The Right Reverend T. Larry Kirkland - Chair, Commission on
Publications
The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher
The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, the 20th Editor, The Christian Recorder
1. TCR EDITORIAL – A SYMBOL OF RACISM,
REBELLION AND TREASON:
Dr.
Calvin H. Sydnor III
The
20th Editor of The Christian
Recorder
I
am encouraged that South Carolina Governor Nikki R Haley has issued the call to
have the Confederate battle flag removed from the grounds of the South Carolina
State House and I cheer her action as I am sure others have done.
I
am also encouraged by the response of
high profile politicians and
civic leaders that the “flag needs to come down.” A call from a lot of people for the flag to
come down is not a “done deal" yet.
I
am more encouraged by Alabama Governor Robert Bentley’s order to remove the
Confederate battle flag from the foot of the Confederate memorial on the state
Capitol grounds in Montgomery, Alabama. Two workers "quickly and
quietly" took the flag down and Governor Bentley said “It was the right
thing to do.”
The
Confederate flag, flying on public tax-supported property is offensive and
thinking people who know right from wrong understand the offensiveness of
flying the Confederate battle flag displayed and flying in areas supported by
taxes.
I
am encouraged that Walmart, Amazon and other retailers have halted the sales of
Confederate-themed merchandise. It’s the right thing to do and the moral thing
to do.
Other
states are moving in the right direction. The governor of Virginia has directed
that the image of the
Confederate battle flag be removed from Virginia license plates.
Political
leaders from both political parties in Tennessee are considering removing the
bust of the Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the founders of the Ku Klux Klan
from the State House.
Hillary
Rodham Clinton was on-target when she called the Confederate battle flag, “a
symbol of our nation’s past.”
The
Confederate battle flag is a symbol of racism and rebellion.
A
group of people rebelled against the United States of America and fought under
the battle flag of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which we
call the Confederate flag, and in doing so, committed treason. And we, as a
nation, allow the flag to be flown on tax supported property.
The
Confederate battle flag is to the United States what the swastika is to Germany
and Germany does not allow flags with the image of the swastika to be publicly
displayed. The display of flags and images associated with the Nazi regime,
which includes the swastika, the Nazi salute, and other symbols of the Third
Reich are subject to restriction
or an outright ban.
I
am a strong proponent of free speech, but the issue of the Confederate battle
flag on public property is unethical, immoral, and insensitive and I suspect
illegal; and if it is not illegal it should be because it is an expression of
rebellion and treason.
It’s
time for the African Methodist Episcopal Church, other denominations, secular
organizations and businesses that support equal and human rights to end the
racist nonsense and take a stand against the insensitive display of the
Confederate battle flag on public property.
Governments
and businesses understand the power of the “almighty dollar.”
If
South Carolina removes the Confederate battle flag, well and good, but if it doesn't, the AME Church should not
hold any connectional meetings in the state of South Carolina.
I
thought we already had a rule against holding meetings in South Carolina when
the Confederate battle flag issue first surfaced, but apparently we
didn’t.
Religious
organizations and other organizations of good will should refuse to hold
meetings in South Carolina until the Confederate flag is removed. The AME
Church should refuse to hold any
connectional meetings in South Carolina and cancel those that are already
planned.
And,
while we are at it, we need to take a look at all of the states that blatantly
display the Confederate battle flag and other nostalgic images of the
Confederacy.
If
the Connectional AME Church refuses to cancel meetings planned in South
Carolina and other states that display images of the Confederacy, individual
members should refuse to participate in meetings in those areas that are
insensitive to equality. It’s time we take a stand collectively and if not
collectively, do so individually.
And
one more thing
I
may be the only one asking the question, but I want to know where some of the
men of Mother Emanuel AME Church were during Bible study and that’s not just a
question for Mother Emanuel, but for other AME Churches and churches of other
denominations.
Would
the events of Wednesday evening, June 17, 2015 have been different at Mother Emanuel if more men were present? Do
we put our women at risk when we let them meet in our churches at night and
especially in unsafe areas?
Are
we, men, abdicating our responsibility of being protectors of our women? In our churches are we satisfied letting the
pastor bear the responsibility of securing the church when it's time for everyone to go home? Do
any of the trustees take responsibility? Where were the steward and trustee pro
tems?
I
know it’s a hassle, but we are living in a different world today. Soldiers have
a buddy system where soldiers are expected to look out after each other. Do we
need a buddy system in churches and should men take more protective
responsibility in churches? The obvious answer is “Yes!”
Would
that night have been different if five or ten strong-looking men had been
present at Bible study? I suspect so.
The
questions are not to place blame, but to instigate local churches to take
proactive steps to insure better security in our churches.
2. FUNERAL
INFORMATION FOR THE NINE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH MASSACRE:
-- Information to date received from the
Mother Emanuel Website, the AME WIM Executive Board and the funeral home
website. Additional information forthcoming from Mrs. Ora L. Easley,
Administrator of the AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
Homegoing Services for the Mother Emanuel AME Church Nine
The Rev. Dr.
Norvel Goff, Sr., interim pastor of EAMEC and presiding elder of the Edisto
District of the 7th Episcopal District of the AME Church
*The Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton*
*Funeral:*
Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church,
7396 Rivers Ave., North Charleston *Services by:*Mortuary of North Charleston
*Sister Cynthia Graham Hurd*
*Viewing:*
Friday, June 26, 2015 from 8:30-10:00 p.m. at Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun
St., Charleston
*Funeral:*
Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Emanuel AME Church *Services by:*
Fielding Home for Funerals
*Sister Susie Jackson*
*Viewing:*
Friday, June 26, 2015 from 5:00-7:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun St.,
Charleston
*Funeral:*
Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Emanuel AME Church *Services
by:*Mortuary of North Charleston
*Sister Ethel Lance*
*Viewing:* Wednesday,
June 24, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Royal Missionary Baptist Church, 4761
Luella Ave., North Charleston
*Funeral:*
Thursday, June 25, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Royal Missionary Baptist Church
*Services by:* The Palmetto Mortuary, Inc.
*The Rev. DePayne V. Middleton-Doctor*
*Viewing:*
Friday, June 26, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., St. Mark AME Church, 5672 Salters Hill Rd.,
Ravenel
*Funeral:*
Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 1:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.,
Charleston *Services by:* The Palmetto Mortuary of Charleston
*The Rev. Clementa Pinckney*
*Viewing:*
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 from 1:00-5:00 p.m., the Rotunda of the State House in
Columbia
*Viewing:*
Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 11 a.m.-4:00 p.m., St. John AME Church, 2740
Tillman Rd., Ridgeland
*Viewing:*
Thursday, June 25, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun St.,
Charleston
*Funeral:
*Friday, June 26, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., TD Arena, 301 Meeting St., College of
Charleston *Services by:*Taylor Street Chapel, Columbia
*Brother Tywanza Sanders*
*Viewing:*
Friday, June 26, 2015 from 7:00-8:30 p.m., Emanuel AME Church,
110 Calhoun
Street, Charleston
*Funeral:*
Saturday, June 27, 2015 at 2:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church *Services by:*Mortuary
of North Charleston
*The Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Simmons, Sr.*
*Viewing:* To Be
Announced
*Funeral:* To Be
Announced
*Services by:*
Taylor Street Chapel, Columbia *Sister Myra Thompson*
*Viewing:*
Sunday, June 28, 2015 at 6:00 p.m., Emanuel AME Church, 110 Calhoun St.,
Charleston
*Funeral:*
Monday, June 29, 2015 at 11:00 a.m., Emanuel AME Church *Services by:* The
Palmetto Mortuary
**Submitted
by the Rev. Velma Grant, President of Women in Ministry for the 6th
Episcopal District
3. DETAILS REGARDING THE MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH HOMEGOING CELEBRATIONS
OF THE WOMEN IN MINISTRY MARTYRS:
-- Information to date received from the
Mother Emanuel Website, the AME WIM Executive Board and the funeral home
website. Additional information forthcoming from Mrs. Ora L. Easley, Administrator
of the AMEC Clergy Family Information Center
The Reverend Sharonda Singleton is the beloved mother of Christopher, Camryn
and Caleb Singleton; daughter of the late George Thomas Jones and Wanda F.
Coleman-Cohen (the late Earl Cohen); sister of Jacqueline Askew (Garrett), Mark
Anthony Jones (Denise), Shalisa Coleman, Earl Cohen Jr., Jerell Cohen and
Joseph Holden; best friend of Rita Whidbee, Star Miller and Dr. Kennetha
Manning.
*Viewing*
10:00 AM to 1:00
p.m., Thu. Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt. Moriah
Missionary Baptist Church
*Ivy Beyond the
Wall Ceremony*
1:00 p.m. Thu.,
Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt.
Moriah Missionary Baptist Church
*Funeral Service*
2:00 p.m. Thu.,
Jun. 25, 2015
Location: Mt.
Moriah Missionary Baptist Church
*The Rev. DePayne V. Middleton Doctor*, 49, of Hollywood, SC, entered into eternal
rest on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
The Rev. Doctor
is the mother of Gracyn, Kaylin, Hali and Czana Doctor and the beloved daughter
of Rev. Leroy and Frances Middleton.
Family will be
receiving guest at the residence: 5438 Salters Hill Road, Hollywood, SC 29449.
*VISITATION:*
Date: Friday,
June 26, 2015 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
St. Mark A.M.E.
Church
5672 Salters Hill
Road
Ravenel, SC 29470
*PUBLIC VIEWING*
Saturday, June 27,
2015 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
The Palmetto
Mortuary
1122 Morrison
Drive
Charleston, SC
29403
*FUNERAL: *
Date: Sunday,
June 28, 2015 at 1:00 p.m.
Mother Emanuel
A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun
Street
Charleston, SC
29403
*INTERMENT:*
Live Oak Memorial
Gardens
3093 Ashley River
Road
Charleston, SC
29414
Sister (Lic.) Myra Singleton Quarles
Thompson, 59, of Charleston,
SC entered into eternal rest on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.
Myra leaves to
mourn a loving, devoted, and cherished husband, The Rev.
Anthony Thompson;
one son and one daughter whom she cherished, Kevin Singleton and Denise
Quarles. One stepson, Anthony Thompson, Jr; twelve brothers, Mackey Singleton,
who preceded her in death; Leroy Singleton (Judy); Romey Singleton, Leon Scott,
Michael Moore (Joyce), Barry Moore, Rodney Moore (Renee), John Moore (Maria),
Reginald Moore (Candace), James Moore, Jamar Moore, and JA Ariel Moore; three
beloved sisters, Jackie Cooper (Melvin), Ruby Henry, and Maja Moore; two
grandchildren, Kennedy Singleton and Kaleb Singleton; nine siblings from her
extended Coakley family, Isaiah Jr., Lillian, Eunice Guyton (Jim), Marjorie
McIver (Winston), Marlene Jenkins (David), Sharon Coakley, Claudette Watkins,
Catherine Harrington, and Blondelle Gadsden; and a host of loving nieces,
nephews, cousins, relatives, and friends.
Viewings & Visitation:
*First Viewing:*
Date: Sunday,
June 28, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Palmetto
Mortuary
1122 Morrison
Drive
Charleston, SC
29403
*Second Viewing*:
Date: Sunday, June
28, 2015 from 5:00 pm to 8 pm (The family will be receiving friends beginning
at 6:00 p.m.)
Mother Emanuel
A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun
Street
Charleston, SC
29403
Homegoing
Celebration:
Date: Monday,
June 29, 2015 at 11:00 a.m.
Location:
Mother Emanuel
A.M.E. Church
110 Calhoun
Street
Charleston, SC
29403
A memorial
message may be sent to the family at
**Submitted
by the Rev. Velma Grant, President of Women in Ministry for the 6th
Episcopal District
4. READER RESPONSE TO EDITORIAL AND OTHER ISSUES:
-- To the Editor
RE: TCR Breaking News concerning the Mother
Emanuel massacre
I would like to say
thank you once again I saw The Christian
Recorder (5/28/2015) about the massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in
Charleston, South Carolina and I was overwhelmed.
