Bishop Richard Franklin Norris - Chair, Commission on Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, Editor, The Christian Recorder
1. WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR:
The Editor and The Christian Recorder staff wish all of our subscribers and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!
The AMEC Sunday School Union offices will be closed in celebration of the birth of our Savior during the period December 24, 2008 - January 4, 2009; offices will reopen on Monday, January 5, 2009.
God has been blessed The Christian Recorder. Our print subscriptions have increased, as well as the online subscriptions. To date we have had over 400,000 hits on The Christian Recorder Online Website; that’s close to a half-a-million, and that does not count the registered subscribers. This tells me that the old saying, “We don’t know what’s going on in the Church” is no longer a valid statement. The news and information is being is being disseminated, read and shared about what happening in our Zion. The Christian Recorder has expanded its release of breaking news, news releases and sharing information that enhances ministry.
We can do better in sharing information. In some academic settings there is a motto, “Cooperate and graduate.” That statement was trying to encourage students to work together in study groups and also to share information; and to discourage them from trying to “go it alone.”
There are so many qualified and gifted pastors and lay members in our Zion. Many of our churches are doing wonderful things. Creative ministry, for many of our local churches, is routine. It is unfortunate that the creativity oftentimes remain localized; creative ministry models and ideas are not shared with others. It seems that many pastors and local churches are “doing their own thing.” Just think how ministry across our Zion could be enhanced if pastors and other leaders shared their ideas and the “hows” of their creative ministry.
Most times creative initiatives do not require knowledge of rocket science or molecular biology; in most cases someone just needs to share the “nuts and bolts” of the creativity. For instance, podcasting is not difficult, but it’s a fairly new concept for most of us and if someone could just share, “Here is the way you do it; this is what you will need and the cost will be approximately X number of dollars, or Rand, or whatever the currency.” Just think how ministry across the Church could be enhanced with open sharing and transparency.
I am hopeful that in 2009, The Christian Recorder will be a venue for sharing creative ideas about ministry; and we will certainly, as a denomination, see God blessings, “New morning by morning, Great is Thy faithfulness.”
I gave a short presentation entitled, “Enhancing Ministry Through the Internet” at the General Board Meeting that was held in North Charleston on December 8-10, 2008. I prefaced my statements with “You have to think in a new paradigm. You may not be able to do some of the things today, but ‘down the road, changes are coming.’” I was asked to share some of my ideas.
- Eliminate all paper at Connectional meetings.
Rationale: Email agendas and let participants be responsible for downloading their own agendas. Attendees can download agendas at home, at their local churches, or the public library.
- Every AME Church should have computers and printers.
Rationale: Technology is a reality that will not go away; it’s here to stay. The bishops of the Church must say, “This is the way it is, every church will have a computer and be connected to the Internet.” Doing so will save money in the long run.
- Teleconferences instead of Face to Face (F2F) meetings.
Rationale: Cost effectiveness, safety issues, greater efficiency, increased attendance. It does not make sense to have members get dressed, get in their cars and drive to a meeting that could be handled just as effectively over the phone. Especially in bad weather or when gasoline prices are high - and gasoline prices will get high again. Click here for free teleconference; it’s a great program: http://www.freeconference.com/ConferenceCall.aspx. Sister Jackie Weary suggests scheduling teleconferences after 9 p.m. so that those person who use only mobile phones will not incur additional charges, since most cell phone billing programs offer unlimited calling after 9 p.m.
- Pastors equipped with Smart Phones/Generation 3 Phones.
Rationale: Pastors can carry the office with them. Smart Phones/Generation 3 Phones have email, Internet connectivity, GPS, still and video cameras, the Bible, news clips, address books, calendar, and telephone. Wise church officers will insist and assist their pastors to be connected. Flip cell phones are a thing of the past. Blackberry has come out with a Generation 3 flip cell phone as a nostalgia item.
- Church announcements via the email
Rationale: People get information differently today. Young people for sure use email and the internet to access information. Church announcements read during the worship service, in most cases, detract from worship and most people are probably not paying attention to them.
- YouTube, Face Book, Yellow Book and other media information systems
Rationale: We are living in the age of technology. Telephone books are almost obsolete. In some communities, the Yellow Pages telephone book is not delivered and those who want one, has to pay for it.
- New Paradigm for ministry
Rationale: Enhanced ministry, i.e.., Online Church School, Bible Study, etc. this is a new age and we have to do things differently if we want different results. As an example, Bishop Samuel Green and the 12th Episcopal District have Bible Study online; live and in real time. Click: www.jacksonseminary.us, then click on bible study and the session should open up to the bible study window.
Free Bible download for Smart phones and Blackberry phones:
http://www.olivetree.com/store/product.php?productid=16554. When installing it, take your time and carefully follow the instructions.
Editor’s Note: We have asked Bishop Green to share with our subscribers how to set up online Bible Study.
