformation before the Breakthrough?”  In attendance were over 400 young people representing the churches in the Baltimore Annual Conference?  The young people participated in worship, praise and exhibited their gifts and talents throughout the events of the day.

WHEREAS preceding the Annual Conference under the dynamic leadership of our Episcopal Supervisor, Dr. Pam DeVeaux, met with the Women’s Missionary Society for a glorious daylong session.  During the day there were elections and Virginia Hayman was elected the new President of the Women’s Missionary Society. There was a mighty meditation brought forward by Sister D. Faye Conley, President, 2nd Episcopal District WMS. During the afternoon there was the WMS Luncheon. The following officers were recognized for their faithful service to the WMS for their eight year term.  Special recognition was given to Sister Mary Fisher, outgoing BCWMS President.  She was portrayed as a “Selfless Servant who demonstrated qualities of leadership, excellence, having a patient gentle spirit, and demonstrating gracious hospitality. 

WHEREAS, the Opening Sermon was preached by Reverend Dr. Peggy E. Wall, pastor of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church. Her sermon text came from Mark 3:21(NRSV, KJV, CEV), Dr. Wall focused her attention on the last portion of each verse - “He has gone out of his mind, he is beside himself and he was crazy”.  The salient points reminded the conference that we as Christians must have “crazy faith,” “crazy hope,” and crazy praise.”  The delivery of the sermon was powerful and the conference responded with shouts of “Praise.”

WHEREAS, during the morning session the election was held for clergy delegates and alternates for the General Conference in 2016.  There were thirteen delegates and twelve alternates.  The top two votes for the clergy were Dr. Frank M. Reid III, and Presiding Elder Ernest L. Montague, Sr.  The top two alternates were Reverend Brenda White and Reverend Angelique Mason.

WHEREAS, the Baltimore Annual Conference Board of Examiners Secretary, Dr. Joan L. Wharton reported and the following persons in the Second Year Class were elected to be ordained Itinerant Deacons and passed to the Third Year of Studies: Christopher Brown, Eva Branch, and Christian Savage.  In the Fourth Year Class of Studies the following individuals were elected to be ordained Itinerant Elders: Phyllis L. Linnes, and Nicole L. Pyles.  The Local Orders Class presented the following individuals to be ordained Local Deacons – Wanda Cleamis Brown and Kenneth Miller.

WHEREAS,  on the evening of April 8, 2015, the Annual Men's Night Service was crowded with over three hundred men in attendance. The sermon was preached by Reverend Howard C. Wright, pastor of Grace African Methodist Episcopal Church.  His text was taken from Jeremiah 29:14, the topic was “Condition for Success”.  It was an empowering message of encouragement for all men to condition themselves in Christ.  Men must keep the faith, and walk as strong men in the church, family, and community. We were all blessed by this powerful witnessed.

WHEREAS, the Conference Institute began at 8:25 am under the leadership of the Reverend Charles A. Baugh, Dean of the Conference Institute. The focus was on *Thrivent Financial with presenters: Aaron Shingler and Barbara Hollis Shingler, (members of Evergreen AME Church in Baltimore) and Chris Anderson, from Interfaith Community Foundation. Information was shared that would strengthen the financial health of the local church. In addition, The Reverend Helen Holton gave a presentation on “Developing a Model for Social Action that is Relevant for Today.”

WHEREAS, the Women in Ministry of the Baltimore Conference under the leadership of Coordinator the Reverend Raelynn Kingeter led the conference in worship during the Midday Refreshing Service on Thursday, April 9, 2015, at 12:30 pm hour. The Reverend Charlotte Clemons, pastor of Shiloh African Methodist Episcopal Church preached from John 11: 1 – 4, the topic:  “Give God the Glory.”  Reverend Clemons shared about the meaning of F T T, which means “Failure to Thrive.” It indicates there is a loss of hope that we have “lost our first love.”  The word encouraged the conference that even though it may look like you're dying, but be encouraged “You Shall Live and not Die. Clergy Women with 25 or more years of ministerial service to the Baltimore conference were honored. The Second District Women in Ministry President, Dr. Jon L. Wharton and Bishop William P< DeVeaux present the women with a certificate and gift from the BCWIM.

