Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram - Chair, Commission on Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, Editor
1. CORRECTION:
Reference yesterday’s Clergy Family Bereavement Notice for Sister Fannie Ezelle Johnson Hill, it was stated that her husband, the late Rev. Dr. Ben H. Hill was the editor of The Christian Recorder. He was not the Editor of The Christian Recorder; he was the Editor of The A.M.E. Review.
Editor’s Note: Thank you, Dr. Jamye Coleman Williams for the correction.
2. THE EDITOR’S CORNER – “FOR MANY THE ITINERACY HAS TURNED LOCAL”
The African Methodist Episcopal Church is in some ways similar to the U. S. military. The U. S Military has active and reserve components. The active component is fulltime and reserve component is part-time.
Active duty soldiers are fulltime and are available for worldwide deployment twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. They receive fulltime pay. Reserve soldiers, under normal conditions, serve two weekends a month and two-weeks in the summer. They are part-time soldiers and receive part-time pay for their military service. They usually hold down a fulltime civilian job, for which they get fulltime pay. Those in the reserves are often referred to as, “weekend or part-time warriors.” When the nation is not at war, they have a "pretty good" deal, but when the nation is at war as we are now in Iraq, the Reserves are ordered to active duty and have been called upon to give more than they had bargained to give. Their part-time “gig” has turned to a fulltime commitment. Many of them opine that being called to active duty was not their intention; their intention was to be part-time soldiers.
The AME church also has two branches. We have “itineracy” and “local” orders of ministry. The itinerant ministry is like the U. S. Army’s active duty component. The itinerant ministry means that those ordained for the itinerant ministry are on a 24/7 availability for deployment wherever the bishop, under his or her Godly judgment, assigns them. Those ordained for local ministry are like the Reserve Component. They serve the local church on weekends and their attendance at the annual conference is similar to the two-week deployment of a reserve soldier. The local minister usually has a fulltime job and serves the church on a part-time basis, usually on Sunday mornings, assisting in the worship service. Not much more is required, except perhaps Bible study, if the local church has Bible Study and Sunday School.
But, upon examination of our system, we have had a breakdown of the our active duty component, i.e., fulltime, itinerant ministry and some of our pastors have perfected the system of making a fulltime ministry, part-time and in a sense have “localized” itinerant appointments. They have turned and active duty assignment into a reserve component-like assignment. The AME Church has a lot of “weekend or part-time warriors.” We have so-called “full-time appointments” where “so-called fulltime pastors have fulltime “civilian jobs” along with their pastoral appointments. Fulltime outside employment takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. It’s a “no-brainer” that some to those holding fulltime jobs are too tired or to busy on their outside jobs to have Bible Studies and Prayer Meetings. There is a lot of truth in the biblical injunction, “one cannot serve two masters.”
The reason often given for an itinerant pastor taking on full or part-time outside of the local church employment is that the local church cannot pay a livable wage. And, that is true. The problem arises that when the pastor takes employment apart from the church, he or she does not work to raise the salary and the result is that the local church is relieved of its responsibility of adequately providing for the upkeep of the preacher and his or her family. It becomes convenient for both parties, the local church and for the pastor who has a job outside of the church.
And, when pastors have good-paying jobs and local churches are relieved of struggling and providing pastoral upkeep, the itineracy breaks down. Pastors and congregations who have become complacent don’t want their pastors who have good jobs to leave because they don’t want to risk getting a pastor who might want to be fulltime in ministry and “hold the congregation’s feet to the fire” for pastoral upkeep. And, some churches have stopped providing for housing allowances and upkeep. Churches are expected to provide adequate livable salaries and to provide housing or housing allowances for their pastors.
Local church’s laity should take the initiative to provide for pastoral upkeep and housing. Pastors should not have to come in and “fight that battle.” The lay leaders of the local church should take pride in providing for their spiritual leaders!
For some the ministry may have become a part-time gig. Go in and preach a sermon, collect a salary, go back home, and “see ya next Sunday.” Where is the notion, “That God will make a way somehow!” And, for those who have been ordained as itinerate elders and serving as associate or assistant ministers, when are you going to be obedient to your itinerant orders? If you are not going to be itinerant, become a local and stay in the local church. We need an overhaul and a recommitment to the itinerant ministry. “Go preach my Gospel…”
Some of our local churches are not growing because we have grown complacent. We have stopped training our clergy and laity. We have become satisfied with the status quo and be are happy with “being good” and local churches have “stopped striving to be the best.” The problem rests especially with the laity, as well as with the clergy.