I express my
deepest sorrows over our Emanuel Church brothers and sisters who were
"called to rest" in such a manner; my Condolences to their families
and friends.
The Rev Florence H.
McLaren
13 Mountbatten
Drive
Marlborough
Harare
Zimbabwe
-- To the Editor:
RE:
"Sydnorisms for Clergy and Laity."
In a recent issue
of The Christian Recorder you listed
"Sydnorisms for Clergy and Laity." Permit me to compliment you for your
creativity which is born of your “calling,” Christian commitment, training,
experience and transparent sincerity.
The "Sydnorisms" are profound and piercingly relevant and can
be a help and guide to the ministry and mission of our Bethel. May Jesus Christ be praised and may blessings
abound as you continue your special ministry!
Sincerely,
Frederick H. Talbot
Bishop (Retired)
5. CONFEDERATE FLAG REMOVED FROM ALABAMA CAPITOL
GROUNDS ON ORDER OF GOV. BENTLEY:
June 24, 2015
On the order of
Gov. Robert Bentley, the Confederate battle flag which stands at the foot of
the confederate memorial on the state Capitol grounds was taken down this morning.
Two workers came
out of the Capitol building about 8:20 a.m. and with no fanfare quickly and
quietly took the flag down. They declined to answer questions.
Moments later Gov.
Bentley emerged from the Capitol on his way to an appearance in Hackleburg.
Asked if he had ordered the flag taken down, the governor said, “Yes I did.”
Asked his reasons
for taking it down and if it included what happened in Charleston last week,
the governor said, “Yes, partially this is about that. This is the right thing to
do. We are facing some major issues in this state regarding the budget and
other matters that we need to deal with. This had the potential to become a
major distraction as we go forward. I have taxes to raise, we have work to do.
And it was my decision that the flag needed to come down.” (Alabama Media
Group)
6. NEWS AROUND THE AME CHURCH:
-- After unthinkable violence, Charleston church
becomes a sanctuary once again
7. THE GENERAL BOARD MEETING - NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA:
The Eighth
Episcopal District is pleased to serve as your host for the AME General Board
Meeting which will be held Tuesday, June 29 & July 1, 2015, at the Hilton
Riverside Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana.
There are several
transportation options you may consider for transport to and from the Hotel and
the airport.
1) Simms for Bishop 2016 (Complimentary) -
Dr. Moses Simms - To make reservations- call (662) 417-9942
2) Airport Shuttle
- $20.00 per person/$38.00 roundtrip -
3) Taxi - $33.00
for 2 passengers/ $14.00 for each additional passenger
4) Limousine
Service - Call (504) 305-2450 for fares -
Again, we are
pleased to serve as you host for the AME General Board Meeting.
The 8th
Episcopal District AME Church
Bishop Julius
Harrison McAllister, Presiding Prelate
5450 Executive
Place
Jackson, MS 39206
Telephone: (601)
366-8240
Fax: (601) 366-8175
8. THE
EMBRACE OF OUR MOTHER:
*Tiffany
S. James
Mother Emanuel we
do reside.
You birthed our
resilience, our faith, our pride.
Even beyond your
sacred walls
You stand in the
hearts of us all.
Your walls will not
be shattered. Your walls will not be broken.
Love conquers all,
is what was spoken.
Your walls are
bolted together by the blood of our ancestors, even as slaves.
By the blood of
love of which our Lord hath gave.
Neither fire nor
any grounds of hate Will destroy your pearly gates.
Mother Emanuel, in
your pain, in your grief,
You remind us that
God is with us
This is our belief.
Wrap the arms of
your walls around us
As the spirit of
our Lord surround us
And in your embrace
we shall stand
As you did time and
time again in our land.
We stand in hope.
We stand in love.
We stand in faith
In our Lord above.
Your walls are our
foundation built on the Solid Rock.
We Stand.
For all other
ground is sinking sand.
*Tiffany James is
an artist and community organizer who is a proud AME member at Reid Chapel AME
Church in Columbia, South Carolina where the Rev. Carey A. Grady is the pastor
9. THE ANSWER IS IN THE NUMBERS:
*The Rev. Godfrey
R. Patterson
The recent tragic
and totally incomprehensible event which unfolded so catastrophically on
Wednesday night, June 17, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina has put America in
a state of bereavement. Once again madness has reared its ugly head. This time
in, of all places, a house of worship. It is Birmingham 1963 all over again,
only with more casualties. Birmingham 1963, four; Charleston 2015, nine.
Birmingham 1963, little girls! Charleston 2015, the oldest victim was 87!
It is these numbers
that are astounding - 1963 and 2015.
1963. 2015.
Fifty-two years. We’ve see Civil Rights laws passed, Great Society programs
enacted, the Viet Nam War, and soldiers by the thousands returning from the
jungles and rice fields of Southeast Asia addicted to heroin. We’ve seen a
President assassinated in broad daylight, and later a “black shining prince”
suffering a similar fate seconds after uttering words of peace, “As Salaam
Alaikum.” Later we lived through a Noble Peace Prize winner being gunned down
on a hotel balcony, a dead president’s brother shot in a kitchen after giving a
campaign speech and, eventually “Tricky Dick” waving the “V” sign as he boarded
a plane to fly off into disgrace and shame, at least for a while.
1963. 2015. Way
back then all the way to right now, but in between there was the President who
signaled to white America that it was all right to be a racist again. It was
this Poor Fellow and those whispering in his ear and holding him by the hands
that led the charge and sounded the trumpet declaring to all who had ears to
hear that white people were suffering from the effects of a disease called
“reverse discrimination.” The cure? Turn back the clock on black “progress.”
Make it a lot harder for people of color, who so desired, to become “honorary
white people.”
1963. 2015. Way
back then all the way to right now, but in between came the massive flow of
crack cocaine flooding our communities bringing with it unfathomable murder
rates in inner cities all across America. Us [black people] killing us [black
people] in turf wars over property that didn’t even belong to us [black people].
Then another overseas war, this time in a desert instead of the jungle. Big Bad
America again making the world safe in the name of democracy (and probably a
little oil) while we [black people] were often unsafe on the very streets on
which we lived. Sometimes not even safe in our own homes.
1963. 2015. Way
back then all the way to right now, but in between we saw the “first black
president,” Slick Willie, a so-called liberal, to the joy and glee of many,
dismantle “welfare.” (In the process, there was also this thing about a stained
dress.) Then another ugly war, this time in a place many Americans probably, at
its onset, could neither pronounce nor identify on a map. Why? Because that’s
where the terrorists were hiding and “turn the other cheek” is fine to be
taught to us, but America wasn’t about to turn any cheeks. Killing, killing,
and more killing. And oh yes, back here at home us [black people] still killing
us [black people]. Add to all this, the insanely evil shooting up schools,
theaters, and malls. Killing, killing, and more killing.
1963. 2015. Way
back then all the way to right now, but in between America arrived. In 2008 the
unthinkable happened. A non-Caucasian was elected President of the United
States. “Say it ain’t so, Valley!” Trust me, this event sent many a bigot
lumbering into the kitchen of racism to stir the ingredients of a toxic stew
many drank from, seemingly including the individual allegedly responsible for
the Charleston Massacre. Somehow some police, a small minority though they be,
have declared open season on us [black people] and feel it is okay to end our
lives whenever and however they please.
1963. 2015. Way
back then all the way to right now. The right now has finally and ominously
arrived. The killing has gone where we never thought it would go, to church. A
mad barbarian… No, that description is far too sanitized but I cannot get as
“real” as I would like and have this article published and read in civilized
settings. But you get my drift. Fill in this blank for me.
The right now has
arrived and everybody is asking, why? The answer is as simple as it is, for
most, unacceptable. The answer is in the numbers. 1963-2015. The late, great
Eddie Kendrick of the fabulous singing group, the Temptations, was asked near
the end of his life about having risen from poverty in Alabama to the pinnacle
of success as a performer. Kendrick thought about the question for a moment
then responded, “Yeah, I went all the way to the top only to find out I was at
the bottom.” Has America, have we [black people] gone to the so-called top only
to find that we have reached the bottom? Again, the answer is in the numbers.
1963-2015.
*The Rev. Godfrey
R. Patterson is a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church presently
serving a congregation in the California Annual Conference after serving
congregations for many years in the Second Episcopal District in Baltimore,
Washington, and the DC suburbs.
10. MANIFESTO OF SOLIDARITY FROM THE COUNCIL OF EVANGELICAL METHODIST
CHURCHES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN:
-
- From The Reverend Luciano Pereira Da Silva, the General Secretary of the
Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin American and the
Caribbean. The message was sent to Mr. John Thomas III in Spanish, which he has
translated into English - Both the Spanish and English versions are posted
below.
MANIFIESTO DE SOLIDARIDAD, ACOMPAÑAMIENTO y LLAMADO A LA
PROFUNDA ORACIÓN POR LAS FAMILIAS, LA COMUNIDAD Y LA IGLESIA METODISTA
EPISCOPAL AFRICANA; ESPECIALMENTE POR LA CONGREGACION “MOTHER EMANUEL AME
CHURCH” EN CHARLESTONE, CAROLINA DEL SUR, EUA.
Consternados(as) por la noticia del asesinato de nueve (9) hermanos(as) en la fe durante la celebración de su acostumbrado servicio de oración y estudio de la Palabra en la Iglesia Metodista Episcopal Africana “Madre Emanuel” en Charlestone, Carolina del Sur. Por la descripción de este episodio de violencia, intolerancia racial y atrocidad manifestada. Por los seres humanos que viven enajenados del amor y la gracia de la convivencia de todas las razas. Por las familias que han experimentado en carne propia el dolor, el quebranto y la angustia en el dÃa de ayer ante tal escena. Por la muerte violenta, cruel y despiadada de estos hermanos(as) en fe. El Comité Ejecutivo del Consejo de Iglesias Evangélicas Metodistas de América Latina y el Caribe (CIEMAL), queremos manifestar nuestra profunda solidaridad y acompañamiento a todo el pueblo Metodista Episcopal Africano y la Comunidad en Charlestone, Carolina del Sur. Asà mismo, manifestamos nuestro más profundo rechazo a todo tipo de atentado contra la vida, deshumanización, vileza y la violencia que generan el caos que atenta contra el bienestar del pueblo de Dios en cualquier parte del mundo. Estos son actos que lastiman profundamente y desvÃan todo sentido de una cultura de paz y esperanza.
Como pueblo latinoamericano,
como creyentes en el Dador de la vida, como gente de fe; hacemos un profundo
llamado a toda la Iglesia Cristiana en el mundo para que nos unamos en oración, apoyo y solidaridad con la Iglesia
Metodista Episcopal Africana y con la Comunidad en Charleston, Carolina del
Sur. Esta experiencia de profundo dolor, nos coloca ante un gran desafÃo:
“seguir trabajando en la construcción un mundo mejor”. Un mundo donde todas las razas, colores y
etnias pueden convivir en colaboración, armonÃa, esperanza y paz.
Oramos para que impere el
respeto por la vida, la libertad de culto y la libertad humana. Oramos para que
se cumpla la Palabra de Dios en nuestros dÃas, en nuestros pueblos y en todas
las naciones"...Ya no hay judÃo
ni gentil, esclavo ni libre, hombre ni mujer, porque todos ustedes son uno en
Cristo Jesús." (Gálatas 3: 28 NTV). Oramos seamos comunidades comprometidas con
la paz. Siguiendo el consejo de Dios por
medio del Salmista: “Apártate del
mal y haz el bien, busca la paz y sÃguela”. (Salmo 34:14).
¡Que asà nos ayude Dios. AsÃ
sea, Amén!
The Rev. Lizzette Gabriel-Montalvo,
Presidenta
Caguas, Puerto Rico.
18 de junio de 2015.
MANIFESTO
OF SOLIDARITY, SUPPORT AND DEEP CALL TO PRAYER FOR FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITY OF
THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH; ESPECIALLY FOR THE CONGREGATION
"MOTHER EMANUEL AME CHURCH" IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA.