WHEREAS, Presiding Elder Ernest L. Montague, Sr. and Presiding Elder Cordell E. Hunter, Sr. called for the pastors to give their report on stewardship.  The reports demonstrated that the “power of God” is evident in the healing of his people.  All is “well,” souls are being saved and lives are being changed.

WHEREAS, the Reverend Marietta Ramsey, pastor of Bethlehem AME Church made a special appeal to the conference letting the congregation know that “60 Homeless Teenagers” attending Harbor City Achievement Academy are in need of financial resources to pay for their graduation expenses, which includes the caps, gowns, and class dues.  Many of the pastors and other persons of the conference showed the love of God by generous contributions to this cause.  The Bishop also gave the remaining balance of $500.00 to Reverend Ramsey to complete her vision for the students.

WHEREAS, the Annual Lay Witness Service was held on Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 7:30 p.m.  There was a musical presentation by the Reverend Mary E. Mosley Children's Choir from Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Reverend Rodrecus Johnson, Sr., is the pastor. The children “blessed” the conference with their “powerful” rendition of “Rock of Ages.”  There also was a musical medley expressing, “That Black Lives Matter.”  The songs were some of the “old” spirituals of the church: “Go Down Moses,” “Oh Freedom,” and We shall Over Come.” The Honorable, James E. Clyburn, the 6th Congressional District – South Carolina and Assistant Democratic Leader of the United States House of Representatives was the speaker for the service.  He gave words of encouragement reminding us that everyone has a “gift,” and we should be able to use our God given gifts to help and not hurt. The Honorable Clyburn recently published his memoirs entitled, “Blessed Experience.”

WHEREAS, the Bishop called for the Administrative Committee Reports and the Literary Reports for the Baltimore Annual Conference.  The reports were read and approved by the Baltimore Annual Conference with recommendations to go back to the local churches.
WHEREAS, the Memorial Service was held on April 10, 2015 at the 1:30 p.m. hour.   I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me…“Write, from henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.  Even so, says the Spirit, for they rest from their labors, and their works do follow them (Revelation 4:13)”…Bishop Vinton R. Anderson, Reverend Dr. Carl Hunter (Retired General Officer), Reverend Dr. Carl Hunter (Retired General Officer), Reverend Juretha Joyner – Maiden, Reverend Winston J. Townsend, Sister Andreris Carter, and Sister Debra Wilson.

WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Ann Lighter Fuller, Pastor of Mt. Calvary Church in Towson, Maryland was invited to the White House for the “Easter Breakfast” presenting this year’s message.  We are so proud of Reverend Dr. Ann Lighter Fuller representing the 2nd Episcopal District, of the Baltimore Annual Conference.

WHEREAS, the Ordination Service was held on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 6 p.m.  Bishop McKinley Young, Presiding Prelate of the 3rd Episcopal District was the ordination preacher.  His text, John 20: 24 – 25, topic, “Missing in Action.”  He reminded the conference that our Lord is “still on the scene lifting us up.   He gives us a safe place for therapy, Jesus comes just for me.” This was an awesome and anointed message for the people of God.

WHEREAS, we gave a “heartfelt gracious thanks to the Host Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frank Madison Reid III, Lady Marlaa MeShon Hall Reid, and the “Bethel Nation,” for their kindness demonstrated toward  us during this conference.  The “Red Carpet was pulled out”, genuine warmth given, “5 Star hospitality, cordiality, and congeniality were extended to everyone at the Baltimore Annual Conference.  A standing ovation was given to the pastor and the Bethel Nation for a successful conference.

WHEREAS, Dr. Patricia A. DeVeaux, Episcopal Supervisor reminded us,  “But God” is in everyone’s life and God is the difference that makes us able to stand strong in the faith.  We can truly say it was “But God” for some us to be where we are in our life’s journey, we can say with great clarity, that the Lord is our protector, sustainer and friend.

BE IT RESOLVED, that under the illustrious leadership of our Bishop, the Right Rev. William P. DeVeaux and our “beautiful” Episcopal Supervisor, Dr. Pam DeVeaux, a fresh anointing fell on the 199th Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference.   Truly there was a charisma and power that the conference experienced which was unlike any other.   There was a spirit that cannot be replicated nor fabricated. The presence of the Lord was truly among us at this 199th session of the Baltimore Annual Conference.   We are thankful for this “Godly leadership team”,  which has led us to be on “one accord”, going back to the work for the next conference year invigorated, challenged, fired up, and ready to severe God’s people across the conference.  