- Use technology properly
Rationale: Technology is great and gives us conveniences we have never had, but there are some rules and pitfalls. There are a few things that you need to know. You can be liable if you break any laws. You are liable if you:
- Send emails with libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist, or obscene remarks
- Forward confidential information
- Forward/copy messages without permission
- Send an attachment containing a virus
An important reminder. You should remove the e-mail address of others when you forward emails and you should not show others’ email addresses. It's like giving out a person's telephone number. I would hope that you would not give out friend's telephone number to someone without your friend’s permission. When emails are forwarded and re-forwarded you never know who might see the email addresses if you don’t put the addresses in the Bcc email address line.
- Purchase an antivirus program and install it on your computer
Rationale: There are “bad” people out there and they take delight in wrecking havoc on people’s computers. It is to your advantage to purchase an antivirus program. Go to the store, i.e., Staples, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc. and purchase an antivirus program and install it on your computer and laptop. Do not install any antivirus program or Spyware programs that pop up on your computer. Kaspersky Antivirus is the program that I purchased http://usa.kaspersky.com/.
- I am standing on the soapbox giving a warning.
- Do not open email messages with subject line: Obama Acceptance Speech.
- Do not open emails from persons you don’t know. Delete the messages
- Do be careful when you open links and attachments; open only attachments and links from senders you know.
- When you send messages with multiple addressees, send the message Bcc; don’t put your friends and neighbors’ email addresses where anybody and everybody can see their email addresses.
As our Senior Bishop, the Right Rev. John Bryant recently said, “The glory of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is not behind us; it’s now and in the future.”
We thank God for God’s blessing and we can be the Church that God is calling for in these times; and the AME Church can be a “Light in the world.”
And, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
2. READER RESPONSE TO EDITORIAL AND OTHER ISSUES:
- To the Editor:
Re: December 12, 2008 Issue of TCR Online
There was some good stuff in this issue. I was especially interesting the response to editor with the name withheld. Rev. Pitts is always on target. I was also really glad to read the Temperance Committee Report coming from the Southern California Annual Conference. It appears that we are of like mind these days.
Thank you for the Watch Night history. We should share it with our congregations in the next two weeks so that we know the truth.
Dr. Eric Little's services may be needed now more than ever. Hopefully his advice will be taken seriously.
I was glad to read about Rev. Lewis Branch. He was liked and respected by many.
Mrs. Carol Croskey
- To the Editor:
Re: New Prostate Surgery Treatment
I appreciate the timely information you forward to our Zion.
I have a friend, who is 45, who has already undergone prostate surgery after being diagnosed with the cancer at age 44! My point, please encourage ALL men above the age of 35-40 to REQUEST PSA testing (not just the digital exam) at their next annual checkup. Currently, the protocol is to begin testing at 45-50 because this disease is thought to affect "older" men. Not so! Early detection allows for treatment such as the one you shared on 12/12/08 and increases the odds of successful recovery with less spreading of the deadly cells. Thanks again for getting the word out.
The Rev. Lisa Hammond
- To the Editor:
Re: Economic Downturn
A recent editorial about an economic downturn in America might prompt one to revisit recent reports on the inevitable reality of change. The author, The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder (TCR) newspaper, is perhaps one of the most respected articulators of change lexicon in his field. He serves a global audience through one of the longest running enterprises of its kind in America.
Key to TCR’s longevity and hope for historically disadvantaged social entrepreneurs is the hidden value in its empowering name. We receive The Christian Recorder Electronic Version, via high-speed wireless Internet. Our cross country mobile technical assistance trips help local partners connect to global assets.
As believers, we view TCR or any other “Christian” organ with an expectation of an “upside” perpetually endowed through faith in a promise from God. As communications strategists, we rely on diverse information to address our clients’ spiritual, physical, social, financial, educational, professional and recreational needs. Everyday we are awakened to the reality of our own words and the possibilities of turning words into good works.
President-elect Barack Hussein Obama rose on an audacity of hope and into the hearts of the American electorate. During the campaign, and now in the transition, information technology enhances thinking just as a lever has enhanced our ability to lift heavy objects. The central, single word, change, is being actuated through an unprecedented demonstration of YOUR faith. As believers anticipate the inauguration of the 44th U.S. President, endless possibilities for them are translating into added value for their personal economies and their fellow citizens.
According to TCR, the U.S.-based National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) defines economic recession as: "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real Gross Domestic Product growth, real personal income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. In a nutshell, the reality of a recession and its impact on African Americans has been real for a long time.
The Los Angeles-based Richard Allen Foundation has been bullish on “Our Street” economic development for years. Founder, Ernestine Lee Henning works with YouthUSA, to help congregations or auxiliaries connect to global economic strategies.
The Christian Recorder noted that 1.9 million people lost jobs this year; 533,000 lost their jobs in November 2008, the most in 34 years, and far more than expected; AT&T will lay off 15,000 employees. News reports tell readers, listeners and viewers that the U.S. job losses are the worst since 1974 and that the downturn is deepening. Unemployment is approaching 7% and is expected to exceed 8%. Foreclosures are at the highest rates ever. The recession affects all of us and affects every segment of our economy.