Dismayed
by the assassination of nine (9) brothers and sisters in faith during the
celebration of their usual service of prayer and study of the word in the
"Mother Emanuel" African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston,
South Carolina. From the description of this episode of violence, racial intolerance
and expressed atrocity. By humans who live alienated the love and grace of
coexistence of all races. For families who have experienced firsthand the pain,
the grief and anguish in yesterday before such scene. The violent, cruel and
ruthless death of these brothers and sisters in faith. The Executive Committee
of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin America and the
Caribbean (CIEMAL), we express our deep sympathy and support to the people of
African Methodism and the Community of Charleston, South Carolina. Likewise, we
express our deepest rejection of any kind of attempt on the life,
dehumanization, meanness and violence that generate the chaos that threatens
the welfare of God's people anywhere in the world. These are acts that hurt
deeply and divert all sense of a culture of peace and hope.
As
Latin American people, as believers in the Giver of life, as people of faith;
we make a profound appeal to the entire Christian Church in the world to unite
in prayer, support and solidarity with the African Methodist Episcopal Church
and the Community in Charleston, South Carolina. This experience of deep pain,
confronts us with a great challenge, "keep working on building a better
world". A world where all races, colors and nationalities can live
together, harmony, hope and peace.
We
pray for respect for life, freedom of religion and human freedom. We pray that
God's Word fulfilled in our day, in our peoples and all nations "...
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor
free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus." (Galatians 3:
28). We pray communities committed to peace. On the advice of God
through the Psalmist: "Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14).
And in
this way, may God help us. And so be it, Amen!
The Rev. Lizzette Gabriel-Montalvo,
Presidente
Caguas, Puerto Rico
Submitted by John Thomas III, Coordinator of Youth and Young Adults
World Methodist Council
World Methodist Council
11. MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE BRAZILIAN BLACK METHODISTS CONCERNING
THE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL MASSACRE:
The "Methodist family" should be
gathered in prayer and crying because nine people in its "Body" were
murdered brutally! But talking at length about this is something that many
people want to avoid…The "magic word": RACISM!! So present there, but
not absent here!!!
"... The history of the Emanuel African
Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston (South Carolina) is directly linked to
the fight against slavery in the southern United States. Also because their
existence is due to the fact that blacks wanted to have a place to manifest
their faith without conflicting with the desire to be free.
In the early 19th century, slavery was still permitted
in the southern US states. The church was not out of the process, and many
openly accepted this situation. Blacks were banned or had to stay in separate
rooms. This led to the division of churches, with the emergence of some geared
specifically for black pastors and faithful.
Thus arose the African Methodist Episcopal Church
in 1816 in Philadelphia. This church, like the Black community, has become a
place for meeting and debate movements against racial discrimination and
slavery. Soon, the movement migrated to
the southern US region where the question was more delicate. In 1818, the first
African Methodist Church in the south emerged:
Emanuel AME Church in Charleston (known as Mother Emanuel) ..."
Ras André Guimarães, Rolf Malungo de Souza and I,
Kaká Omowale, were privileged to share with Bishop Sarah Frances Taylor Davis,
here in Brazil. She spent her time lovingly with us. And so I had the opportunity to know the AME
Church through Bishop Sarah.
I cannot and I will not speak on behalf of the
Methodist Church in Brazil, but I can speak in my own name!
Rev. Cecelia Williams Bryant and Bishop John
Bryant, I am one with you! I believe that Rolf and André feel the same!!! We
are ONE BODY with this Community, with the force of history, determination and
courage to "Mother Emanuel"! We are a SINGLE BLACK BODY with this
community, and we are Methodists…
Racism is there, but is also here ... and so
present, so palpable, so hurtful ... so brazen, so explicit, disguised as
"implicit". We see it very well!!!
I can say (I believe André, Rolf, and Rev. Eliza
Santos feel the same!) my heart is with you ... who are part of us…we are BLACK
and Methodists and reject this "ghost" we haunts daily ... Its name?
I repeat: RACISM!
Brother John Thomas III, we share our
sorrow... Our heart is still an open
wound.
The Rev. Kaká Omowale
Pastor, Methodist Church in Brazil
Rio Ecclesiastical Region
12. MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE FROM THE COUNCIL OF CHURCHES IN ZAMBIA CONCERNING
THE MARTYRS OF THE MOTHER EMANUEL MASSACRE:
The Council of Churches in Zambia joins the world
in mourning the loss of nine precious people of God who met their gruesome end
by the hand of a gun man who obviously is a deranged man.
The AME Church is a member church of our Council
here in Zambia and we feel their pain and their sadness at such wanton loss.
All the 23 other member churches send their
heartfelt condolences to the immediate families of the deceased and also to the
worldwide family of the AME Church.
May God help the families to remain strong and
not to give up praying, trusting and believing God's infinite wisdom and power
to see them through this difficult time.
We are with them in prayers for solace.
The Rev Dr Alfred Kalembo, President
The Rev Dr Suzanne Membe-M
13. THE FREEDOM CHURCH:
*By Robert Mshengu
Kavanagh
In Charleston,
South Carolina, a white youth, sporting the colours of Verwoerd’s South Africa
and Smith’s Rhodesia and a hand gun he had been given by his father as a
present, guns down a pastor in his church and seven of his congregants. Their
church is the Emanuel Temple and its denomination the African Methodist
Episcopal Church (AMEC).
It is very likely
that few people, following the coverage of this hateful act, will know very
much, if anything at all, about the African Methodist Episcopal Church – and
yet it is rooted in the history of the region and in Africa as well. How many
people, for instance, know that the South African heroine, Charlotte Maxeke,
was instrumental in bringing the AME to South Africa in 1896 and that she and
her husband were AME missionaries in Polokwane (then Pietersburg) and later in
Idutywa, Eastern Cape? How many will know that the late National Hero and
Vice-President of Zimbabwe, Simon Muzenda, was a member of the AME?
It is also possible
that quite a few have heard of Rosa Parks and the role she played in the Civil
Rights Movement in the United States when she refused to leave her seat on a
segregated bus. She too was a lifelong member of the AME and a deaconess.
The history of the
AME is a history of the struggle of black people for freedom and equality. It
is a church founded on the rejection of racial discrimination. In the United
States the AME goes back to the days of slavery. In Africa too it was an integral
component of the struggle for African independence and freedom. The AME is a
pioneer in the movement of Africans to worship in churches run by Africans –
and that is why the AME can claim to be the freedom church.
Its first churches
in Africa were in Liberia and Sierra Leone, where black people, returning from
slavery in the United States and going back to Mother Africa, settled – and in
South Africa, where Charlotte Maxeke negotiated the coming together of the
so-called ‘Ethiopian’ African independent churches and the AME in 1896. It was
from South Africa that the church later crossed the Limpopo and established
itself in Zimbabwe.
But why is a church
founded in the United States called the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The
‘episcopal’ part is easy. It describes a church that has bishops (episkopos, Greek for bishop’). What
about the African bit? Many people think that this church, founded by a former
slave and formed in order to escape white racism in the established Methodist
church, called their church ‘African’ in a spirit of identification with their
roots. This is
mistaken.
Before and after
the liberation of the slaves as a result of the victory of the North in the
American Civil War, black people and their institutions – e.g., schools and
churches – rather than be referred to as ‘negro’, with its connotations of
slavery, chose to be ‘African’. However, when the movement to send black people
back to Africa began to gain way in the United States, blacks stopped using the
name ‘African’ out of an insistence that there
was no way they
were going to allow the whites to ship them off to Africa Instead they claimed
their rights and their citizenship in the country to which they had been
brought as slaves and now lived as free men and women.
The AME however
retained the name.
The AME Church was
founded in the United States by Richard Allen, a freed slave, in 1794. It came
to South Africa a hundred years later. The AME in South Africa was one of the
first of the African Independent churches, closely associated with the
so-called Ethiopian movement in South Africa. Churches that were seen to be
part of this movement believed that in Africa Christian churches should be run
by Africans themselves. At that time, Ethiopia was the only part of Africa that
had not been colonised by the Europeans. It was also influenced by the prophecy
of African redemption in Psalms 68: "Princes shall come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hand unto God."
Allen founded the
AME in the United States for similar reasons. It grew out of the Free African
Society (FAS) as a reaction to rampant and shameless racism in the white-run
churches. As the official online history of the AME has it: “When officials at
St. George’s MEC (Methodist Episcopal Church) pulled blacks off their knees
while praying, FAS members discovered just how far American Methodists would go
to enforce racial discrimination against African Americans”
After Richard Allen
and others left the white Methodist Church to escape racial discrimination, the
Bethel Church was dedicated in 1794 with Allen as pastor. To establish Bethel’s
independence from interfering white Methodists, Allen successfully sued in the
courts for his congregation’s right to exist as an independent institution.
Because other black Methodists also encountered racism and wanted to be
independent, Allen called a meeting to form a new Wesleyan denomination, the
African Methodist Episcopal Church. The Emanuel Church in Charleston, where the
tragic killings took place, was first dedicated by members of the AME in 1816.
In the American
Civil War (1861-5) the southern states had fought for independence so as to
continue slavery, which was the backbone of their economy, white privilege and
wealth. So until the South was defeated and slavery abolished, it was obviously
not easy to establish an-all African American church in much of the country. As
a result, the AME before 1865 was limited to the Northeast and Midwest, in
cities like Philadelphia (where the AME was founded), New York, Boston,
Washington DC, and Chicago. Most black people lived in the South so it was very
difficult for the church to establish itself there though it is amazing that
even some of the slave states boasted AME congregations, including the Emanuel
Church in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina was a vociferous slave
state and the first shots of the war were fired in Charleston Harbour.
The church free to
spread everywhere in the United States only after the South was defeated and
slavery abolished in 1864-5. This is the time when the AME really took off. AME
pastors and deacons moved into the old slave states and brought thousands of
people into the church. “I Seek My Brethren” was the title of a sermon
delivered by Theophilus G. Steward and this became the rallying call for the
AME in the South. By 1880, fifteen years after the end of the Civil War AME
membership had reached over 400 000!
It was Bishop Henry
M. Turner who first brought the AME to Africa. One may well ask, why Liberia?
The roots of the
founding of Liberia were in the same segregationist and racist feelings that
had made the AME break away from the white mother church. Many whites were
alarmed at the growing numbers of free black people living in the North. They
jumped at the idea of sending as many of them as they could back to Africa.
However there were also others, including many black people, for whom the call
to return to Mother Africa was an emotional and inspiring one.
At first those
supporting the project tried to buy land in Africa but the indigenous
inhabitants resisted. Eventually they were forced to cede some land in that
part of West Africa which came to be Liberia. The settlement took root and in
1847 Liberia declared independence from the United States and became only the
second black republic after Haiti, which had won its independence from France
in 1803.
In the beginning
things did not go at all well for the church in Liberia and Sierra Leone. As in
most parts of Africa at that time, Africans were really not very interested in
people coming from the outside and converting them to their religion. In 1820,
Daniel Coker of the AME Church came to Africa and devoted himself to
evangelising in Liberia and in Sierra Leone, Liberia’s neighbour to the
north-west but by 1918 the total AME membership in Liberia was only 436. The
breakthrough was made in Sierra Leone where the AME missionaries decided to
think out of the box and incorporate aspects of local indigenous culture into
their services.
The coming of the
AME to Southern Africa was quite different – and it is here that Charlotte
Maxeke played such an important part. The movement to Africanise the European
Christian churches that had come to Southern Africa dates back to the
establishment of the first independent African churches in Southern Africa. One
of them, the National Tembu Church, was founded in 1884 by Nathaniel Xoxo Tile,
who was a Methodist but fell foul of the colonial authorities. The church was
intended to act as a unifying agent for the Tembu nation. Tile could be said to
be a forerunner of the Ethiopian Movement, which saw Africans calling for
African churches to be run by Africans.
