January 2023 Edition of The Christian Recorder

Salvation Up in the Manger: Advent and Holiness

Rev. M. JoDavid Sales, Ph.D., Contributing Writer

But the angel said to [the shepherds], “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

(Luke 2:10-14 NRSV)

The words the angels spoke to the shepherds were not unfamiliar to the original readers of Luke—not just because they were Christian, but also because they lived in the Roman Empire. Caesar Augustus was also called “Savior” and “Lord.” “Savior”—in imperial usage—meant that the emperor had brought "peace" to the world by way of the Roman Empire

Franklin’s Historic Shorter Chapel AME Church Begins Bell Tower Restoration

Matt Masters, The News

Franklin’s historic Shorter Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is preparing for its 154th year with the restoration of the church's century-old bell tower.

On Thursday, December 8, 2022, community and government leaders joined with the Shorter Chapel congregation to celebrate the milestone, which included remarks from Shorter Chapel AME Church Pastor Dr. Kenneth Hill, Franklin Mayor Ken Moore, and Tennessee Historical Commission member Doris McMillan.

“We stand together worshiping at working together to preserve the historic integrity and legacy of this site,” Rev. Hill told the packed church.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest African American denomination in the United States, and in 1868, former enslaved African Americans created a sanctuary called Shorter Chapel.

Community members attended the celebration at Franklin's Shorter Chapel

Wespath Breathes “New Life” Into the Department of Retirement Services

TCR Staff

After the 2021 December General Board meeting revealed the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Retirement Program was no longer viable, the Department of Retirement Services was, by direction of the General Board, asked to restructure its operations through the General Board’s Commission on Retirement Services. Bishop John F. White, Commission chair, and Bishop Marvin C. Zanders II, Commission co-chair, expertly supported Dr. James F. Miller, executive director, Department of Retirement Services, in organizing the Commission into working committees to restore the department’s integrity and strengthen the quality of its operations and services.

The General Board Commission on Retirement Services

AME Church for the start of a months-long restoration of the church's bell tower.

Shorter Chapel AME Church was originally located on Second Avenue South at Church Street in what was once the Franklin First United Methodist Church building.

Franklin First UMC moved to its location on Fourth Avenue

The Devil You Don’t Know PART II

Rev. Dr. Melinda Contreras-Byrd, Contributing Writer

[Pax Romana]. Roman peace, of course, was attained through violent subjugation, tribute, and plunder. In the final analysis, these are the fundamental ways empires attain and maintain “peace.” In addition, there was an inscription in Rome that hailed the arrival of Augustus as "good news." The emperor was even called a “son of God.” Though we take “gospel,” “savior,” and “Son of God” as thoroughly Christian terms today, early Christians did not. They knew these same terms were used by the Roman Empire. This lesson for us today should never ...continued

The previous article shared the curious experiences that continued to unfold when I began to examine the topic of evil. I will continue with “Jesus’ high priestly prayer” (John 17). In it, we find a loving God seeking unity with all people; and Jesus praying a heartfelt prayer asking that his followers be made “one” as the Trinity is one. We learn that we (the church) are to serve as “Exhibit A” of the existence of God as we model Jesus’ earthly behavior. Most sobering is the fact that the world has a right to doubt the existence of our God and what we preach if they cannot see proof of our love and unity! What better way, then, for the dark works of evil to strike out at God than to ruin the testimony of the church!

JANUARY 2023

has worked tirelessly, meeting every week in 2022 except on holidays and during Connectional meetings. The Commission’s structure includes the following committees: Audit, Operations, Insurance, Legislative, Budget, Stewardship, and Investment. The Investment Committee, consisting of the Rev. Troy Thomas (13), Committee chair, the Rev. Jarrett Washington (7), the Rev. David Cousin (1), and Dr. Roderick Moore (10), was charged with overseeing the selection process for an investment fund management company and regularly reported to the Commission. Additionally, the Rev. Dr. Daryl Franklin of Oakwood Wealth, Lisle, Illinois, provided training to assist the Committee in exercising its duties.

There was a complete, in-depth vetting process with formal requests for proposals issued to several of the top retirement investment companies in the United States. Ultimately, the Commission recommended Wespath Benefits and Investments as the new retirement fund manager and recordkeeper. This recommendation was approved by the Council of Bishops and the General Board after open meetings featuring detailed presentations from the Commission on the selection process and Wespath representatives. Reflecting on the process, Commission Chair Bishop White commented, “We believe that [this process] has yielded a result which will provide long-term benefits for our clergy and families.”

Wespath has served clergy and laypersons for over 100 years and currently manages over $26 billion for

over 100,000 plan participants. “The Department of Retirement Services looks forward to a fruitful and beneficial partnership with Wespath, which will allow us to offer a high-quality retirement program to those who serve God through the AME Church,” stated Dr. James F. Miller, executive director of Retirement Services. Wespath’s benefits include improved quality in client services; internet access to participant accounts and for transactions; enhanced communication and education regarding retirement investments and security; a proven, disciplined, long-term approach to investing; multiple self-service investment options; and a transparent fee structure. In addition, all participants who make at least the minimum semiannually directed contribution of $312.50 will pay less in fees than they were previously charged.

After the denominational approval process, the Investment Committee led the “onboarding” of the Department of Retirement Services with Wespath. There were continual meetings between the Investment Committee, the Department of Retirement Services Commission, the Department’s counsel, Attorney Lisa Carrasco, and AME Church General Counsel Douglass Selby. The process was completed on November 1, 2022, with the historic launching of the AMEC “New Life Personal Investment Plan,” managed by Wespath. Open virtual information sessions coordinated by Wespath and the Commission on Retirement Services were held over three days in early November to introduce the program to eligible participants. At

launch, the New Life Plan is a forward-looking plan for new contributions and those contributions held in escrow by the Department of Retirement Services since July 2021.

Since the launch, the members of the Investment Committee have conducted training and updates in over half of Episcopal districts 1-13. Currently, 3,314 eligible pastors are enrolled in the New Life Plan with 25 percent of those eligible having activated their online accounts. “We have received excellent feedback from people participating in the New Life Plan and how it is performing for them. We hope that all eligible persons will enroll as soon as possible to take advantage of this significant opportunity that will help secure their future,” commented Commission Co-Chair Bishop Zanders.

Beyond addressing retirement needs, the Department of Retirement Services will relaunch in 2023 its stewardship program with initiatives to assist clergy with student loan debt, church financial management, and personal financial literacy. With the “New Life Plan” and the stewardship initiatives, the Department of Retirement Services is working diligently to restore confidence in the AME Church’s ability “to create a better tomorrow for all those in God’s service today.”

Bishop Marvin C. Zanders II, Dr. James F. Miller, the Rev. Troy Thomas, and the Rev. Jarrett B. Washington were interviewed for this article.

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and sold the building to African American worshippers for $1,500 before the congregation again outgrew their space and relocated to its current location on Natchez Street in 1925.

“It is a beautiful thing to be part of a legacy here in Williamson County with African American citizens and the support they have from a general population,” McMillan said.

“It is the legacy and strength of our faith,” McMillan continued. “Anyone that knows the Black Church and knows the presence of the black being -- It is our faith. It is the things that brought us the mystery of the gospel that carried the slaves from the plantation to where you are seated today.”

The Shorter Chapel bell tower was first used in the early 20th century but had recently fallen into disrepair, with the congregation setting out in the winter

Destiny Awaits

Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Columnist

I remember a heartbreaking story that aired on a local news channel about a newborn baby girl found abandoned in a park. I wondered what happened to the nameless b aby left in the park as discarded garbage.

Parallel to seeing the aforementioned story, I was working in a leadership development program for youth heralded as one of the best in the country. We helped young people learn to think critically about policies and the social and political issues shaping their lives. I still remember an intense group conversation focused on how young people thought they were perceived by mainstream society. One young man known for speaking bluntly said, “They see us as garbage.”

There are many young people of color across the country treated like garbage. How else can we explain condoning or ignoring the wretched conditions under-

Zion AME Completes Project

Dillon Davis, Delaware Gazette

Delaware’s Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 140 S. Washington St., has completed a nearly decade-long initiative to replace the stained glass windows that adorn the historic church. The congregation held a final dedication program for the completed project on Sunday, December 11, 2022.

The project was spearheaded by officers of the church beginning in late 2014 when the deteriorating condition of the existing windows led to the decision for replacement. In November 2015, Charles Lipscomb contracted with Laws Stained Glass Studio in Statesville, North Carolina, to design the windows. Trustees Jim Gentry and Tom Moxley led the project within the church, with the first phase of the windows dedicated in 2016.

Deborah Lipscomb, who led the dedication program, has been a member of Zion for more than 30 years. She is not sure exactly when the church, founded in 1845, had the original stained glass windows installed.

The sealing around the windows had deteriorated,

of 2016 to restore the century-old bell tower.

The church has raised more than $160,000 for the restoration project, with an expected completion date of March 2023.

