The Old Man of Anacostia East of the River Traditions

The Old Man of Anacostia

East of the River Traditions

by Philip Pannell

On December 17th the Wards 7 & 8 Faith and Clergy Leaders 2nd Annual Holiday Prayer Breakfast was held in the Panorama Room, the fellowship hall of the historic Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church (OLPH). It is scripturally written that "man shall not live on bread alone" and the prayer breakfast did not disappoint. In addition to a delicious breakfast, over 200 guests were spiritually fed a course of inspirational messages, music, song and, of course, soaring prayers. The guests were led in prayer by clergy and faith leaders who called on God to guide and bless our community as we grapple with the issues of the environment, education, economics, violence, drugs and unity of purpose. The price of admission was right. It was free. The prayer breakfast was sponsored by the Anacostia Coordinating Council (ACC), East of the River Clergy Police Community Partnership (ERCPCP), East River Family Strengthening Collaborative (ERFSC), Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC), OLPH and United Healthcare.

For the second year, the Reverend Karen Curry, rst lady of the Pennsylvania Baptist Church, served as the vivacious emcee and kept the program moving seamlessly. The Holy Trinity United Baptist Church provided a musical ensemble. The Potomac River Young Marines paraded their handmade posters while the guests prayed for the faith community to be good stewards of the environment. And although it was a religious event, there were hat tips to the secular with greetings by Reverend Thomas Bowen, the Director of the Mayor's O ce of Religious A airs; Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, and Councilmember Vincent Gray's chief of sta Sheila Bunn.

The keynote speaker Reverend Dr. Anika Wilson-Brown, senior pastor of Union Temple Baptist Church and chair of the Mayor's Interfaith Council, delivered a powerful message that clergy and faith leaders need to take care of themselves and attend to their needs. After all, what happens to the sheep if the shepherd is incapacitated? Her points were crystal clear and sensible: sometimes "a preacher needs a pastor."

For the closing prayer, the guests received a special treat. It was given by His Eminence Wilton Cardinal Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington, DC and the rst African American cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. He said he had come to the breakfast after earlier sending birthday wishes to Pope Francis. Cardinal Gregory thanked the faith leaders for all their good works east of river. After the breakfast he was surrounded by the guests who wanted to take sel es with him.

The prayer breakfast can be viewed on YouTube at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=5wk2AsnMIss

Seven years ago, the ACC, ERCPCP and FSFSC organized the monthly Ward 8 faith leaders breakfast meetings. The meetings were held in di erent churches until the COVID pandemic made them virtual. Those meetings are held the second Saturday of each month, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Reverend Wanda Thompson, the Ambassador Baptist Church pastor, and Reverend Donald Isaac, Sr., Southeast Tabernacle Baptist Church pastor are the co-conveners.

In 2019 monthly faith leaders’ breakfasts were organized by the ERFSC, ACC and ERCPCP. They are held the rst Saturday of each month, 9:30 a.m to 11;30 a.m. and are virtual until further notice. They are convened by Reverend Karen Curry and Irwin Royster, the ERFSC director of community engagement and partnerships.

During the COVID pandemic, the organizers of the Wards 7 and 8 breakfast meetings established joint quarterly meetings. These quarterly meetings were the genesis for the prayer breakfasts. In addition to the holiday prayer breakfasts, this year the inaugural Juneteenth prayer breakfast was organized with the hope that it will become an annual tradition. All the prayer breakfasts have been and are planned to be in the Panorama Room. Father Michael Thompson, the OLPH pastor, has been an extraordinary gracious and generous host.

There are nearly 200 churches east of the river. Collectively they could be a powerful force in the community, but it is extremely di cult to get the pastors together or have them send representatives to the monthly breakfast meetings. If the churches were constantly leading marches against the violence, maybe there would be fewer carjackings and murders. Yes, prayer is good and always in season. But we also need the churches to come together and stay together to implement a uni ed action agenda for the community. Then, we can all say Amen.

There are nearly 200 churches east of the river. Collectively they could be a powerful force in the community, but it is extremely di cult to get the pastors together or have them send representatives to the monthly breakfast meetings.