Another
ex-Methodist minister, Mangena Mokone is credited with starting the movement
when he broke away to form the Ethiopian Church in 1892. Charlotte Maxeke had
visited both the United Kingdom and the United States as a singer in the
Jubilee Choir and the McAdoo Singers. In the first she learnt to speak English
fluently and in the latter she was able to create an opportunity for herself to
study at Wilberforce University in Ohio. She was able to inform people back
home about a church that had been established by African Americans for African
Americans. Word reached Mokone and Charlotte acted as a go-between in the
amalgamation of the Ethiopian Church and the AME. Subsequently, not only did
the AME develop a large following in South Africa but it also spread into many
countries all over Africa, including Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia.
Zimbabwe’s unique
contribution to the growth of the Ethiopian Movement was the work of Johane
Masowe, ‘The Black Messiah’, founder of the Apostolic Church. He was born in
1914 in Rusape and having had a life-changing call when he was 18 he travelled
to various countries in the region, including Botswana, South Africa and
Zambia. He founded a church in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and another in Nairobi,
Kenya.
The AME Church was
founded in an attempt to worship God as His free and equal children. A full 221
years later, the very iniquity the church was founded to avoid, namely racial
atrocities and discrimination, is still there and it struck last week. And so
through this hateful hate crime, which seems to have been motivated by the
success of the struggles of black people in South Africa and Zimbabwe to be
free, the wheel has turned full circle - as it is a pastor and members of a
church, the AME, which played such a key role in those struggles, that have yet
again been called upon to sacrifice for its cause.
*Robert Mshengu
Kavanagh is a South African and a published author, cultural activist and
academic, who has lived in Zimbabwe from 1984 to the present.
14. EMANUEL AME CHURCH: THE LATEST VICTIM OF VIOLENCE
AGAINST BLACK CHURCHES:
Adelle M. Banks
June 18, 2015
(RNS) For many, the
massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C., is simply another mass
shooting.
But for
African-Americans, church violence has historic dimensions.
The attack
Wednesday (June 17) at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church reflects “a
pattern of random, racialized violence against religious institutions,” said
Valerie Cooper, associate professor of black church studies at Duke University.
“Persons burned
churches because they thought the congregating of blacks together meant that
that was a foment for some kind of revolutionary action,” said the Rev. Teresa
Fry Brown, historiographer of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and a
black church expert at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.
Here are some
examples of black church violence over the years:
1) The Charleston, S.C., church was torched centuries
ago.
It burned in the
1800s during a controversy surrounding Denmark Vesey, one of the church’s
organizers, who was the leader of a major slave rebellion in that city.
“Worship services
continued after the church was rebuilt until 1834 when all black churches were
outlawed,” the church’s website notes. “The congregation continued the
tradition of the African church by worshipping underground until 1865 when it
was formally reorganized, and the name Emanuel was adopted, meaning ‘God with
us.’”
2) The 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Ala., was bombed in 1963.
Four girls who were
in the church perished on Sept. 15, 1963.
“Those little girls
were there for Sunday school,” said Cooper. “There were four people killed but
there were lots of other people maimed. One little girl lost an eye, for
example. There are people, in other words, still walking around with the scars
of that bombing.”
The church was a
key meeting place of civil rights leaders who were planning voter registration
and other activities.
“It was timed to go
off so when the most number of people would be there,” said Fry Brown.
3) The Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother was killed in church.
Alberta Williams
King died on June 30, 1974, just after playing “The Lord’s Prayer” at Atlanta’s
Ebenezer Baptist Church. Her son was assassinated six years earlier.
“She was killed
playing the organ on Sunday morning,” said Fry Brown.
4) There was a spate of black church arsons in the
South in the 1990s.
The Center for
Democratic Renewal recorded 73 black churches that were burned, firebombed or
vandalized between January 1990 and April 1996. President Clinton created the National
Church Arson Task Force, which reported on arsons at churches black and white,
small and large, but made particular note in 1998 of the effect of the fires on
African-American congregations.
“When actual or
perceived racial hatred has sparked the arson of a church, the crime is even
more egregious. In the African American community, the church historically has
been a primary community institution,” the Justice Department task force’s
report reads. “So, for the African American community, it was decidedly
disturbing to see the number of churches being burned.”
5) Black church arsons took place in the north, too.
Hours after the
2008 election of President Obama, Macedonia Church of God in Christ in
Springfield, Mass., burned.
Two of the three co-defendants
admitted that they doused the partially built church with gas and set it afire
to denounce the election of the nation’s first black president.
“My faith sustained
me to declare that we would rebuild. The thought never came that we would abandon
this project,” said Bishop Bryant Robinson Jr., pastor of the church, when it
was dedicated in 2011, a newspaper reported. “We were delayed, but not denied.”
*Used with
permission of the United Methodist News Service
15. RACE AND VIOLENCE IN AMERICA:
There are moments that the brain cannot fathom.
That the mind cannot hold fast.
That the heart cannot let go.
There are moments when everything shifts and shudders
And changes so completely that in years to come,
We will mark time in before and after that moment.
Wish You Were Here
(In Memoriam) A Poem by Pearl Cleage
As a country
grappling with issues like affordable healthcare, education reform, and
economic stability, the mass shooting in the Emanuel A. M. E. Church in Charleston,
SC, is a shocking reminder that race and violence in America have become
shamelessly reacquainted. The senseless mass shooting has shaken a community
and a nation and is only made more horrifying by where it happened and by whom. A 21-year old white man gunned down African
American churchgoers attending a Wednesday night Bible class.
The motive for the
massacre was simply racism. I do not subscribe to the belief that the shooter
was just another crazy man. His friends have verified his racist rants and
social media has documented his photos. His actions at Emanuel AME were
calculated and his deadly intentions premeditated. He acted on his hatred. That
is our truth. Racism has reared its ugly head and reminded a nation of its
despicable and grisly past. Racism has tenacious roots in American soil but it
does not have to spread like persistent bindweed into future generations. The
National Council of Negro Women is an organization committed to advocating for
women of African descent and their families and communities; we have a
responsibility and a duty to continue the public debate and dialogue that will
advance greater understanding of the issue of race and violence in this country
and we will do so.
While the courts
begin the legal proceedings for the gunman and families begin the painful
ordeal of saying good-bye to their loved ones, it is important to not be
distracted by the headlines and sound bites. How long the massacre was
planned-doesn't matter. Where the shooter got the gun-doesn't matter. That he
had black Facebook friends-doesn't matter. What matters most is how we as a
nation respond and reckon with this kind of violence. Crimes against African
Americans because of race are a significant part of America's shameful history.
The laws against such crimes have been refined over the years to increase the
penalties based on race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender
and sexual orientation. Today forty-five (45) states and the District of
Columbia have statutes criminalizing forms of hate crimes and yet funerals are
being planned for victims of a hate crime committed in a church. Stiffer gun
law legislation will make it more difficult for racists to get a weapon. As
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "It may be true that the law cannot
change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless."
There are some
piercing questions that we have to ask ourselves if we hope to avoid
Charleston's pain in another city: How can we earnestly tackle the racial
demons of our past? What can we do to collectively dehumanize hate? What can
each of us do to affect change?
Answering these questions strike me as our most abiding obligation to
the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, the Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., the Rev. Depayne
Middleton-Doctor, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Tywanza Sanders,
Sharonda Singleton and Myra Thompson.
May God bless and
keep their families.
Ingrid Saunders
Jones
National Chair
16. WE ARE DOING A NEW THING IN THE MISSOURI CONFERENCE
OF THE FIFTH DISTRICT:
The Missouri
Conference Lay Organization (MCLO)" stepped out of our box" this year
and provided a new and different event! A Lay Weekend held at St. Paul AME
Church on June 13 & 14.
We planned a
Saturday Workshop around a dialoged session with our special guest Bishop
Clement W. Fugh (14th Episcopal District). Everyone in the Missouri Conference
was invited to submit questions for a 'Question and Answer' session to be held
after the workshop. As the workshop began, Bishop Fugh communicated that he was
going to incorporate our questions into his workshop agenda. This made it a
very real and relevant experience as he wove our questions into his already
planned presentation. This was our first confirmation that we were going to
have a unique experience and it was! We had over 75 Clergy and Laity in
attendance. We were joined by Lay members from 3 of our Boot Hill churches (a
2-3 hour drive one way) and an excellent representation from all the Missouri
Conference Local Lay Organizations.
The idea was to
have a relaxed atmosphere and Bishop Fugh made it even more comfortable by
coming to the middle of the room. He was not positioned up on a stage or at the
very front away from the group, but he stood among the people. He told us up
front to bring our Discipline and our Bible and both were used extensively. It
was a refreshing experience and very enlightening.
The second
confirmation came as the MCLO came back together on Sunday afternoon at 3:00
for a spiritual worship service where the Missouri Conference Laity presided
and participated on all levels: the Missouri Conference Choir rendered
uplifting music; the Missouri Conference Ushers, Stewardesses and Deaconesses
were on duty, all to ensure a very moving service. Bishop Fugh's message
"Building True Community" (John 13:3-12) was right "on
time," as the Missouri Conference continues to live under the influence of
the tragedy of Ferguson, Missouri. He spoke from the theme of the Connectional
Lay Organization "Laity Fulfilling the Great Commission." It was a
message about getting out of ourselves and bringing the community in. He said
that we are called by Christ to make disciples and the only way to do that is
to step out of our comfort zones and go evangelize.
A note of gratitude
to Nona Simpkins and Louise Welch (Co-Chairs) and their committee, to St. Paul
and Rev. Spencer Booker for their hospitality, to Presiding Elder Edmund E.
Lowe, Sr. for his guidance and support, and to MCLO President Pamela Williams
for taking us to a new height in our worship and service to God!
In His Service,
Mrs. Brenda Simpson
MCLO Financial
Secretary
Member, St. James
AMEC, St. Louis, MO
17. CHURCH SECURITY: WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?:
The Reverend
Michael Hopkins
Psalm 91:1-2 says:
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and
my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.”
Last week, an armed
gunman walked into Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, sat
in on a bible study class being attended by at least twelve members of the
congregation for one hour, and then began his rampage against black people,
killing nine members of the church, including the Honorable Rev. Clementa
Pickney, Pastor of Mother Emanuel AME.
Since that time, people have gathered together around the country, and
the world, at many of our sister AME churches.
We have held prayer vigils and even read Bishop Adam J. Richardson,
Jr.’s special litany on this past Sunday, stating that “The doors of the Church
are still open.”
Now the question is
this: “If the doors of the Church are still open, how do you plan to protect me
from any other incident happening?” This
question has been posed in so many different ways. From news media outlets to our own
parishioners, even fellow clergy, are asking pastors this. Pastors, be it for a congregation of ten
members or ten-thousand members, are faced with this question more so now than
ever before. Do parishioners and clergy
have to worry about whether they will be safe or not in the coming days, weeks,
and months ahead? What about the bible
studies held mid-week? Or the choir rehearsal held on Thursday night? What about the YPD meeting on Saturday? Do we need to wait to schedule anything until
Sunday, when we have more people in attendance?
These are real questions that need to be answered. So what is the answer then?
First and foremost,
you keep going. 2 Timothy 1:7 says that
“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.” Yes, this incident occurred. Yes, this did happen during mid-week bible
study. Yes, there were only a few
parishioners there. There were many
other AME churches doing the same thing, and will continue to do the same thing
for the weeks, months and years to come.
Do not let the devil creep in and disrupt what God has already ordained
to be so. Continue to “…..press toward
the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Philippians 3:14)
Second, establish a
security team. Some will say, “Well,
that is what I have my trustee board for.
They are the ones responsible for the grounds of the church and security
is part of that.” That’s fine and good;
however, if we are honest for a moment with ourselves, look at the age of your
trustee board. Moreover, the trustee
board does more than just security.