“It’s an honor for me as mayor of the city of Franklin to be some small part of congratulating this church today on what you’re doing and the importance of this, and I look forward to the completion of a project,” Moore said.

The celebration concluded with the ringing of the historic bell by Franklin community leader Mary Mills and her grandson, and soon that bell will ring again, marking a new era for Franklin’s Shorter Chapel AME Church.

Reprinted with permission.

resourced youth must endure? The list of negative indicators for youth of color is long: more likely to be a victim of homicide, increasing rates of suicide, attending grossly inferior schools, poor mental and physical health options, and overrepresentation in the child welfare system, juvenile detention system, jails, and prisons.

As a public theologian and leader within the faith community, God has called me to tell young and old alike that no matter their birth circumstances, divine destiny is inside of them. No one was born to be a corner warmer, hopelessly addicted, a baby machine, or a sneaker pimp. My calling is to declare that your destiny is not to spend your life locked up. Your destiny is not to be invisible, helpless, hopeless, or poor for the rest of your life. Your destiny is not to kill, rob, or destroy.

and parishioners could feel a breeze from many of them. “I know they were in very bad shape, so they were past due for replacement,” said Lipscomb.

While the church held fundraisers to replace some of the windows that were not stained glass, various church members had the opportunity to purchase individual stained glass windows to fund the replacements. Each person who purchased a window could choose an image with a corresponding scripture to be depicted on the window, elements that did not exist on the original windows.

“It really is quite the accomplishment,” Deborah Lipscomb told The Gazette. “We are a small congregation, and our goal is to keep our sanctuary and our edifice beautiful at all times. But this has really highlighted the beauty of the church and the holiness therein. The theme for the dedication program was, ‘Come, let us worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness.’ We got that from the book of Psalms, so we used that as the theme because we felt like this was a way to glorify God by adding to the beauty of his

Reprinted with permission. Photos by Joshua Keeran.

sanctuary.”

Lipscomb went on to say the successful project carries added significance because it’s something that will be appreciated for generations to come.

“Most of our members, especially the ones who purchased the windows, we’re aging … To leave that kind of contribution that should last for a few more years is so rewarding,” she said.

Womack Family Making Syrup in St. Helena Parish

Dr. Antoinette Harrell

During the summer of this year, I participated in a farm tour in Lexington, Mississippi, with farmers from St. Helena and Tangipahoa Louisiana parishes. Kentwood was their last stop before heading down the highway, so I had to meet them at 5:00 a.m. I met many farmers and agriculture-interested youth on the bus.

Cedrick Womack was sitting several seats behind me on the bus. We did not discuss the subject of his family farm that day. However, in the following week, he contacted me with information about the syrupmaking business in his family. Several years ago, I watched James Baker make sugar cane syrup. Observing the entire process for the first time, I gained an insight into the entire process. Each November, Baker drove thirteen hours from Chicago to Louisiana to produce syrup.

Cedrick invited me to interview his father and uncles, take photographs, and video them making syrup. As the time approached for the syrup to be made and produced, he contacted me to remind me to come out and document the process. During the twenty-minute drive to their location, the scenery was picturesque. It is dotted with tall pine trees and curvy roads on the way to the syrup mill. The Womack family had already begun cooking the syrup and was in the process of bottling it.

In the course of the interview, I wanted to ask each brother about the process of making syrup. During the preparation of the syrup, they were making it for Larry. Larry's brothers Johnny, Floyd, Richard, and Morris "Buddy" Womack assisted him. Our family works together in this way, explained Johnny Womack, Sr. Their parents, Walter and Sally Pitts Womack, were the parents of 18 children. A total of eight sons and ten daughters were born to the couple.

Each brother mastered the art of syrup-making. Floyd skimmed off what they referred to as trash from the syrup as they boiled it. He remained busy skimming the trash that was left after boiling the syrup. As Larry checked the temperature, Johnny appeared to be keeping an eye on everything.

Following the preparation of the syrup, the containers could be filled with the syrup. Cedrick, his uncle Richard, and Larry's grandson Lemarye Womack, Jr. prepared the containers. The Womack brothers were raised on farms and have a strong sense of family. They farmed a total of 30 acres of land. In fact, farming is ingrained in their DNA. This Friday after Thanksgiving day, I will meet them at the mill at 7:00 a.m. to watch and document from start to finish. ❏ ❏ ❏

Family and Friends, Not Presents, Made for a Merry Christmas

James B. Ewers, Jr., Ed.D.

‘Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. These are lines from the classic Christmas poem by Clement Clarke Moore in 1822. You have probably heard this poem a few times recently.

The build-up to Christmas is found not only in this poem but also in gifts and gift-giving. Sales and discounts are highlighted in newspapers, and online shopping is non-stop. Adults participate in Black Friday sales, trying to get their purchases at the lowest price possible. Well, the Christmas season is over, so now, we can relax and wait for Christmas 2023 and the next round of shopping sprees that will occur.

I suspect if you are in the fourth quarter of your life like I am, you have a perspective on the Christmas that we just celebrated. Like you, as a child, I believed in all the Christmas legends and lore. I must give my parents credit for being “Christmas Ambassadors.”

Here are a few long-held memories of what the season was like for me as a child.

In my Winston-Salem, North Carolina neighborhood, we only talked about Christmas after Thanksgiving. It made for a happy time with my parents and relatives. Equally important was that we did not have school until the following Monday, which gave us additional time with friends.

I am not sure we ever discussed the naughty and nice list when I was coming of age, but can you imagine not receiving your union skates because you were naughty? No, you can’t.

My parents said that I should leave cookies and milk for Santa, and of course, I did. On Christmas morning, the cookies were gone, and Santa’s lip print was on the glass. He had been to our house.

The presents were under a real tree; my staple gifts were skates and the latest cap gun. (You must be a certain age to know what a cap gun is.) We were outside on our skates or riding bikes in the late morning and into the afternoon. This is what we did on Christmas day.

As I reached adulthood, I started to buy gifts as well. At points, it was stressful to know what to get family and friends.

As I age, I have some different perspectives on the season. Christmas is too commercial, and the emphasis is misguided, as we spend billions of dollars on gifts. Unfortunately, the big spending has overtaken the spiritual aspect of this season.

Will the inclination to spend money during the Christmas season stop? Probably not in the foreseeable future. There will have to be a totally different mindset for the economics around Christmas to change. Perhaps our mindset needs to focus on what is really important–family and friends.

I spent my Christmas season with family and friends. Joy and happiness were in great supply. I made several calls to check on people to see how they were doing. That is what we who are in the fourth quarter do. If you have older relatives, they will tell you the same thing.

The presence of people or listening to them on the phone brings me great pleasure. Human interaction fends off some illnesses and keeps the mind sharp. So, as we enter this new year, remember to reach out to those fourthquarter people in your lives, especially.

And, if you are a fourth-quarter brother or sister, remember that being in your senior years chronologically does not mean you must throw in the towel. Instead, wear your age and your wisdom proudly. Your perspective helps us to keep the reason in the season. ❏ ❏ ❏

Why We Need a Religiously Literate Media in 2023 and Beyond

Quardricos Driskell

On December 6, 2022, the Rev. Senator Warnock began his victory speech by thanking his supporters and invoking faith, saying, “To God be the glory…for the great things that God had done.” In response, the crowd absolutely erupted. He continued by saying: “I often say that a vote is a certain kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children. Voting is faith put into action, and Georgia, you have been praying with your lips and your legs, with your hands and your feet, your heads, and your hearts.”

“Democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea…that each one of us has within us the spark of the divine.” He adds, “And if you’re not given to their religious language, that’s fine — our tent is big.” Some campaign practitioners might think an opening campaign victory speech odd, even for a liberal pastor.

Similarly, the GOP candidate Herschel Walker began his concession speech by thanking Jesus Christ. Next, he thanks supporters for their prayers and later adds: “God is good,” with some supporters responding, “All the time.” Then invokes “In God, we trust” when talking about voting before ending his short speech.

In mainstream media coverage of both speeches, especially the Warnocks, many commentators did not know what to make of Warnock’s religiouspolitical language.

For instance, MSNBC immediately started discussing Warnock’s preacher cadence as they cut away, with Rachel Maddow joking that Democrats should elect more pastors who speak like him. CNN cuts away as Warnock starts giving individual thanks but immediately notes his preacher cadence. Warnock, in the background, then specifically thanks “the amazing people of Ebenezer Church” (his church). Next, cites scripture while closing: “the light shines in the darkness….”

As a scholar and practitioner of religion and

politics, it is easier for the media to identify and analyze Walker’s concession speech – given his appeal to evangelical Christians. But the press failed to illuminate the reality that a religious left incumbent defeated a candidate passionately backed by the religious right in Georgia.

It is clear – that mainstream media does not understand the nuances of religion generally, particularly the religious left.