Depending on one’s perspective, the world is preparing for a ride of apocalyptic proportion as the redeemed hold on for a revelation of better days to come. “Smart people are preparing for the worst and are modifying their spending,” stated Sydnor. “Smart people are trying to save their jobs and praying that they will not be laid off or fired. Smart people prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” “I am surprised that our Zion is not aggressively and loudly addressing the economic situation,” Sydnor added. “I am surprised that we are not strategizing and amending our economic behavior.”
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) points to Financial Literacy as a solid step for Smart people to connect needs of a whole village with modern-day strategies.
Conversely, church leaders inherit and perpetuate values that far exceed their budgets or their tithes. Getting folks to believe was as much a challenge for Richard Allen as it is for folks like Calvin H. Sydnor, III, Ernestine B. Henning, and a host of voices crying in the wilderness, “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of God is nigh.”
The “Temporal Economy of Free Africans,” referenced in Richard Allen’s 1816 Book of Discipline offers evidence of a parallel economy and a formula for eulogizing the recession along with the economic policy that got us here. The hymn of preparation, from one’s own personal hymnbook, purchased from the denominational publishing house, might line:
"Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fears,
Tho' by the path He leadeth,
But one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Stephanie and Eric Stradford
3. ATTEND BIBLE STUDY ON THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 7 P.M.:
Bible study will be held every Thursday night at 7:00 pm (Central Standard Time).
The teacher is Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr. You do not have to leave your home. Simply Click: www.jacksonseminary.us. Then click on bible study and the session should open up to the bible study window.
Please join the 12th Episcopal District Bible Study every Thursday night and participate in a live Bible Study; and the Bible Study will be held on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Submitted by Sister Ann Gilkey, 12th Episcopal District Public Relations Director
4. PRACTICAL PREPARATION: MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER:
By The Reverend Monica C. Jones, PhD
As we stand at the dawn of the first African American presidency and an administration that we pray will open doors for us that have previously been closed, I think it is an excellent opportunity for us to examine ways to transform future leadership in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. We have already made remarkable strides at the highest levels of our connection. We have kept our commitment to elect women and indigenous Africans to the Episcopacy. We have moved to strengthen our code of ethics in the church and to facilitate positive change on the issue of gender neutrality in our communications.
Yet, we bear witness to local churches that struggle from economic downturns in the community; we see young and mature pastors alike, who face the challenge of meeting budgets while serving and maintaining their congregations. In districts where natural disasters have struck, there is an additional burden upon the church to help restore vital, healthy living in their communities. We have work to do, and we face a daunting task. How do we continue to speak to the people about the salvation of Jesus Christ and bring them into the family of faith when they are increasingly becoming jobless, hungry, and frightened? When a world hurts like this one and more importantly, when there does not seem to be relief in sight, what do we do?
One answer may be found in prayerfully considering a transformation in the preparation of those of us who have been called to lead the church. Seminaries, universities, boards of examiners, and Christian education ministries are where this preparation begins, and perhaps it is in these settings where the most radical transformation can take place. Two points are important.
First, having more AME professors and instructors in seminary and university classrooms is critical. Those of us going through the master of divinity curriculum will benefit greatly from an African Methodist perspective on subjects being taught. I remember taking church administration in seminary and thinking how different the material was in a practical sense. Even as a new student, it was clear to me that so much of what I was hearing did not apply to my church. I learned quickly that decision making in a connectional body was not the same as it was in an independent church; Episcopal administrations called for a different style of leadership in local pulpits than did other forms of governance.
The class was helpful theoretically, but practical questions were left unanswered. Although I understood that no interdenominational course would be explicitly designed for one religious tradition, it would have been helpful to have more instructors available who understood the African Methodist experience (during my seminary journey of about 40 classes, I had only 2 AME professors who taught in mainstream classrooms).
Where would I and other students like me get AME answers to our questions? At Turner Seminary at the ITC, we had our own polity class. However, not all seminaries have this course. At one time, it could be said that candidates would get the information at the local board of examiners level. Yet, some districts exempt M.Div. candidates from this process, making that option unreliable as well. Having trained professors from our church in academe is the most effective response to this critical need, if we want to afford our seminary students access to professional, AME-relevant expertise.
Finally, revising the curricula connection-wide for those candidates who do attend classes sponsored by board of examiners is essential. Perhaps a deliberately uniform emphasis on practical issues such as managing a budget, serving in economically depressed communities, how to network, and how to build self-sustaining churches would go a long way in preparing future clergy. Meanwhile, Christian educators have a role to play, too, as they teach, write, and advise learners who may very well become pastors in the coming years. Shared educational strategies within local church ministries that are successful at the conference level could serve as reinforcement to the learning process.