Again, they take care of the grounds of the church as well as the
facility itself. Then you have the “It’s
the usher’s responsibility for security” type of mentality. Again, the ushers are doing much more than
just security. And they wear uniforms
for different Sundays. Pastors, think
outside of the box for a moment. Men
want to be involved in the church, but they only want to be responsible for one
thing and not several different items of things all of the time. Having a security ministry is ideal for the
man (or woman) that wants to be able to contribute something positive towards
kingdom building. Your security team is
important because it creates an atmosphere of safety without the team having to
look like a police force has invaded your church or create the fear of
something is wrong. Your security team
can be, or really should be, comprised of those persons who have the experience
and training in security, law enforcement, or military operations. You will find that there are a number of
persons like that within your congregation and are ready to serve on a moment’s
notice.
Third, conduct a
security consultation. There are a
number of security companies out there that are willing to conduct a security
assessment for non-profit organizations (my own company being one of
them). Some are free; others have them
at a reduced price. Shop around and find
out how extensive their consultation goes and what additional services are
offered. Also, look within the security
team just formed. You may find what you
need right within your inner circle!
Fourth, build a
security plan and implement it. Once you
have your security consultation, next is to build your security plan, or what I
like to call your Emergency Action Plan (EAP).
This should be a broad-based plan that covers your most basic incidents,
from medical emergencies to mass casualty events such as Mother Emanuel. It will not detail step-by-step on everything
that you will need to do because every situation is different, however if you
place some general steps of what can be forgotten in the time of emergencies,
it will be a quick reminder to the persons responding and set up the path for
overcoming the incident.
Fifth, liaison with
local emergency response agencies. After
the mass casualty incident at Mother Emanuel, I immediately got in contact with
the City of Phoenix Police Department’s Community Relations Bureau and spoke
with them about the protection of two of our AME churches in close proximity of
each other. Establishing that contact
allowed for us as a church and Phoenix police to be able to conduct security
operations during all prayer vigils and Sunday morning services without
incident and the parishioners not even knowing that there were police officers
on sight. The lead officer even stated
to me, “I enjoyed worshipping with you all and got fed so much; I’m just going
to have to come back when I’m not on duty and bring my family next time.” This interaction was not just only critical in
the sense of community building, but also spiritually in kingdom building.
Finally,
trains…train…train! Some churches have
the previous four points I discussed in place, however they also fail to train
to responding to events. When I was in
the military as a Physical Security Director, we built scenarios based on
previous events with points of emphasis that were graded upon to improve our
training standard so that the security teams could always build upon what they
did both right and wrong. Same is the
case here. It is always important to
understand that practice does not make you perfect…..it only makes you
proficient at what you do! As long as
you continue to train your security teams, the security ministry will be one of
not only service and support, but in the unfortunate event that something goes
awry, the persons that you can rely on the most to bring a situation under
control with the help and aide of God on their side will be there when you need
them the most.
Brief Biography:
*The Rev. Michael
Hopkins is an Associate Minister and the Security & Emergency Response
Ministry Coordinator for Historic Tanner Chapel AME Church in Phoenix, Arizona.
18. SECURING GOD’S SANCTUARY:
*The Rev. Mark
Whitlock
The vicious killing
of nine people attending Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC
has created a national concern for church safety. Most churches, as did Emanuel
AME Church, welcome random, unknown visitors.
Do we know who is
coming inside church doors? Seldom does the church investigate a new person’s
background to determine if the person has been diagnosed mentally unstable,
prone to violence, pedophiles, rapists, or has a violent criminal history. Many
large and small churches don’t have external and internal security cameras,
metal detectors, armed security guards, or published security policies. Often,
children are left alone with volunteers who have not had a background check.
Pastors and pulpit workers are vulnerable to anyone freely entering the pulpit.
It is the responsibility of the Pastor, and church officers to secure God’s
sanctuary.
The first step,
establish a safety committee to research safety policies for children, women,
and church personnel, building security products, and security personnel.
Depending on the size of the church, these items are costly, but what is the
cost of one life?
Next step, church
officers approve a written security plan to include budgeted funding,
developing policies to encompass the process of entering and exiting the church
building in a case of an emergency, and finally educating church officers and
members about the security plan.
The last step,
purchase security products, and hire professional security personnel, and train
church staff. One source of training is on Active Shooter Preparedness:
www.dhs.gov/active-shooter-preparedness. Homeland Security has a free on-line
training course available including a printed certificate. Contact local policing agencies and recruit
church members with policing backgrounds. There are several books on the
subject, Church Safety and Security: A
Practical Guide Paperback – January 1, 2005 by Robert M. Cirtin.
There are some
churches who believe God is all the church needs for protection. Yet, God gives
instructions on safety. The Bible says in Nehemiah 4:15-16 “When our enemies
heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all
returned to the wall, each to his own work. 16 From that day on, half of my men
did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and
armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah.”
It’s time to take
church security seriously.
*The Rev. Mark
Whitlock is the Senior Minister, Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine
California
19. A TRIBUTE TO PASTOR CLEMENTA PINCKNEY:
*The Rev. Sam
Jenkins
I am about to go on
a journey of hope and healing. We are all aware of the recent murders in South
Carolina, of the church members and their pastor. I am going to attend the
funeral services for the pastor. I am making this journey for several reasons.
Several years ago before I moved to Illinois; I organized and led a team of
volunteers who went to South Carolina to rebuild a church that had been burned
in a hate crime arson fire. It was a moving experience seeing hope rise from
the ashes.
Pastor Pinckney,
who was killed, he and I are pastors in the same church denomination the
African Methodist Episcopal Church. I am going to mourn him and the others who
lost their lives so tragically. I am also going to share the burden, and uplift
the joy of overcoming evil with good. Martin Luther King said that unearned
suffering is redemptive. We as a community and a nation must learn a lesson of
redemptive love. Love is a verb, an action word that must be brought to life by
direct action that is born in compassion and hope.
I am also going
because a few days ago I was teaching a Bible class myself, and in the midst of
the safety of that fellowship I reminded everyone that I had made a resolution
a long time ago to “confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy”. This Friday morning in the glow of the South
Carolina sunshine and in the midst of President Obama’s eloquent eulogy I will
be doing all three things. I ask your prayers as I travel for a safe journey
and prayers for those who so graciously have decided to help me get to
Charleston. Most of all I hope you will pray for our nation that we will turn
away from the quick sand of hatred, racism, and violence. Pray that we become a
great race; the American Race. The American Race that will become the beloved
community that Martin Luther King dreamed about, and that you and I have a
chance to make happen.
*The Rev. Sam
Jenkins
20. YOU GO TELL THEM, SIT BESIDE THEM AND GUIDE THEM:
A Reflection of
Acts: 26-35
February 21st
through May 22nd, 2015, the Sixth Episcopal District conducted an inspired
series of seven annual conferences throughout the state of Georgia, U.S.A. At
each annual conference a host of anointed preachers and teachers proselytized
and professed God’s Holy Word to all who came to hear the good news.
One of this
season’s outstanding sermons was delivered on April 28th, the opening day of
the Macon Georgia Annual Conference, at Allen Temple AME Church in Byron, GA,
by The Reverend Alan H. Wicker, Presiding Elder of the East Macon District and
President of the Sixth District Council of Elders. Elder Wicker’s sermon was
drawn from Acts 8:26-35 and entitled, “You Go Tell Them!” His thesis was that
as God told Philip to go into the wilderness and Philip obeyed and went, God
also sends us into and out of wilderness situations to encourage, affirm and
restore one another along our Christian journey.
Elder Wicker
explained that throughout the book of Acts, the primary actor bringing about
the success of the spread of Christianity is not the body of new believers or
even the apostles. Instead, the main actor, the instigator in Acts, is God.
Philip's action of taking the road from Jerusalem to Gaza is directed by
"an angel of the Lord" who gives Philip instructions to go this way
(vs. 26). God sent Philip down a "wilderness road." This is an
indication that in our quest to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth,
faithful disciples should not be surprised to find themselves on wilderness
roads.
Elder Wicker asked,
“Now what must we do to encourage, affirm and restore one another under God's
reign?” He preached, “First we have to get up and go! In this chapter of Acts,
an angel of the Lord challenges a Christian named Philip to, ‘get up and go
toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ The angel
is ordering Philip to leave the city of Jerusalem and go in a new direction off
the beaten path. As I read my bible, in most cases it is an agent of God that
brings the message to the individual, not God speaking directly to the
individual. In the AME Church we have agents of the Lord and they are called
bishops. Bishops are God's agents in our Zion that send us where God would have
us to go. Presiding elders are God's agents that manage elder districts
according to God's will. Pastors are God's agents that go to the churches, some
of which are both physically and spiritually in the wilderness, to help people
work out their souls' salvation. Simply put, when God says, ‘Get up’ we must
get up; and when God says, ‘Go,’ we must go. But some of us act like our get up
and go, got up and went.
To all pastors and
church leadership, YOU go tell your congregations that God sent you to teach
the Holy Bible. YOU go tell them God sent you to teach the AME Discipline. YOU
are God's agent to the people in a dark world. YOU are the light that's shining
in the darkness of ignorance, despair, poverty, hopelessness, voter apathy,
hunger, selfishness, and all things anti-God. YOU go tell them God sent me
here. Take thou the authority and go!
You go teach Bible
study; you go teach Sunday School; you go prepare an annual church budget and a
successful plan to finance the local church's obligations; you go start a lay
organization; you go develop a Christian education leader and ministry; you go
study and preach God's word; you go fill out the quarterly conference report
form; you go fill out the pastor's annual report blank; you go get financial
software to keep up with and be accountable for the church's finances. YOU
reverend, your sir, you madam, go and do your work! Philip got up, went and did
his work and so must we!
A second lesson
that can be learned from this passage of scripture is to encourage, affirm and
restore one another by sitting beside and guiding one another. Philip
approached the chariot and heard the Ethiopian eunuch reading the Book of
Isaiah the prophet. ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb
silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation
justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken
away from the earth’ (vs. 32-33).
Philip asks the
man, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The Ethiopian replies, ‘How can
I unless someone guides me?’ He then invites Philip to get in his chariot and
sit beside him (vs. 30-31). Philip joins the Ethiopian eunuch and helps him to
understand Scripture.
That's precisely
what we need to do today … take steps to sit beside and guide one another. When
we do this we are able to encourage, affirm and restore one another. The
Ethiopian eunuch asks, ‘About whom, may I ask, does the prophet say this, about
himself or someone else?’ Philip answers that the prophet is talking about
Jesus. He proclaims to him the good news about Jesus (v.35). He tells him that
Jesus died on the cross like a sheep led to slaughter, to demonstrate just how
far He will go to show His love for us. This sacrifice brings us forgiveness of
sin and the restoration of a right relationship with God, whether we are
American, Ethiopian, man, woman or eunuch. And to prove that death is not the
end, God raised Jesus from the dead and raises us as well. That's the Jesus
story, as simple as can be. It's what the Ethiopian eunuch needed to hear and
what people in our society need to hear. It's a story we can tell again and
again if we sit beside and guide one another as loving Christians.
-- The 199th
Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference the Second Episcopal District of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church convened at Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church 1300 Druid Hill Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland April 8 – 10,
2015
TO:
The Right Reverend William P. DeVeaux, Presiding Prelate of the Second
Episcopal District: Dr. Patricia Ann Morris DeVeaux, Episcopal
Supervisor; The Presiding Elders, Cordell E. Hunter, Sr. and Ernest L.
Montague Sr; Delegates and Members of the 199th Session of the Baltimore Annual
Conference; Visiting Guests, Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
We,
the Committee on Resolutions, submit the following report:
WHEREAS, the 199th
Session of the Historic Baltimore Annual Conference convened on Wednesday,
April 8, 2015, at the Historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church,
Baltimore, Maryland, at the call of our Presiding Bishop, the Right Reverend
William P. DeVeaux, Sr. The Opening Session began at 10:00 am with the
processional of Bishop William P. DeVeaux, Sr., the Reverend Ernest L.
Montague, Sr., Presiding Elder of the Baltimore District, the Reverend Cordell
E. Hunter Sr., Presiding Elder of the Eastern District and the clergy of the
Baltimore Annual Conference. We blended our voices one more time to sing
“All Hail the Power of Jesus Name.”