This is not new: Warnock, who is literally still an active pastor in a very religious state, has talked like this throughout his tenure in the Senate and during all four of his campaigns. Yet, the media ignores or briefly gazes over the religious-progressive left. Just as there is considerable coverage and analysis on the religious right, evangelical Christians, or specifically white evangelical Christians– its origins with personalities like the Reverends Pat Roberson and Jerry Falwell: the moral majority that has since morphed into Christian Nationalism, we must also discuss how certain progressivism grew out of Protestantism, especially out of the Social Gospel movement. Decades later, African American preachers, scholars, and activists, such as the Rev. William Jefferson White, Pauli Murray, Benjamin E. Mays, Mordecai Johnson, Howard Thurman, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, took the underpinnings of the Social Gospel movement and chided those churches that separated the secular realities of daily life from spiritual needs. In Warnock’s view, the church mirrored Dr. King’s theology, and the spirit of Ebenezer Baptist Church (King’s pulpit) should not only be concerned with the spiritual but also with the secular.

This concern is an aspect of the Black Church, which has its roots in the anti-slavery church. This is the tradition from which Warnock was birthed. Yet, this lack of critical understanding of the intersection of religion and politics in our public sphere, both domestically and globally, does aid in the global divine of what scholar Emile Durheim identified as the sacred and profane (referring to mundane personal experiences). This

sacred/profane divide has been displaced by what we see now – a secular and religious divide – where faith or religion is synonymous with conservatism and liberalism is secularism.

Here are three essential lessons in understanding this intersection. First, contrary to popular belief, religion cannot be separated from the cultural, civic, and politics of our work; religion is and can be political. Second, religions are not static; they operate in current times and spaces. The understanding of religion and faith is constantly interrupted and reinterpreted, making communicating with different audiences difficult. This speaks to the need for more religious reporters.

Third, religious traditions and practices are unique. They are internally diverse, and thus it is problematic to make a statement that begins with, Jews believe in, or Muslims support because it does not consider the vastity of religion. Religion and culture are inextricably linked. These nuances of religion, and its merging with politics, even at a high level, reveal the need for more understanding among the press and commentators.

Parenthetically, in the United States, it could behoove Democrats to take a playbook from Warnock and ascertain how the Democrats can use faith-based language to woo religious voters who cannot identify with some of the extremist rhetoric from the GOP’s religious right.

Aside from the media’s complicit role in religious illiteracy in our country, one thing is clear to me – not only is the Rev. Senator Warnock the personification of the religious left, but his threepoint win underscored his talents as one of the most compelling Democratic politicians in the country. A black Baptist preacher twice elected Senator from the closest battleground state in America should be on everybody’s vice president’s list.

Quardricos Bernard Driskell is an adjunct professor of legislative politics, where he teaches religion, race, public policy, and politics at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4.

A New Charge for 2023

John Wm. Roberts, ED.D., Contributing Writer

When Charles Wesley published the hymn, “A Charge to Keep I Have,” in Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures in 1762, little did he realize how this hymn would affect Christians nearly 261 years later in 2023. Verse one says, “A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A neverdying soul to save And fit it for the sky.” One of the major functions of music in the church is to inspire congregants of the glory of God toward his people. In the process, the people of God have an obligation to God…to glorify him for all he has, is, and will do. This glorification is accomplished not merely through the singing of songs but by applying the lyrics of the songs to their lives.

Christians must take the words of many hymns of the church literally and put them into action. The holy scripture says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26 [KJV]). How many times have Christians sung, “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior,” yet, at the same time, see a stranger on the street in need of assistance and just pass them by as if they do not exist? The words in the chorus say, “While on others, Thou art calling, do not pass me by.” Some Christians pick and choose those to stop and help and those not to stop and help. Is this God’s charge? The Good Samaritan did not hesitate to help the man in distress on the

road from Jerusalem to Jericho, although he was left by the side of the road by a priest and Levite. Jesus did not pick and choose those he offered salvation to.

Should Christians be judgmental as to whom we offer physical help and spiritual support?

“A Charge to Keep I Have,” Verse two says, “To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage To do my Master’s will!”

Are we, as Christians, during ...continued on p15

St. John AME’s Military Ministry Celebrates Veterans Day

B. Johnson

The Military Ministry of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 2013 under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. Patrick Clayborn. The concept for the ministry was proposed by the Reverend (Ret.) Robert B. Hereford, Sr., a retired minister and Vietnam-era veteran. Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Felecia Carter followed up on forming the ministry and enlisting members.

The mission of the ministry is to provide resources and partnerships based on the belief that faith makes a difference in the lives of those who have answered the call to serve their nation and agreed to live with the special conditions and stress of military life, whether on the front lines or the home front.

The purpose of the military ministry is to work collaboratively with the pastor, church leadership, chaplains, and other ministries in providing resources for current and former military members and their families.

In celebration of Veterans Day, the Military Ministry sponsored a workshop for veterans and their family members on Saturday, November 19, 2022. The guest speaker for the occasion was Mr. Moses Nervis, a benefits counselor with the nonprofit organization, Still Serving Vets.

The major topic of discussion was assisting veterans

Vietnam War Era Presumptive Conditions List - Agent Orange Exposure

❖ AL Amyloidosis

❖ Chronic B-Cell Leukemias

❖ Chloracne

❖ Diabetes Mellitus Type 2

❖ Hodgkin’s Disease

❖ Ischemic Heart Disease

❖ Multiple Myeloma

❖ Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

❖ Parkinson’s Disease

❖ Peripheral Neuropathy, Early-Onset

❖ Porphyria Cutanea Tarda

❖ Prostate Cancer

❖ Respiratory Cancers

❖ Soft Tissue Sarcomas

❖ Bladder Cancer

❖ Hypothyroidism

❖ Parkinsonism

❖ Hypertension

❖ Monoclonal Gammopathy

in navigating the benefits maze. Mr. Nervis stated that many veterans begin obtaining their rightful benefits, but encounter so many obstacles along the way, that they soon become frustrated, disgusted, and just give up. He suggested that each veteran should seek an advocate to work on their behalf rather than giving up. Such advocacy is exactly what he does daily. He serves as an advocate to assist veterans in working through the maze to receive all the benefits to which they are entitled.

Mr. Nervis stated three important questions that veterans should ask themselves when considering filing a claim:

1. Did the injury/issue happen during the time while serving?

2. Was treatment initiated to resolve the issue?

3. Is the problem ongoing because of what happened during the time of service?

If the veteran answers these three questions affirmatively and provides evidence to substantiate the claim, an individual or their family member should pursue the claim.

During the afternoon session, LTC. (Ret.) Felicia Carter followed up the morning session with a list of Veterans Administration (VA) Presumptive

Conditions that might qualify for VA benefits. Listed below are those conditions by era served in the military.

Veterans Administration Presumptive Conditions

List. The Department of Veterans Affairs has created two important lists called the VA Presumptive Conditions List, which identifies if a veteran who has served in a location/circumstance during certain years developed medical conditions, then those conditions will be automatically considered service-connected. It is important to note that a “Presumptive” connection means the VA presumes that certain disabilities were caused by military service. If physicians diagnose a veteran with a presumed condition within a certain group, he or she can be awarded disability compensation. As a result of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act, the VA added additional conditions to the list for Agent Orange: bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinsonism, also known as Parkinson-Like conditions. Many of our veterans were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War or burn pits and other environmental hazards and toxic particulate matter while serving in Southwest Asia for Gulf War and post 9/11.

If you need your medical records, please contact the National Archives - https://www.archives.gov/ veterans’service.

Gulf War and Post 9/11 Presumptive Conditions List

Effective April 26, 2022, the VA established an interim final rule (87 FR 24421) that identified a link between military service in qualifying areas of certain countries and the following nine rare respiratory cancers:

❖ Squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx

❖ Squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea

❖ Adenocarcinoma of the trachea

❖ Salivary gland-type tumors of the trachea

❖ Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung

❖ Large cell carcinoma of the lung

❖ Salivary gland-type tumors of the lung

❖ Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung

❖ Typical and atypical carcinoid of the lung

Symptoms of medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses (MUCMI):

❖ Chronic fatigue

❖ Headaches

❖ Joint pain

❖ Muscle pain

❖ Skin symptoms

❖ Indigestion

❖ Difficulty sleeping (insomnia)

❖ Dizziness and other neurological symptoms

❖ Cardiovascular symptoms

❖ Memory problems

❖ Weight loss

❖ Menstrual disorders

The below-listed Gulf War presumptive conditions must be diagnosed within one year from the date of your military separation in order to qualify for VA benefits for disabilities resulting from your Gulf War service:

❖ Malaria

❖ Brucellosis

❖ Campylobacter Jejuni

❖ Coxiella Burnetii (Q Fever)

❖ Nontyphoid Salmonella

❖ Shigella

❖ West Nile Virus

The below-listed Gulf War presumptive conditions can be diagnosed at any time after you leave military service to qualify for disability benefits:

❖ Visceral Leishmaniasis

❖ Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

It has become a tradition each year for the Military Ministry to acknowledge a veteran(s) with a brick paver placed in the Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Memorial Park. Four veterans will be recognized in Spring 2023 with the installation of brick pavers. Brick pavers will be installed for veterans Derrick Williams, the son of Brother Bill Williams, Col. (Ret.) James Johnson, Elder Maurice Wright, Sr., and the late Reverend Charles Edward Glover, Sr.

