2/01/2014

THE CHRISTIAN RECORDER ONLINE ENGLISH EDITION (02/01/14)

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 – SUNDAY SCHOOL AND PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS MAKE A DIFFERENCE:

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

I love being the editor of The Christian Recorder because it brings me close to the day-to-day ministry of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I am so blessed by the number of persons who share their stories and experiences with me.

Sometimes, people share their stories in confidence and I have to honor their request for anonymity; and so their stories remain confidential.

At other times, people want me to share their stories in editorials; in fact many, or most, editorials in The Christian Recorder are precipitated by emails and conversations with laity and clergy at all levels of the Church. As a matter of fact I have several editorials in the queue, most notably, the theological and historical liturgy of Holy Communion, the rationale for the clergy wear of robes and an editorial with “gumbo ministry” in the title. The “gumbo ministry” editorial will look at the various dimensions and approaches of ministry in the AME Church.

Sometimes I receive articles that just get my “editorial juices” flowing and this week I received an article written by Dr. Joseph Smiley entitled, “Mt. Olive AME Church in Clearwater, Florida Using Church School to Help Youth Succeed in Local Schools” (Number 3 in this week’s issue of TCR Online) that piqued my thoughts and memories about the importance of teachers in my life, not only my public school teachers, but especially my Sunday School teachers. 

My Sunday School teachers laid the foundation for reading in public, helped me to learn to express myself in public. And actually it was in Sunday School that instilled self-confidence and laid the foundation for my academic performance in public school.

Upon reading the article written by Dr. Joseph Smiley, I thought about the importance of Sunday School and the ACE League in my life and how my academic achievements might have been difference if I hadn’t had the experience of Sunday School, especially public reading, speaking and memorization.

Dr. Smiley’s article precipitated my appreciation for my teachers and pastors and undergirds my appreciation for the AME Church’s Christian Education programs and why Christian Education is still important.

It warms my heart to recall my Sunday School and public school teachers who significantly impacted my life. I can’t remember all of their names, but I am surprised at how many names I can remember.

I have my memories and you have yours. I am going to share mine and I hope you will take a moment and think about the Sunday School and public school teachers who impacted your life.  

I am appreciative and indebted to the teachers who made a difference in my life.

Sunday School Teachers

-  Mr. Warren and Harry Strothers my Sunday School teachers at Bethel AME Church in Ardmore, Pennsylvania when the Reverend T. S. Clements was the pastor. The Strothers brothers both taught Sunday School and they both made Sunday School exciting! They could raise the most contentious questions that precipitated excited conversations among their young Sunday School students in each of their classes. Both of them were excellent teachers.

- An of course my Grandmother, “Mrs. Price” who played the piano for the Sunday School and taught a Sunday School class at Bethel Ardmore. She had some ideas that were really “old school,” which could precipitate animated conversations among her young students. Talk about time-management, I had to get to Sunday School early because she played for the opening. Newscaster, “Jim” Vance was in our class and we all wanted to read as well as he did.

-  Sister Wynn my Sunday school teacher at Ebenezer AME Church, Rahway, New Jersey.  The Reverend Aldustus Jordan and the Reverend Jesse F. Owens were my pastors at Ebenezer, Rahway. The Rev. Owens was my father in the ministry. Sister Wynn was so nice and her classes were so informative. She loved Sunday School, the AME Church and she loved her Sunday School students.

Elementary and grammar school teachers

- Miss Collier who taught grades 1-6 at St. Mary’s School, a one-room school house way out in the country in Piney River, Nelson County Virginia. There was no lunch program and no bus service for the black students. How she taught I do not know, but I know I learned and she laid the foundation for my academic successes.  The school and our homes did not have electricity or running water. Heat was provided by a pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room.  There was no such thing, at that time, as child abuse. Miss Collier wielded a mean switch, of which I was a recipient. One of the things I remember was that we had to learn the song, “Dixie,” and had to sign it when the white school official visited our school. I still remember the words to the song today, but I don’t sing it!

- Miss Maxwell who taught 4th grade at Coppin Laboratory School at the then Cheyney State Teachers College in Cheyney, Pennsylvania when I was in boarding school at Sunnycrest Farm for Negro Boys.  It was a school run by the Quakers. Again, there was no such thing as “child abuse.”  By the time I got to the 4th grade though, I had learned how to avoid whippings because by the 4th grade the whippings were “real whippings.” 

-  Mrs. Ellis, who also taught at Coppin Laboratory School, taught my 5th grade class and I was made to feel like a student and a leader; sometimes called a, “Teacher’s Pet.”

- Miss Dugan taught my 8th grade at 15th Avenue School in Newark, New Jersey. There were only two blacks in the class. She nominated me to be on the Safety Patrol. I took pride in wearing the badge on my left arm.

-  My art teacher at 15th Avenue School in Newark, New Jersey, whose name escapes me, was the most important mentor to me in grammar school.  She encouraged me to attend Arts High School in Newark. Arts High gave me a great academic foundation.  We moved to Rahway, New Jersey in my sophomore year and I attended Rahway High School.

High school teachers

-  A teacher whose name I cannot remember, taught me to play the string bass on Saturday mornings in an after-school program at West Side High School in Newark. I played the bass in bands during high school and as a result I never learned to dance very well. At least that’s the excuse I give for never being a good dancer.

- The Rahway High School band and orchestra director, whose name I cannot remember, who, when I told him I played the string bass, took me to the band room and handed me a bass tuba and I became a bass tuba player in the Rahway High School band. 

-  Miss D’Amato, the music teacher who gave me piano lessons at Rahway High School in Rahway, New Jersey. She gave me the foundation for playing the piano.

-  The typing teacher at Rahway High School, whose name I cannot remember who agreed to teach an after school typing class if I could find at least 10 students to take the after-school course for “no-credit,” just as an extra curricular activity. I found more than 10 students and we all learned to type.