As we learn to baptize, we need to learn how to budget; as we learn preaching, we need to learn parliamentary procedure. As we learn to become comfortable at the steward board meeting, we should learn to become comfortable at the real estate board meeting. New clergy and those who are already in pulpits would greatly benefit from this kind of training. We have the tools at our fingertips. Our church has published excellent resources, such as To Whom Much is Given by Bishop Frank C. Cummings; we have outstanding educational connectional organizations such as our Christian Education Department’s Fellowship of Church Educators and Writers Guild. We have exceptional individuals who serve as mentors such as retired Episcopal and connectional officers, clergy, pastors, and lay leaders. We have only to utilize the gifts God has graciously given us and put them to practical use.
As President-elect Obama takes his oath of office, let us take our own oath of commitment. Let us commit to move into seminary and university level professions wherever we can; let us commit to encourage students who have the interest and potential to earn advanced teaching degrees, to do so; let us commit to revise board of examiner curricula connection-wide that will address not only pulpit leadership, but also administrative leadership; let us commit to prepare our clergy to serve the church and to serve the community; let us commit to prepare pastors who will be just as comfortable with a budget as they are with the Bible.
Monica C. Jones serves on the ministerial staff of Big Bethel AMEC and is an author, editor, and educator living in Atlanta, Georgia
5. A CHRISTMAS APPEAL: DISINFECT WATER IN ZIMBABWE, SAVE LIVES:
* The Rev. Teboho G. Klaas
In September, this year, a political agreement for power-sharing was entered into and publicly signed between Mr. Robert Mugabe, Mr. Morgan Tsvangurai and Mr. Arthur Mutambara. It resulted in hopes being raised for the return to normal life for the people of Zimbabwe. Mr. Thabo Mbeki, the former President of South Africa, facilitated the negotiations resulting in that agreement.
The negotiations are collapsing and the promise it held is diminishing. Filling the vacuum created by the failure of the agreement is disease and death.
A country which used to be “the bread basket of Southern Africa,” twenty years ago, is now a den of hunger and death; it is facing unprecedented socio-economic and political problems ever in its history. Economists approximate inflation rate to be running at 40 sextillion percent, since it was 231 million percent in July (the last time Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank released inflation figures).
There is a shortage of almost everything. There is an acute shortage of local currency, according to my Zimbabwean friends. People with money in banks cannot freely access their bank accounts; they are permitted to make bank withdrawals, once a week, and a maximum amount which is only sufficient to pay a taxi fare back home. In Harare, a day without water and electricity is heaven while fuel shortages continue to impair people’s mobility.
The promise of hope - that there is likely to be change in Zimbabwe, before the year ends – is vanishing out. Disease and death, rather, is the smell of those at the lowest ebb in this socio-political and economic endless crisis.
The Cholera Epidemic
According to the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs (http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-12-16-zimbabwe-cholera-death-toll-nears-1nbsp000), about twenty thousand Zimbabweans have been treated for cholera infections, with more than a thousand one hundred having died from the disease, and there are more than eight thousand suspected cases.
The United Nations Children’s Fund recently reported that forty-three of sixty-two districts in Zimbabwe have been affected by the cholera epidemic. On the part of Zimbabwe, across the river bordering with South Africa, a broken waste waterworks is reportedly compounding the problem of cholera.
The cholera epidemic broke around November 15.
There are recent news reports suggesting that cholera is likely to be spread into the neighbouring countries (Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia). Certainly, South Africa is dealing with the problem so much that makeshift emergency treatment wards have been opened in a hospital garden, in Musina (a town next to the Beit Bridge).
Cholera is bacterial infection, contaminating water and resulting in profuse watery diarrhea, losing water and salt in the body. If untreated, Professor Willem Sturm, Head of the Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Department at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, it leads to severe dehydration and shock. The result can lead to death.
Doubtlessly, fecal contaminated water is the cause behind the cholera epidemic, in Zimbabwe. Cholera is preventable and treatable; as a matter of fact, it can be cured. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that the deaths experienced in that country are needless and avoidable. Preventing the contamination of consumed water would mean that the water has to be purified. To treat it means people have to be rehydrated to negate the effects of the cholera bacteria.
Can anything be done by ordinary people?
Christmas is partying time; the birth of Jesus Christ is celebrated. Sharing gifts is a tradition of the season; equally so those who receive are grateful. It is a family season. These values, with or without the global financial squeeze, continue to frame our celebration. Rather than buying the wants, more than ever before, we are forced to buy needs. Even the poor, at this time, share the values of Christmas among themselves.
Life-giving, saving and enhancing hands are needed in Zimbabwe. The global family can do something about the cholera epidemic. In simple terms, members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church – whether in Africa, United States of America, or elsewhere in the Connection – can make a drastic change to the threatened lives of the people in Zimbabwe. This is the time when all of us can do something and not be concern whether or not there is a global financial crisis or jobs are lost.
A dollar (approximately ZAR10.00) can buy a 500ml of Jik, to purify water. The Catholic Welfare and Development, in Cape Town, spearheads a campaign whose goal is to achieve 100 000 litters of Jik (a product by a global pharmaceutical company, Reckitt Benckiser Corporation) distributed in 100 villages and towns in Zimbabwe, before the New Year. According to the campaign, $5 (equivalent to ZAR50) will purify 24 000 glasses of water, while a donation of $50 (equivalent to ZAR500) will purify 240,000 glasses of water.