The celebration continued Sunday, November 20, 2022, during the 10:00 a.m. worship service. Elder Maurice Wright, Sr., a veteran of the Vietnam era, was the guest speaker for the occasion. Elder Wright, Sr.’s message was “Gifts of the SpiritThe Weapons of God’s Army.” The scripture reference was Galatians 5:22-24.

After a spirit-filled worship service, the congregation was invited to walk to the Huntsville-Madison County Veterans Memorial Park, just across the street from St. John, to view the newly installed pavers for veterans, Sgt. Major Everett Brooks Sr., and the Reverend Derwood (Grandpa) Wilson. Plans include having one section, Section 23, in the HuntsvilleMadison County Veterans Memorial Park, designated just for veterans of St. John.

Rev. Dr. Gertie L. Hurley and Love AME Church Recognized for Health

Education in the Community

The Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) recently honored the Rev. Dr. Gertie L. Hurley, the Health Ministry director of Love African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Largo, Maryland, by awarding her the “Dr. Walter M. Booker, Sr. Health Promotion Award” for her work educating the African American community in the Washington, District of Columbia metropolitan area through Taking Effective Action, Inc. (TEA), the non-profit organization she founded.

Over the past year, Dr. Hurley and the Rev. Krishnan Natesan, senior pastor of Love AME Church, led the efforts of community partners in administering an African American COVID-19 Virtual Education Series. The education project reached over 300 residents by training community health leaders through virtual education on COVID-19, prevention guidelines, vaccination information, and other resources. Love

Church led the way with partners in helping TEA distribute over 40,000 facemasks and COVID-19 information cards to the community.

AME

Pastor Krishnan Natesan (left), senior pastor of Love AME Church in Maryland, is flanked by award recipient the Rev. Dr. Gertie Hurley, First Lady Linda Eason, and the Rev. Dr. Gregory Eason of Flipper Temple AME Church in Atlanta. Dr. Hurley and others were honored during the Association of Black Cardiologists Annual Gala on Oct. 15, 2022.

Names from left to right: Anekwe Onwuanyi, MD; Icilma Fergus, MD; Gertie L. Hurley, D. Min.; Melissa Burroughs, MD; Don Calloway; and Barbara Hutchinson, MD.

LTC. (Ret.) Felicia Carter and Major (Ret.) Clifton Miller

Veterans of St. John AME Church Veteran's Day Service 2018

Veterans of St. John AME Church Veterans Day Service 2018

Elder Maurice Wright, Sr. Veteran's Day Guest Preacher Viewing the installed brick pavers are (l-r): Brother Clifton Miller; Lt. Col. (Ret.) Felicia Carter; Elder maurice Wright, Sr.; Pastor Maurice Wright II; Presiding Elder (Ret.) Oliver Allen; and Mr. Reginald Pearson.

Dr. Hurley and her team designed an education program emphasizing healthy eating and cardiovascular health. The program included disseminating information cards with resources from ABC and other authoritative sources that allowed residents to access health information online during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the program provided training and toolkits to community health leaders to enable them to continue providing health education to the community. The program will also support the leaders and community partners in sharing health information.

“Dr. Hurley is indeed a phenomenal woman of God. Her passion for improving the health of those locally, regionally, nationally, and globally is amazing,” said Pastor Natesan. “She fully carries the torch of educating our churches and communities everywhere about knowing their health status and what impacts it. Her health symposiums and consistent participation in the NBC-TV4 health fairs and other health venues have catapulted her work across the globe. She is a walking and talking demonstration of living a healthy lifestyle. Love AME Church is immensely proud of her and the work she has done to receive this prestigious award.”

The Rev. Dr. Gregory V. Eason, Sr., Senior Pastor of Flipper Temple AME Church in Atlanta, Georgia, said he was honored to be invited to attend the Association of Black Cardiologists Annual Gala. “When I heard of the award being given to the Rev. Dr. Gertie Hurley, I was proud to be a part of the AME Church,” said Eason. “Dr. Hurley is carrying out the spirit and mission of the Free African Society out of which the AME Church evolved. Her work with TEA, in partnership with Love AME Church, is worthy of honor,” Rev. Eason continued.

The Association of Black Cardiologists presented Dr. Hurley with her award during its 13th Annual Awards Gala and Fundraiser in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Buckhead on October 15, 2022. Each year, ABC honors the work of outstanding health leaders with their health promotion award. This year, the gala’s theme was “Health Equity in Motion 22,” which describes Dr. Hurley’s work that she often carries out with the help of local AME churches and other denominations.

...continued on p17

...From Rev. Dr. Gertie p7

be forgotten: Don't get caught up in the language. Just because folk say “God” don’t mean they are up to godly things—and yes, I meant “don’t mean.” Ebonics is not the language of empire.

So, the angels, like Ebonics, stay reminding us of something we should ask ourselves whenever we receive news: who is delivering the message? Is the messenger an agent of empire/ violence or an agent of God/ goodwill? Who receives the message first? Are they the prestigious/elites or someone routinely overlooked, even nameless? Where does the message lead us first? An imperial palace or a manger?

Advent tells us; Advent reminds us; Advent forces us to remember that the message from heaven often comes first to the bottom—the below—the marginalized and the overlooked. Joseph and Mary were probably at a family or a close friend’s house, but there was no “couch” to sleep on. They were peasants, after all—there was no middle class in

ancient times. While peasants had small living quarters, many also had a space where the animals stayed. This space was normally in or near the same house. And so Mary had to give birth to Jesus in the part of the house where the animals stayed, and so, inevitably, Jesus did not have a “crib” to sleep in. Absent a crib, his parents had to put him in a feeding trough for the animals. They laid him in the manger. And if we believe that salvation is found in a feeding trough next to animals… if we believe that the manger is where God is, then we can be saved. Advent happens out in the cut–up in a feeding trough.

We must truly be holy; that is, we must truly be radically different than the patterns of this world and transformed to proclaim that salvation is found in a feeding trough. But Holiness 101 = God’s ways aren’t our ways. To be holy is to resist the temptation to look for God immediately among the “greatest” and famous; to be holy is to first look for God among the

Christians must realize that there are people who do not come to church to do good. Instead, some attend church deliberately (unknowingly or ignorantly), engaging in behavior that deconstructs, delegitimizes, and destroys the church.

How can you recognize this in church congregations?

In Kenneth Haugk’s book, Antagonists in the Church, he names a very dangerous situation facing the church by unveiling the presence of persons he identifies as “antagonists.” He characterizes them as those who cause congregational disunity, chaos, and conflict, referencing their tendency to engage in destructive behavior, including frontal and clandestine attacks against the pastor.

They fool us because they are often charismatic and personable, good actors who seem to be deeply spiritual mavericks with the potential to help others and improve the church. But, they create factions, influencing members to join them in causing drama and conflict, and opposition to the authority of the pastor.

I am warning that there are people whose behavior results in loosing evil in the church.

That there are “antagonists” in the church is a sobering thought. But not just Haugk and I are familiar with these phenomena. In his 2009 book, Clergy Killers , pastor and pastoral counselor G. Lloyd Redinger cites an even more sinister phenomenon as he introduces us to people he calls “Clergy Killers” (CKs). Describing outrageous, true situations of pastors so taunted and attacked that they died of stress-related illnesses or left the church altogether, Redinger argues that “…contemporary society is especially compatible for CKs.” He reasons that there is a) a general distrust of authority figures of any kind; b) a lack of biblical literacy of congregants, c) a sense of entitlement of parishioners to “criticize and punish pastors” and leave if the pastor is not “pleasing them,” and d) a lack of pastoral training in conflict resolution, or how to support themselves in survival situations. While Haugk stresses our need to be able to differentiate between healthy criticism and conflict vs. antagonism and activism, he also notes that “confrontation is not mutually exclusive to forgiveness” and interprets the admonition of Titus 3:10-11 as

“least” and overlooked. To be holy (to be different) is to look for God in a manger. This is the “spirit-check” of holiness.

Many followers of Jesus often believe that God and the universe commission those who are on top. They are caught up in the same spirit of domination that called Caesar the “son of God.” We routinely confuse domination with authority and authority with goodness. This confusion leads us to invest in “worldly” power and prestige, and in so doing, we lose our connection to a holy and loving God. That’s why we currently have some “Christians” in an unholy alliance with authoritarians and plunderers. Misguidedly, they mistake holiness with being better than others rather than holiness, revealing that God don’t do it the way the world does it. To be clear, I am neither valorizing the feeding trough nor am I claiming that every palace official is evil. But there are some things that the feeding trough constantly reveals. 1) The

feeding trough reveals that imperial/ oppressive decrees uproot pregnant women and make them migrate to places where there is no room. 2) The feeding trough reveals that, on too many occasions, our social and worldly arrangements reflect the spirit of domination.