College professors

-  Miss Isabel Askew my history professor at Wilberforce University. She didn’t take any stuff from me or any other student and knew how to motivate and teach history. She was tough and she was an excellent professor!

-  Miss Gertrude Jackson was my English professor at Wilberforce University. She didn’t take any stuff either.  Miss Jackson reminded me of my grandmother, but I quickly learned she was not my substitute-grandmother. She would say, “Mister…” and let you know that you had to do the required work and that a student could not smile his or her way to a passing grade. Miss Jackson was tough too!  The “Sydnor-charm” did not work with her!

-  Dr. Yvonne Walker Taylor my English Literature professor at Wilberforce University was “Miss Walker” when I attended Wilberforce.  I had a crush on her and I believe that the Rev. Rodger Reed (we were not reverends them) and the other guys in the class had a crush on her too, but she didn’t have a crush on us. She held our “academic feet to the fire.”

-  Mr. Norville Smith my Social Science professor at Cheyney University who knew how to bring the best “out of” all of his students. He made me and other students feel like scholars.

Seminary professors

-  The Rev. Roscoe Pierson my Bibliography professor and mentor at Lexington Theological Seminar, Lexington, Kentucky. He made it possible for me to travel to the West Indies and get some semblance of a global perspective of ministry. He was a white man from Mississippi and insisted that I call him “Roscoe.”  We ate at his house and he and his wife ate at our parsonages in Paris, Kentucky and in Danville, Kentucky.

Thanks to Dr. Joseph Smiley for giving me an opportunity to acknowledge some of the significant teachers who were instrumental in my life.

Do you remember the Sunday School and public school teachers who were instrumental in your life?

Next week: Holy Communion, Worship and the Rationale for the Wear of Robes by Clergy. 

2.  READER RESPONSE TO EDITORIAL AND OTHER ISSUES: 

-- To the Editor:

RE: TCR Editorial: Does Anybody Care?

Some lay people care very much. The question is how to make change without destroying what little we have in terms of a local church or "connection"?

Prayer and Bible Study help.  Just plain understanding the importance of loving the "sheep" would be helpful.

Some lay people care, but are woefully intimidated by their pastor - sort of like how some bigoted caucasians once intimidated African Americans.

If anyone wants to know why some people are working "outside" the church structure for change or just leaving the church, have some online question and answer sessions, comment sessions.

Lay people tell one another HORROR STORIES about what is openly going on in their church and "no one seems" to do anything about the problems/concerns.

My understanding and feelings are that all of us have the right and responsibility to press for positive change.  Lord knows we don't need to destroy our churches.

-- To the Editor:

RE: TCR Editorial: Doles Anybody Care?

It is so refreshing to me when you address those seemingly difficult issues that no one wants to talk about. I thank God for your editorials. I too have wondered why our preachers do not preach in robes as that has been our signature. When I came to the 13th district for the 4th district I found that many things were not being followed as per the Discipline. Hope people are listening. I DO CARE!!!!

 
Power Angel on Assignment,
Gwen Criglar

3. MT. OLIVE AME CHURCH IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA; USING THE CHURCH SCHOOL TO HELP YOUTH SUCCEED IN LOCAL SCHOOLS:

*Dr. Joseph Smiley

There is no greater challenge to African American youth than achieving a quality education to maximize their potential in society. 

Pastor James Vincent Williams, Mt. Olive AME Church in Clearwater, Florida is using the framework of the Church School as a strategy for helping Mt. Olive youth improve their level of success in Pinellas County Schools.  Moved by the thought that the church must be more aggressive in helping youth navigate the path of educational success and that it can be done in part by using the Church School, Mt. Olive has expanded the programmatic role of the Church School.

What are our goals?  The goals are to improve the grade level success rate of our youth and to reduce to zero the suspension rate, in and out of school.  What has the Church School implemented to achieve its goals?  Three programmatic steps have been infused into our policies, procedures, and curriculum.

First, we implemented a system to effectively assess and monitor student progress in school.  When Pinellas County schools release report cards, parents are asked to turn in copies of all report cards to the Church School.  The report cards are reviewed by the Church School Assistant Superintendent of Instruction and a plan is developed as needed for each youth.  Grades and student conduct are reviewed to determine the intervention plan for the student. 

If a review of the report card reveals a weakness or grade decrease in one or two subjects, a meeting will be arranged at the church to advise and offer the needed support for the student.   If there are behavior concerns reflected on the report card or conveyed by the parent, a series of meetings are held with the parent and student.   Ongoing counseling and monitoring of the student will occur over the next grading period.      

Second, we implemented a system for calling on the power of prayer.  After report cards are received for each grading period, a prayer program is held during the Sunday Church School hour.  The entire church is called together to pray over the reports cards, the progress of the children, their teachers, and principals.   

And third, the Church School must aggressively promote more reading and writing.  Creating more opportunities to read and write is important to improving both skills.  Towards that end, all Church School teachers include writing assignments as part of every Church School lesson.  Children are given weekly home reading assignments and parents are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that reading assignments are completed in preparation for the next Church School class meeting.  Additionally, quarterly book reading festivals are planned.

Can our churches afford to do less?  No, the cost of doing less is too great.  The Church School must help to counter the forces in the home, community, and school that tend to reduce student success rates in schools serving AME church students.  Church Schools in small, medium, and large churches alike have the capacity to provide the factors critical to countering such forces. The power of the Mt. Olive Church School will be maximized to improve grade level success and a zero suspension rate among our youth.

*Dr. Joseph Smiley is currently Church School Superintendent at Mt. Olive AME Church in Clearwater, Florida.

4. BISHOP RICHARD F. NORRIS CELEBRATES AFRICAN METHODISM AT BETHLEHEM AME CHURCH:

*Ms. Kay Taylor-Hightower, Esq.