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Baltimore Annual Conference has experienced “Effective Christian Leadership,” Empowered by Prayer, Praise and Proclamation” (Colossians 3:16-17 (KJV). 

Respectfully Submitted,

The Reverend   Marguerite Savage, Chair
The Reverend   Harold McFadden
The Reverend   Peggy E. Wall
The Reverend   Howard Wright
The Reverend   Tamitha Walker
The Reverend   Dana Porter-Ashton
The Reverend   Edwina Witherspoon
Delegates Hemingway Temple, Robinson, Bethel, Chesapeake City, Mt. Joy and Elevation Chapel

Recorders: Christian Savage, Marcia Potter, Baltimore Annual Conference Secretarial Staff
 
*Submitted by: Dr. Joan L. Wharton, Public Relations Chair
                    
22. UNITED METHODIST BISHOPS REACH OUT AFTER CHARLESTON SHOOTING:
 
United Methodist Council of Bishops

Washington, D.C.: In the wake of a tragic shooting of nine people attending Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is reaching out to their colleague bishops in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a message of prayer and healing.

The bishops also called upon United Methodists to support victims of violence and to work to end racism and hatred. Their message echoed that of a pastoral letter on racism issued by the Council to the people of The United Methodist Church in early May.

A letter from the President of the Council, Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., to the bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church reads:

Dear Bishop Bryant and colleague African Methodist Episcopal Bishops,

Grace and Peace to you in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of our broken world.

Your sisters and brothers in the Council of Bishops and congregations of The United Methodist Church are in prayer with and for you in the wake of the racist murders and hateful violence at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  May the Holy Spirit endow you with a full measure of love, wisdom and courage as you lead the Church and witness to the world in this consequential time.

We join in mourning the tragic loss of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, and the other victims who were meeting with prayers offered to the One who is our hope.  We are all now a part of a global prayer meeting for these families and all families and communities deeply wounded by racism and violence.  We unite voices in proclaiming, "If God is for us, who can be against us?...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No! In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!"  (Romans 8)

As other recent events of violence and racism have compelled us to do, again we call on United Methodists and all people of good will to support the victims of this and all acts of violence, to work to end racism and hatred, to seek peace with justice, and to live the prayer that our Lord gave us, that God's "kingdom come, (and) will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

We go forward with Wesley's assurance that "Best of all God is with us."

Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., President
The Council of Bishops

-- The United Methodist Church is in a full Communion relationship with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the other member Methodist denominations of the Pan-Methodist Commission.

23. NAACP STATEMENT ON GOV. NIKKI HALEY’S CALL FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE CONFEDERATE FLAG ON CAPITOL GROUNDS:

BALTIMORE, MD – On Monday, June 22nd, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the Confederate battle flag to be taken down from out in front of the state Capitol. The General Assembly's session ended on June 4, but lawmakers are meeting Tuesday to pass a budget compromise, at which point they can vote on extending the session to debate the removal of the Confederate flag. A decision to continue the session would take two-thirds of the vote, as would passing legislation to take down the flag. If they don't, Haley said she would use her authority to call them back into session to debate on the flag. Subsequently, the NAACP has issued the following statement.

-- From Cornell William Brooks, NAACP President and CEO:

“For 15 years, the national NAACP alongside our South Carolina State Conference have advocated for the Confederate battle flag’s removal. As we continue to mourn the lives of nine African American men and women killed senselessly in a church massacre at the hands of a white supremacist, the NAACP expects nothing less than a unanimous vote by the South Carolina state legislature to remove the flag immediately. Simply calling for the flag’s removal is not enough. While a toothless vote is legislatively necessary, we believe that a unanimous vote is morally required. For 15 years, the NAACP has led a statewide boycott aimed at bringing economic pressure on the state to bring the flag down, even recruiting the NCAA and UAW. The legislative body of South Carolina now has the opportunity to bring forth a new era of unity on the heels of tragedy. Removing the Confederate flag in this moment is not only ethically right but unequivocally American. The Southern region of our country is known for its hospitality. Nothing is more hospitable than creating an environment of inclusion for people of all races, colors, creeds and faiths. If South Carolina refuses to take down the flag, the NAACP will only intensify its economic, political and moral pressure on the state to remove the same emblem of exclusion that the church shooter used as motivation for his crime.