3) The feeding trough shows us that Jesus saves even before he does one act of ministry. His very arrival in a manger as a baby saves us—it saves us from thinking that the power of domination will ultimately save us.

4) The feeding trough ultimately reveals that God’s love and presence can be found anywhere, especially amongst the dispossessed and oppressed. O, how marvelous is our God! This is good news. ❏ ❏ ❏

teaching that people who refuse to repent, are walking in sin; those who are followers of Christ must have no more to do with them. Unpacking how best to respond to this teaching merits a Bible study.

I am raising this issue because I have personally interacted with psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists, antagonists, and “clergy killers” over the years, and it took me some time to realize it! Each easily fits into Christian settings, accurately quoting scripture and appearing sensitive and gifted. They look like leaders, have a great sense of humor, and draw us to them. However, we soon note that they are often critical. We laugh with them at their stories that, yet, upon reflection, suggest that they take pride in being dishonest. We discount our suspicions, not wanting to be judgmental. We shake our heads, dismissing our realization that they are often at the center of church friction. Finally, we notice that they do not play by the same rules we do, thrive on conflict, and work at forming allies against someone or even the pastor. Money is missing when they are around, and people are silenced, fearful, and overruled. They show up at meetings where they do not belong— criticizing and causing conflict.

Although many of us have seen this type of situation in a church, we have likely never taken the time to analyze the situation. It is hard to believe that a church member or leader’s motives could be so selfish, deliberately dishonest, and destructive.

Unfortunately, our Christian theological bent assists in the success of “antagonists” and “clergy killers” in the church. It is past time for theological reflection and rethinking. Does being long-suffering require that we tolerate consistently disruptive and destructive behavior? How do we protect the unity in the body of Christ without becoming permissive, judgmental, and unforgiving?

Please take the time to read the books cited in this series. Then, discuss this phenomenon and the closing questions so that we will not continue to welcome wolves in sheep’s clothing into the church. ❏ ❏ ❏

...From Salvation p1

...From The Devil p1

The Truth Is the Light

Rev. Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr., Columnist

Based on Biblical Texts: Matthew 2:2, Luke 2:11: Asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.”

Joys, bells ringing, angels singing, all because a child was born. A time of sharing, people caring, all because a child was born.

There has been no other event in the history of the world that has changed the world, like the birth of Jesus. This event caused a whirlwind of activity.

This event caused a few far-eastern magi to leave their luxurious mansions and travel miles across a barren desert by camel. The wise men traveled without navigational aid except for a low-hanging star in the east. Although they questioned the star’s appearance among themselves, they concluded that it was God’s method of directing them to the place where his only begotten Son had been born. An agreement seemed to have been made to sleep by day and travel by night so that the star could be their guide. These three kings, with countries to run, traveled a great distance to find the king of kings.

This event captured the attention of a group of shepherds (apparently working the third shift) while all the other people in the area were enjoying the comfort of their beds. However, their apparent misfortune turned into good fortune as they looked up, and suddenly, an angel came out of the sky and stood right in their midst. The angel, noticing that they were startled, said to them. “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

The shepherds’ fortune turned for the better when just as suddenly as this one angel had appeared, they looked up, and a mass choir of angels joined the angel, saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:14) This event caused the shepherds to forget about their sheep and, without anyone’s permission, leave their post to travel to Bethlehem.

Because of this event almost 2000 years ago, we still gather to share in that same celebration. All over the world, we plan special worship services all because of this event.

This event has moved thousands of missionaries, beginning with the Apostle Paul, to travel to the uttermost parts of the earth, proclaiming the message of salvation. Missionaries have traveled, leaving all comforts behind, heading to uncivilized areas of the world, at great risk to their health and safety, inspired by this event.

Without a doubt, no other event in history has changed the course of civilization like the birth of Jesus Christ.

Who is this who has precipitated such a wave of change? He came through the lineage of David, springing from the root of Jesse through the house of Boaz. He is a conquering lion from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of Jacob, an offspring of Isaac, and the seed of Abraham. He is God’s only begotten Son, the only person conceived by the Holy Ghost. He was born of a virgin and is the only son to be born who was the same age as his father and older than his mother.

Who is this who has precipitated such a wave of change? He is the blind man’s sight and the crippled man’s crutch. He is the sick man’s doctor, the troubled man’s lawyer, the hungry man’s bread, and the thirsty man’s water.

We are in line for a great celebration this Christmas morning, and all because there has been no other event in the history of the world that has changed the world like the birth of Jesus. So much of our world exists because of him.

None of us saw Jesus when he was born in a manger in

Who said Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees?

The 300-leaf Tree of Life pictured above is a classic design that allows for a wide range of presentation shapes and accommodates a large number of donor names. This carefully crafted Tree of Life can provide the perfect way to:

• Recognize contributors to a building fund or fund-raising campaign

• Honor contributors to an endowment fund

• Salute individuals or groups for outstanding service or achievements

• Create a tasteful memorial

• The Tree of Life is so successful because the donor’s personalized message will be on display forever

Its leaves are miniature brass plaques that we custom engrave for mounting on sculpted plexiglass backgrounds. The result is elegant and economical.

Denial’s Costly Benefit

Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Columnist

I recall co-leading a retreat in the Rocky Mountains for young people caught in varying life spirals. One of the workshops that both mentors and mentees attended focused on financial literacy. The instructor used an example that resonated with all in attendance. She talked about paying down a $2000.00 credit card balance at 18% interest (unheard of in these times) by remitting a monthly minimum of $10.00. She went on to say it would take 37 years to pay off the debt. Whatever the $2000.00 purchased, the credit extended was a costly benefit.

I want to talk about another costly benefit that seemingly has nothing to do with a credit card–denial. Most of us, at some point in life, may have experienced denial. Just so we are clear, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, denial is “a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality.” Denial helps us cope by not coping with catastrophic events like an unexpected death, a spouse’s infidelity, sudden illness, financial stress, betrayal, or the like.

It is easy to look at people in denial and see what appears to be a lack of fortitude, intelligence, or veracity. Yet, the same person casting aspersions on the individual in denial may deny that he or she was ever in denial. How can this be? I have a theory that once we escape denial’s grip, we find clever ways to deny that we were ever held. Think about the last time you talked with someone about the role denial played in your life. Let’s face it; talking about denial can resurface old hurts one would rather keep buried in the graveyard of the past. With that said, I hope you will not allow denial to

hinder a deeper conversation on this subject.

I have to admit that right about now, I wish a different topic had dropped in my spirit, but I realize a key partner of denial, as stated in the definition, is avoidance (which I am good at, so I will press forward). As I think about times I have denied reality, a rush of pain, shame, and helplessness comes over me. I find myself right back at that crushing moment I wished never happened. Denial and suppressed reality are real— as real as the trauma that triggered the denial response in the first place.

“If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matthew 16:24

Do you recall a time in your life that evoked a denial response? If you do, then it becomes clear why denial is a taboo subject. Denial may give a short-term benefit, but long-term exposure can exact a high cost. While one is in denial, there can be no denying that precious time is still moving. In fact, sometimes, the problem that triggers denial can become more intense over time if not recognized and addressed.

Going back to the credit card example, are you still paying a high cost for a past benefit afforded by denial. If so, it may be time to fight the fight you have avoided. Finding closure may very well be finding the strength to walk away. Beloved, know that you are not weak, strange, or different if you have succumbed to denial—all it means is that you are human. Is it time to stop personal installment payments for Denial’s Costly Benefit?

NRSV ❏ ❏ ❏

William Barber Launches New Center at Yale, Will Retire From Church

Jack Jenkins, Religion News Service

Yale Divinity School is launching a new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy, an advocacyfocused body to be led by prominent pastor and activist the Rev. William Barber II.

“The goal of this center will be to prepare a new generation — what we call moral fusion leaders — that are going to be active in creating a just society both in the academy and in the streets,” Barber told Religion News Service in an interview.

Barber, a Disciples of Christ pastor and bishop with the Fellowship of Affirming Bishops, will begin teaching his first class at Yale with the start of the new semester in January. Though he will be “in and out” of New Haven with another base in the south, Barber said the new role will require some changes, including his retirement as pastor from Greenleaf Christian Church in North Carolina and a shifting of his duties with Repairers of the Breach, an advocacy organization he founded.

Barber, who also co-leads the Poor People’s Campaign, a modern resurgence of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr’s final campaign, has emerged as a prominent activist over the past decade, launching several major protest movements that have attracted attention from liberal leaders.