Bishop Richard Franklin Norris, 116th Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Presiding Prelate of the Seventh Episcopal District, and over 600 AMEs from all over the state of South Carolina flooded Bethlehem AME Church in Winnsboro, SC on Sunday January 12, 2014, to celebrate the vital role that African Methodism and Bethlehem have played in the Winnsboro Community. Since it was established by newly freed African Methodists for over a century ago, Bethlehem AME has brought generations of people Christ.  Rev. Dr. James D. Stokes is the pastor of Bethlehem AME and Rev. James R. Glover is the church’s presiding elder. 

Accompanied by his wife, Episcopal Supervisor Mary Ann Norris and eight Presiding Elders: the Rev. Lorenzo Baker (Orangeburg District); Rev. Dr. James Cooper (Wateree District); the Rev. Robert Cooper (Florence-Dillon District); Rev. Sandy Drayton (Columbia District); Rev. James Glover (Lancaster District); the Rev. Dr. Junerrl Keith (Mount Pleasant District); the Rev. Dr. Robert McCants (Sumter District); and the Rev. Joseph Postell (Newberry-Spartanburg District).

Bishop Norris joined the congregants in a spirit-filled service celebrating Bethlehem AME and its members.  South Carolina’s world famous hospitality was apparent from the moment everyone entered the church. Rev. Stokes and Mrs. Stokes, the ushers and all of the members of Bethlehem AME greeted everyone as family.

To an avalanche of Amens and Hallelujahs from the congregation, Bishop Norris affirmed his and the Seventh Episcopal District’s unconditional support for Rev. Stokes and Bethlehem AME. Then it was preaching time. Rev. Stokes delivered a powerful message. His text came from Matthew 3:13-17; his sermon was entitled, “Walking in Obedience.”

The service ended after the six hundred people in the church huddled around the altar. All hearts and minds were clear as Rev. Dr. Ronnie Brailsford, Bethel (Columbia) prayed for the Bethlehem AME Church family. By the end of the service, everyone was a member of the Bethlehem AME Church family.

*Kay Taylor-Hightower, Esq. is the Social Action Director for the 7th Episcopal District

5. NEW AME CHURCH HAS ITS FOCUS ON FAMILY:

Dave McMillion

The Rev. J. C. Chandler Jr., 55, and his wife, the Rev. Sakima “Kim” Romero-Chandler, 39, have started a new church in Hagerstown, and they vow to change what they see as long-held notions among some churches.

The Hagerstown couple, which has led ministries at churches in Washington, D.C., and Hyattsville, Md., received “mission status” approval in April of last year to establish a new African Methodist Episcopal Church in Hagerstown.

They said it took some time to organize the new church and find a location, which for now is a conference room in the Comfort Suites at 1801 Dual Highway.

They started offering services at the hotel on July 21.

As the name implies, the Family Life Ministry AME Church is focused on the family unit.

As far as Kim is concerned, it does not matter what families at her church look like. Age, sexual orientation, children or no children — none of that has any bearing on a central effort to save souls, she said.

J.C. said the African reference to the church is simply the basis of where the church came from during times of slavery.

“I like to say AME more stands for ‘all members are equal.’ I don’t care what your origin is. We’re all God’s children,” said J.C., whose day job is a national security position at the Pentagon. J.C. is the president and founder of Argus Eagle LLC, a company that assists contractors in dealing with national security regulations.

To help the church get off the ground, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Funkstown donated Bibles and hymnals, and the two ministers said they will consider eventually building a church or leasing a space.

Part of the requirement for a new AME church is that it must be at least seven miles from any other AME church, the couple said.

The new church’s location at the Comfort Suites at 1801 Dual Highway is only 3.7 miles from Ebenezer AME church on Bethel Street.

The Rev. Sakima Romero-Chandler, one of the pastors in the new church, said because the new church is currently considered a missions church, it can operate anywhere.

When the church is “planted,” it must be seven miles from any other AME churches, Romero-Chandler said.

J.C. said starting a church can be difficult because other churches sometimes see the new organization as an attempt to take parishioners.

“That’s a mind-set that really needs to change,” said J.C., who believes there needs to be more networking and partnerships between churches.

“That is the glass ceiling that we are going to first crack, then break,” J.C. said.

The Rev. Michael Louia of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Funkstown said he agrees with that assessment.

“I think they have a very focused ministry. And that’s a good thing,” Louia said in a telephone interview.

J.C. and Kim also want to concentrate on serving specific segments of the population, like senior citizens and youths.

J.C. said many senior citizens need medical assistance, and he would like to see the church partner with a pharmacy retailer to meet their medical needs. He said he envisions setting aside space in his church where senior citizens can get the medicine they need, perhaps subsidized by the church.

J.C., who retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1999, moved to Hagerstown in 2002 and was part of the ministerial staff at Ebenezer AME Church for about five years. He was born in San Antonio, and was raised in Denver and Pensacola, Fla.

Romero-Chandler was born and raised in Queens, New York and has served in ministerial positions at AME churches in Houston, Washington, D.C., and Hyattsville. She moved to Hagerstown in 2012.

Dave McMillion is a reporter for The Herald-Mail. He can be reached via email at davem@herald-mail.com.

**Used with permission of The Herald-Mail Company

6. THE TRUTH IS THE LIGHT:
     
*The Reverend Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr.

Based on Biblical Text: Matthew 24:45 (KJV): “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?”
       
I wonder how many among us are faithful and wise employees?  Who among us find our motivation for working hard each day stems from the fact that we are the head of our household and must provide food and shelter for ourselves and our family?