24. NAACP TO HOST 106TH ANNUAL NATIONAL CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA JULY 11th - 15th:

Convention to Unite Thousands of Social Justice Activists Around Voting Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, Economic Opportunity, Health Equity and Education Equality

(BALTIMORE, MD) – From July 11th to the 15th, the NAACP will host its 106th Annual Convention in Philadelphia, PA.  This year’s convention theme is “Pursuing Liberty In the Face of Injustice.” In the wake of the social and economic unrest across the country, the NAACP will focus on building a broad based agenda around voting rights, criminal justice reform, health equity, economic opportunity and education equality ahead of the 2016 presidential election.  Click here to see the schedule of events; click here to register for press credentials.

"Under the banner of 'Pursuing Liberty In the Face of Injustice,' the NAACP looks forward to convening thousands of civil rights, human rights and social justice activists to network and develop measurable strategies that inspire courage in participants to implement sustainable political and economic changes in vulnerable neighborhoods throughout the country" said NAACP Board Chairman Roslyn M. Brock.

This convention occurs a few weeks ahead of the kick off of the NAACP’s America Journey for Justice – a series of direct actions that will take place along the 850 mile route from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC--through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia to highlight vulnerable communities subject to regressive voting rights tactics.

"Our lives, our votes, our jobs and our schools matter,” said Cornell William Brooks, NAACP President & CEO. “I look forward to meeting with citizen leaders in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American liberty, who share these values and our unyielding commitment to protecting the lives of Americans, the sustainable jobs of our citizenry, our right to vote and the integrity of our democracy. As we head into the 2016 election, we must secure unfettered access to the ballot box for every American. The ballot box is our most powerful way to raise our voice.  Join us in Philly as we work together to find the solutions, strategies and inspiration for what yet ails our nation.”

This year’s convention speakers include well-known as well as the next generation of civil rights leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, actors and community activists.

“We are honored to welcome the NAACP to Philadelphia this July for its 106th National Convention,” said Mayor Michael Nutter.  “As the birthplace of liberty, our city is the perfect location to host the NAACP, one of the leading organizations for social change in the world for more than a century.  We are thrilled that some of the most pressing social, economic and civil rights issues of the 21st century will be addressed at this convention here in Philadelphia.”

“The NAACP continues to be on the frontlines in the fight for social justice,” stated NAACP Vice Chairman Leon Russell. “Civic engagement and turning out the vote must be at the forefront of our work as we move into this presidential election year. We could not have picked a better place to reaffirm voting as the bedrock of our democracy than Philadelphia. We thank Pennsylvania State Conference President Dwayne Jackson Sr. for marshaling the support of all of our units in Pennsylvania for the success of this convention. We are particularly grateful to the Philadelphia Branch of the NAACP for working with us to help ensure the success of this 106th Annual Convention. We will continue to lead the charge for liberty in the face of injustice, just as we have done since our founding.”

“The Pennsylvania State Conference looks forward to hosting the NAACP’s 106th National Annual Convention in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," said Dwayne Jackson Sr., president of the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference. “Our expectations and excitement are high as we prepare for civil and human rights advocates to visit our great state. The NAACP is moving forward more energized than ever and this convention will ensure attendees leave with a renewed commitment to being champions for human and civil rights.”

"The Philadelphia Branch of the NAACP was founded in 1912, and for more than a century, our branch has been fighting to protect the civil and human rights of every Philadelphia resident, especially those in communities of color," said Rodney Muhammad, president of the NAACP Philadelphia Branch. “Our hope is that this 106th annual national convention will cause the entire Association to attack the social ills of poverty, racial profiling, police brutality, health disparities and income inequality, with more vigor than ever before."

In addition to the primary convention schedule, the NAACP’s Youth & College Division will host workshops, luncheons and forums throughout the week. Emerging youth from across the nation will be featured in the annual Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competition beginning July 8. Students will compete in 26 categories including sciences, humanities, performing arts, visual arts, and business over the course of the event. Celebrity hosts will be serving as guest judges throughout the competition and hosting the closing awards ceremony.

