I have observed that the Holy Communion liturgy is not done according to the rubric in The AMEC Hymnal. I have often observed that the pastor prays (reads) The Prayer of Thanksgiving and The Gloria in Excelsis. The Elder and the people should recite The Prayer of Thanksgiving and The Gloria in Excelsis.
The protocol in the printed liturgy in The Book of Worship and The AMEC Hymnal of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is that bolded type should be read / prayed by the people. If one looks at the printed liturgy as printed in The Hymnal, it is clear that the bolded print requires a response by the people because it clearly states, "The minister and all the people…" The Prayer of Thanksgiving, preceded by The Lord's Prayer, instructs, "After which shall be said," is a continuation of the rubric that precedes The Lord's Prayer which says, "Then the Elder and people pray in union…"
The confusion might be a result of the Communion liturgy in the 2000 Book of Discipline, which instructs "Then shall the Elder say, The Lord's Prayer" (Page 515). Thus The Communion liturgy in The 2000 Book of Discipline and The Hymnal are in rubricated differently.
Liturgically and historically, I believe The Hymnal is correct. The Christian Recorder invites comments from the Liturgists in our Zion.
IS THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH ORGANIZING A CONCERTED EFFORT TO ASSIST THE NATIONS IN SOUTH ASIA WHO ARE IN NEED AS A RESULT OF THE TSUNAMI DISASTER LAST WEEK? I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD:
Nationwide efforts are being organized to collect funds to assist nations affected by the tsunami disaster. The local news in Nashville in Nashville last night cautioned viewers to be cognizant of unscrupulous organizations attempting to benefit from funds being collected for the tsunami disaster.
It would be helpful if we, as African Methodists, could channel our funds in a collective way, or at least be directed to a legitimate agency. In my mind, the AME Church is a legitimate agency.
SUBSCRIPTION TO THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE IS FREE, BUT THE COST TO RECEIVE THE PRINTED COPY OF THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER IS $26 PER YEAR AND EVERY MEMBER OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IS ENCOURAGED TO SUBSCRIBE TO YOUR NEWSPAPER:
I had an opportunity to speak with my friend and ordination classmate, the Reverend Dr. Joseph D. Patterson one of the Presiding Elders in the First Episcopal District (The Philadelphia Annual Conference) who asked me about the procedure of subscribing to The Christian Recorder in hardcopy. I told him that I would put a reminder in the next mail out of The Christian Recorder Online. So here it is:
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FROM PASTOR NORMAN D. VICK FROM THE VIRGINIA ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SECOND EPISCOPAL DISTRICT:
The relief efforts are underway for those nations in South Asia who were affected by last week's tsunami. Such a loss in that part of the world also affects us.
Each broadcast brings with it, insights into the power of nature and the finiteness of humankind. The tragedy took me back to a required reading in seminary to the book by Leonard Sweet, entitled, Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture. I revisited the book after last week's tsunami disaster and I have a new sense of what the author was referring to when he wrote about the new paradigms needed by the church for an ever-changing contemporary society.
While some people prefer to avoid viewing the tragic scenes on the news and seeing the helplessness surrounding the tsunami disaster, my thoughts also went to the choices facing the church today: We can run from the tides and waves or we can go to higher ground.
AUTHOR JEANETTE T. JOHNS RESPONDS TO INQUIRY ABOUT THE PURCHASE OF HER BOOK, ABOUT BISHOP NICHOLS ENTITLED, THE UPWARD JOURNEY:
The only source of "The Upward Journey" is the A.M.E. Publishing Company. 5,000 copies were published and, to my knowledge, most of them have been sold. The A.M.E. Publishing Co. may have a few more copies available. I have just a few left, but I'd be willing to sell copies to others if you get more inquiries. I can be contacted by email: jjohns@suffolk.lib.ny.us
Like Bishop Nichols' daughters, I am anxious to get his story to as many people as possible. It's so exciting to me to see that this book has taken on "new life", thanks to your mention of it. Thank you again for taking the time with this.
Jeanette T. Johns
CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE 20TH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT:
It is with regret that I inform you of the untimely passing of Mrs. Nonthando Mpala, wife of the Reverend Ndodana Mpala of Thomas Temple, (named after the late Bishop Cornelius Thomas) Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, 20th Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
She was laid to rest on December 23, 2004. May God give her eternal rest.
She was laid to rest on December 23, 2004. May God give her eternal rest.
Condolences may still be sent through Mrs. P. Musa, Episcopal President, 20th District: macamusa@ecoweb.co.zw
Contact: The family of Mrs. Nonthando Mpala c/o Mrs. P.Musa, Episcopal President20th Episcopal District African Methodist Episcopal Church
Email: macamusa@ecoweb.co.zw
Please remember the family in your prayers.
Please remember the family in your prayers.