 I believe, at the very least, we agree that we should be feeding ourselves. No one enjoys labor without reward. Hard work for little pay can weaken our spirits and tempt us to give up and “throw in the towel”.  However in our text Jesus reminds us that we work with our employer, but we work for our families. Jesus wants us to know that when He returns, He will judge us by our faithfulness to our responsibility as the provider for our household. Certainly unfair employers may appear to get away with paying us too little for our diligence and dedication, but God promises us that there is a great heavenly reward for those who take their responsibility to be a faithful and wise servant seriously.

Two principles associated with the act of servanthood are obedience and submission. We are challenged to comply with the earthly supervisors, those who are in authority over us in secular or material relations, while we are encouraged that Christ is our absolute Lord and Master. It is God’s desire that we perform our duties both eagerly and sufficiently. We should not go about that which we are responsible to do haphazardly giving less than our very best.  We should not be sloppy, or slothful in the fulfillment of our work.

The obvious question is how can we be this dedicated to an employer who may be less than fair to us?  The, maybe not so obvious, answer is that we can because we are spiritually motivated as Christians, desperately seeking to please our real Master, Jesus Christ. The Bible challenges, “Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.”

Steward, Trustee, Stewardess, Choir Member or Usher, whatever our job, we are obligated to God to offer the best of our service. Now, we always have the option to look for another position. However, it is a fact that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. In many cases some have found the green grass only to be dirt painted green.  In other words it can often end up to be more wilted than the field we are already plowing in.

Where ever we find ourselves employed, where ever we are planted, there is a mission. There is a work to do that only we are equipped to do. Would God send His anointed into an unfruitful situation?  “With God all things are possible.”  The Apostle Paul learned early in his Christian walk to praise God for all circumstances.  The Bible reminds us that “No weapon that is formed against thee (God) shall prosper” and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” We must be encouraged that the darkest of nights will eventually be followed by the brightest of days. In the wake of the heaviest of burdens will come the greatest of blessings. We are admonished to praise God at all times and in all circumstances faithful that the most hopeless limitations will be succeeded by the most profound strengths and the most difficult of circumstances will produce the most blessed accomplishments.
As we work to satisfy the requirements imposed by our earthly employer we must recognize that our real business is serving the Lord. We put forth our best effort as all our work should be unto Christ. No matter what our job is it should be done for His sake and to His glory.

The work we are called to do is not always fun but the joy we find in serving our earthly employer is not tied to the reward he gives us on payday. The joy we have man didn’t give it and man cannot take it away.  The joy we find in servanthood is tied to the reward Christ promises when He returns for His Saints!  In other words, God’s payday is coming.

Every aspect of our earthly life, on the job and off the job, must be governed by our moral and spiritual integrity.  We are confident our labor is not in vain.  We are challenged to give all of ourselves, because Christ gave His all.  We are charged to remain faithful that the God we serve is faithful to deliver us from every difficulty and disaster. We must be faithful, wise, diligent and responsible knowing that God will strengthen us in times of trials, sustain us in times of suffering and keep us in times of persecution.

We labor, but not in vain because we know a reward far greater than payday is coming!  Until that day we hold on to our faith in God believing that it is sufficient to dissolve our doubts, supply our needs, and reward our labors!

*The Reverend Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr. is the pastor of Morris Brown AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina

7. THE NEW OLD LABOR CRISIS - THINK BEING AN ADJUNCT PROFESSOR IS HARD? TRY BEING A BLACK ADJUNCT PROFESSOR.

 Tressie McMillan Cottom

Students at Columbia University listen to Mark Rudd, chairman of SDS Columbia; speak in New York City on May 1, 1968.

The New York Times reported recently on an adjunct instructor, James Hoff, who walks like a professor, talks like a professor, and teaches like a professor, but has none of the benefits of being a professor, because he is an adjunct. Adjunct labor in higher education has revealed the structural flaw in our post-recession reality: The prescription for poverty—educational attainment—has become a condition for poverty. The high price, in dollars and opportunity costs, of getting All the Education™ has to be reconfigured, because tenured jobs with their tenured wages are declining. And that has made lots of people angry.

I’m actually quite glad people are getting angry about adjunctification. On Friday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a 36-page report chronicling the low salaries, long hours, and lack of benefits and job security that “contingent faculty” face. (The report puts an adjunct’s average annual pay at just under $25,000.)

But to be clear, there’s been a labor crisis in higher ed for a long time. It just hasn’t always been a crisis for everyone in higher ed.

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has pretty much confirmed what the stories about adjuncts on food stamps and dying without health coverage illustrate: A “long-term fiscal crisis” has crushed Ph.D.s into adjunct spackle, to be applied liberally to cracks in university foundations. The report also shows something else: “The proportion of African-Americans in non-tenure-track positions (15.2 percent) is more than 50 percent greater than that of whites (9.6 percent).”  In 2009, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education analyzed data from the Department of Education and projected that if current rates of hiring and promotion of black Ph.D.s remained steady, it would “take nearly a century and a half for the percentage of African-American college faculty to reach parity with the percentage of blacks in the nation’s population.” African-Americans make up just 5 percent of full-time faculty. If you leave out the high proportion of black Ph.D.s working in historically black colleges and universities, black full-time faculty in the U.S. barely clears 4 percent.

You have two sets of conditions unfolding against these statistics. On the one hand, African-Americans are less likely to attend graduate school than whites for myriad reasons. First, you have to know that graduate school exists and is a practical option for someone like you. That often takes sharing a network—family, friends, mentors—who can model how that’s done and what it looks like. But historical discrimination in college enrollment and persisting inequalities from kindergarten through college means black students are less likely to know someone who has been to graduate school.

Should you discover graduate school and meet the institutional requirements for graduate school, you still have to pay for graduate school. Everything from shelling out a couple hundred dollars per application to funding a move to get there would be a whole lot easier with inherited wealth or parents with home equity and a good credit score. Again, for reasons well-documented by sociologists like James Shapiro, the hidden cost of being black in America makes getting there a lot harder.