To donate, cheques may be sent to:
Catholic Welfare & Development
37A Somerset Road
Cape Town 8000
(Tel. +27 21 425 2095)
Bank wire transfer to:
Acct. Name: CWD Zim Crisis Relief
Acct. Number: 07 115 5090
Bank Name: Standard Bank
Branch Address: Thibault Square, Capetown
Branch Code: 020909
Account Type: Current Account
Swift Number: SBZA ZA JJ
Conclusion
The legitimacy of the Zimbabwean government is questionable. The failure of the political leaders in Zimbabwe and their neighbouring countries to put the needs and lives of the people of Zimbabwe is a greatest human tragedy in the recent history. While a political solution is sought, whether or not Robert Mugabe is forced to resign, as individuals we can let the tragedy go on without doing something which is life-saving.
Zimbabweans are facing needless and avoidable death. The best Christmas gift we can make, this season, is saving lives of Zimbabwean from dying to cholera. Let us get the water they consume purified in the most inexpensive way.
*The Rev. Teboho G. Klaas is the Director: Health Programme, South African Council of Churches. His office is located in Johannesburg, RSA. Email: tgk@sacc.org.za
6. REVEREND PATRICIA EFIOM SELECTED FOR WABASH PASTORAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM:
CRAWFORDSVILLE, IN — Reverend Patricia Efiom has been selected to participate in the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program. Rev. Efiom is the Senior Pastor at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Program targets Indiana pastors with between five and 10 years of experience following their graduate seminary studies and invites them to participate in a two-year program of leadership development and pastoral reflection.
The focus of the Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program will engage pastors in explorations of critical economic, educational, and political challenges facing Indiana communities and help them develop the knowledge and skills to become stronger leaders in their congregations and communities.
Rev. Efiom earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Indiana University, and earned her Master of Divinity degree from Christian Theological Seminary. She received the Kitchen Aid Scholarship at Indiana University, the Martin Luther King Scholarship from Christian Theological Seminary, and is a contributing writer for Integrating Service Learning and Multicultural Education in Colleges and Universities.
“From a number of outstanding pastors who applied, we selected a representative group with very high potential for leadership from diverse churches throughout Indiana,” said Program Director Raymond Brady Williams. “They have rich academic backgrounds and life experiences, and we look forward to lively discussions of important issues and challenges that face communities and churches in Indiana.”
“Pastors play important roles in sustaining the vitality of local Indiana communities,” said Craig Dykstra, senior vice president for religion at the Endowment. “We are delighted that Wabash will create a leadership program that recognizes and honors their work, helps them understand more deeply challenges faced by Indiana, and prepares them to become increasingly effective leaders in congregations and communities.”
Pastors involved in the program will meet on the Wabash College campus 10 times over a two-year period to meet with civic, government, business, and religious leaders to discuss issues that affect local Indiana communities. The pastors will learn about a range of topics, such as statewide efforts to strengthen public education, Indiana economic initiatives, government responses to property tax and other issues, the impact of immigration on local communities, and advances in medical research and their impact on health care.
In addition, the pastors will participate in a study tour in North America during the first year and an international study tour in the second year of the program to learn about transnational contexts. One group of pastors will begin in January 2009 and the second in 2011.
Williams is the founding director of the program. He is the LaFollette Distinguished Professor in the Humanities emeritus and he was the founding director of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, also funded by Lilly Endowment.
“For many years the College ran the Wabash Executive Program that developed potential for leadership in executives in business and industry,” said Williams. “The College now runs the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning that develops leadership in faculty of colleges, universities, and seminaries. So it is exciting to be part of this new profession-specific leadership program for talented pastors in Indiana.”
The program will be housed in Trippet Hall on the Wabash College campus. Please contact Dr. Williams (williamr@wabash.edu or 765-361-6336) for additional information.
7. GLAUCOMA AWARENESS PROJECT:
EyeCare America, a public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, has joined forces with Resource And Promotion of Health Alliance, Inc. (R.A.P.H.A., Inc.) to educate the African American community about the risk factors for glaucoma. To get the word out to your members about the risk factors for glaucoma and EyeCare America’s Glaucoma EyeCare Program, we would like to provide your church with fans (free of cost) for Glaucoma Awareness Month in January 2009. For your reference, we have attached a sample of the fan design. We would also be happy to provide your church with a glaucoma insert to include in your bulletin/program.
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States, and the most common cause of blindness among African Americans. More than three million people have glaucoma, but half do not realize it because there are often no warning symptoms. People who have a family history of glaucoma, are African American, or are age 60 or older are at increased risk. However, early detection and treatment of glaucoma can preserve sight.
EyeCare America’s Glaucoma EyeCare Program promotes early detection and treatment of glaucoma by raising awareness of glaucoma risk factors (family history, race, age), and providing free glaucoma educational materials. The program also facilitates access to a glaucoma eye exam.