WHEREAS, the weekend
preceding the Annual Conference under the direction of the Baltimore Annual
Conference Young People's Division Director, Wanda Ragster-Wilson, convened on
April 4, 2015 at Camp Ramble Wood, Darlington, Maryland. Their Theme: “Are You
Anchored? Transformation before the Breakthrough?” In attendance were
over 400 young people representing the churches in the Baltimore Annual
Conference? The young people participated in worship, praise and
exhibited their gifts and talents throughout the events of the day.
WHEREAS preceding the
Annual Conference under the dynamic leadership of our Episcopal Supervisor, Dr.
Pam DeVeaux, met with the Women’s Missionary Society for a glorious daylong
session. During the day there were elections and Virginia Hayman was
elected the new President of the Women’s Missionary Society. There was a mighty
meditation brought forward by Sister D. Faye Conley, President, 2nd
Episcopal District WMS. During the afternoon there was the WMS Luncheon. The
following officers were recognized for their faithful service to the WMS for
their eight year term. Special recognition was given to Sister Mary
Fisher, outgoing BCWMS President. She was portrayed as a “Selfless
Servant who demonstrated qualities of leadership, excellence, having a patient
gentle spirit, and demonstrating gracious hospitality.
WHEREAS, the Opening
Sermon was preached by Reverend Dr. Peggy E. Wall, pastor of St. John African
Methodist Episcopal Church. Her sermon text came from Mark 3:21(NRSV, KJV,
CEV), Dr. Wall focused her attention on the last portion of each verse - “He
has gone out of his mind, he is beside himself and he was crazy”. The
salient points reminded the conference that we as Christians must have “crazy
faith,” “crazy hope,” and crazy praise.” The delivery of the sermon was
powerful and the conference responded with shouts of “Praise.”
WHEREAS, during the
morning session the election was held for clergy delegates and alternates for
the General Conference in 2016. There were thirteen delegates and twelve
alternates. The top two votes for the clergy were Dr. Frank M. Reid III,
and Presiding Elder Ernest L. Montague, Sr. The top two alternates were
Reverend Brenda White and Reverend Angelique Mason.
WHEREAS, the Baltimore
Annual Conference Board of Examiners Secretary, Dr. Joan L. Wharton reported
and the following persons in the Second Year Class were elected to be ordained
Itinerant Deacons and passed to the Third Year of Studies: Christopher Brown,
Eva Branch, and Christian Savage. In the Fourth Year Class of Studies the
following individuals were elected to be ordained Itinerant Elders: Phyllis L.
Linnes, and Nicole L. Pyles. The Local Orders Class presented the
following individuals to be ordained Local Deacons – Wanda Cleamis Brown and
Kenneth Miller.
WHEREAS, on the
evening of April 8, 2015, the Annual Men's Night Service was crowded with over
three hundred men in attendance. The sermon was preached by Reverend Howard C.
Wright, pastor of Grace African Methodist Episcopal Church. His text was
taken from Jeremiah 29:14, the topic was “Condition for Success”. It was
an empowering message of encouragement for all men to condition themselves in
Christ. Men must keep the faith, and walk as strong men in the church,
family, and community. We were all blessed by this powerful witnessed.
WHEREAS, the Conference
Institute began at 8:25 am under the leadership of the Reverend Charles A.
Baugh, Dean of the Conference Institute. The focus was on *Thrivent Financial
with presenters: Aaron Shingler and Barbara Hollis Shingler, (members of
Evergreen AME Church in Baltimore) and Chris Anderson, from Interfaith
Community Foundation. Information was shared that would strengthen the
financial health of the local church. In addition, The Reverend Helen Holton
gave a presentation on “Developing a Model for Social Action that is Relevant
for Today.”
WHEREAS, the Women in
Ministry of the Baltimore Conference under the leadership of Coordinator the
Reverend Raelynn Kingeter led the conference in worship during the Midday
Refreshing Service on Thursday, April 9, 2015, at 12:30 pm hour. The Reverend
Charlotte Clemons, pastor of Shiloh African Methodist Episcopal Church preached
from John 11: 1 – 4, the topic: “Give God the Glory.” Reverend
Clemons shared about the meaning of F T T,
which means “Failure to Thrive.” It indicates there is a loss of hope that we
have “lost our first love.” The word encouraged the conference that even
though it may look like you're dying, but be encouraged “You Shall Live and not
Die. Clergy Women with 25 or more years of ministerial service to the Baltimore
conference were honored. The Second District Women in Ministry President, Dr.
Jon L. Wharton and Bishop William P< DeVeaux present the women with a
certificate and gift from the BCWIM.
WHEREAS, Presiding Elder
Ernest L. Montague, Sr. and Presiding Elder Cordell E. Hunter, Sr. called for
the pastors to give their report on stewardship. The reports demonstrated
that the “power of God” is evident in the healing of his people. All is
“well,” souls are being saved and lives are being changed.
WHEREAS, the Reverend
Marietta Ramsey, pastor of Bethlehem AME Church made a special appeal to the
conference letting the congregation know that “60 Homeless Teenagers” attending
Harbor City Achievement Academy are in need of financial resources to pay for
their graduation expenses, which includes the caps, gowns, and class
dues. Many of the pastors and other persons of the conference showed the
love of God by generous contributions to this cause. The Bishop also gave
the remaining balance of $500.00 to Reverend Ramsey to complete her vision for
the students.
WHEREAS, the Annual Lay
Witness Service was held on Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. There
was a musical presentation by the Reverend Mary E. Mosley Children's Choir from
Trinity African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Reverend Rodrecus
Johnson, Sr., is the pastor. The children “blessed” the conference with their
“powerful” rendition of “Rock of Ages.” There also was a musical medley
expressing, “That Black Lives Matter.” The songs were some of the “old”
spirituals of the church: “Go Down Moses,” “Oh Freedom,” and We shall Over
Come.” The Honorable, James E. Clyburn, the 6th Congressional District – South
Carolina and Assistant Democratic Leader of the United States House of
Representatives was the speaker for the service. He gave words of encouragement reminding us
that everyone has a “gift,” and we should be able to use our God given gifts to
help and not hurt. The Honorable Clyburn recently published his memoirs
entitled, “Blessed Experience.”
WHEREAS, the Bishop called
for the Administrative Committee Reports and the Literary Reports for the
Baltimore Annual Conference. The reports were read and approved by the
Baltimore Annual Conference with recommendations to go back to the local
churches.
WHEREAS, the Memorial
Service was held on April 10, 2015 at the 1:30 p.m. hour. I heard a
voice from heaven saying unto me…“Write, from henceforth blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord. Even so, says the Spirit, for they rest from their
labors, and their works do follow them (Revelation 4:13)”…Bishop Vinton R.
Anderson, Reverend Dr. Carl Hunter (Retired General Officer), Reverend Dr. Carl
Hunter (Retired General Officer), Reverend Juretha Joyner – Maiden, Reverend
Winston J. Townsend, Sister Andreris Carter, and Sister Debra Wilson.
WHEREAS, Reverend Dr. Ann
Lighter Fuller, Pastor of Mt. Calvary Church in Towson, Maryland was invited to
the White House for the “Easter Breakfast” presenting this year’s
message. We are so proud of Reverend Dr. Ann Lighter Fuller representing
the 2nd Episcopal District, of the Baltimore Annual Conference.
WHEREAS, the Ordination
Service was held on Friday, April 10, 2015 at 6 p.m. Bishop McKinley
Young, Presiding Prelate of the 3rd Episcopal District was the ordination
preacher. His text, John 20: 24 – 25, topic, “Missing in Action.”
He reminded the conference that our Lord is “still on the scene lifting us
up. He gives us a safe place for
therapy, Jesus comes just for me.” This was an awesome and anointed
message for the people of God.
WHEREAS, we gave a
“heartfelt gracious thanks to the Host Pastor, the Rev. Dr. Frank Madison Reid
III, Lady Marlaa MeShon Hall Reid, and the “Bethel Nation,” for their kindness
demonstrated toward us during this
conference. The “Red Carpet was pulled out”, genuine warmth given, “5
Star hospitality, cordiality, and congeniality were extended to everyone at the
Baltimore Annual Conference. A standing ovation was given to the pastor
and the Bethel Nation for a successful conference.
WHEREAS, Dr. Patricia A.
DeVeaux, Episcopal Supervisor reminded us,
“But God” is in everyone’s life and God is the difference that makes us
able to stand strong in the faith. We
can truly say it was “But God” for some us to be where we are in our life’s
journey, we can say with great clarity, that the Lord is our protector,
sustainer and friend.
BE IT RESOLVED, that under the
illustrious leadership of our Bishop, the Right Rev. William P. DeVeaux and our
“beautiful” Episcopal Supervisor, Dr. Pam DeVeaux, a fresh anointing fell on
the 199th Session of the Baltimore Annual Conference. Truly there was a charisma and power that
the conference experienced which was unlike any other. There was a spirit that cannot be replicated
nor fabricated. The presence of the Lord was truly among us at this 199th
session of the Baltimore Annual Conference. We are thankful for
this “Godly leadership team”, which has
led us to be on “one accord”, going back to the work for the next conference
year invigorated, challenged, fired up, and ready to severe God’s people across
the conference.
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED
that the Baltimore Annual Conference has experienced “Effective Christian
Leadership,” Empowered by Prayer, Praise and Proclamation” (Colossians 3:16-17
(KJV).
Respectfully
Submitted,
The
Reverend Marguerite Savage, Chair
The
Reverend Harold McFadden
The
Reverend Peggy E. Wall
The
Reverend Howard Wright
The
Reverend Tamitha Walker
The
Reverend Dana Porter-Ashton
The
Reverend Edwina Witherspoon
Delegates
Hemingway Temple, Robinson, Bethel, Chesapeake City, Mt. Joy and Elevation
Chapel
Recorders: Christian
Savage, Marcia Potter, Baltimore Annual Conference Secretarial Staff
*Submitted by: Dr. Joan L. Wharton, Public
Relations Chair
22. UNITED METHODIST BISHOPS REACH OUT AFTER CHARLESTON
SHOOTING:
United Methodist
Council of Bishops
Washington, D.C.:
In the wake of a tragic shooting of nine people attending Bible study at
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., the Council of
Bishops of The United Methodist Church is reaching out to their colleague
bishops in the African Methodist Episcopal Church with a message of prayer and
healing.
The bishops also
called upon United Methodists to support victims of violence and to work to end
racism and hatred. Their message echoed that of a pastoral letter on racism
issued by the Council to the people of The United Methodist Church in early
May.
A letter from the
President of the Council, Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr., to the bishops of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church reads:
Dear Bishop Bryant
and colleague African Methodist Episcopal Bishops,
Grace and Peace to
you in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of our broken world.
Your sisters and
brothers in the Council of Bishops and congregations of The United Methodist
Church are in prayer with and for you in the wake of the racist murders and
hateful violence at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in
Charleston, South Carolina. May the Holy
Spirit endow you with a full measure of love, wisdom and courage as you lead
the Church and witness to the world in this consequential time.
We join in mourning
the tragic loss of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, and the other victims who were
meeting with prayers offered to the One who is our hope. We are all now a part of a global prayer
meeting for these families and all families and communities deeply wounded by
racism and violence. We unite voices in
proclaiming, "If God is for us, who can be against us?...Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No! In
all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved
us!" (Romans 8)
As other recent
events of violence and racism have compelled us to do, again we call on United
Methodists and all people of good will to support the victims of this and all
acts of violence, to work to end racism and hatred, to seek peace with justice,
and to live the prayer that our Lord gave us, that God's "kingdom come,
(and) will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
We go forward with
Wesley's assurance that "Best of all God is with us."
Bishop Warner H.
Brown, Jr., President
The Council of
Bishops
-- The United Methodist Church is in a full Communion
relationship with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the other member
Methodist denominations of the Pan-Methodist Commission.