25. ONCE ARABS AND JEWS LIVED TOGETHER RELATIVELY PEACEFULLY IN PALESTINE - HOW AND WHY THAT CHANGED:

-- PBS rolls out national broadcast of Tuesday, June 30 at 9/8 CT - Check Your Local Listings - http://www.pbs.org/tv_schedules/; Boston and Minneapolis/St. Paul premieres July 2


Breaking new ground and laying bare old myths, 1913: Seeds of Conflict explores the little-known history of late Ottoman Palestine, a time of relative harmony between Arabs and Jews. How did this land of "milk and honey," so diverse and rich in culture, become the site of today’s bitter and seemingly intractable struggle? Was there a turning point when things could have been different?  Weaving the raveled threads of Arab and Jewish narratives together, 1913: Seeds of Conflict provides new and fascinating insights into events which presaged a century of unrest.

Please forward this message to your colleagues, friends and family, at your church, temple or mosque and especially to students and youth leaders and help spread the word about this groundbreaking film about a crucial moment in history!

26. THE TRUTH IS THE LIGHT

*The Rev. Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr.

Based on Biblical Text: Luke 10:40: “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.”

Women’s Day at Morris Brown African Methodist Episcopal Church, like many of our churches, is the culmination of a whirlwind of activities. Much work has gone into the planning and the results have been magnificent. At each event there has been women serving and there have been women sitting. I began to think, there must be a lesson here.

It is a fact that the assignments that life presents us keep us very busy. However, many times we are busy in just a repetitive sort of way. Think about it, we wake up at the same time every morning and go to the same job. We do things on our job at the same time in the same way and then we clock out at the same hour. We come home, eat dinner at the same time, watch some of the same things on television for the same amount of time and go to bed after the same show. We start the same routine all over again at the same time the next morning.

That routine is not bad however we have to admit that it is easy to get so caught up in the repetitive responsibilities of our routine that we miss the most important moments. We are sometimes so programmed that we overlook the life-changing moments that can serve to restore and renew us. We run the risk many times of missing the very things in our life that will revitalize our otherwise mundane existence. We are just too busy to “be still.”

We find in our text that is the problem Sister Martha had. Martha, like many of the committed Sisters on each of the committees, was a dedicated and devoted worker. You could count on Martha to get the job done and done well. Sister Martha could juggle the busiest of schedules ensuring that every detail was addressed and no stone was left unturned.

Martha was like the energizer bunny. Whenever Jesus and the disciples visited she would wash their clothes. She prepared meals and tended to the individual needs of her guests. No doubt, each time Jesus and his ministerial staff of twelve left, Martha was exhausted. 

As I watch the ladies working in the kitchen and serving in the Fellowship Hall I wonder to myself, as they tend to the concerns of our guest are they really too busy to enjoy them? I wonder if when the dinner was over and all the guests were gone home, did some of the women find themselves wishing that more could have been done ahead of time so they could enjoy the fellowship. It occurred to me that was probably how Martha felt when she saw Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus while she, was doing all the work. Martha would have liked to sit and listen to Jesus talk about the scriptures, but somebody had to take care of the physical needs of the guests. Isn’t that right?

I realize I am treading on dangerous ground. I might as well go in further. Let me point out that Mary didn’t even belong in the same room with those spiritual men. Mary’s place was in the kitchen with Martha. Women belonged in the kitchen. They weren’t aloud to attend classes with the men in the temple. What was on Mary’s mind? There was all this work to be done and Mary was sitting while Martha was serving. Martha wasn’t having it! The Bible says that Sister Martha rushed into the room where the men were gathered and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone?”

“No Martha didn’t, barge into the room and chastise Jesus for allowing a woman to listen to His teachings!” Oh yes she did, and as I think of the women serving in our church I can name several who feel just like Martha. I am talking about women who busy themselves with every detail of the work of our boards and auxiliaries, spending countless hours planning, developing, arranging and scheduling. These are fine women of God who believe whole heartedly that nothing would get done according to their high standards if they didn’t oversee every aspect of the ministry project themselves. After all, it is all about serving, isn’t it?

Not as much as you think! There is more to serving than the planning, developing, arranging and scheduling. I realize that someone reading has decided at this point I have lost my mind but it is not all about serving. It is about reaching a balance between our serving and our sitting. I submit to you that is what Mary was doing. Like many of us, Mary needed to take time out to sit at the feet of Jesus. Thus we find that while Martha was scurrying about earning stars for her crown, Mary was sitting at the feet of the Master feeding her soul.