Student protests dating back to the 1960s have demanded more tenured black faculty because they understand that tenure is a political tool.

On the other hand, there is also a set of social conditions—or what sociologists call structure—at play. The structural fissures in higher education labor are now becoming more visible to all sectors of the higher education labor market. Tenure isn’t just about managing labor costs. Tenure is and always has been political. For minorities, particularly African-Americans, tenure and academic labor have long looked like managing bottom lines and keeping the upper echelons of the Ivory Tower white and male. That “long-term fiscal crisis” the AAUP cites? It came first for all the places black folks gather in groups of two or more. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education predicts it will come first and stay longest for black faculty, who are often last hired, first fired. Departments with a lot of black faculty are “more likely have to surrender faculty slots,” JBHE warns.

That’s a prediction in line with history. Black faculty and the departments where they are found in the greatest numbers have been the most vulnerable since their inception. When the AAUP was issuing its first report on adjunct professors in the early 1980s, black students and faculty had been protesting the ghetto-fication of black scholars in adjunct roles for almost 20 years. In 1968, black students took over an administration building at Columbia; among their demands was a call for more tenured black faculty. In 1969, the Black Student Union at San Francisco State University drafted a document justifying the establishment of an African-American Studies department.

These protests were extensions of the black power and civil rights movements: Essentially, young people looked around at the institutions that produced all the science and expert opinions that had rationalized their legal and social oppression, and they decided that universities were ripe for disruption. They were not just demanding student access but more tenured black faculty; they understood that tenure was a political tool. Tenure is so political that departments, administrators, and even faculty have used tenure to restrict black academics’ access to university resources. One story from a history of black studies programs recounts a Wellesley College dean telling the department’s first black faculty member to come up for tenure that “the college had decided in its wisdom that the tenure quota for Black Studies would be capped at one for all time.”

James Karabel’s excellent history of admissions at Ivy League universities includes correspondence among the presidents of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton as student protests spread throughout the country in the ’60s. They were more than a little terrified by the unrest. Their elegant solution was the careful recruitment of black students and black faculty within reason, so as not to disturb the universities’ culture or labor structure. It was a popular strategy. Accounts abound from minority faculty who were hired to assuage demand for diversity only to find rules for tenure and promotion that effectively trapped them in nontenure-track roles.

Last year, I moderated a panel on black academic women’s health in the academy. The administrators were overwhelmed by the intensity of response. Hundreds of essays poured in about the racism and sexism that stymied their academic careers. Many felt silenced by faculty groups that were supposed to protect them, ignored by comrades in the adjunct struggle who did not address how racism compounded its effects, and exhausted from straddling so many worlds. Problems like these have been so systemic that some disciplines, such as the American Anthropological Association, have produced white papers (no pun intended) on racism, tenure, and hiring.

I agree with the AAUP that the racial disparities in adjuncting are disturbing, just as I agree with the JBHE that it is systemic and historical. Our current anger about class divides in higher education labor cannot be separated from its racist roots. Or, rather, it can—but then it is about something altogether different. 

Tressie McMillan Cottom is a Slate writer and Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Emory University.

8. GETTING TO ZERO: NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY

*Dr. Oveta Fuller

“We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For” is the theme of the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) for February 7, 2014. Annually during Black History Month, NBHAAD is a coordinated focus on HIV/AIDS among African Americans (AA) and those in the African Diaspora. It is a time to “get educated, get tested, get involved and get treated.” HIV/AIDS and its impacts can be stopped.

What is the effect of HIV in the USA?

As part of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, in the USA at least 1.1 million people are living with HIV infection1. About 16% of these do not know that they are infected. No test has been taken that would detect presence of HIV. Since they do not know of the virus invasion, they cannot counter its effects.

What is the impact on African Americans (AA)?
By 2010, 44% of those in the USA living with HIV/AIDS were African American (some 260,800 persons) 1. CDC estimates that “unless the course of the epidemic changes, 1 in 16 black men and 1 in 32 black women will be diagnosed with HIV infection.”

In the USA the overall number of new infections has stabilized. This means overall numbers in each year of 2008, 2009 and 2010 did not increase. However, the number of AA males and females between the ages of 20-30 increased in each of these years. More people in this age group were newly diagnosed for HIV infection in 2009 than in 2008. The number again was higher in 2010 than in 2009.

Is this age group more likely to get tested (thus, new diagnoses of HIV infection are up)? Or, is there more virus transmitted within this highly interactive group (likely from sexual contact), or both?  For ages 20-30 in the USA, the data indicate that HIV successfully goes from an infected person to another person through contact with blood, semen or vaginal fluids. Focus on ages 20-30 does not obscure that African Americans of ALL ages have a higher and disproportionate level of HIV/AIDS. (Note that 44% of people in USA living with HIV/AIDS are AA compared to 12% of the USA population as AAs.)

Does the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affect what will happen specifically with HIV/AIDS?

Persons diagnosed with HIV infection (HIV +) should immediately connect to medical care to define the stage of infection and health of their immune system. A blood test can determine the level of circulating virus (virus load). Importantly, a blood test will determine the number of CD4+ immune cells, or “helper” lymphocytes (T-cells). To remain well (disease free) and slow or stop progression to AIDS, one must keep the HIV level low or undetectable and keep the number of T-cells high (>400 cells/ul).

The impacts of ACA on controlling HIV replication and spread and on treatment of opportunistic infections can be tremendous. No or low health insurance decreases the chances of handling HIV/AIDS.

A person with health insurance is more likely to follow through for medical referral and long-term monitoring care.  At certain phases of HIV/AIDS infection, other benefits are available to people living with HIV/AIDS. To access these, the stage of HIV infection must be medically documented.