To qualify for the Glaucoma EyeCare Program you must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident; have not had an eye exam in 12 months or more; be at increased risk for glaucoma (family history, race, age) ; and do not belong to an HMO or the VA. To determine if you, a family or church member or friend qualify for a referral call 1-800-391-EYES (3937) toll-free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Those eligible for a referral through the glaucoma program receive a glaucoma eye exam and the initiation of treatment, if deemed necessary. Uninsured patients will receive the above care at no charge.
Patients with insurance will be billed and are responsible for any co-payments and/or the cost of the eye examination.
If you are interested in participating in this vital education campaign to help save the sight of your members, please fill out the attached form and return it to EyeCare America via email at pubserv@aao.org or via fax to 415-561-8567. Once your request has been received, you will receive confirmation from an EyeCare America staff member.
Should you have any questions or need any additional information about EyeCare America’s programs, please feel free to contact Gail Nyman-York via phone at 877-887-6327 or email at gnymanyork@aao.org.
Gail Nyman-York
Program Manager of EyeCare America
The Rev. Miriam J. Burnett, MD, MPH, MDiv
President, Resource and Promotion of Health Alliance, Inc.
8. CWS, U.S. CHURCH LEADERS URGE OBAMA: DROP CUBA TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS COALITION PRESSES FOR START OF NEW POLICY ERA:
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thurs Dec 18, 2008- Global humanitarian agency Church World Service and a group of leading U.S. Christian organizations and denominations are joining the mounting chorus of voices calling on President-elect Obama to change this country's longstanding, restrictive policy toward Cuba. The group is pressing most immediately to end longstanding U.S. restrictions on the ability of all Americans to travel to Cuba. Ending the restrictions on religious travel is especially important to national and regional church institutions.
In a letter sent today to Obama, Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive
Director and CEO of Church World Service along with leaders of 15 other Christian denominations, their agencies, and ecumenical organizations applauded Obama's early statements indicating his willingness to review and revise the limiting U.S. Cuba policies. The letter urged the incoming administration to put the issue on the front burner.
"We urgently request you to change the Cuba policy of the United States in ways that will assist the churches in their work and benefit all
Americans," said the letter's signers.
Citing severe U.S. restrictions on religious travel to Cuba, in place since 2005, the religious leaders emphasized that its long history of effective humanitarian and missionary activity in Cuba, "transcends political ideologies."
In requesting that the travel restrictions be lifted, the group pointed out those church institutions currently are eligible only for very limited licenses for travel to Cuba and that some of those institutions have been unable to secure even limited licenses.
CWS Executive Director Rev. John L. McCullough says, "U.S. travel restrictions have significantly reduced our ability to send religious delegations to Cuba. They've limited our opportunities to accompany and support our Cuban church partners.
"Such repressive regulations have also limited many individual U.S. churches and their congregants from participating in Cuba mission visits, which is a traditional means for American Christians to share their faith and compassion with fellow Christians in other countries."
The ecumenical communiqué to Obama also expressed concern that many Christian pastors and leaders in Cuba are unable to get visas for travel to the United States for church meetings and theological conferences.
The letter cites as a reason for some of these visa restrictions "the unduly negative view of the U.S. State Department toward leaders of the Cuban Council of Churches." The CCC is the recognized ecumenical body of the traditional Cuban Protestant denominations."
Calling continuance of the U.S. Cuba policy "ineffective and counter-productive," the religious leaders said, "We are convinced that it is time" for change, and called on the incoming administration to:
Freely allow religious travel to Cuba. Liberally grant visas for U.S. travel to Cuban pastors and other religious leaders, and no longer bar officials of the Cuban Council of Churches. Lift the travel ban for all Americans.
Beyond these immediate steps, the religious leaders urged an end to the embargo on Cuba. "The time has arrived to restore normal diplomatic relations with Cuba and to allow full engagement between the people of the United States and the people of Cuba," the group told Obama.
The group said that the decades-long U.S. policy has failed in its objective to precipitate change in the Cuban government, with resulting hostilities between the two countries serving "only to limit the close historical bonds" between churches in both countries.
Other signers of the letter are the Reverend Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary, National Council of Churches; the Reverend Dr. Stan Hastey, Minister for Mission and Ecumenism, Alliance of Baptists; Reverend Dr. Jose Norat-Rodriguez, Area Director for Iberoamerica and the Caribbean, American Baptist Churches of the USA, Stanley Noffsiner, General Secretary, Church of the Brethren; The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church; Rolando Santiago, Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee U.S.; The Reverend Dr. Tyrone S. Pitts, General Secretary, Progressive National Baptist Convention; the Reverend Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary, Reformed Church in America; the Reverend Edward W. Paup, General Secretary, General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church; The Reverend Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary, American Baptist Churches of the USA; The Reverend Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada; The Reverend Phil Jones, Director, Brethren Witness, Washington Office, Church of the Brethren; the Reverend Mark S.Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Reverend Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly,Presbyterian Church, (USA); the Reverend Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Ecumenical Officer, Progressive National Baptist Convention; the Reverend Dr. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ; and James E. Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United, Methodist Church.