The text lets us know that while Martha was serving, Mary was sitting. What we need to understand as we work to reach our balance between serving and sitting is that while Martha was working, Mary was growing. We must guard against our being so busy serving Jesus that we don’t take time to know Jesus. We must carefully balance our time between working for and studying Jesus. It is critical that we don’t get so caught up doing that we have no time to listen to what Jesus has to say! Working with our spiritual ears closed is the fastest way to inhibit our Christian growth.

When you take a moment to look around at Bible Study or any church training session you will see several people who are listening intently and taking notes. These are the people who have taken a breather from their repetitive schedules to “listen to Jesus”. These represent the Mary’s in the congregation. Interestingly, the folk who are absent may well be dedicated church workers. The folk not in attendance may be the ones who are busy with all the details of ministry. These folk may have even planned the seminar however, in far too many instances these are the folk who put more priority on the business of service than they do the nurturing of their soul. So much goes into the work that they are too busy to pause and listen to what Jesus has to say.

Martha raises her concern to Jesus and believes she has a good reason to be angry. However, when we read Jesus’ response to Martha’s question, we see that He is actually chastising Martha. Jesus was well aware of the fact that she was envious of Mary for having the courage to break with social custom and sit at his feet. He knew also that Martha was probably angry with herself for over-planning her day not leaving enough time for Jesus. Jesus intended to set Martha straight.  He let Martha know then and wants us to know, “You work hard tending to every detail as though it was a matter of life and death, but you miss the one detail that really matters.  What you miss is the most essential part.”

 When we allot so much of our time and energy working to exhaustion we so many times neglect the most essential part which is the nurturing of our soul. We could very well end up frustrated like Martha. We may even find ourselves nearing burnout in our service to the Lord. Yes, the Bible admonishes us to be not just hearers but doers of the Word however, there has to be in each of our lives a balance between our serving and our sitting. Our effective doing is contingent upon our hearing. Kingdom building would be seriously threatened if all of the workers decided that they had heard all they need to hear from Jesus. The point is we must sit long enough to hear what the Lord says about what we should do. We will then be equipped to serve effectively enough to make a difference in our community and in the world.

We are admonished that, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work.” Monday through Saturday then are serving days, and Sunday is “sitting day.” Sunday is the day God set aside to revive us and renew us. Missing our “sitting day” causes our “serving days” to become ineffective. A hymnologist penned, “Be still and let the Spirit speak: The Spirit unto you will give, the knowledge that you need and daily you will grow in grace, if you the Spirit heed.”

Let me ad, we cannot go wrong by including a few more hours of sitting (learning) on our schedule. We can spend some time sitting at Church School and Bible Study. We must recognize that we cannot teach what we don’t know or lead where we refuse to go. As we mature we will realize that it is in our serving that we work out our soul’s salvation, but it is in our sitting that we are reenergized as we replenish our spiritual reservoir. We must strive to reach an appropriate balance between our serving and our sitting. Our serving allows us to share the love of God and glorify God. It is in our sitting at the feet of the Lord that we strengthen that love and purge ourselves of sinful desires as we fellowship with Him. As we serve we are able to spread the truth of the grace and mercy of God. When we sit at His feet we are able to shore up our own beliefs, and ask forgiveness for our own failings.

We should not be afraid to assess for ourselves if we are in fact serving too much and sitting too little. We must ensure that we are not neglecting the most essential part. To be constantly and steadily filled with the Spirit of God let us sit a while at Jesus’ feet. “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

*The Reverend Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr., is the pastor of Morris Brown A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C.

27. GETTING TO ZERO: FIELDWORK IN ZAMBIA:

*Dr. Oveta Fuller is currently out of the country. Her column will resume next week.

*The Rev. Oveta Fuller Caldwell, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School, Associate Director of the U-M African Studies Center and an AMEC itinerant elder and former pastor. She lived in Zambia for most of 2013 to study HIV/AIDS prevention among networks of religious leaders.