What my church or organization can do to effectively address HIV/AIDS for NBHAAD?

A wide array of helpful actions can occur! These range from hosting an effective event that includes medical based education and HIV testing (invite a local health department or community agency to do this); to hosting such an event later in conjunction with other organizations (initiate this for NBHAAD). Talk about HIV/AIDS in some manner with your family, school, co-workers, Church School or Bible Study group and in gatherings and sermons surrounding the February 7 date. Put correct information on HIV/AIDS control in the bulletin, on the church website or in an organization newsletter.

Getting an HIV test is a highly effective action for leaders, especially pastors, ministerial staff (if present) and trustees and stewards. Let the congregation know that you are taking the HIV test. Show that leaders lead! “Get educated, get tested and get involved.” Get treated if the test is positive for HIV infection. For NBHAAD and after, this is a Christ-like, forward thinking, timely and necessary way to lead.

What are other dates to consider in planning?

A coordinated national focus can happen around NBHAAD or the March 2-9 Balm in Gilead initiated National Week of Prayer for the Healing of HIV/AIDS. March is International Women’s Month. June 27 is the National Day of HIV Testing. December 1 is World AIDS Day. Plan now to coordinate HIV/AIDS relevant events for any or all of these annual dates, or at times between. At any time is useful.

What resources are available?

Resources are available at websites of the CDC, The Balm in Gilead (www.NWPHA.org), and The Black AIDS Institute or through local and state health departments. These provide ideas, materials and possibly connection to funding opportunities. The AMEC Commissions on Health and Social Justice can assist with contacts for state and national government programs. Resources that include applications for small community grants have become more available as appreciation increases for the influential role of religious organizations, particularly historically the Black Church, in HIV/AIDS control and elimination.

Where can I get tested?

To find nearby HIV testing and counseling sites (usually testing at no cost), put in your zip code at the site within the on-line link:


Why this 2014 NBHAAD theme?

Collectively- individuals, families, church groups and organizations- we CAN do it. No need to wait on someone else- not government, not a specific agency, not a supernatural act from the power of God.

The wait for someone else to fix issues that allow HIV/AIDS to spread is over! Enough already is known about how HIV causes AIDS and what to do to stop virus infection and progression to disease to get to zero- no new HIV infections and no AIDS-related deaths. 

Waiting for a hero? Wait no longer. You are it. Now is the time. “We are the ones we have been waiting for!”

“Reach for Wellness” REMINDER: Establish a good habit for wellness. From January 15-February 14, complete at least one of the following. Promote such to others.

 Get an HIV/AIDS rapid test and a follow-up. Know and confirm YOUR HIV infection status. Take along an immediate family member(s) or engage others in conversation about HIV testing as a vital part of routine self and community care, or Get an influenza vaccine. It can reduce disease severity and death from influenza infection, or evaluate your health insurance or sign up for coverage.

This is especially critical since the Affordable Care Act is effective. For understanding health insurance options and requirements, the AMEC Social Justice and Health Commissions can provide assistance or get you to someone who can. See www.ame-church.com, or contact Mrs. Jackie Dupont-Walker (213) 494-9493 or Dr. Miriam Burnett (770) 328-2002.)

1 CDC. HIV Surveillance Report. 2011; Vol. 23. Published February 2013. Access at: www.dc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports/

*The Rev. Dr. A. Oveta Fuller is a tenured professor in Microbiology and Immunology and faculty in the African Studies Center at the University of Michigan. An Itinerant Elder in the 4th Episcopal District, she served as pastor of Bethel AME Church in Adrian, Michigan for seven years before focusing fully on global health research in Zambia and the USA for HIV/AIDS elimination. At Payne Theological Seminary she teaches a required course, “What Effective Clergy Should Know about HIV/AIDS.”

9. iCHURCH SCHOOL LESSON BRIEF FOR SUNDAY, February 2, 2014  COMMITTED TO ACTION - JAMES 1:19-27:

*Bill Dickens, Allen AME Church, Tacoma, Washington

Church School Lesson Brief

The Book of James can be looked at as a practical guide to Christian theology.  The author eschews esoteric theological issues like eschatology, soteriology and trinitarianism and chooses instead to concentrate on issues like inequality, justice, abuse of power and workmanship.  The Book of James is really a practical guide for understanding what it means to be a Christian.  As a practical guide the Book of James is reflected in the life and mission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  The AME Church is a Christian church committed to the cause of mitigating inequality, injustice and the spread of power that keeps people in bondage.

In James 1:19-27, the author lays down the ground-rules for true and authentic religion. We should strive to have a lifestyle that emphasizes hearing skills, and being slow to exact anger (verse 19).  It is also important that we purge ourselves of unrighteous attributes (verse 21). This creates moral fiber for the believer. 

However, moral fiber is not enough. It is imperative that we incorporate the principle of being a doer or a person of action (verses 22-25).

For James a Christian is incomplete if he/she can’t commit to something.  In this context we must commit to doing those things that are pleasing to God.  Commitment requires sacrifice and sacrifice means work which can at times be difficult.  Yet despite the sacrifice and difficult we must persevere because this is what God is expecting.

Nowhere is the commitment to action better represented than in verses 26-27.  For James true Christianity implies self-control over what we say and our acts of works to those who are less-fortunate.  The fatherless and widows were cut-off from economic life support.  Showing acts of kindness to these cohort groups is an expectation for a Christian.  In addition, we are expected to be a doer by not adopting a life of sin.  We live in the world but we are not expected to conform to the carnal ideology and habits of the world.  This comes by not just hearing but more importantly doing what we know is true.

*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 AME Church.
                                                                 
10. MEDITATION BASED ON ISAIAH 42:1-9:

The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby

I’m sending this week’s meditation a bit earlier than usual while waiting for something that’s rare in Charleston, South Carolina - significant freezing rain, sleet and snow.  Last night, I joined the crowds that filled local grocery and hardware stores, buying supplies to prepare for the worst case scenario of being “homebound” because of icy roads and the possibility of power outages.