Relief, development and refugee assistance agency Church World Service maintains ecumenical relationships with church bodies in Cuba, but currently has a very limited travel license under the U.S. Treasury
Department. As a humanitarian agency, CWS also provides emergency relief to Cuba following major disasters, under separate licensing by the Department of Commerce.
9. AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL EVENTS AND CONNECTIONAL MEETINGS:
Church Growth and Development Seminar
January 6-9, 2009
Brochure/Registration Form | Online Registration
Registration info:
- On or before 11/15/08: $130.00
- After 11/15/08: $150.00
- On-Site: $150.00
Hyatt Regency, Jacksonville Riverfront Hotel
225 East Coastline Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32202
(800) 233-1234
Deadline: December 4, 2008. Hotel cost is $129.00 per night (single, double, triple or quad)
Council of Bishops Retreat
January 12 - 16, 2009
Westin – Memphis, Beale Street
170 George West Lee Avenue
Memphis, TN 38103
(901) 334-5900
Compilation Committee Meeting
January 20 - 22, 2009
AME Sunday School Union
500 Eighth Avenue South
Nashville, TN
Bishop C. Garnett Henning, Chairperson
Sessions to begin Thursday at 10:00 am and conclude at 2:00 pm on Friday
WMS Executive Board Meeting
January 28 - 31, 2009
Agenda | Registration Form
Registration info:
- Early Bird Registration (on-line) by 11/7/08: $220.00
- Registration between 11/8/08 – 1/4/09: $270.00
- Late Registration between 1/5/08 – 1/21/08: $310.00
- On-Site Registration: $350.00
Louisville Marriott Downtown
280 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(800) 533-0127
Deadline: January 6, 2009. Hotel cost is a flat room rate of $99.00 per night, one bedroom suite, $250.00 per night.
Ministries in Christian Education
April 16-18, 2009
Nashville, TN
General Board and Council of Bishops
June 29-30, 2009
Business Sessions Monday-Tuesday
Investiture, Monday, June 29, 2009
New Orleans, LA
Connectional Lay Biennial
July 26-30, 2009
Peabody Hotel
Three Statehouse Plaza
Little Rock, AR
(501) 906-4000
Extracted from the official AME Website:
http://www.ame-church.com/news-and-events/connectional-meetings.php
10. EPISCOPAL FAMILY BEREAVEMENT:
We are saddened to announce the passing of Mrs. Willie L. Ridout, the mother of Supervisor Lola Nixon Cheltenham. Mrs. Ridout passed on Thursday, December 18, 2008.
Mrs. Lola Nixon Cheltenham is the Supervisor of Missions of the Eighth Episcopal District; Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry is the Presiding Prelate.
Episcopal Family Service Arrangements:
Service arrangements for Mrs. Willie Lou Ridout, mother of Supervisor Lola Nixon Cheltenham, 8th Episcopal District and Grandmother of Rev. Joseph C. Nixon, Pastor of Brookins Community AME Church, Los Angeles, California are as follows:
Funeral Services:
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
11:00 AM.
First AME Church
1213 Filbert Street
Richmond, California 94801
Rev. Cedric Alexander, Pastor
Family Visitation:
Monday, December 22, 2008
4::00 PM - 8:00 PM
Wilson & Kratzer Mortuaries
Civic Center Chapel
455 - 24th Street
Richmond, Ca. 94804
Phone: (510) 232-4383
Fax: (510) 235-7550
If hotel reservations are needed, rooms are available under the name of Rev. Joseph C. Nixon at:
Marriott Courtyard
3150 Garrity Way
Richmond, Ca. 94806
Phone: (510) 262-0700
$99.00 per night
Condolences may be sent to:
3048 Glynis Dr.
Richmond, Ca. 94806
Phone: (510) 222-3065
Electronic expressions of sympathy for Supervisor Cheltenham may be sent to: mamalola7@roadrunner.com.
Contact information for Supervisor Lola Nixon Cheltenham (323-363-7188).
Celesstine Palmer
Executive Administrator
Eighth Episcopal District
Cell: 213-361-5038
Home/Office: 232-293-5948
11. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
Service Addendum for Mrs. Mildred Lofton, Episcopal Supervisor to the late Bishop Robert L. Pruitt, and the sister-in-law of the late Bishop Donald G. K. Ming.
The funeral has been held.
12. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We are saddened to announce the passing of Mr. Roy Preston Jones, Sr., the father of the Reverend Roy Preston Jones, Jr., the newly appointed pastor of Saint James AME Church, Camden, Arkansas and the father of the Reverend Frankie Will, Sr., pastor of Mt. Olive AME Church in Lebanon, Tennessee. Mr. Roy Preston Jones, Sr. of Stephens, Arkansas passed on Tuesday, December 16, 2008.