28.  iCHURCH SCHOOL LESSON BRIEF FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2015 - GOD WILL NEVER FORGET - AMOS 8:1-10

*Brother Bill Dickens

Introduction

The Disney movie ‘The Lion King’ ranks as one of the greatest animated movies in cinematic history. One of the turning points in the movie occurs when Simba, exiled from his home and living a life of ease with his new found friends Timon and Pumba, hears a vision one night from his deceased father Mufasa. Mufasa’s message to Simba is he has forgotten who he is and as a result has forgotten his father. Mufasa admonishes his backsliding son to remember who he is and never forget that he (Simba) is the rightful heir to the kingdom and the true King of Priderock (not his manipulative uncle Scar). As the voice faintly disappears all that Simba can hear is “remember, remember, remember.”

The Adult AME Church School Lesson for June 28, 2015 teaches the important principle why God will never forgets.  Since God is omniscient his data storage of “memory” is unlimited. He remembers everything, the good, the bad and the ugly. Amos articulates this truth in Chapter 8.

Bible Lesson

Teach by Example - Amos 8:1-3

Amos opens up Chapter 8 with a fascinating example. God poses a rhetorical question to Amos about a ripe basket of fruit. The Lord asks Amos to explain the contents in the basket. Amos correctly responds by saying the basket contains ripe fruit. The ripe fruit is a metaphor for judgment against Israel.  The time is “ripe” for Israel to be justly judged for their crimes of theological and moral injustice. Now is the correct time to exact punishment.

Teach against Exploitation Amos 8:4-6

Economic inequality had become so widespread during Amos’ time that the inhabitants of Israel accepted this as the norm. Unscrupulous market practices by merchants were used to extract higher prices from poor buyers in order to expand their (market manipulators) unjust enrichment by at the expense of the needy.  The exploiters are only concerned about opportunities to maximize unjust profits, not promoting economic fairness and market justice.

Teach about Evil Amos 8: 7-10

Amos now directs his focus to the eminent destruction resulting from the example of the ripe fruit and the rampant exploitation in Israel. In verse 7 the prophet states unequivocally that the Lord will not forget what Israel has done. The Lord’s hand of mercy has been rejected by Israel’s recidivist sin and disobedience. Evil cannot and will not go unchecked. In that “day” (verse 8) the sun will go down at noon and the entire earth will experience a solar eclipse signaling that destruction is near. Religious feasts and singling will turn from festive events to events of mourning and sackcloth draped with ashes. Sufferings and mourning will rule the day because Israel chose evil over obedience.

Bible Application

June 17, 2015 will forever be a day of infamy in the annals of AME history. The AME Church and the world at large were shocked beyond disbelief concerning the senseless slayings of nine members of Emanuel AME Church of Charleston, SC.

The homegoing services for the ‘Emanuel Nine’ will take place the week of June 22, 2015. The AME church will never forget this act of terrorism inside God’s sanctuary. Most importantly, God will never forget the Christian hospitality extended to the killer by the Emanuel Nine prior to Mr. Roof allowing himself to be used as a vessel of evil. While it is our Christian duty to forgive acts of evil we would be derelict in our Christian duty if we “forgot” what happened last week in Charleston, SC. We owe it to our children to teach them the good, the bad and the ugly about history.  Anything less would be revisionist history.  God doesn’t forget and neither should His followers develop selective amnesia.

*Brother Bill Dickens is currently the Church School Teacher at Allen AME Church in Tacoma, Washington.  He is currently a member of the Fellowship of Church Educators for the African Methodist Episcopal Church

29. MEDITATION BASED ON PSALM 34:1-10:

*The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby

“Buffet” restaurants are a popular modern dining choice.  You pay for your meal when you arrive and then select “all you can eat” from an often amazing variety of food choices.  You can also get “seconds” - or more - as long as you use a clean plate for each trip to the buffet line. 

Buffet restaurants are fast, convenient and plentiful, but much of the food is high in calories and designed to fill you up quickly, some people eat more than they should to get their “money’s worth,” and “service” often simply involves someone who fills your beverage glass and brings you bread to fill you up faster.

I sometimes opt for buffet restaurants, but I also like restaurants where you sit down, make choices from a menu and wait for your food to be prepared and served.  It takes a bit longer and you may not get to stuff yourself till you can hardly move, but you do get personal attention, you can relax and chat with those at the table or enjoy the atmosphere while you wait, and what finally comes to your table is prepared just for you.