He was a chief organizer of the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina in 2013 and, with the Poor People’s Campaign, has staged sizable demonstrations across the country focused on issues such as poverty and voting rights. A MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, Barber has also become a frequent speaker in religious and political circles alike, offering speeches at the Democratic National Convention and delivering the sermon at President Joe Biden’s inaugural prayer service in 2021.

“I want to share what I have learned,” said Barber, who previously taught at schools such as Duke University and Union Theological Seminary. “I believe one of the critical keys in this society is

this present age, going to do what is necessary to fulfill God’s will…to love one another, or are we going to pick and choose the times we put our ‘faith’ into ‘works’ and fulfill the master’s will? Mahalia Jackson sang a song that is apropos to underscore the thoughts stated in this article. “I’m gonna live the life I sing about in

for pastors to understand how to be engaged in pastoral care, the priestly function of the pastorate, but also to be engaged in prophetic and public policy. All three of those things must go together.”

Barber, who has convened successful forums for presidential candidates in the past, noted the new Yale center plans to organize a “major gathering” every two years. It will take place “right during the middle of the presidential election” and bring scholars, activists, and clergy together.

The goal of the event would be to assemble people who “want to look at the real moral issues of this society,” he said, insisting they would do so not from a “partisan perspective, but from our deepest moral perspective.”

The center will also feature a liaison based in the south, tasked with establishing a partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the region to help connect students with the organization’s programs.

Barber said he drew inspiration from a similar effort organized in the mid-20th century by prominent public theologians such as Howard Thurman and Reinhold Niebuhr.

In a statement, Yale Divinity School Dean Greg Sterling said he was “thrilled” to welcome Barber to the school.

“Dr. Barber’s work and service are in the tradition of public witness that produced Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, Walter Rauschenbusch and Howard Thurman, Ida B. Wells and Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, and Abraham Joshua Heschel,” Sterling said in a press release. “Establishment of the Center at YDS is an opportunity to deepen our relationship to a historical movement that revives nearly two

my song; I’m gonna stand for right, and I always shun the wrong; If I’m in the crowd, if I’m alone on the streets or in my home; I’m gonna live the life I sing about in my song.

“Every day, everywhere, on a busy thoroughfare, Folks may watch me; some may spot me.

centuries of social justice tradition to meet the complex social realities of our time.”

Barber told RNS his new position at Yale will require some professional transitions. He plans to retire as the longtime pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he has served for 30 years.

“It’s not easy,” he said, describing his plans to leave the church. “I love pastoring. I love the people. I love what it’s taught me. But I will not be selfish and not share (what I’ve learned) to generations coming.”

Barber called leaving the church “teary” but “exciting,” saying Greenleaf has fully embraced his retirement and has already selected an incoming pastor — the Rev. Shyrl Uzzell. Barber said he and Uzzell will share duties at the church until June when he will fully transition over to his new role at Yale.

Barber will also remain founder-president at Repairers of the Breach, he said, but the Rev. A. Kazimir Brown will become the new executive director and vice president.

“If we’re serious when we say the first goal of the society is to establish justice, or if we’re serious when we say the first premise of religion is love and justice and truth — that’s what we hope to bring, seed, and propagate in the public square for this new Center for Public Theology and Public Policy,” he said. ❏ ❏ ❏

Say I’m foolish, But I don’t care. I can’t sing one thing and then live another; Be saint by day and a devil undercover; I’ve got to live the life I sing about in my song.”

This is the charge to be kept. Will we, as Christians, keep it? ❏ ❏ ❏

...From A New Charge p5

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Leaves a Legacy of Ecumenical Dialogue

Expressing the profound sadness of the World Council of Churches (WCC) following the announcement by the Holy See of the death of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr. Ioan Sauca stated:

“On behalf of the World Council of Churches, I express our deepest condolences on the passing of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He was the first pope to have come from a country, Germany, with a roughly equal balance between Protestants and Catholics, and one that had been at the very centre of the 16th century Reformation.”

Benedict was also the first pope to have belonged to a committee of the World Council of Churches as one of the Catholic members of its Faith and Order Commission.

Within a short time of Benedict becoming pope, longstanding grievances that had prevented meetings of the Catholic-Orthodox dialogue commission were swept aside.

By 2007, the commission had drawn up the “Ravenna Declaration” as a first step towards overcoming the thousand-year disagreement on the role of the papacy.

Intriguingly, several key individuals in this process had all been members of the WCC’s Faith and Order Commission.

“He demonstrated courage as much in his leadership, his writings, and his pronouncements,” said Sauca.

Sauca added: “In the one ecumenical movement, he constantly affirmed

When Advent Expectations Are Met

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith

as irreversible, the deep involvement of the Roman Catholic Church in ecumenism, especially in responding to the challenging issues for the church in the world.”

The condolences were shared by WCC central committee moderator Bishop Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, who emphasized:

“I share my heartfelt condolences about the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with Pope Francis and his whole church. When I followed his life, I have often thought of the words that he spoke on his 85th birthday on 16 April 2012 in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican. Together with a Bavarian delegation, I had the privilege to participate in this small and very personal service.”

At that time, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI stated: “I am now facing the last chapter of my life, and I do not know what awaits me. I know, however, that the light of God exists, that he is risen, that his light is stronger than any darkness, that the goodness of God is stronger than any evil in this world.”

Bedford-Strohm reflected on those words: “He probably didn’t dare to think that he would live on another full ten more years. I am, however, sure that he now experiences the truth of these words spoken then.”

Reprinted with permission from the World Council of Churches.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. Hosea 11:1

One of the greatest joys of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany is the feeling and promise of expectations that become realized. Every year we look forward to the divine cycle of remembering and celebrating the anticipated birth and re-birth of Jesus coming into our lives anew. But this promise, foretold for centuries by prophets like Hosea, did not come easily.

The struggles that accompanied Jesus’ arrival were perilous—just as they are today for so many affected by hunger, poverty, and historic inequities. Jesus and his parents found refuge in Egypt on the continent of Africa when the government of King Herold ruled Palestine and sought to take and kill baby Jesus. After Herod died, the holy family returned to Nazareth. In so doing, the prophecy and season of expectation was fulfilled as recorded in Matthew 2:1-15, “To fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’”

For people of African descent, the struggles to find a formal place of refuge and authentic sharing—while systematically addressing their struggles and hopes—have also been going on for an exceptionally long time. After centuries of being divided by colonialism, war, racism, and many other inequities, we now have a new global space for multi-lateral engagement with the nations of

the world at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Through this advisory body, their voices will be heard, and perspectives will be shared.

This renaissance of renewed Pan-African identities and celebration of our diversities will occur without the limitations of nation-state perspectives where these voices have been often muted or marginal. Just like the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples, the UN Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will provide leadership in civil and UN member spaces when it comes to Pan-African issues. It launches this year during the Advent season, December 5-8.

Africa, Jesus’ place of refuge, is also a critical refuge for those who share African roots. The UN can now play a stronger role in engaging with people of African descent alongside the African Union, which welcomes the African Diaspora as the sixth region of the Union. May the vision of people of African lineage—who have been advocating for this moment for so long—find this new consultative mechanism impactful “as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent.”

Angelique Walker-Smith is a senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.

“Dr. Hurley’s service in the National Capital Region is immeasurable,” said Chief Executive Officer Ms. Cassandra McCullough of ABC. “She continues to exemplify outstanding leadership in health promotion and is a valued resource to faith-based, community, and public health organizations. Throughout the pandemic, she has maintained her usual highlevel engagement in support of the health and well-being of communities of color. I am proud to congratulate Dr. Hurley on this well-deserved recognition,” McCullough added.

Love AME Church is in the Second Episcopal District, the Washington Conference, where Bishop James L. Davis is the presiding prelate, Mrs. Arelis Beevers Davis is the Episcopal supervisor, and the Rev. Dr. Ronald E. Braxton is the presiding elder. A third-generation AME, Dr. Hurley is the oldest daughter of Presiding Elder Kenneth White (deceased) and the Rev. Pauline L. White Thurston (deceased). She is the oldest sister of the late Rev. Dr. Henry Y. White, former pastor of Campbell AME Church, Washington, District of Columbia.

About Taking Effective Action, Inc.

Taking Effective Action, Inc. (TEA)© is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to advancing, supporting, and promoting the health of families, women, men, and youth in the greater Washington, District of Columbia and Maryland areas and beyond. Through its outreach programs and publications, TEA has significantly impacted people’s lives by inspiring and encouraging them to “Take Effective Action” for their health. To learn more, visit www.t-action.org.

LITURGICAL COLORS 2023

DATES COLOR

Jan 1 – 6

Jan 7

Jan 8 …(Baptism of the Lord)

Jan 9 – Feb 18

Feb 19 …(Trans guration Sunday)

Feb 20 – 21

Feb 22 (Ash Wednesday) — Apr 6 . .