Service arrangements for Mr. Roy Preston Jones, Sr:
The funeral has been held.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to:
The Rev. Roy Preston Jones, Jr. and Family
Saint James A.M.E. Church
241 Center St. SW
Camden, AR 71701
Phone: (870) 836-3965
Email: royjonesjr67@yahoo.com
and
The Rev. Frankie Witt, Sr. and Family
436 Terrier Way
Clarksville, TN 37042-3995
Phone: (931) 552-6828
Email: wittfrankie@att.net
13. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We are saddened to announce the homegoing of the Reverend Obi G. Munroe, Local Elder of Bethel AME Church in Champaign, Illinois, North District-Illinois Conference. Rev. Obi G. Munroe passed on Sunday, December 14, 2008. Service arrangements are as follows:
The funeral has been held.
14. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We regret to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Mildred Lofton, a former Episcopal Supervisor. Mrs. Lofton was the Episcopal Supervisor to the late Bishop Robert L. Pruitt and the sister in law of the late Bishop Donald G. K. Ming. The following information has been provided regarding funeral arrangements.
The funeral has been held.
Condolences may be sent to:
Patricia Hardaway and Rita Lofton
c/o Rohland Funeral Home
508 Cumberland Street
Lebanon, PA 17042
Phone: 717-272-6673
Fax: 717-273-7123
You may also contact the family at Mrs. Lofton's home, 717-273-1682
15. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We regret to inform you of the passing of Brother Ervin Harold Williams, Jr., the son of the Rev. Ervin H., Sr. and Mary Williams of Georgetown, Delaware. The Rev. Williams is a retired pastor, formerly of Dickerson Chapel, from the Delaware Conference.
The funeral has been held.
Condolences may be sent to:
The Reverend Ervin and Mary Williams
17072 Sand Hill Road
Georgetown, DE 19947
Phone: 302-856-2877
16. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
This message is to inform you that Mrs. Mary Waite, the sister of the Rev. Samuel Chambers, the pastor of Payne Chapel AME Church in Duquesne, Pennsylvania passed from this troublesome world on Friday, December 12, 2008 at UPMC McKeesport.
The funeral has been held.
Condolences can be sent to:
The Rev. Samuel Chambers
603 Priscilla Avenue
Duquesne, PA 15110
(412) 466-6662
17. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
It is with sorrow that we announce the passing of the Reverend Willie Grays Wynn, retired itinerant elder in the West Arkansas Conference, 12th Episcopal District, and the former pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Malvern, Arkansas.
The funeral has been held.
The family may be contacted via his daughter, Mrs. LaFrenda Jackson, at 501-842-0189.
18. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
The Eighth Episcopal District is saddened to announce the passing of Mrs. Georgia Mae Hurst, the mother of the Rev. Mack C. Hurst, the pastor of Grant Chapel AME Church, Amite, Louisiana; the mother-in-law of Mrs. Brenda G. Hurst, Louisiana Conference Branch WMS President and Connectional Recording Secretary of CONN-M-SWAWO+PK's. Mrs. Georgia Mae Hurst is the grandmother of Mrs. Aimee Hurst Anderson, Ohio Conference Branch YPD Director, 3rd Episcopal District and the grandmother-in-law of Mr. Derek Anderson, Connectional President of the Richard Allen Young Adult Council. Mrs. Georgia Mae Hurst was a faithful and devoted member of Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church and the WMS. She served the Eighth Episcopal District WMS as treasurer for many years.
The Eighth Episcopal District extends heartfelt sympathy and support to the Hurst Family. We pray for their strength during this transition.
The final arrangements are as follows:
Visitation: Wednesday, December 24, 2008, 9-11 a.m. at Turner Chapel A.M.E. Church, Turner Chapel Road, Greensburg, LA, Reverend Stanley Carter, Pastor (225) 222-6723
Homegoing Celebration: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Turner Chapel AME Church, Turner Chapel Road, Greensburg, Louisiana, the Reverend Stanley Carter, Pastor.
Professional Services Provided By:
MJR Friendly Service Funeral Home
87 Paddio Johnson Road
Greensburg, LA 70441
(225) 222-4479
Condolences can be sent to:
The Rev. Mack C. and Mrs. Brenda G. Hurst
23 Collins Chaney Lane
Greensburg, LA 70441
(985) 320-3136- Rev. Hurst Cell
(985) 634-8513 - Mrs. Hurst Cell
(225) 222-3037 FAX
19. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICES AND CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS PROVIDED BY:
The Clergy Family Information Center
Bishop Carolyn Tyler Guidry, Chair
Commission on Social Action
Mrs. Ora L. Easley, Administrator
AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
E-mail: Amespouses1@bellsouth.net
Phone: (615) 837-9736
Voice Mail: (615) 833-6936
Fax: (615) 833-3781
Cell: (615) 403-7751
20. CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREAVED FROM THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER:
The Chair of the Commission on Publications, the Right Reverend Richard Franklin Norris; 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