23. NAACP STATEMENT ON GOV. NIKKI HALEY’S CALL FOR THE
REMOVAL OF THE CONFEDERATE FLAG ON CAPITOL GROUNDS:
BALTIMORE, MD – On
Monday, June 22nd, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the Confederate
battle flag to be taken down from out in front of the state Capitol. The
General Assembly's session ended on June 4, but lawmakers are meeting Tuesday
to pass a budget compromise, at which point they can vote on extending the
session to debate the removal of the Confederate flag. A decision to continue
the session would take two-thirds of the vote, as would passing legislation to
take down the flag. If they don't, Haley said she would use her authority to
call them back into session to debate on the flag. Subsequently, the NAACP has
issued the following statement.
-- From Cornell
William Brooks, NAACP President and CEO:
“For 15 years, the
national NAACP alongside our South Carolina State Conference have advocated for
the Confederate battle flag’s removal. As we continue to mourn the lives of
nine African American men and women killed senselessly in a church massacre at
the hands of a white supremacist, the NAACP expects nothing less than a
unanimous vote by the South Carolina state legislature to remove the flag
immediately. Simply calling for the flag’s removal is not enough. While a
toothless vote is legislatively necessary, we believe that a unanimous vote is
morally required. For 15 years, the NAACP has led a statewide boycott aimed at
bringing economic pressure on the state to bring the flag down, even recruiting
the NCAA and UAW. The legislative body of South Carolina now has the
opportunity to bring forth a new era of unity on the heels of tragedy. Removing
the Confederate flag in this moment is not only ethically right but
unequivocally American. The Southern region of our country is known for its
hospitality. Nothing is more hospitable than creating an environment of
inclusion for people of all races, colors, creeds and faiths. If South Carolina
refuses to take down the flag, the NAACP will only intensify its economic,
political and moral pressure on the state to remove the same emblem of
exclusion that the church shooter used as motivation for his crime.
24. NAACP TO HOST 106TH ANNUAL NATIONAL
CONVENTION IN PHILADELPHIA JULY 11th - 15th:
Convention to Unite
Thousands of Social Justice Activists Around Voting Rights, Criminal Justice
Reform, Economic Opportunity, Health Equity and Education Equality
(BALTIMORE, MD) –
From July 11th to the 15th, the NAACP will host its 106th Annual Convention in
Philadelphia, PA. This year’s convention
theme is “Pursuing Liberty In the Face of Injustice.” In the wake of the social
and economic unrest across the country, the NAACP will focus on building a
broad based agenda around voting rights, criminal justice reform, health
equity, economic opportunity and education equality ahead of the 2016
presidential election. Click here to see
the schedule of events; click here to register for press credentials.
"Under the
banner of 'Pursuing Liberty In the Face of Injustice,' the NAACP looks forward
to convening thousands of civil rights, human rights and social justice
activists to network and develop measurable strategies that inspire courage in
participants to implement sustainable political and economic changes in
vulnerable neighborhoods throughout the country" said NAACP Board Chairman
Roslyn M. Brock.
This convention
occurs a few weeks ahead of the kick off of the NAACP’s America Journey for
Justice – a series of direct actions that will take place along the 850 mile
route from Selma, Alabama to Washington, DC--through Georgia, South Carolina,
North Carolina and Virginia to highlight vulnerable communities subject to
regressive voting rights tactics.
"Our lives,
our votes, our jobs and our schools matter,” said Cornell William Brooks, NAACP
President & CEO. “I look forward to meeting with citizen leaders in
Philadelphia, the birthplace of American liberty, who share these values and
our unyielding commitment to protecting the lives of Americans, the sustainable
jobs of our citizenry, our right to vote and the integrity of our democracy. As
we head into the 2016 election, we must secure unfettered access to the ballot
box for every American. The ballot box is our most powerful way to raise our
voice. Join us in Philly as we work
together to find the solutions, strategies and inspiration for what yet ails
our nation.”
This year’s
convention speakers include well-known as well as the next generation of civil
rights leaders, elected officials, faith leaders, actors and community
activists.
“We are honored to
welcome the NAACP to Philadelphia this July for its 106th National Convention,”
said Mayor Michael Nutter. “As the
birthplace of liberty, our city is the perfect location to host the NAACP, one
of the leading organizations for social change in the world for more than a
century. We are thrilled that some of
the most pressing social, economic and civil rights issues of the 21st century
will be addressed at this convention here in Philadelphia.”
“The NAACP
continues to be on the frontlines in the fight for social justice,” stated
NAACP Vice Chairman Leon Russell. “Civic engagement and turning out the vote
must be at the forefront of our work as we move into this presidential election
year. We could not have picked a better place to reaffirm voting as the bedrock
of our democracy than Philadelphia. We thank Pennsylvania State Conference
President Dwayne Jackson Sr. for marshaling the support of all of our units in
Pennsylvania for the success of this convention. We are particularly grateful
to the Philadelphia Branch of the NAACP for working with us to help ensure the
success of this 106th Annual Convention. We will continue to lead the charge
for liberty in the face of injustice, just as we have done since our founding.”
“The Pennsylvania
State Conference looks forward to hosting the NAACP’s 106th National Annual
Convention in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania," said Dwayne Jackson Sr.,
president of the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference. “Our expectations and
excitement are high as we prepare for civil and human rights advocates to visit
our great state. The NAACP is moving forward more energized than ever and this
convention will ensure attendees leave with a renewed commitment to being
champions for human and civil rights.”
"The
Philadelphia Branch of the NAACP was founded in 1912, and for more than a
century, our branch has been fighting to protect the civil and human rights of
every Philadelphia resident, especially those in communities of color,"
said Rodney Muhammad, president of the NAACP Philadelphia Branch. “Our hope is
that this 106th annual national convention will cause the entire
Association to attack the social ills of poverty, racial profiling, police
brutality, health disparities and income inequality, with more vigor than ever
before."
In addition to the
primary convention schedule, the NAACP’s Youth & College Division will host
workshops, luncheons and forums throughout the week. Emerging youth from across
the nation will be featured in the annual Academic, Cultural, Technological and
Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) competition beginning July 8. Students will
compete in 26 categories including sciences, humanities, performing arts,
visual arts, and business over the course of the event. Celebrity hosts will be
serving as guest judges throughout the competition and hosting the closing
awards ceremony.
25. ONCE ARABS AND JEWS LIVED TOGETHER RELATIVELY
PEACEFULLY IN PALESTINE - HOW AND WHY THAT CHANGED:
-- PBS rolls out
national broadcast of Tuesday, June 30 at 9/8 CT - Check Your Local Listings - http://www.pbs.org/tv_schedules/;
Boston and Minneapolis/St. Paul premieres July 2
Breaking new ground
and laying bare old myths, 1913: Seeds of Conflict explores the little-known
history of late Ottoman Palestine, a time of relative harmony between Arabs and
Jews. How did this land of "milk and honey," so diverse and rich in
culture, become the site of today’s bitter and seemingly intractable struggle?
Was there a turning point when things could have been different? Weaving the raveled threads of Arab and
Jewish narratives together, 1913: Seeds of Conflict provides new and
fascinating insights into events which presaged a century of unrest.
Please forward this
message to your colleagues, friends and family, at your church, temple or
mosque and especially to students and youth leaders and help spread the word
about this groundbreaking film about a crucial moment in history!
26.
THE TRUTH IS THE LIGHT
*The Rev. Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr.
Based on Biblical Text: Luke 10:40: “But Martha was cumbered about much serving,
and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me
to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.”
Women’s Day at Morris Brown African
Methodist Episcopal Church, like many of our churches, is the culmination of a
whirlwind of activities. Much work has gone into the planning and the results
have been magnificent. At each event there has been women serving and there
have been women sitting. I began to think, there must be a lesson here.
It is a fact that the assignments that life
presents us keep us very busy. However, many times we are busy in just a
repetitive sort of way. Think about it, we wake up at the same time every
morning and go to the same job. We do things on our job at the same time in the
same way and then we clock out at the same hour. We come home, eat dinner at
the same time, watch some of the same things on television for the same amount
of time and go to bed after the same show. We start the same routine all over
again at the same time the next morning.
That routine is not bad however we have to
admit that it is easy to get so caught up in the repetitive responsibilities of
our routine that we miss the most important moments. We are sometimes so
programmed that we overlook the life-changing moments that can serve to restore
and renew us. We run the risk many times of missing the very things in our life
that will revitalize our otherwise mundane existence. We are just too busy to
“be still.”
We find in our text that is the problem
Sister Martha had. Martha, like many of the committed Sisters on each of the
committees, was a dedicated and devoted worker. You could count on Martha to
get the job done and done well. Sister Martha could juggle the busiest of
schedules ensuring that every detail was addressed and no stone was left
unturned.
Martha was like the energizer bunny.
Whenever Jesus and the disciples visited she would wash their clothes. She
prepared meals and tended to the individual needs of her guests. No doubt, each
time Jesus and his ministerial staff of twelve left, Martha was exhausted.
As I watch the ladies working in the
kitchen and serving in the Fellowship Hall I wonder to myself, as they tend to
the concerns of our guest are they really too busy to enjoy them? I wonder if
when the dinner was over and all the guests were gone home, did some of the
women find themselves wishing that more could have been done ahead of time so
they could enjoy the fellowship. It occurred to me that was probably how Martha
felt when she saw Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus while she, was doing all
the work. Martha would have liked to sit and listen to Jesus talk about the scriptures,
but somebody had to take care of the physical needs of the guests. Isn’t that
right?
I realize I am treading on dangerous
ground. I might as well go in further. Let me point out that Mary didn’t even
belong in the same room with those spiritual men. Mary’s place was in the
kitchen with Martha. Women belonged in the kitchen. They weren’t aloud to
attend classes with the men in the temple. What was on Mary’s mind? There was
all this work to be done and Mary was sitting while Martha was serving. Martha
wasn’t having it! The Bible says that Sister Martha rushed into the room where
the men were gathered and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left
me to serve alone?”
“No Martha didn’t, barge into the room and
chastise Jesus for allowing a woman to listen to His teachings!” Oh yes she
did, and as I think of the women serving in our church I can name several who
feel just like Martha. I am talking about women who busy themselves with every
detail of the work of our boards and auxiliaries, spending countless hours
planning, developing, arranging and scheduling. These are fine women of God who
believe whole heartedly that nothing would get done according to their high
standards if they didn’t oversee every aspect of the ministry project themselves.
After all, it is all about serving, isn’t it?
Not as much as you think! There is more to
serving than the planning, developing, arranging and scheduling. I realize that
someone reading has decided at this point I have lost my mind but it is not all
about serving. It is about reaching a balance between our serving and our
sitting. I submit to you that is what Mary was doing. Like many of us, Mary
needed to take time out to sit at the feet of Jesus. Thus we find that while
Martha was scurrying about earning stars for her crown, Mary was sitting at the
feet of the Master feeding her soul.
The text lets us know that while Martha was
serving, Mary was sitting. What we need to understand as we work to reach our
balance between serving and sitting is that while Martha was working, Mary was
growing. We must guard against our being so busy serving Jesus that we don’t
take time to know Jesus. We must carefully balance our time between working for
and studying Jesus. It is critical that we don’t get so caught up doing that we
have no time to listen to what Jesus has to say! Working with our spiritual
ears closed is the fastest way to inhibit our Christian growth.
When you take a moment to look around at
Bible Study or any church training session you will see several people who are
listening intently and taking notes. These are the people who have taken a
breather from their repetitive schedules to “listen to Jesus”. These represent
the Mary’s in the congregation. Interestingly, the folk who are absent may well
be dedicated church workers. The folk not in attendance may be the ones who are
busy with all the details of ministry. These folk may have even planned the
seminar however, in far too many instances these are the folk who put more
priority on the business of service than they do the nurturing of their soul.
So much goes into the work that they are too busy to pause and listen to what
Jesus has to say.
Martha raises her concern to Jesus and
believes she has a good reason to be angry. However, when we read Jesus’
response to Martha’s question, we see that He is actually chastising Martha.