God Bless!Ora L. Easley, PresidentCONN-M-SWAWO +PK'SEmail: Amespouses1@aol.comPhone: (615) 837-9736Fax: (615) 833-3781
WEBSITES: http://www.amemswwpk.org/
CONN-M-SWAWO + P.K.'S Home Page: http://connmswawo3.com/index.html
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CONN-M-SWAWO + P.K.'S Membership Listing
A REPRINT - THE A.M.E. CHURCH REVIEW SHOULD BE READ BY EVERY CLERGY PERSON IN THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND BY EVERY LAYPERSON WHO IS SERIOUS ABOUT BEING A MEMBER OF THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH:
Well, I kept on doing it because I was amazed at all of the great information that was in our A.M.E. periodical! I finally said to Dr. Dickerson, "All of our preachers should be reading The Review; this is great stuff!" And then he told me that The Review had less than 4000 subscriptions and that a lot of our pastors have not subscribed to The A.M.E. Church Review; and very few laypersons are subscribed to it. That should not be the case. In my opinion, The A.M.E. Church Review is the best denominational periodical that I have ever read.
I want to share with you some of the things that I perused as I scanned and am now reading The A.M.E. Church Review. Dr. Dickerson has put in a biographical profile of all of the newly elected bishops. All of them were successful pastors and all of them are seminary graduates; six of them have earned doctorates.
Some AME Church trivia picked up perusing The Review: We have had 5 bishops born in Africa; 4 bishops born in Mississippi; 8 bishops born in Alabama; 11 bishops born in Florida; and 2 bishops born in Texas. I wonder how many bishops were born in South Carolina? I learned from reading this edition of The Review that at least one bishop, John Mifflin Brown, was born in Delaware.
There are a number of great articles in theology, history, and from the contemporary perspective that could give foundation and relevance to our preaching and teaching. Of particular note to me is the article written by the late Eugene C. Hatcher. When I thought of Bishop Hatcher, I thought about a great preacher and the hymn, "The Storm is Passing Over." I did not realize that he was a scholar. If you read his article entitled, "Peter," you will be blessed. He was a scholar and theologian in addition to being a great preacher.
In the area of Biblical Studies, the late Bishop R.R. Wright, scholar - theologian, authored an exhaustive work entitled, "Jesus." He breaks down the titles, Son of David, the Christ, Son of Man, Son of God; and writes about Jesus' mission, death and the Second Coming. You want some "meat" for a sermon, Hatcher and Wright has it packed in their articles. They were "prime-time" bishops.
There are three great sermons by Bishops Belin, Kirkland and Adams. As I read those sermons, I began to experience some ambivalence for I thought, "If every AME preacher subscribed to The Review and read these sermons, then it would make it more difficult for those of us who read The Review to rework, tweak and preach some of the thoughts in these sermons.
Ever hear of Bishop John Mifflin Brown? I am sure that I have seen his name on the Quadrennial calendars with the pictures and names of our bishops, but I never paid attention to the name, John Mifflin Brown. I thought that every Brown Chapel AME Church in America was named after Bishop Morris Brown. And surely I thought that Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, Alabama was named after Morris Brown, but it wasn't. It was named after Bishop John Mifflin Brown, who was born in Delaware. Dr. Eldridge R. Ryan has penned and informative and an enlightening article about Bishop John Mifflin Brown. With February and Founder's Day approaching, the material in The A.M.E. Church Review would be a great resource of information. If you have not subscribed, I would suggest you do so.
Articles written by Bishops William DeVeaux, Preston W. Williams II and the other authors in the current issue of The A.M.E. Church Review offer a "banquet" of relevant articles that should be of interest to AMEs all over the world.
The Bookshelf gives us options of books that we might, and should, want to read. I got a sense that the Holy Spirit's was working in all of this as a read the book review of Reginald F. Hildebrand of Jeanette T. Johns' book, The Upward Journey: A Centenarian's Chronicle - Personal Stories of Bishop Decatur Ward Nichols, Revered Clergyman of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A couple of days ago I wrote about what that book and the life of Bishop Nichols meant to me and I did not know that the current issue of The A.M.E. Church Review was going to be dealing with Jeanette Johns' book on Bishop Nichols.
I am closing with the thought that every pastor and serious laypersons should subscribe to and should read The A.M.E. Church Review. Come to think about it, every applicant for ministry should be required to subscribe to, The A.M.E. Church Review! To do so just drop Dr. Dennis Dickerson a note: Whhbutler@cs.com or call his office: 615.248-0905.
And, to carry it further, we, AMEs should be subscribed to all of our periodicals. Our periodicals are ours and no one will tell our story better than we, ourselves, can tell it!
Please do not let it be said of us as A.M.E. pastors, "Put it in The A.M.E. Church Review (or our other A.M.E. periodical) and they will never see it."
I certainly hope, in addition to the Bible, pastors are reading other books. For preaching and counseling to be relevant, pastors must be well-rounded and well-read!