Apr 7 – 8 …(Good Friday/Holy Saturday) . .Black

Apr 9 — May 27 …(Easter)

May 28 …(Pentecost Sunday)

May 29 — June 3

June 4 …(Trinity Sunday)

June 5 — Oct 31

Nov 1 …(All Saints Day)

Nov 2 – 25

Nov 26 …(Christ the King Sunday)

Nov 27 — Dec 2

Dec 3 – Dec 23 …(Advent)

Dec 24 - 31 …(Christmas Eve/Christmas)

Compliments of the AME Sunday School Union and the Christian Education Department

It’s Prayer Time, AME Church!

April 12, 2023, is just around the corner when we will all come together for the Connectional Day of Prayer. We have been agree ing in prayer on this day for over a decade, and we will not come down from the wall. As we approach this special day, we ask that you prepare by praying. Pray that God will draw thousands to the gathering, pray that we all will be excited to be a part of such a sacred occasion, and pray that God will meet us with his saving, healing, delivering, anointing, and resurrection power.

The Bishop Sarah Francis Davis Covenant Keepers and Intercessors Prayer Team invites everyone to be a prayerful part of the virtual Connectional Day of Prayer. We are asking the episcopacy, all general officers, all clergy, all laity, and all youth and young adults to share in the prayers for our global Zion. We will also be praying for the church universal, current events around the world, governments, and peace and harmony for the world.

The Bishop Sarah Frances Davis Covenant Keepers and Intercessors began in 2007 and was formally recognized in the 2016 DoctrineandDisciplineofthe AfricanMethodistEpiscopalChurch (the Discipline). Our leader is the first lady of St. Paul AME Church, the Rev. Dorisalene Hughes of the 5th Episcopal District in Berkley, California. The mission of this ministry is “to conduct spiritual mapping, domestic and international intercession regarding our various bishops, councils, general and connectional officers, events, and issues of our Zion.” [ Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, 2016, p. 213-214.] For more information on the ministry, please see the DDAMEC pages 213-214.

The Connectional Day of Prayer is in accordance with the Discipline,

which says to pray for all aspects of our church connection. As such, we will be praying for our bishops, Connectional officers, presiding elders, pastors, other clergy, lay leaders, and all the laity of our church. We will be in special prayer for our children, our Episcopal and presiding elder districts, annual conferences, all local congregations, the growth and development of the church, the continuous movement of God’s Holy Spirit throughout our Zion, and continued provision of financial resources needed to further God’s kingdom work through us.

Prayer is always needed to cover all aspects of our church, and your prayers are needed before, during, and after this special time set aside for the AME Church to touch and agree for God’s Spirit to abide with us and in us with continued love, grace, mercy, and peace.

We look forward to your presence with us on April 12, 2023, for our AME Church Connectional Day of Prayer. Save the date! May God bless and keep you all until we meet on our day of prayer. ❏ ❏ ❏

A Grant of $1 Million From Lilly Endowment

A grant of $1 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. will help the Department of Research and Scholarship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church establish the Compelling Preaching in the 21st Century Project - The Power of a Thinking Church!

Under the leadership of the Reverend Teresa Fry Brown, Ph.D., this grant will assist the Department of Research and Scholarship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in exploring, enhancing, and expanding the gospel with a balance of bibliocentric, ethnographic, and exegesis of the biblical text, and quarterly learning labs.

Activities in the new program will engage participants in reviewing the basics of preaching, expanding the repertoire of the forms of preaching, learning to use social media effectively, participating in small group and peer group interaction to practice preaching, engaging congregational studies regarding the efficacy of preaching, writing assignments to include scholarly articles, and forming reading groups on contemporary forms and styles in sermon construction, and community engagement and activism. In addition, this project will build an intergenerational colloquium of scholars, activists, practitioners, and laity to address relevant topics and enhance writing, publication, collaborative research, and scholarship to advance the art of practical, compelling preaching in the African Diaspora.

The department’s grant writer, Richelle Fry Skinner, and evaluator, the Reverend Dr. Cynthia McDonald, were strategic in capturing Dr. Fry Brown’s vision to use its multi-generational, multi-ethnic, culturally responsive approach to engage clergy and lay ministers in activities that will identify and

About Lilly Endowment

expand compelling preaching in the 21st Century.

The Compelling Preaching in the 21st Century Project - Power of a Thinking Church is funded through the Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. The Department of Research and Scholarship of the African Methodist Episcopal Church is one of 32 organizations receiving funding in an invitational round of grants for the initiative, which is designed to help Christian pastors strengthen their abilities to proclaim the gospel in more engaging and effective ways.

“We are excited about the work that these organizations will do to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully,” said Christopher L. Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “Their programs will serve a significant number of aspiring and current preachers who are working to reach and engage increasingly diverse audiences both within and beyond congregations.”

The Compelling Preaching Initiative is part of the Endowment’s longstanding interest in supporting projects that help to nurture the religious lives of individuals and families and foster the growth and vitality of Christian congregations in the United States.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly, Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K., Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education, and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. In addition, the Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.

Contact: Reverend Teresa Fry Brown, Ph.D. • amehistoryinthemaking@gmail.com

Black Women Ministers Get Affirmation That God Sees Us at D.C. Event

Adelle M. Banks, Religion News Service

In a ballroom in the nation’s capital, with many dressed in gowns and heels, black women were hailed for their ministry work, known and unknown.

“There are women here who have labored 20, 30, 40 years and nobody ever said ‘Thank you’; tonight we’re saying thank you,” said the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook, the co-leader of the R.E.A.L. Black Women in Ministry THRIVE initiative. “We’re saying thank God, and we’re saying thank you.”

The Friday (Dec. 2) evening gala at the National Press Club marked a continuing effort to provide black women ministers with affirmation and acclamation through a program that pairs five dozen women in mentee-mentor duos. The initiative’s R.E.A.L. acronym stands for relationship building, equipping and expanding, access and leadership, and legacy development.

The Rev. Gina Stewart, who became in 2021 the first woman president of a U.S. Black Baptist organization, said in a keynote speech that the initiative and the dinner showed the work of black women in ministry had not gone completely unnoticed.

“It’s not difficult to be in a body suit like this and be overlooked, despite your gifts, despite your commitment, despite your anointing, despite your years of service, despite the fact that you show up when others don’t,“ said Stewart, president of the Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society, who was recognized as a trailblazer during the gala.

“Sexism, misogyny, and patriarchy are deeply embedded not just in the church, but in the culture and in society. But tonight, Ambassador Cook and the R.E.A.L. Black Women in Ministry send to us a resounding affirmation that God sees us.”

The Lilly Endowment has given two grants, a $1 million initial grant in 2019 and a $500,000 sustaining grant in 2022, to support the initiative that is linked to Harlem’s Union Baptist Church, where Johnson Cook — who later became the U.S. international religious freedom ambassador — was ordained 40 years ago.

The Rev. Brian D. Scott, the church’s current pastor and the co-leader of the initiative, said at the event that he viewed the women in the room as the people who can lead the church into the future.

“I pray that God uses you to do what the elders say: ‘This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,’” Scott said. “Would you go back and take a spark from this and build a fire when you get back home?”

Throughout the event, the women

were encouraged through speeches, song lyrics, and poetry.

Accompanied by the recitation of Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” the faces of two dozen women flashed across the screen and were praised as trailblazers and “unsung she-roes.”

The women were noted as senior pastors, ministry leaders, music and dance officials, business people, and community servants responsible for pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics at churches or food distribution to the needy.

The Rev. Caretha Crawford, an honoree, mentor, and pastor of Gateway to Wholeness Church Ministries in Largo, Maryland, said her involvement in the initiative was a sign that “the Lord is smiling on me” after more than 30 years of ministry.

In an interview before the banquet got underway, she said the program allowed black women like her “just to know that somebody is seeing and recognizing what you’re doing and taking some of the load and the burden off of you. Because ministry can be very burdensome.”

The Rev. Ammie L. Davis, installed early this year as president-dean of Turner Theological Seminary, the African Methodist Episcopal institution that is part of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, was another honoree.

She said the occasion started her on a

new road of networking among black female ministers, which often occurs informally but is formalized through Johnson Cook’s initiative. In an interview as she arrived, Davis noted that though she is a trailblazer as the first woman president of her seminary since its founding in 1894, she was an admirer of others who had gone before her, including Stewart.

“It’s a unique opportunity to be recognized as a trailblazer when you see yourself more as an ambassador and servant of God,” said Davis, who said she’s excited about becoming more effective as a mentee and mentor. “I’m the novice that’s at the table.”

The event also focused on women who are not in top roles but who nevertheless serve in ministry in ways they feel called to pursue.

“If I had a dollar for every time somebody asked me, ‘When are you going to get your own church?’” said the Rev. Gloria Miller Perrin, who has served the last 20 years as an associate pastor of First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Maryland. “But I knew what God had called me to do. And I am so glad that I have followed the Lord’s direction in my life.”