Long-time Ward 8 community activist Philip Pannell can be contacted at philippannell@comcast.net. Pannell is the Executive Director of the Anacostia Coordinating Council. Help Make Wards 7 & 8 Great! Become a Member of the Anacostia Coordinating Council: Visit http://www. anacostiacc.org/join-us.html. ◆

Denise Rolark Barnes and Cardinal Wilton Gregory. Reverend William T. Young IV, pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ.

Reverend Dr. Wanda Thompson, pastor, Ambassador Baptist Church and Reverend Dr. Anika Wilson Brown.

XWORD

“Sports Teams”

by Myles Mellor

Across:

1. Technology giant 4. Links rental 8. Video game 14. Device for generating light 18. Where two streets meet 21. Discomfort 22. Home of “The Wizard of Westwood” 23. Team 25. Dudley Do-Right’s org. 26. Apportion 27. Musical notes 28. Photo nish 30. Show exibility 35. Decayed city 38. Bone, pre x 42. Quadrangle 46. Hall of fame 49. “Fat chance!” 50. Scooby-___ (cartoon dog) 51. Patriots’ Day month in Ma. 52. Team 54. Circumference segment 55. Knights’ equipment 57. Smooth over 58. Foreboding atmosphere 61. Hawaii’s Mauna ___ 62. Tattoo letters sometimes 64. Arctic, for one 67. 2001 computer 68. Eye parts 72. Cows 73. Good employees 76. At the very back of the boat 78. Let’s dance ___ ___ ! 80. Leap for Lipinski 81. In an undetermined way 83. Little ___ (small fry) 84. Passed out 86. Ballad 87. Martini addition 90. Two caddys 94. Madcap comedy 96. Suitable to ingest 99. Singer, Rawls 100. Team 104. Winds 106. NHL great 107. Young fellow 108. Repudiate 109. Snorkeling locale 111. Perspective 113. Punjab queen 115. Nation with many top marathon runners 116. Christensen of TV’s “Parenthood” 119. Year in Nero’s reign 121. Shadow 125. Newspaper term 128. Team 135. Early Atari video game 136. Skulls 137. Alexander the Great’s kingdom area 138. Deuce beater 139. Bottomless pits 140. “___-Team” 141. Med. specialty

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Down:

1. SALT subject 2. “A slope to the sea” (Scottish) 3. Shed 4. Evidence collectors 5. Equip with repower 6. Friend of Pooh 7. Road crew supply 8. Following, with “to” 9. Cuckoo 10. Executive 11. Madeira wine 12. In a mixed up state 13. Where the chicks are 14. Fishing gear 15. Duke’s grp. 16. Questionable marketing companies 17. Milk soaked bread 19. Ransack 20. Shannon of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 24. Row boat equipment 29. Grew fond of 31. Dead on arrival, for short 32. Paving supplies 33. Unadulterated 34. Diva delivery 36. Makes annoyed 37. Australian state: Abbr. 39. Regarding the text referred to 40. Peck at 41. “I see” words 42. Dutch cheese 43. “Me neither” 44. Caesar’s comic partner 45. Sesame Street character 47. Bellini opera 48. Pique 53. Male donkey 56. One of the planets 59. Finish, of a sort 60. Somewhat civilized race 62. Scale notes 63. Neighbor of Minn. 65. “The Ice Storm” director Lee 66. New 69. Punk music genre 70. Speci cally 71. Kitchen pot 73. Boy child 74. Fire 75. Browsing through 76. Medical group, for short 77. Puckish 79. Cable inits. 82. Spreads 85. Wall Street gure 88. H.S. subject 89. Digital tome 91. Blackthorn fruit 92. Went like the wind 93. Roam the internet 95. Animation platform (abbr.) 96. Black in color 97. In addition to 98. Legendary tales 100. Stars and Bars org. 101. Darlin’ 102. Leaves used in soups and stews 103. Fruit like a grape 105. Sneaky and smart 110. 4:1, e.g. 112. Having shelf projections 114. Early evictee 117. Aztec comparable 118. Roadside 120. Thinker’s conclusion 122. Rice who wrote “The Vampire Chronicles” 123. Pack ___ (quit) 124. Future J.D.’s hurdle 125. Pick, with “for” 126. ___ favor 127. Helm dir. 129. Switch settings 130. Outer limit 131. Jazz pianist King Cole 132. MIT, for one 133. Realize 134. City in central Oklahoma

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