I bought some predictable things, like extra batteries and food that can be cooked outdoors on the grill.  I also saw some other shoppers who followed a southern “snow warning” shopping tradition and picked the stores clean of three items in particular - bread, milk and eggs - two of which have to be refrigerated!  I chatted with one of those shoppers while waiting to check out and asked if she planned to make a lot of French toast on the grill during the expected storm and its aftermath.  She said, “I don’t know what I’m going to cook, but these are the things my mother always bought to get ready for a snowstorm.”


That’s amusing, but it also reflects an aspect of human nature that goes beyond winter weather preparation.  Most of us, like that lady, are creatures of habit whose behavior is often governed by lessons passed down to us and past experience.  That’s not a bad thing in itself, but it sometimes prevents our being open to doing new things in new ways.

It’s easy for all of us to settle for things as they are in our lives and in the world because we stick to and only do what’s safe and predictable, never “stretch out” on faith and never let God enable us to do new things in new ways.

Be thankful for life’s lessons that give all of us a compass and foundation, but don’t be so wrapped up in old ways and old ideas that you miss out on new blessings.  Trust in the God who did a new thing by sending the Christ into this world for our salvation.  When you do, you’ll find new strength, realize new hope, and face each situation in life saying as did one writer, “It is no secret what God can do.  What He’s done for others, He’ll do for you.”

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

11. EPISCOPAL AND CLERGY FAMILY CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS:

-- Sir Wellington Hartford Brookins, the youngest child of the late Bishop Hamel Hartford Brookins has been invited to spend a week this summer at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland

Thanks be to God for His continued favor. Sir -Wellington Hartford Brookins, the youngest child of the late Bishop Hamel Hartford Brookins, has been invited to spend a week at the Naval Academy located in Annapolis, Maryland this summer. This invitation comes one day after he receives his PSAT test scores which revealed that Wellington is currently testing 81% higher in reading comprehension, 46% HIGHER in mathematics, 67% higher in writing than all 11th graders in the nation! The legacy continues! If we nurture them today, they will lead us tomorrow!  Bless be the name of The Lord!

Congratulatory responses can be emailed to:

The Rev. Rosalynn K. Brookins: revrosalynnbrookins@gmail.com

-- Presiding Elder W. Antoni Sinkfield delivered the invocation at McGavock High School for the visit of President Obama

On behalf of the North Nashville District-Tennessee Conference, we proudly announce that the Reverend W. Antoni Sinkfield, Presiding Elder, was invited to deliver the invocation at the McGavock High School, located at 3150 McGavock Pike, Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday, January 30, 2014, during the visit of President Barack Obama.

Congratulatory email messages can be sent to:

Presiding Elder W. Antoni Sinkfield: WSinkfield@aol.com 

*The Rev. Benessa Sweat, North Nashville District-Tennessee Conference Public Relations Committee Chair

-- Congratulations to PK/Licentiate James Avery Alexander, Jr.

On January 1, 2014, James Avery Alexander, Jr. married the love of his life, Symone Lashai Michelle Cook. They married in a private ceremony in Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio. James serves on the General Board of the AME Church as a youth member, representing the Sixth Episcopal District.  He is currently pursuing a J.D. /M.Div. dual degree at Vanderbilt University (Law and Divinity Schools) in Nashville, TN.  Symone is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering (specializing in Polymer Nanofibers) at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

James is the son of the Rev. James and Charmaine Alexander of the Sixth Episcopal District and the grandson of Mrs. Ruby J. Alexander, widow of the late Rev. Robert H. Alexander, Sr. of Oklahoma City, OK.

Congratulations can be emailed:

James Avery Alexander, Jr.: ja_alexander09@yahoo.com ,
The Rev. and Mrs. James Alexander: alex0361@bellsouth.net.

-- Mrs. Dellarees Messiah, President of the Cape Annual Conference Women's Missionary Society Celebrates 50th Birthday

It is with great Joy that the 50th birthday celebration (29 January) of Mrs. Dellarees Messiah, President of the Cape Annual Conference Women's Missionary Society is shared. She is the daughter of the late Rev. Shortels of the 15th Episcopal District.

Mrs. Messiah has proven to be an asset to the women of the Cape, industriously serving God and her Zion, ensuring that every fellowship meeting takes the mission to a higher level. Her transparency, accountability and responsibility for the work entrusted to her are a legacy to treasure. A hard taskmaster indeed and not really favored by those who are slothful with the Master's work. I am sure that the 15th Episcopal District is honored and favored to have a servant of her caliber in their midst.

Congratulatory email can be sent to: dellareesmessiah@yahoo.com, Mrs. Dellarees Messiah.

*The Rev. Clive Pillay, Mount Olive Piketberg, Cape Conference, 15th Episcopal District

12. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We regret to inform you of the passing of the Rev. Martha A. Lang, the pastor of Mt. Tabor AME Church in the Philadelphia District of the Philadelphia Conference.  The following information has been provided regarding funeral arrangements.

Viewing and Funeral, Sunday, February 9, 2014
Viewing - 3:00 p.m.
Funeral - 5:00 p.m.

Mt. Tabor AME Church
961-71 North 7th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Telephone:  215. 574-1310/1311
Fax: 215. 574-1312

Officiating: The Rev. Jocelyn K. Hart, Presiding Elder of the Philadelphia District

Eulogist: Bishop Gregory G. M. Ingram, Presiding Prelate of the First Episcopal District

Professional Care Service entrusted to:

Savin Funeral Home
802 North 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
Phone:    215-765-7065
   
Expressions of Sympathy may be sent to:

Mrs. Yetta Baldwin (daughter) and Mr. Lehron Lang (son)
7 West Sharpnack Street
Philadelphia, PA 19119

13. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We regret to inform you of the passing of the Reverend Cyrus Keller, retired pastor of the 5th Episcopal District, Missouri Conference and a former pastor of St. Peter African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis (1976-1982).  The Rev. Keller left his earthly home on Friday, January 24, 2014.