Johnson Cook pointed out another honoree and mentor, Pastor Carla Stokes, who had worked out of the limelight developing The King’s Table outreach ministry at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in the Atlanta area. The ministry recently served its one millionth person. But Stokes also led the megachurch after the death of Bishop Eddie Long and before the arrival of the Rev. Jamal Bryant.

“We didn’t see in the headlines that there was a black woman, Dr. Carla Stokes, who was the interim pastor for that congregation, keeping those 20,000 members together — teaching, preaching, Bible study,” she said. Stokes, when she came to the stage, said the event had inspired her to do more.

“I grew up in a church that didn’t acknowledge women as ministers. I

grew up only being able to stand on the floor and not on the pulpit. I grew up teaching Sunday school but never in a pulpit,” she said. “But I came to tell you when God calls your name, you got to answer and do what he says.”

Another honoree, the Rev. Ayanna Mishoe-Brooker, associate pastor of a Baptist church in Dover, New Jersey, acknowledged her husband, the church’s pastor, who welcomes her as a co-leader.

“He allows me to be his rib; he allows me to be at his side; he allows me to minister,” she said. “We have some pastors who don’t allow that. They tell you to sit down, but I don’t get that from him. So thank you for allowing me to operate with my gifts.”

Though more than 20 took the stage, one of the honorees, the Rev. Sheila McKeithen, senior minister of the Universal Centre of Truth for Better Living, a New Thought congregation in Kingston, Jamaica, made a point of honoring those who were not there.

“For the women whose names won’t be called: They’re laboring. They’re doing the work. They’re not getting an award,” said McKeithen, one of several honorees ministering internationally.

“But tonight, I call your name. I call your spirit.”

At the conclusion of the event, Johnson Cook’s own name was called unexpectedly. Deborah Martin, dean of Students at Virginia Union University, a historically black institution in Richmond, announced that its new continuing education center for women in ministry would be named after Johnson Cook.

The former ambassador knew the center, a partnership with the BWIM initiative, would be announced but not that it would include her name.

A surprised Johnson Cook said after the event that the center is expected to open next year.

“It really means that for generations, not only my name but the work of black women in ministry will be able to carry on,” she said. ❏ ❏

Do you talk destiny talk to young people? Do you tell youth in your charge (and family) that their destiny is a gift and one mu st be willing to fight hard to keep and develop it? Be honest. Do you see young people with their pants sagging, their mouths cussing, their assets exposed, pocketbook snatching, the same way you view garbage?

I met a troubled young girl some 15 years ago. She had worn out several mentors by the time our paths crossed. Yet, for some reason, I stayed with her. I experienced firsthand the rollercoaster ride that was her life. I recall our intense conversation after she saw that I was not leaving. While I knew she was adopted, I never asked about her birth. One day she told me she was left in the park when she was a baby. Her adoptive mother saw the story on television and went to the precinct to claim the discarded child as her own.

Recently, I received a call from the young woman mentioned above. She was so excited. She told me that she achieved her lifelong dream by completing medical school. She was making rounds at her assigned hospital. The lead doctor told her that since she handled the patients so well that he would allow her to proceed the rest of the way on her own. She also mentioned that she bought a house. She was, by all measures, a “garbage child” in the eyes of mainstream society, born with every reason to fail. A heartfelt thanks to ALL of her mentors, even the ones who dropped out, for you knew deep inside destiny awaits.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

Bethlehem. We did not see him while he was walking on the dusty roads of Galilee. We did not see him on that terrible Friday when he hung nailed to a cross, nor did we witness his empty tomb three days later on Sunday morning. All of those events took place centuries before we arrived on the scene. However, we know that if we keep on believing and trusting in him, one of these days, we are going to see him for ourselves.

I wonder: do you, like me, want to see him for yourself? Jesus has made a difference in so many lives; I want to see him for myself.

Oh, I want to see him, look upon his face; there to sing, forever, of his saving grace. On the streets of glory, let me lift my voice, cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice!

The Reverend Dr. Charles R. Watkins, Jr., is the pastor of James Chapel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

...From Destiny Awaits p3

...From The Truth p13

CHOOSING JOY

Rev. Barry Settle, Contributing Writer

Henri Nouwen was a renowned Catholic priest, professor, theologian, author of numerous books, and beloved confidant to many troubled souls. Nouwen is responsible for the following quote, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a choice based on the knowledge that we belong to God and have found in God, our refuge and our safety and that nothing, not even death, can take God away from us.” Let me reiterate that first part - “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”

As we enter 2023, let us choose joy for our life. After the last three years, we need joy! Pandemic, social unrest, political circus, vaccinations, boosters, and more boosters. It is time for us to reclaim some joy in our lives. Of course, this assumes that joy is the desired goal, as even the person who appears to enjoy being miserable, deep down, really would love to have joy. But be advised, joy does not merely happen to us. We choose joy.

Joy is hard to define because we confuse it with being happy when things are going our way or just doing whatever we want. Let me tell you,

The Sacred Moment

Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr., Columnist

there have been times when I appeared happy but did not have any joy! So, what is joy? Let me start by saying what joy is not. It is not the power of positive thinking. It is not being happy due to external circumstances or having an upbeat personality. It is not removing negative energy. It is not being the life of the party or smiling and laughing all the time. This is not to say if you have these attributes, you don’t have joy, but joy is not defined as these things.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines joy as closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion, a result of choice. Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian because joy is grounded in the work of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because of God, joy is possible in our lives, and Jesus connects our joy to our personal devotional life with him. John 15:10-11 reads, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

This joy that Jesus has can be in us, and circumstances or occurrences of life cannot extinguish such joy. Joy

is God-given and stronger than any trouble in our lives. Circumstances of life cannot extinguish this joy. This joy is available, but we must choose it daily. If there is anyone to whom many of us can relate, it is David, as he had his share of trouble and circumstances in his life. He was not viewed as a member of the family, as when Samuel went to his father’s house to anoint the next king, all his brothers were in the house, and he was outside, keeping the sheep. He was betrayed by his mentor, Saul, who wanted to kill him. He made mistakes; his own son even betrayed him. Yet, in spite of it all, David still chose joy and leaves us a formula in this psalm on how we can choose joy daily.

Keep God at your right hand. In verse eight, David says he keeps the Lord before him at all times and is at his right hand. Because of this, with God at David’s right hand, nothing would rob him of his joy. The right hand is the place of authority and exaltation. As we choose joy daily, we must make God the priority in our life. In Exodus 20:3, God says, “You shall have no other gods before me.” When God has priority in our lives, we include God as a part of everything we do throughout our day.

In our journey through life, we all need a sacred moment, time with God in special and in sacred communication. I learned this theology as a young man growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, when I would drive to the beach before dawn or at dusk, and I walk the beach quietly and reflect on my life, not as a preacher, but as a child of God. Even in my youth, I struggled to find my place in God’s creation. The sacred moments on the beach helped me connect with the Holy. This alone time was an inward journey, as Howard Thurman discusses in his work, The Creative Encounter. I learned this creative encounter as a teenager, trying to find my way and my purpose. So what is a sacred moment?

First, the sacred moment is time spent alone with the creator God. We stand naked before God in our faults, failures, and our fears. We stand undressed and with a sense of urgency to find a moral compass; if we have gotten off track, we also stand undressed to give thanks to a merciful and forgiving God. The one who knows our failures yet forgives us anyway.

Secondly, the sacred moment helps us gain strength in an evil and unpredictable world. My

moment happens some mornings between 4:305:00 a.m. as I prepare for swimming practice. As I glare at the calm waters of the swimming pool, I reflect and thank God for my journey. God and I talk before I endure another difficult swimming practice. Dive deep into the sacred moment before I dive into the swimming pool. I dive into God’s pathos, God’s care, and love for a sinner like me, saved by God’s marvelous grace. I check my goggles as I check my faith, I check my swim cap, and I

Rev. Barry Settle Guest Editorial

Follow the path of life. As we choose joy, we follow the path. In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Jesus is the path. He has gone before us and instructs us to follow him and the path he walked, which leads to life.

Seek his presence. We find joy when we seek God’s presence. David recognizes that there is not only joy but the fullness of joy in the presence of God. This is more than reading the Bible, praying, or going to church. We find joy when we extend ourselves beyond our normal, daily spiritual routines. Psalm 105:4 encourages us to “seek his presence continually.”

As we move through 2023, let us lean on these words in this psalm and decide to embrace this fullness of joy for our lives. Today, let us choose to have joy! ❏ ❏ ❏

check my endurance for the journey ahead in my life and the difficult practice I will face. Our strength comes when spending sacred time with God. The only voice we hear is the voice of the Holy. This sacred preparation helps me spiritually and physically.

Lastly, the sacred moment prepares us for difficult times we will all face. When the storms come on us, we have a storm watcher, a lighthouse for the storms that we must face. Storms will come, but God secures us and protects us in the storms. The sacred moments we have before the storms will equip us for the storms of life. In my personal storms, I thank God for the sacred moments we have shared and will continue to share. ❏ ❏ ❏