Jesus was well aware of the fact that she was envious of Mary for having the
courage to break with social custom and sit at his feet. He knew also that
Martha was probably angry with herself for over-planning her day not leaving
enough time for Jesus. Jesus intended to set Martha straight. He let Martha know then and wants us to know,
“You work hard tending to every detail as though it was a matter of life and
death, but you miss the one detail that really matters. What you miss is the most essential part.”
When
we allot so much of our time and energy working to exhaustion we so many times
neglect the most essential part which is the nurturing of our soul. We could
very well end up frustrated like Martha. We may even find ourselves nearing
burnout in our service to the Lord. Yes, the Bible admonishes us to be not just
hearers but doers of the Word however, there has to be in each of our lives a
balance between our serving and our sitting. Our effective doing is contingent
upon our hearing. Kingdom building would be seriously threatened if all of the
workers decided that they had heard all they need to hear from Jesus. The point
is we must sit long enough to hear what the Lord says about what we should do.
We will then be equipped to serve effectively enough to make a difference in
our community and in the world.
We are admonished that, “Six days you shall
labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your
God; you shall not do any work.” Monday through Saturday then are serving days,
and Sunday is “sitting day.” Sunday is the day God set aside to revive us and
renew us. Missing our “sitting day” causes our “serving days” to become
ineffective. A hymnologist penned, “Be still and let the Spirit speak: The
Spirit unto you will give, the knowledge that you need and daily you will grow
in grace, if you the Spirit heed.”
Let me ad, we cannot go wrong by including
a few more hours of sitting (learning) on our schedule. We can spend some time
sitting at Church School and Bible Study. We must recognize that we cannot
teach what we don’t know or lead where we refuse to go. As we mature we will
realize that it is in our serving that we work out our soul’s salvation, but it
is in our sitting that we are reenergized as we replenish our spiritual
reservoir. We must strive to reach an appropriate balance between our serving
and our sitting. Our serving allows us to share the love of God and glorify
God. It is in our sitting at the feet of the Lord that we strengthen that love
and purge ourselves of sinful desires as we fellowship with Him. As we serve we
are able to spread the truth of the grace and mercy of God. When we sit at His
feet we are able to shore up our own beliefs, and ask forgiveness for our own
failings.
We should not be afraid to assess for
ourselves if we are in fact serving too much and sitting too little. We must
ensure that we are not neglecting the most essential part. To be constantly and
steadily filled with the Spirit of God let us sit a while at Jesus’ feet. “Be
still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be
exalted in the earth.”
*The Reverend Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr.,
is the pastor of Morris Brown A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C.
27.
GETTING TO ZERO: FIELDWORK IN ZAMBIA:
*Dr. Oveta Fuller is currently out of the
country. Her column will resume next week.
*The Rev. Oveta Fuller Caldwell, Ph.D. is
an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of
Michigan (U-M) Medical School, Associate Director of the U-M African Studies
Center and an AMEC itinerant elder and former pastor. She lived in Zambia for
most of 2013 to study HIV/AIDS prevention among networks of religious leaders.
28. iCHURCH SCHOOL LESSON BRIEF FOR SUNDAY, JUNE
28, 2015 - GOD WILL NEVER FORGET - AMOS 8:1-10
*Brother Bill Dickens
Introduction
The Disney movie ‘The Lion King’ ranks as
one of the greatest animated movies in cinematic history. One of the turning
points in the movie occurs when Simba, exiled from his home and living a life
of ease with his new found friends Timon and Pumba, hears a vision one night
from his deceased father Mufasa. Mufasa’s message to Simba is he has forgotten
who he is and as a result has forgotten his father. Mufasa admonishes his
backsliding son to remember who he is and never forget that he (Simba) is the
rightful heir to the kingdom and the true King of Priderock (not his
manipulative uncle Scar). As the voice faintly disappears all that Simba can
hear is “remember, remember, remember.”
The Adult AME Church School Lesson for June
28, 2015 teaches the important principle why God will never forgets. Since God is omniscient his data storage of
“memory” is unlimited. He remembers everything, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Amos articulates this truth in Chapter 8.
Bible
Lesson
Teach
by Example - Amos 8:1-3
Amos opens up Chapter 8 with a fascinating
example. God poses a rhetorical question to Amos about a ripe basket of fruit.
The Lord asks Amos to explain the contents in the basket. Amos correctly
responds by saying the basket contains ripe fruit. The ripe fruit is a metaphor
for judgment against Israel. The time is
“ripe” for Israel to be justly judged for their crimes of theological and moral
injustice. Now is the correct time to exact punishment.
Teach
against Exploitation Amos 8:4-6
Economic inequality had become so
widespread during Amos’ time that the inhabitants of Israel accepted this as
the norm. Unscrupulous market practices by merchants were used to extract
higher prices from poor buyers in order to expand their (market manipulators)
unjust enrichment by at the expense of the needy. The exploiters are only concerned about opportunities
to maximize unjust profits, not promoting economic fairness and market justice.
Teach
about Evil Amos 8: 7-10
Amos now directs his focus to the eminent
destruction resulting from the example of the ripe fruit and the rampant
exploitation in Israel. In verse 7 the prophet states unequivocally that the
Lord will not forget what Israel has done. The Lord’s hand of mercy has been
rejected by Israel’s recidivist sin and disobedience. Evil cannot and will not
go unchecked. In that “day” (verse 8) the sun will go down at noon and the
entire earth will experience a solar eclipse signaling that destruction is
near. Religious feasts and singling will turn from festive events to events of
mourning and sackcloth draped with ashes. Sufferings and mourning will rule the
day because Israel chose evil over obedience.
Bible
Application
June 17, 2015 will forever be a day of
infamy in the annals of AME history. The AME Church and the world at large were
shocked beyond disbelief concerning the senseless slayings of nine members of
Emanuel AME Church of Charleston, SC.
The homegoing services for the ‘Emanuel
Nine’ will take place the week of June 22, 2015. The AME church will never
forget this act of terrorism inside God’s sanctuary. Most importantly, God will
never forget the Christian hospitality extended to the killer by the Emanuel
Nine prior to Mr. Roof allowing himself to be used as a vessel of evil. While
it is our Christian duty to forgive acts of evil we would be derelict in our
Christian duty if we “forgot” what happened last week in Charleston, SC. We owe
it to our children to teach them the good, the bad and the ugly about
history. Anything less would be
revisionist history. God doesn’t forget
and neither should His followers develop selective amnesia.
*Brother Bill Dickens is currently the
Church School Teacher at Allen AME Church in Tacoma, Washington. He is currently a member of the Fellowship of
Church Educators for the African Methodist Episcopal Church
29.
MEDITATION BASED ON PSALM 34:1-10:
*The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby
“Buffet” restaurants are a popular modern
dining choice. You pay for your meal
when you arrive and then select “all you can eat” from an often amazing variety
of food choices. You can also get
“seconds” - or more - as long as you use a clean plate for each trip to the
buffet line.
Buffet restaurants are fast, convenient and
plentiful, but much of the food is high in calories and designed to fill you up
quickly, some people eat more than they should to get their “money’s worth,”
and “service” often simply involves someone who fills your beverage glass and
brings you bread to fill you up faster.
I sometimes opt for buffet restaurants, but
I also like restaurants where you sit down, make choices from a menu and wait
for your food to be prepared and served.
It takes a bit longer and you may not get to stuff yourself till you can
hardly move, but you do get personal attention, you can relax and chat with those
at the table or enjoy the atmosphere while you wait, and what finally comes to
your table is prepared just for you.
Buffet restaurants reflect our modern
pursuit of “happiness” in a world that emphasizes immediate results and instant
gratification. We go after what we want
to make us feel good, we want it fast and we want as much as we can get. It’s easy, however, to end up disappointed
when all that we get fills our lives up but leaves us feeling weighed down with
new burdens and concerns and still longing for real satisfaction.
Having a true relationship with God,
however, is like passing up the buffet for full service. When we trust in the Lord and stay in touch
through daily prayer and meditation, we can take a break from daily demands,
count our blessings, appreciate what’s right in our lives, and know that we
have a God who will personally step in to bring us hope, joy and a sense of
enduring satisfaction when we need those things the most.
If life has left a bad taste in your mouth,
slow down and spend a little time in touch with God each day. Your days will go better, your burdens will
seem lighter, you can recharge for what lies ahead, and you’ll understand why
the Psalmist said, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.”
This Meditation is also available as a Blog
on the Beaufort District’s Website: www.beaufortdistrict.org
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/BeaufortDistrictAMEC
Get Ready for Sunday, and have a great day
in your house of worship!
*The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Darby is the
Presiding Elder of the Beaufort District of the South Carolina Annual
Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church
30.
CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We are saddened to share with the
Connectional church family, news of the passing of Brother Warren Leonard, on
Sunday, June 21, 2015. Brother Leonard
was the brother of the Rev. James Leonard, Pastor of Salem AME, Church in
Bucksport, South Carolina of the Marion District of the Northeast Annual
Conference of the 7th Episcopal District.
Brother Leonard was secretary of the Northeast Annual Conference Sons of
Allen and the Immediate Past Corresponding Secretary of the Connectional Sons
of Allen Ministry.
Funeral Services for Brother Leonard:
Saturday, June 27, 2015
12:00 noon
Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (A C Robinson
Center)
1333 Penderboro Road
Marion, SC 29571
31.
CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
Regretfully we share the news of the
passing of Sister Anna Chitter, on Tuesday, 16 June 2015. Sister Anna is the
Sister of the Rev. Elliot Benjamin De Bruyn, the associate pastor of Ming
Chapel AME Church in Saldanha in the Piketberg District (Republic of South Africa)
where the Rev. Dawid Moses serves as the Presiding Elder.
Praying that God in His infinite wisdom
will strengthen this soldier of the cross during this his time of trial and
challenges.
Expressions of Sympathy may be sent to: charlin@live.co.za.
32.
CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
We regret to announce the passing of
Brother David Busch on June 18, 2015. He was a former President and President
Emeritus of the First Episcopal District Lay Organization.
The following information has been provided
regarding the funeral services arrangements.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Viewing – 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Homegoing Services – 11:00 a.m.
Bethel A.M.E. Church
255 Goffe Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Telephone: 203-865-0514
Fax: 203-624-7977
Email: bamenhoffice@gmail.com
The Rev. Steven Cousin, pastor
Eulogist: Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath
Presiding Prelate of the Thirteenth
Episcopal District
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to:
Mrs.
Janie Busch
58 Ellsworth Street
West Haven, CT 06516
33.
CLERGY FAMILY BEREAVEMENT NOTICE:
It is with great sadness that we announce
the passing of Mrs. Dorothy Nettles, the wife of the Rev. Mose Nettles, a
retired minister from the Oklahoma State Annual Conference.
A celebration of her life will be held:
Friday June 26, 2015
10:00 am
Grant Chapel AME Church
1628 SW McKinley
Lawton, OK 73501
Services have been entrusted to:
Lawton Ritter Gray Funeral Home
632 SW C Avenue
Lawton, OK 73501
Telephone: (580) 353-2940
Online guest book and sympathy cards will
be available at: http://www.grayfuneral.com/
Condolences may be sent to:
The Rev. Mose Nettles
2216 NW 40th
Lawton, OK 73505
34.
BEREAVEMENT NOTICES AND CONGRATULATORY ANNOUNCEMENTS PROVIDED BY:
Ora
L. Easley, Administrator
AMEC
Clergy Family Information Center
Telephone:
(615) 837-9736 (H)
Telephone:
(615) 833-6936 (O)
Cell:
(615) 403-7751
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-AME-Church-Clergy-Family-Information-Center/167202414220
35. CONDOLENCES TO THE BEREAVED FROM THE
CHRISTIAN RECORDER:
The
Chair of the Commission on Publications, the Right Reverend T. Larry Kirkland;
the Publisher, the Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour and the Editor of The Christian Recorder, the Reverend Dr.
Calvin H. Sydnor III offer our condolences and prayers to those who have lost
loved ones. We pray that the peace of Christ will be with you during this time
of your bereavement.
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