Older, seasoned AME preachers are not appreciated for their service to our Zion and many of our younger preachers are looking to be mentored and nurtured by tele-evangelists. It looks to me as if many of the tele-evangelists are trying to mimic the AME Church. We have a great system and The Discipline provides direction. We need to follow the rules that we have in place. The foundation legs for polity of the African Methodist Episcopal Church are the itineracy and connectedness through our Church, Quarterly, District, Annual and General conferences.
We all need to read The Discipline from cover to cover. I am amazed at the number of preachers who have not purchased The Discipline! And, if the preachers have not purchased The Disciple, I know their laity has not purchased it. And, certainly, we need to read the Bible!
Editor’s note: Your opinions and comments are welcome.
3. SIMULTANEOUS CHRISTIAN EDUCATION DAY IN THE SEVENTH EPISCOPAL DISTRICT ON MARCH 4, 2006:
Twelve Courses in Six Locations!
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
New Testament & AME Polity 1
Mt. Carmel AME Church - 1059 Old Black Oak Rd, Moncks Corner, SC 29461
The Reverend Remus Harper, Pastor
Interpersonal Skills & AME Liturgy and Worship
Mt. Zion AME Church - 1305 East Cheves Street, Florence, SC 29506
The Reverend Julius H. McAllister
Effective Teaching Methods & AME History
Emmanuel AME Church - 2130 Barhamville Road, Columbia, SC 29204
The Reverend Timothy Cokley
AME Articles of Religion & Introduction to Christian Education
Emmanuel AME Church - 110 Calhoun Street, Charleston, SC 29401
The Reverend Levern Witherspoon
Old Testament & Historical Foundation of Christian Education
Mt. Carmel AME Church -209 Mount Carmel Church Rd, Abbeville, SC 29644
The Reverend Hannie D. Milling, Jr., Pastor
Religious Pluralism & Christian Stewardship
Williams Chapel AME Church - 1198 Glover Street, Orangeburg, SC 29115
The Reverend Dr. Juenarrl Keith, Pastor
Registration: Adults $25.00
Come join us for a day of learning and exploration
For more information, please call the Episcopal Office -803-935-0500 ext. 106
Submitted to the Christian Recorder by Kabrina Bass –
Christian Education Administrator,
Seventh Episcopal District –
Email: basskabrina@aol.com or kabrinab@amec7thdist.org
The Rt. Reverend Preston W. Williams, II, Presiding Prelate
Mother Wilma D. Webb-Williams, Episcopal Supervisor
Dr. Allen Parrott, Christian Education Director –
Dr. Juenarrl Keith, Christian Education Dean –
Dr. Willie J. Heggins, Asst. Dean/Administrator
4. THE RURAL AND SMALL MEMBERSHIP CHURCH- ENDURING THE TEST OF TIME:
By George R. La Sure, D.Min.
In the midst of today’s hustle and bustle to be and to become, folk are stepping over one another trying to find a “place”, a “niche” or, a “position” somewhere. Technology and its advances have folk jumping from one state to another with an ever-increasing degree of uncertainty as to what tomorrow might be. Folk aren’t, generally, settled and in place as they once were. Jobs aren’t as they used to be: escalators have rapidly replaced elevators in many of our department stores and public facilities, automated production lines and robotics have replaced many a production line worker, back hoes and other earth-moving machines have replaced the need for grave and ditch diggers, corporate poultry producers have replaced the small chicken farmer and the plucking and singeing of feathers, supermarkets and retail giants have replaced neighborhood related businesses, fast food giants have replaced slow home-cooked meals, TV’s, CDs, DVDs, cable and stereos have replaced family conversation and family gathering at meals, electronic games and toys have mesmerized our children with who knows what and have stripped them of the desire to go outside and play and develop their creative energies, and “rush, rush” has replaced quiet reflection and prayerful meditation. What used to be lunar theory has progressed to realized inter-planetary discovery; book tapes and internet excerpts have replaced reading a book; ice cream sundaes prepared with care at the soda fountain have been replaced by a Dairy Queen fast fix.
If we were to document every change, we would require volumes and a lifetime of devoted effort. So much change has occurred within the past 25-50 years that it is safe to say that hardly anything is the same anymore.
As we look back over our shoulder at yesterday and, how it was, straightening up and looking ahead does not provide much of a changed view as it relates to the church. Architecturally, great advances have been made in church design and construction technique. Modern electronic innovations have done a great deal to provide for better sound and lighting within the church and, in some places hymnbooks have become obsolete.