Buffet restaurants reflect our modern pursuit of “happiness” in a world that emphasizes immediate results and instant gratification.  We go after what we want to make us feel good, we want it fast and we want as much as we can get.  It’s easy, however, to end up disappointed when all that we get fills our lives up but leaves us feeling weighed down with new burdens and concerns and still longing for real satisfaction.

Having a true relationship with God, however, is like passing up the buffet for full service.  When we trust in the Lord and stay in touch through daily prayer and meditation, we can take a break from daily demands, count our blessings, appreciate what’s right in our lives, and know that we have a God who will personally step in to bring us hope, joy and a sense of enduring satisfaction when we need those things the most.

If life has left a bad taste in your mouth, slow down and spend a little time in touch with God each day.  Your days will go better, your burdens will seem lighter, you can recharge for what lies ahead, and you’ll understand why the Psalmist said, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.”

This Meditation is also available as a Blog on the Beaufort District’s Website: www.beaufortdistrict.org


Get Ready for Sunday, and have a great day in your house of worship!

*The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby is the Presiding Elder of the Beaufort District of the South Carolina Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

30. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We are saddened to share with the Connectional church family, news of the passing of Brother Warren Leonard, on Sunday, June 21, 2015.  Brother Leonard was the brother of the Rev. James Leonard, Pastor of Salem AME, Church in Bucksport, South Carolina of the Marion District of the Northeast Annual Conference of the 7th Episcopal District.  Brother Leonard was secretary of the Northeast Annual Conference Sons of Allen and the Immediate Past Corresponding Secretary of the Connectional Sons of Allen Ministry.

Funeral Services for Brother Leonard:

Saturday, June 27, 2015
12:00 noon
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (A C Robinson Center)
1333 Penderboro Road
Marion, SC 29571

31. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

Regretfully we share the news of the passing of Sister Anna Chitter, on Tuesday, 16 June 2015. Sister Anna is the Sister of the Rev. Elliot Benjamin De Bruyn, the associate pastor of Ming Chapel AME Church in Saldanha in the Piketberg District (Republic of South Africa) where the Rev. Dawid Moses serves as the Presiding Elder.

Praying that God in His infinite wisdom will strengthen this soldier of the cross during this his time of trial and challenges.

Expressions of Sympathy may be sent to: charlin@live.co.za.

32. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We regret to announce the passing of Brother David Busch on June 18, 2015. He was a former President and President Emeritus of the First Episcopal District Lay Organization.

The following information has been provided regarding the funeral services arrangements.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Viewing – 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Homegoing Services – 11:00 a.m.

Bethel A.M.E. Church
255 Goffe Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Telephone: 203-865-0514
Fax: 203-624-7977
Email: bamenhoffice@gmail.com

The Rev. Steven Cousin, pastor
Eulogist: Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath
Presiding Prelate of the Thirteenth Episcopal District

Expressions of sympathy may be sent to:

 Mrs. Janie Busch
58 Ellsworth Street
West Haven, CT 06516

33. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Mrs. Dorothy Nettles, the wife of the Rev. Mose Nettles, a retired minister from the Oklahoma State Annual Conference.

A celebration of her life will be held:

Friday June 26, 2015
10:00 am
Grant Chapel AME Church
1628 SW McKinley
Lawton, OK 73501

Services have been entrusted to:

Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home
632 SW C Avenue
Lawton, OK 73501

Telephone: (580) 353-2940

Online guest book and sympathy cards will be available at: http://www.grayfuneral.com/

Condolences may be sent to:

The Rev. Mose Nettles
2216 NW 40th
Lawton, OK 73505

34. BEREAVEMENT NOTICES AND CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS PROVIDED BY:

Ora L. Easley, Administrator
AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
Email: Amespouses1@bellsouth.net      
Web page: http://www.amecfic.org/   
Telephone: (615) 837-9736 (H)
Telephone: (615) 833-6936 (O)
Cell: (615) 403-7751




35. CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREAVED FROM THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER:

The Chair of the Commission on Publications, the Right Reverend T. Larry Kirkland; the Publisher, the Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour and the Editor of The Christian Recorder, the Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III offer our condolences and prayers to those who have lost loved ones. We pray that the peace of Christ will be with you during this time of your bereavement.


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