The Celebration of Life Memorial Service for the Reverend Keller was held:

Monday, January 27, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.

St. Peter African Methodist Episcopal Church
4730 Margaretta
St. Louis, MO  63115

Telephone: 314.381.3345
Fax: 314.381.7877
The Rev. Joseph C. Nixon, Pastor


In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hazel Tacket and Edward Keller Endowment, which provide an annual scholarship to an outstanding graduating student at Payne Theological Seminary.

Donations may be sent to:

The Keller Scholarship Endowment
Attn: Ms. Marko Keller
2952 Carmel St. Apt. #1
Oakland, CA 94602

 14. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

It is with a saddened heart that we notify you of the passing of Mrs. Erma Vashti Jones, widow of the late Rev. Dr. Arthur S. Jones, former pastor of Third Street Bethel AME Church in Richmond VA.  Mrs. Jones transitioned from labor to reward on Thursday, January 23, 2014.  She was a devoted pastor's spouse and faithful missionary member.  Mrs. Jones was a member of Emmanuel AME Church, Fredericksburg, Virginia where the Rev. Herman Gladney is the pastor.

Funeral Arrangements for Mrs. Erma V. Jones:

Service Date/Time:
Saturday, February 1, 2014, 11:00 a.m.

Location:
Third Street Bethel AME Church
614 N Third Street
Richmond VA  23219

Services entrusted to:
Jenkins Funeral Home
2011 Grayland Avenue 
Richmond, VA 23220
(804) 358-9177
FAX (804) 358-3876

Condolences can be mailed to the family:

C/o Joseph Jones
1311 Tannery Circle
Midlothian VA  23113
Cell: 804. 393-1008

15. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE: 

Mrs. Elsie Lenoir Parker, mother of the Reverend Joseph Parker, pastor of New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Shelby, Mississippi, transitioned from labor to reward on Sunday, January 19, 2014. Mrs. Parker was a lifelong member of London Chapel AME Church where she was a very active member until her health declined.

Viewing/Visitation
Friday, January 24, 2014
3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Carter's Mortuary Services, LLC
1214 Highway 45 South
West Point, Mississippi  39773
Telephone:  662 492 4455

Family Visitation
Saturday, January 25, 2014
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Town Creek Missionary Baptist Church
5998 Barton Ferry Road
West Point, Mississippi  39773

Service of Celebration
11:00 a.m.
Town Creek Missionary Baptist Church
The Reverend Joseph Parker, Eulogist

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the care of:
Carter's Mortuary Services, LLC
1214 Highway 45 South
West Point, Mississippi  39773
Telephone:  662 492 4455

Condolences may be sent to:

Reverend Joseph Parker
1102 Filmore Drive
Tupelo, Mississippi 38801

Telephone:  662 620 6443
Telephone:  662 321 5859

16. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

We regret to inform you of the death of Timothy "Elijah" Travis, the 21-year old grandson of the Rev. and Mrs. Flennoy Travis.  Homegoing service was held Monday, January 27, 2014, at Saint Stephen AME Church in Chicago.

Timothy's grandfather, the Rev. Flennoy Travis is a retired pastor of the Chicago Annual Conference, 4th Episcopal District.   The Rev. Travis currently serves on the ministerial staff of Wayman AME Church, Chicago Annual Conference. 

Condolences may be sent to:

Grandparents:

The Rev. & Mrs. Flennoy Travis
4923 W Quincy
Chicago, IL 60644
773-287-6714

Parents of Timothy Elijah Travis:

Timothy & Rose Travis
2613 S 11th Avenue
Broadview, IL 60155-4815

17. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

Brother Clark M. Walker transitioned from this life on Monday, January 20, 2014. He is the nephew of the Rev. Everhart Walker, a retired itinerant elder in the Kentucky Conference.

The service was held Monday, 1:00 p.m., January 27, 2014 at St. James AME Church, 144 Walnut St. Danville, Kentucky; the Rev. William Jenkins, pastor. 

Condolences will be received by the family by email, postal mail or telephone.

The Rev. Everhart Walker
4620 Alum Springs Rd.
Danville, Ky. 40422
859-236-3166

Services are entrusted to:

Smith-Jackson Funeral Home
446 Bate St.
Danville, Ky. 40422
859-236-5261

18. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:

The Sister Angela R. (Walker) Coffey, transitioned from this life on Monday, January 20, 2014. She is the niece of the Rev. Everhart Walker, retired itinerant elder in the Kentucky Conference.

The service was held on Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the First Baptist Church Winchester, Kentucky, 37 N. Highland St.

The family will receive condolences by email, postal mail or telephone.

The Rev. Everhart Walker
4620 Alum Springs Rd.
Danville, Ky. 40422

Telephone: 859-236-3166

*The Rev. Dr. A. Oveta Fuller is a tenured professor in Microbiology and Immunology and faculty in the African Studies Center at the University of Michigan. An Itinerant Elder in the 4th Episcopal District, she served as pastor of Bethel AME Church in Adrian, MI for seven years before focusing fully on global health research in Zambia and the USA for HIV/AIDS elimination. At Payne Theological Seminary she teaches a required course, “What Effective Clergy Should Know about HIV/AIDS.”


*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

19. CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICES AND CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS PROVIDED BY:


Ora L. Easley, Administrator
AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
Phone: (615) 837-9736 (H)
Phone: (615) 833-6936 (O)
Cell: (615) 403-7751




20.  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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