Apart from a partial shift to a more Pentecostal form with a new twist on “prosperity right now” vs. substantive faith and everlasting security, our worship style (the rural and small membership church) is essentially unchanged. The “mega church” is a sort of “metropolitan smorgasbord” where there is something that might appeal and be readily made available to everyone involved. It has rapidly become the “Wal-Mart of Protestantism”.
The rural and small membership church is essentially the same as it was 25-50 years ago in its worship style and its ministry focus. It has remained steady and afloat as the tsunami of time and change has washed ashore and substantially altered the landscape of life. Pastors have come and gone, present-day laity has replaced those who were faithful in the past but, somehow, the spiritual integrity of the rural and small membership church has remained in tact. At closer examination, one who conclude that the rural and small membership church is the enduring fiber of African Methodism.
In life, change is necessary and inevitable but it is good and sobering to know that something of the past is still in tact. It is good to experience a faith and a worship experience that is essentially intergenerational. It is good to go somewhere and still feel the spiritual presence and experience the continuing legacy of those who went on before us anchored in the joy of Jesus! It is good to know that nothing about Jesus has changed. It is good to know that “…by his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5) It is good to know that He shed His precious blood on a criminal’s cross and, died to save us from our sin. It is good to know that on the third day morn that He was raised up from the dead with all power in His hands. It is especially good to know that He is coming back again for me and for you!
Our ancestry speaks beyond modernity as it lifts its prayerful voice to alert us to life’s ultimate reality: “Be ready when He comes again…He’s coming again so soon!”
As the changes of life wash ashore and cause us to take on new forms, the question remains, “What’s New?” Solomon quickly reminds us in Ecclesiastes 1.9a “…there is nothing new under the sun.” As time continues to take its endless toll on those who have committed their lives to make the A.M.E. Church be the great force that it is today, let us celebrate the enduring fiber of the rural and small membership church as it continues to make a huge contribution to the stability of the Connectional Church.
5. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
Service arrangements for Mrs. Ida Lipscombe, wife of the Reverend Leon Lipscombe, former pastor of Allen AME Church, Washington, DC who passed on Sunday morning, February 12, 2006.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Family Visitation:
10:00 AM- 12:00 Noon
Funeral:
12:00 Noon
Allen AME Church
2498 Alabama Avenue, S.E.
Washington, DC 20020
Dr. Michael E. Bell, Sr., Pastor
202-889-7296 (Phone)
202-889-2198 (Fax)
Services are entrusted to:
Taylor's Funeral Home
1722 North Capitol Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 882-2732 (Phone)
(202) 483-6624 (Fax)
Floral Arrangements may be ordered through:
Kingdom Flowers
202-667-8908
Condolences may be sent to:
Rev. Leon Lipscombe and Family
3911 Winbrook Court
Clinton, MD 70735
6. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
From: 1wim@htcomp.net
Sister Gloria Thomas Moore, wife of Retired Presiding Elder Albert Moore, Jr., went home to be with the Lord on Friday, February 10, 2006. Sister Moore has served as a Chairperson of Membership and Recruitment for the Connectional WMS.
Service arrangements:
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Wake: 7:00 PM
Smith Chapel AME Church
2406 Childs Street
Dallas, Texas 75203
(214) 948-9482 (Phone)
Rev. James W. Ford, Pastor
Homegoing Service:
11:00 A.M.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Smith Chapel AME Church
2406 Childs Street
Dallas, Texas 75203
Services entrusted to:
Evergreen Funeral Home
6449 Houston School Road
Dallas, Texas 75241
(214) 376-1500 (Phone)
Condolences may be sent to:
Presiding Elder Albert Moore, Jr.
6640 Braddock Place
Dallas, Texas 75232
(214) 333-0686 (Phone)
7. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTS PROVIDED BY:
Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry, Chair
Commission on Social Action Clergy Family Information Center
Mrs. Ora L. Easley - Administrator Email: Amespouses1@aol.com
(Nashville, Tennessee Contact) Phone: (615) 837-9736 Fax: (615) 833-3781
(Memphis, Tennessee Contact) (901) 578-4554 (Phone & Fax)
Please remember these families in your prayers.
8. CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREAVED FROM THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER:
The Chair of the Commission on Publications, the Right Reverend Gregory G. M. Ingram; 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.
Archive of The Christian Recorder Online from 2004-2016; Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder
