June 2023 Edition of The Christian Recorder

Bishop Vashti McKenzie Named NCC President and General Secretary

The Governing Board of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America (NCC) is pleased to annou nce that it has elected Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie to serve as president and general secretary of the ecumenical organization. She is the first African American woman to serve as both president and general secretary of the organization. The Governing Board announced this news during its annual Spring meeting, held in Washington, District of Columbia, May 15–16, 2023.

Bishop McKenzie has served as interim since April 1, 2022, and immersed herself in the organization’s work without delay. During her year as interim, she led an extensive review of NCC’s foundational documents, initiated Voter Empowerment 2022: A Church-Based Action Plan campaign, testified on Capitol Hill on behalf of low-wage earners and poor children, and served as keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast.

She has also represented NCC internationally at the World Council of Churches’ Regional Ecumenical Officers annual meeting at the Ecumenical Center in Bossey, Switzerland, and attended the 11 th Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Germany.

Bishop McKenzie has reinstituted the NCC’s Health and Wellness Taskforce to dive deeper into health and healthcare priorities that impact persons of all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic and geographic status. As part of the taskforce relaunch, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy was the keynote speaker at the recent Governing Board Health and Wellness Taskforce Luncheon.

She also has initiated a new Policy Roundtable to create space for NCC’s communions and partners to speak to and with each other and hear from policy experts on critical issues that strengthen its impact

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Payne Theological Seminary Sponsors Ministry Leaders’ Retreat and Presiding Elders’ Conference

Rev. Dr. Betty Holley, Contributing Writer

Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest free-standing African American seminary in the United States, is at the forefront of re-reimagining theological education and recognizes the challenges that ministers and presiding elders today are having to confront due to the return to Sunday worship, post-COVID. The challenges are numerous: eroding Sunday morning attendance, increasing or maintaining the congregation’s size, local and Connectional church obligation budgets strained and increasing, and the pressure to increase revenue and find alternative sources of income, just to name a few. Our communities are in such disarray, struggling to address gun violence and other matters, so much so that the pressure on ministers, especially, to engage is becoming increasingly complicated.

During the week of March 14-16, 2023, Payne sponsored a ministry

leaders’ retreat and a presiding elders’ conference at Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, Nevada.

These two events have become part of Payne’s lifelong learning efforts to serve our constituents. The first ministry leaders’ retreat was held in New Orleans, Louisiana, in August 2022, and the first presiding elders’ conference was held in Savannah, Georgia, in March 2022. The uniqueness of this minister le aders’ retreat was the blessing of colleagues from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and Christian Methodist Episcopal communions participated. They are participants in our Mapping the Future of Black Methodism Initiative. Funded by the Lilly

...continued on p12

Jarvis Christian University Board of Trustees Names Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt as 13 th President

Jarvis Christian University Board of Trustees has unanimously selected Dr. Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt as the university’s 13th president, effective July 1, 2023. She succeeds Dr. Lester C. Newman, who served as the JCU president for 11 years and is retiring after a 47-year career in higher education.

Dr. Lee-Pruitt brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the university, including higher education administration and academic affairs, having served as second in command and as a member of the executive cabinet since August 2012 as the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Jarvis.  She has been instrumental in increasing student enrollment, increas ing articulation agreements, and establishing the Renaissance Program for adult learners on the JCU campus and the JCU Dallas teaching site.  She has also provided leadership in enhancing academic program offerings, which include online degree completion programs and two online gra duate programs.

Previously, she served at Mississippi Valley State University as dean of University College and First Year Experience, director of Community/Service Learning, director of the Renaissance Learning Adult Education Program, and tenured professor in the Department of Social Work.

An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Lee-Pruitt is a highly sought-after speaker and presenter. She als o is active in campus,

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Back Together Again: A Tribute to Bishop and Episcopal Supervisor Fred and Sylvia Talbot

Rev. Dr. Keith Lawrence, 6th Episcopal District

God’s view of marriage is best described in Genesis 2:24, which says, “The two shall become one flesh.” When God said, “And the two shall become one,” his sacred plan was for man and woman to be joined in an inseparable and exclusive union. Love and life brought Frederick and Sylvia together. Frederick’s death provided a temporary separation. Sylvia’s most recent death nullified their separation, allowing love and eternal life to bring them back together.

Over sixty years ago, God issued a decree that Frederick and Sylvia would meet as they studied to show themselves approved while attending Yale University. Frederick sought a Master of Divinity, and Sylvia, a Master of Science in Public Health. As God would have it, in 1958, Frederick and Sylvia were married, and the journey of two becoming one commenced.

After accepting his call to ministry in 1951, Frederick was ordained an itinerate deacon, and in 1952, he was ordained an itinerate elder. Shortly after his elder ordination, Reverend Frederick Talbot was appointed to the Little Mountain Circuit in South Carolina. It is often said, “Your first church is practice, and your next church is progress.” For Reverend Talbot, this statement was absolutely true. In 1961, Reverend Talbot returned home to his roots and was appointed to serve the St. Peters AME Church in Georgetown, Guyana. From the sacred desk of St. Peters, God shaped and crafted a holistic ministry that would expand over 40 years, touching countless numbers of people. Luke 16:10a says, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.” Talbot entered St. Peters with 38 members, and a decade later, over 350 people came to faith in Jesus Christ under his leadership. Additionally, Talbot was appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations from Guyana in 1971.

Talbot was the 90 th elected and consecrated bishop of the AME Church in 1972 after faithfully serving St. Peters for over ten years.

During his tenure at St. Peters, God began a good work in Reverend Talbot, allowing him to excel and exceed expectations. Talbot’s

love of people and his desire to hold people in their highest possibility allowed him to sacrifice his salary from the church to provide educational opportunities for many students. Talbot educated, encouraged, and empowered people throughout the AME Connection and around the world. Bishop Talbot was a builder, composer, educator, and diplomat with the able-assistance of his wife Sylvia Talbot, who, too, was gifted by God to serve God’s people.

Supervisor Sylvia Talbot’s career in public health was nothing short of magnificent. God leveraged her education, gifts, and relentless pursuit of providing adequate health care for others and placed her at the top of her field in public health worldwide. Supervisor Talbot was appointed minister of health in Guyana, heading a government department responsible for the country’s hospitals, pharmacies, and public health services. Supervisor Talbot became the chief spokesperson and advocate for public health in Parliament and was later appointed delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from Guyana.

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What Spain Taught Me About Ministry

Rev. Tashara Void, Contributing Writer

I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful island of Palma de Mallorca. I am embarrassed to say that for the first day, I had no idea where I was or what city I was in. What’s worse? I did not even take the time to get to know the place before I got there. And at the time, I did not think it was necessary. I was offered a trip to Spain, and I said yes without hesitation, not asking for any details outside of travel dates and times. I did not read the travel requirements nor check the weather. I simply went in blinded with my agenda. Is it not sad that before I arrived, I did not take the time to learn about where I was going, and I did not ask any questions? It was as if I had no regard for the culture, the people, or simply the place. I took my privileged self across the sea and not once stopped to entertain who or what would meet me there.

And is that not what we do in ministry, especially in a new appointment or position? We set up programs, projects, ministries, and events and do not consider the who or what. We do not take the time to get to know the culture or spend time learning the language. And, we rarely spend time getting to know the people. We simply go in with our plans, thoughts, and ideas and impose them on others. We do not ask questions. We do not make adjustments or shifts. Instead, we force the people to adjust and shift to us, acting out of what is familiar and comfortable for us. Then, we pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, not once asking what made the job well done and if there was a true impact.

I am sure Palma de Mallorca has a rich culture and heritage, but I would never know it. I was enamored by its beauty and took in the sights, but I could not tell you the history or legacy of the people or the place. Not only did I fail to do the research, but also I did not take the time to learn their language, which created a barrier.

What would it have meant if I had spent the extra money to purchase a digital translator to communicate with the people effectively? How much more impactful would the experience have been if I had understood the history and the context? What more could I have learned if I had taken the extra step?

Bethel Memorial AME Church Athlone, Cape Town Quasquicentennial Year

1898 - 2023

When we say yes to ministry and service, we are saying yes to minister and serve another person. And the most effective way to do that is by knowing where you are going, who you will encounter, what resources are available, and how you can best serve their needs. When we take the time to immerse ourselves in the culture of others, we establish a connection and rapport that breeds an environment of growth and mutual aid. Ministry and service require work upfront and complete engagement in the process. Do not be like me and go in blindly. Prepare and equip yourself to be open to the experiences of others. Do the work to learn the people and place. Make space for others to be authentically themselves, not trying to get them to bend or form to your desire and comfort. Most importantly, study to show thyself approved; not with the mindset to change someone else, but with the openness to learn and grow into a better minister and servant. ❏ ❏ ❏

We are celebrating our 125 th year of ministry for Christ, his church, and community. We are the oldest congregation in the 15 th Episcopal District. The program includes, among others, Holy Communion on May 07, 2023; Mothers Standing Tall on Mother’s Day on May 14, 2023; Men of Faith on May 21, 2023; Memorial Lecture and Anniversary on Thursday, May 25, 2023, with our official Thanksgiving Service on May 28, 2023. We solicit prayers and support for continued blessings on our ministry.

HISTORY OF BETHEL MEMORIAL AME CHURCH

As a result of the memorable visit of Bishop Henry McNeil Turner to South Africa and his great and eloquent sermon preached on May 22, 1898, in the now Opera House in Cape Town, Bethel AME Church was organized on May 25, 1898, among people of the Cape by Francis McDonald Gow. He was a photographer of renown and spiritual leader of a congregation that held services in St. Paul’s Hall, Bree Street, Cape Town.

He became a key figure in the affairs of the infant church after the secession of 1899. After selling his business, he entered the ministry, was ordained in the USA, and later became general superintendent. In recognition of his devoted and sacrificial services, the honorary Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) was conferred on him. He was elevated from our pu lpit to the bishopric in 1956, the first-ever South African to be so honoured.

The church was originally situated on the corner of Blythe and Hanover Streets in District Six of Cape Town. Still, it was forcefully relocated to Athlone by the apartheid government in 1975 due to the Group Areas Act. As a result, our church was the only one demolished. Today, the remaining churches and schools are declared heritage sites.

The church then amalgamated with Bonner Temple AME Church. Bethel

Memorial will always be indebted to the membership of Bonner Temple for the smooth amalgamation.

HISTORY OF BONNER TEMPLE

The church was started in the house of the Rev. E.P. Williams. Ground was then bought on the corner of Harmonie and Herbrandt Streets, Hazendal, in the year 1947 under the leadership of Bishop Isaiah Bonner.

In 1947 the foundation of Bonner Temple was laid. The church was built with the help of Rev. S.P. Johannisen, Bro. Henkerman, Peter and John Johannisen, Tommy and Paul Henkerman, Bro Williams, and two labourers. The church started with only eight (8) members. As

the years went by, more members joined: Brother and Sister Aspeling, Sister Van der Merwe, Mrs. Louw, Brother and Sister Gerbach, Miller family, Martin Petersen family, Brother Derby and family, Brother Springfield, and family, Sister Appel and family, Brother and Sister Warner and family, Brother Stanford Warner and family, Brother, and Sister Charles and family and Brother van Rooi and family. Finally, Bishop Francis H. Gow and Presiding Elder Jason dedicated Bonner Temple.

THE PASTORS WHO SERVED BONNER TEMPLE WERE:

1. Rev. S.P. Johannisen .........................1949 - 1960

2. Rev. P.A.C. Abrahamse ....................1960 - 1961

3. Rev. Richard J. Mothibi ...................1961 - 1963

4. Rev. Pieter Joubert ..........................1963 - 1965

5. Rev. Jannie W. Louw ........................1965 - 1966

6. Rev. Levi C. Gow ............................. 1966 - 1974 - made the last down payment

7. Rev. Henry A. Joubert .................... 1974 was instrumental in the amalgamation process

SINCE THE ORGANIZATION, THE FOLLOWING MINISTERS HAVE SERVED AS PASTORS:

1. Rev. Alexander A. Morrison ...........1889 - 1900

2. Rev. Dr. Francis M. Gow .................1900 - 1930

3. Rev. Henry A Fortuin ......................1930 - 1932

4. Rev. Dr. Francis H. Gow ..................1933 - 1956

5. Rev. Levi C. Gow ..............................1957 - 1964

6. Rev. Hendrik Carelse .......................1965 - 1969

7. Rev. Alexander M. Kadalie .............1969 - 1970

8. Rev. Stanley P. Johannissen .............1971 - 1972

9. Rev. Levy C. Gow ............................1972 - 1974

10. Rev. Henry A. Joubert ...................1974 - 1978

ASSOCIATE PASTORS

1. Rev. Dr. Lionel R. Louw

2. Rev. Edward Louw

3. Rev. Gabriel Jaftha (Local Elder)

4. Rev. Leslie J. Scott

5. Rev. Samuel A. Moleon (Local Elder)

6. Rev. Pamela Stander (Local Elder)

7. Rev. Abraham Plaatjies (Local Elder) ***

***The Rev. Abraham Plaatjies [75 years] is the only member of the associates still with Bethel Memorial AMEC. Congratulatory remarks can be sent to, and further information can be obtained from: Rev. William C. Legolie II: willielegolie2311@ gmail.com; phone: 27-21-696 9732 or cell: 071 952 3886.

church office: info@ bethelmemorial.co.za.

Phone 27-21-696 1975. ❏ ❏ ❏

11. Rev. Andrew E. Josias ....................1978 - 1996

12. Rev. Andrew B. Lewin ...................1996 - 2006

13. Rev. Nigel B. Titus .........................2006 - 2008

14. Rev. Gregory West .........................2008 - served only three months

15. Rev. Vernard E. Bailie ....................2008 - 2010

16. Rev. Peter A. Walker ......................2010 - 2011

17. Rev. Marco de Lilly ........................2011 - 2014

18. Rev. Sekoboto J. Tau ......................2014 - 2021 Mid Year

19. Rev. William C. Legolie .................2021 - present

community, and ministry activities. She holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Jackson State University, a Master of Social Work from Temple University, a Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work from Jackson State University, and a Master of Divinity from Payne The ological Seminary.

Moreover, she has completed the Council of Independent Colleges’ Presidential Vocation and Institutional Mission Program and the Millennium Leadership Institute. She has received several honors, awards, and recognitions, including Faculty of the Year and the UNCF Trailblazer Award.

Lee-Pruitt is the current pastor of St. Matthew AME Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, and is a member

of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

JCU Board Chairman Torry L. Edwards commends the Board of Trustees and members who served on the Presidential Transition Committee and Executive Committee who selected Lee-Pruitt and commended the board for its extensive succession planning process adopted in 2016 to enable a seamless transition of leadership.

Jarvis Christian University is dedicated to empowering students to achieve their career goals through an affordable academic experience that prepares them for today’s global economy.

Whether a student is a recent high school graduate or a working adult seeking career advancement, Jarvis Christian University develops students of all ages intellectually, socially, spiritually, and emotionally. ❏

...From Jarvis Christian p1

Ministerial Staff: Rev. Sekoboto J. Tau (Associate Pastor), Rev. William C. Legolie II (Current Pastor), Rev. Abraham Plaatjies (Local Elder).

A small group of men serving the church.

Rev. William C Legolie II, Pastor: Bethel Memorial AME Church, 8 Harmonie Road, Hazendal, Athlone 15 th Episcopal Church

A small group of women serve the church meticulously. Many of them were members of the church in District Six and are in their 70’s and 80’s.

The Truth Is the Light

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

Based on Biblical Text: John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

I submit that “friend” is one of the most loosely interpreted and frequently used words in our vocabulary. “Friend” is used to describe so many kinds of relationships that it makes it difficult to verify the true meaning of the word. The dictionary defines “friend” as one attached to another by affection, regard, or esteem. A friend is also an intimate acquaintance or an ally and a supporter of a cause.

We can agree that these definitions may be scholarly and academically sound, but we can also conclude they are somewhat limited . Many of us must admit that we have used the word “friend” in more situations than these definitions include.

Even in the Bible, we find that the word “friend” is used to describe various relationships. A good example is when Brother Job was dealing with his trials. The Bible says some brothers stopped by who were called “friends”. However, we find that these “friends” were not as much help in lifting Job’s spirits as they were a bother adding to his burden. It is a little confusing characterizing these brothers as friends when instead of lifting Job with encouragement and bringing light to the situation, they crushed him with false accusations and sarcastic insinuations, contributing to his darkness.

It is quite interesting how we form friendships. Friends sometimes come together in a common bond as a result of some sickness or tragedy. Friends grow up in the same neighborhood and never lose contact. Some become friends meeting at church, finding that they enjoy working together. Folk may serve on the same committee, or sit in the same pew, Sunday after Sunday, eventually discovering they have forged a friendly relationship.

Lamentably some friendships are formed for evil reasons. Some folk with nothing in common at all bond simply because they share the same enemy. We find an example of that evil alliance in Pontius Pilate and King Herod. They were bitter enemies until they were both confronted by the man called Jesus Christ. They had absolutely nothing in common but their shared fear of Jesus. They collaborated to execute their common enemy. These are the types of friendships we need to be wary of!

We can determine who our real friends are! The folk willing to tell us the truth about ourselves

Speak Life

Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Columnist

One of my clients asked me to lead a delegation of a dozen diverse individuals, all with a dream to become high school special education teachers. I took these future educators to a church across the street from a housing project in “the hood” to meet children and teens enrolled in the house of worship self-funded summer camp program. After entering the sanctuary, I could tell that both groups were somewhat wary of each other. My experience told me to do an “icebreaker” to facilitate group interaction. I asked the teachersto-be to tell the young people the foundational reason why they wanted to teach.

I then asked the youth to give their advice on how to be a successful teacher. I picked several eager “advisors.” Their responses centered on

without fear of reprisal are our true friends. These are the folk who display a genuine spirit of love and concern when we are doing something wrong. These are our real friends!

We can also determine who our genuine friends are by recognizing how consistent they are. Folk who are only loyal as long as we are popular are not our real friends. Folk who hang around only when we have money in our pockets are not our real friends.

Truth be told, true friends are a rare commodity. We live in a world of cutthroat competition where folk will drop us like a hot potato to gain an advantage over us. In fact, the friend we may have counted on the most will disappoint us and not be there when we need them.

The preacher in me has to report that I know somebody who is a real friend by any standard. His name is Jesus! He passed the supreme test of friendship when he gave his life for you and me! In fact, Jesus discussed the subject of friendship on the very night before he was crucified. He had just experienced a triumphant ride into the city

of Jerusalem, where throngs of people gathered to wave palms as he passed by.

In the Upper Room, Jesus is giving his disciples a few parting instructions before the tragic event of Calvary takes place. Jesus says (paraphrasing), “Now that I am about to make my departure, I want to call you, not my servants, but my friends. And when I call you my friends, I want you to know exactly what I mean. I want you to understand the depth of my love for you. We have an unbreakable bond, you and I. Love and friendship are like Siamese twins: inseparable. One cannot live without the other. I have been displaying my friendship ever since I called you to be my disciples. And not only have I been a friend to you, but I also have shown my friendship to all with whom I have come in contact. And now, I am about to demonstrate the ultimate act of friendship. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

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

being fair (children in school have a hard life), being consistent, knowing their students’ names, and being good communicators. Yet, a response from a 13-year-old boy blew all of us away. In a voice beyond his years, a deep, resonant voice filled with authority as if destined to speak at this moment, the teen said, “Speak life to the students.”

We live in a time where it is more acceptable to use words to kill the hopes and dreams of others. Every day, the incessant barrage of disparaging put-downs and “clap-backs” air as trending news on television, social media, and personal conversations to the extent that speaking life to one another can seem passé. There are people (trolls) who amass a following generated by

taking advantage of a person’s weaknesses, blunders, or presenting embarrassing private details without context, or in many instances, without regard to the truth—this is the opposite of speaking life. Do you have someone who speaks life to you? If you do, let me say you are fortunate. A person who speaks life generally lives a life that allows lessons learned to be gleaned, processed, and shared. This person does not want to control your life but wants you to get the best out of the life you are living. As mentioned, the inspiration for this dispatch centers on ...continued on p6

a boy living in the projects across the street from the church where the group met. While he is trying to do the right thing, dismal demographics are working against him. He so moved me with his “speak life” proclamation that I had to go back and speak life to him. Please find the paraphrased encouragement:

Son, I want you to know that you are not ordinary but extraordinary. What you told those teachers about speaking life to their students was deep: I came back because my spirit told me that I had to speak life to you. I don’t know your life story, but I do know many young people your age are headed in the wrong direction. I want to ask you a question: do you think you are doing the best you can in school? If not, you must ask yourself why not—then search for answers. You

don’t have to tell me your answer. I must say it is one thing to end up on the street, and you don’t care. It is another thing to be on the street, and you know, deep down inside, you don’t belong there. Speak life to your problems. Speak life to your obstacles. Speak life to yourself.

We must speak life to sisters and brothers of all ages. We must share the joy that comes from finding release from destructive life traps. We must always encourage, never discourage. We must always empower and never overpower. We must work hard to keep our lights shining bright so we may find and then speak life to a people struggling to live.

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences (Proverbs 18:21) ❏ ❏ ❏

Fighting for Each Other: The Case for Democracy

Antjuan Seawright, Columnist

John Adams defined democracy as “a government of laws, and not of men.” Lincoln famously called it government of, by, and for the people. An unknown author once described democracy as a slow process of stumbling to the right decision instead of going straight forward to the wrong one. At the same time, Churchill declared democracy to be the worst form of government–except for all the others.

So who is right? Well, all of them.

See, while saints and sinners alike try to co-opt democracy for their agendas, the definition on K Street does not really matter. What matters is how you define it on our street. After all, the truth about democracy is that, whatever else may be said about it, you are the ones in charge.

Now, I mention this knowing that talking points from the left and right alike are saying that American democracy is in peril. In fact, an NBC News poll in September found “threats to democracy” as the top issue among voters beating out jobs, inflation, immigration, and more.

But what constitutes a “threat to democracy?”

Are we talking about foreign terrorist cells building bombs in poorly lit rooms or international powers threatening to entangle us in foreign conflicts?

Are we threatened by Critical Race Theory or, you know, accurate American history, or are the threats we fear somehow a natural product of Judy Blume?

Of course not.

Instead, let us look to the hundreds of bills to restrict further our most basic democratic right to vote since black Americans came out in droves to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Let us see the boiling vitriol of QAnon conspiracy theories amplifying the worst angels of our nature while they ignore Enrique Tarrio and his Proud Boys, found guilty of actual seditious conspiracy.

Look at the MAGA extremists violently attacking our Congress and literally trying to overturn

your democracy on January 6 and the apologists and election deniers that continue to tell us that we cannot believe our own eyes because they were nothing more than concerned citizens participating in a peaceful protest. That certainly looks like a threat to democracy.

What about the never-ending tide of mass shootings flooding our nation in sorrow and blood?

Four people killed and 32 injured when gunfire erupted at a Sweet 16 birthday party in smalltown Alabama; six people, including three 9-year-old children, gunned down at a Nashville elementary school - 97 people killed in 19 mass killings already this year. That tops the previous record in 2009 when 93 people were killed in 17 incidents by the end of April.

And remember, as shocking as they are, those numbers are not counting Buffalo, Uvalde, Monterey Park, Parkland, Las Vegas, and more. That is a threat to democracy, right?

How about Tyre Nichols, beaten to death by Memphis police officers? What about the detective who killed Breonna Taylor hired by a sheriff’s office in rural Kentucky? A new report released by the FBI shows hate crimes across America have risen to their highest point since we started keeping track. Is that a threat to democracy, or should we be more threatened by Disney?

I am sorry. I do not mean to be glib. I do not mean to make jokes because this is not funny. The threats are real.

And while I see how former President Trump and the MAGA extremists have and continue to fuel a lot of this violence by empowering and emboldening the racist right-wing; however, they are not the cancer eating away at our democracy.

The problem is much deeper. It is the fact that the cop who beats an unarmed black man half to death can look at the video from his body camera and honestly believe that he has done nothing wrong. It is the black teenager shot and killed because he knocked on the wrong door.

It is the boss who does not think twice about paying slave wages to black workers because he thinks it is smart business. It is the white doctor who dismisses the pregnant black woman complaining of severe abdominal pain because what does she know? She probably just wants sympathy or drugs.

What is being done about these travesties?

Well, for one, Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Chairman Steven Horsford recently announced that the caucus is ready to hold its first National Summit on Democracy & Race and launch its Summer of Action to Defend America.

To quote the CBC’s announcement, “The summit comes amid increasing threats to our democracy, including the recent expulsion of two Black legislators in Tennessee, the legalization of partisan gerrymandering by the GOP Majority in the North Carolina Supreme Court, and ongoing attacks on our personal freedoms.”

Look, the fact is that the CBC has always served as the conscience of the Congress, the country, and now we know the Constitution. Preserving democracy is no different.

They say, “If it is to be, leave it to the CBC.” So we should not be surprised that they are stepping up today to do the work that others cannot or will not.

Look, this is a scary time for American democracy. The truth is that, compared to the rest of the world, we are still a young country, and our future is far from set.

From ancient Athens to WW2, Germany, and modern-day Nicaragua, history is filled with cautionary tales of failed democracies. Are we one? A lot of smart folks are worried we are or we will be soon.

I know how it feels to look at the ...continued on p7

deep divisions across America, to see the ever-increasing animosity and violence, and feel like you want to throw up your hands. But we cannot afford that.

We are on the edge of collapse, and while I do not expect all of us to agree on everything, where we cannot find common ground, we must find higher ground. I get it. Sometimes political horse-trading is necessary. We cannot be willing to trade our democracy.

Revisiting the Great Commission

Rev. Dr. Kent L. Poindexter, Contributing Writer

Consider what would have happened if the disciples of Jesus Christ had not been inclined to literally “go into the world and make disciples,” choosing instead to confine the message to their local communities. Or if, somehow, they became aware of ways to spread the Gospel message without leaving home? What would be the status of the “Good News” today if it had not been taken to the streets?

One of the most pressing issues facing the Christian church in the 21 st Century is discerning what it means to go out and make disciples. Some have determined that the requirement is to “spread the Word” by any means necessary; this is vital! But the Gospels provide something that we tend to overlook if we think that all we have to do is “preach” the message, and people will come. Jesus “showed” the message and instructed followers to “live” the message. What good is the message if we do not live it? Is it really “good news” if we do not

There Is a War Going on

Rev. Dr. Maxine Thomas, Contributing Writer

You see, with all the different definitions, one reality remains constant. Democracy is advanced citizenship. It is a system that knows that free people cannot be ruled. We must be governed, and we must do it ourselves. We are a nation where there are no kings or queens, but citizens all beholden to no one save each other.

That is democracy, and, if we do not do something soon, that is what we stand to lose.

show how God intends for us to live by example?

Believe it or not, the challenge before the church is not how to spread the message but how to put it into action. For those who believe that technology is the way to reach the unchurched, here is a reality check—most of those who watch worship on Sunday would attend church if they didn’t have television or computer access. The current technology has been a boon for reaching the masses. Its obvious limitations are providing a real-life experience for onlookers— pastors can preach, and choirs can sing until the heavenly hosts come down—but they cannot serve communion through the screens. Make no mistake. Technology saved many churches during the pandemic and provided much-needed spiritual solace while the world was shut in. But it is not the way to reach the masses who need to know what God can do.

Here’s another reality—technology is not reaching the unchurched. The people who are tuning in are

those who desire to but cannot physically attend worship or have decided to stay home, believing they can “worship” in front of the screen. For the most part, these are people who are already part of the faith community. As a whole, the church is attracting more new members through online worship.

This is a call for church leaders and congregations to consider the benefits and the challenges of dependence on “Internet ministry” as a viable way to grow our faith communities. Ministry is service; how can we serve if we ignore the Great Commission? Making disciples means far more than convincing people to believe. We must show people through our service that we are followers of Christ. Everything that Christ did “showed” us what God expects of us. It is ours to “go into the world, teaching and baptizing.” ❏ ❏ ❏

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

My friend, there is a war going on. Stop and consider the turmoil and strife within the world today—within our families and relationships. There is a war going on. Mothers and fathers are abusing their children, and husbands and wives are ending up in divorce courts. People are shooting, killing, stealing, raping, envying, backbiting, lying, cheating, gambling, and committi ng suicide. Yes, there is a war going on.

But what God would have us know is that this war is not physical; it is a spiritual war. It is an attack from the enemy. It is Satan trying to steal your joy. The Bible says that Satan “ prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (I Pe. 5:8). Satan does not like you. He wants to bring division into your home; he wants to destroy your marriage; he wants you to stay in bondage to alcohol and drugs; he wants to keep you bound by fear, depression, and oppression; he wants to utterly destroy you.

My friend, there is a word of hope. The battle has already been

won. Jesus has already conquered sickness , death, and the grave. He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed (Is. 53:5). Hallelujah! Satan is a defeated foe!

Yet, Satan, the father of lies, would have God’s people believe that we are defeated and powerless. Satan would have us believe that our boss is our enemy or that our husband is our enemy. Beloved, the war is not against your sister or brother. The war is against Satan. But the good news is that Satan is already

defeated. That means when he begins to shoot fiery darts our way and when he tries to launch an attack against our mind, we can rest assured that in Christ Jesus, we are more than a conqueror.

You see, Satan knows he is defeated, but he is the great deceiver. He wants you to think that the ball is in his court, that he is the one who is calling the shots. But I’m so glad I can stand on the Word of God. I’m “blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” (Ep. 1:3). I’ve got the power to speak to mountains, and they’ve got to move. I’ve got the power to lay hands on the sick and

command infirmities and disease to leave in the name of Jesus. I’ve got the power to tell Satan to back up, and he’d better back up. Whatsoever I shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. “Whatever [God] forbids on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever [God] permits on earth will be permitted in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).

My friend, we’ve got to put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil so that we may be able to stand against his lies and deception and that we may be able to put Satan in his

place–under our feet.

Beloved, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which

is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ep. 6:14-18).

My friend, you have the victory! ❏ ❏ ❏

The Presence of God During Existential Times

Dr.

Herman O. Kelly, Jr., Columnist

Life is messy, as the book is entitled. We live with the ebb and flow of life. We celebrate each other, we mourn with each other, and we pray with each other. During existential times we need a power beyond ourselves. We need the unmoved-mover God to address our existential circumstances.

First, our existence is not always without suffering and pain. We often ask, “Why do I have to suffer?” “Why do I have to experience this pain?”

We do not suffer alone; God suffers with us. The pathos of God pains us with our suffering. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).

When we suffer from our existential experiences, God travels the road with us. The Lord does not sleep on us or slumber on us. “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:2-4). We are not alone in our suffering during our creature existence.

Second, in our deepest place of sorrow, we can feel the presence of God. Although I am not an observer in this existential place, I was an active participant in the place of sorrow. My victory came when I asked for God’s presence in my situation. As the late Bishop Gomez wrote, “Walking in Darkness with God,” if I must walk in darkness, let me walk with God. My family was there, and my colleagues were kind, but God walked with me every step of the way. I needed some sunshine, and God provided the sunshine just in time.

Last, we can be assured that our existential times are not too big for our God. As a young man growing up in Florida, I would hear my pastor say in a sermon, “God is so big we can not get around God, so big we cannot get over God.” I heard it as an immature Christian, but since then “I have crossed many rivers” (Mandela). I know the saving power of this big God. Even in the crucible of pain and hurt, God breaks through to save us, protect us, and guide us. ❏ ❏ ❏

Understanding the Roots of Itinerant Ministry

Rev. Dr. James A. Keeton, Jr., Contributing Writer

Growing up in a small southern community, my first lessons in church polity came through overhearing conversations with the adults around me. As the son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor, I was accustomed to attending the annual conference and witnessing my father and his colleagues receive their pastoral appointments from the bishop at the conference’s conclusion. As a young boy at the South Georgia Annual Conference, I vividly remember Bishop Frederick Talbot calling me up with my father and presenting me with my father’s pastoral appointment with the instructions, “Jamie, had this to your father for me.”

I was also accustomed to hearing the conversations of my paternal grandmother, who was Baptist, asking if the same pastor was assigned to my home church. I would listen to my grandmother and her church members talk about how often the Methodists would get new pastors compared to their congregation.

While I did not fully understand all the nuances of church polity, I knew there was a difference. For example, in a congregational system, a Baptist church calls its pastors. Still, in a Connectional system, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pastors are in the itinerant ministry and receive pastoral appointments from the bishop on behalf of the annual conference.

Itinerant ministry is one of

the foundational precepts of Methodism. As we examine the early Methodist Movement, there were both theological and practical reasons the itinerant ministry was embraced. Theologically, the itinerancy lends itself to evangelism.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of engaging in itinerant ministry to evangelize to those in need. Unlike many religious leaders in the first century, Jesus did not relegate his ministry to the temple or a synagogue. Instead, Jesus was an itinerant minister who took the Gospel to the people.

Jesus was not a “stationary sage” who positioned himself in a particular place and beckoned others to come to him. However, Jesus met the people at their points of need. In the late 18 th and

early 19 th centuries, itinerancy aided evangelistic efforts as the American landscape expanded. The Methodist ministers could go to the people and assist them in nurturing a relationship with Jesus Christ.

The gifts of the Spirit were another theological reason for the itinerant ministry. John Wesley and the early Methodists understood that no pastor was endowed with all the spiritual gifts. As a result, the itinerant ministry provides an opportunity to expose the congregation to as many spiritual gifts as possible. The pastors’ various gifts assist the local church in reaching its full God-given potential.

From a practical perspective, the itinerancy mobilized the ministers

to go where the people were. Ted Campbell says, “The [itinerancy] originally meant that the elders traveled about from place to place, preaching in a different location from day to day as they followed large circuits” (Ted Campbell, A Methodist Doctrine ).

These “circuit riders,” as they were often called, would spend their ministries traveling between different points on the circuit to proclaim the Word of God and exercise pastoral administration in these congregations. The itinerancy contributed to the growth of Methodism by having one minister serve more than one congregation. Other denominations were more challenged with a shortage of ministers, but the itinerancy aided in this.

The itinerant ministry continues to offer valuable theological and practical solutions to address some of the challenges in the contemporary Christian church. Many denominations are experiencing an unprecedented shortage of people entering ordained minist ry throughout the western world. This new reality is being realized in theologic al schools with decreasing enrollments. The itinerancy continues to be an effective ministry model to present opportunities for Christian evangelism, experiencing different spiritual gifts, and mobilizing ministers in an ever-evolving world. ❏❏

Look in the Mirror and Proclaim, “This Is What Grace Looks Like.”

Dr. Michael C. Carson, Full Columnist

I have had the great and distinct honor of knowing the vice president for Student Life and the dean of Students for Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, Bonita Washington-Lacey, and a member of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Richmond, Indiana, since we were students at Earlham College. Bonita was a year ahead of Evangelist Cathy and me in college. Recently we spent an entire evening sharing on the theme of “Grace.”

Grace is “the spontaneous, unmerited gift of the divine favour in the salvation of sinners, and the divine influence operating in individuals for our regeneration and sanctification.”

As Bonita was sharing with me about how her life is going with its many blessings and challenges, and I was sharing with her the same in my life, I informed Bonita, “Girl, you need to look in the mirror and right now say to yourself, ‘This is what grac e looks like!’

In fact, I went to my mirror and told Bonita, “Right now I am looking in my mirror with tears of joy coming down my face proclaiming, ‘This is what grace looks like!’”

“Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise, for it was grace that brought my liberty. I’ll never know just why he came to love me, so he looked beyond my faults and saw all my needs!”

“My chains are gone; I’ve been set free. My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. And like a flood, God’s mercy reigns. Unending love, amazing grace!”

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”

Karma is the relationship between a person’s action and the consequences following that action. There is a “Pauline principle” that is “Karmatic.”

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).

But oh, thank God grace supersedes karma!

“Karma is all about getting what you deserve. Grace is all about getting what you do not deserve!”

God’s grace – “favor toward the unworthy” and “benevolence on

the undeserving.” God’s grace forgives and blesses us, even when we sometimes fall so short of living righteously.

“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“God’s grace does not take away or restrict our freedom; rather, it perfects our freedom by helping us overcome the restricting power of sin, the true obstacle to our freedom.”

Bonita, I am sure you can, I can, and my friend, as you are reading this column, can you also hear Evangelist Cathy singing, “And I shall forever lift my eyes to Calvary. To view the cross where Jesus died for me. How marvelous, how marvelous God’s grace that caught my falling soul. God looked beyond every one of my faults and saw my needs!”

Beloved, look in your mirror right now, considering all the hills and valleys, joys, and pain God has brought you through, and exuberantly proclaim thanking God, “Yes, this is what grace looks like!”

If I were preaching right now, I would encourage you to, “Say yeah!”

I’m just saying!

Peace with justice and mercy, be blessed real, real good, attend worship, and families matter.

Dr. Michael C. Carson may be reached by e-mail at refreshingcoach@gmail.com.

...From Back Together p2

Before becoming an Episcopal supervisor, First Lady Talbot served the church in various capacities, including church organist, Sunday school teacher, and Women’s Missionary Society member and president. Supervisor Talbot has inspired and guided women and young people to address issues related to health, education, poverty, and sexism. During her WMS presidency, Supervisor Talbot successfully guided Church Women United in adopting poverty as a five-year program imperative. She worked continuously in leadership development and was recognized for innovative programming.

Individually, they were awesome, so much so that we cannot tell it all. Together, they were the epitome of godly servant leadership. The work they did speaks for them, the service they gave speaks for them, and the life they lived speaks for them. They were given much, and they produced so much more. God received the glory, and all of us are still reaping the benefits of their self-sacrificial service. And now, once again, “the two shall become one flesh.” The Talbot’s lives are living testimonies of what God is able to do when God’s people have a mind to work and serve.

How can we say thanks for what the Talbots have done for the AME Church and the world? Simply stated, go and do likewise. ❏ ❏ ❏

Climate Responsible Banking: “The Children Are Not Afraid to Follow the Money”— Are Adults?

Thirteen-year-old Ellyanne Chlystun-Githae Wanjiku, from Kenya, gave a clarion call during a 9 May webinar on climate-responsible banking: “The children are not afraid to follow the money,” she said—and that means learning about responsible banking and influencing policy.

5 November 2021, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom: A girl holds a sign reading “Capitalism is killing the planet,” as under a “call to #UprootTheSystem,” Fridays for Future mobilized tens of thousands of people from all walks of life in a climate strike in Glasgow on 5 November - Youth and Public Empowerment Day at COP26 - ‘seeking to address ecological and social crises at their roots by placing most affected people and areas at the center of the struggle and struggling for a society that places people and planet over profit.’ Glasgow hosts the United Nations climate change conference COP26, where world leaders gather to negotiate a response to the ongoing climate crisis and emergency. Photo: Albin Hillert/Life on Earth Pictures “We have nothing against businesses—after all, our parents work there!” she said. “We are just asking for sustainable investment.”

If the children aren’t afraid to “follow the money,” are the adults? Are churches? Are governments?

More than 300 participants in a webinar, “Save Children’s Lives – Responsible Banking Survival Guide for Faith Actors & Partner s: How to use our power as bank clients to stop carbon bombs,” tried to answer these difficult questions and find a way forward.

The event, co-planned by the World Council of Churches, UNEP, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities, and the Laudato Si Movement, was an action-oriented seminar for children’s and future generations’ survival, in light of the latest facts shared by the world’s leading scientists.

Prof. Dr. Patricia Mbote, director of the Law Division of UNEP, opened the webinar by reflecting that faith actors have a moral responsibility to ensure their actions are aligned with their values and beliefs. “These extend to the financial practices as well,” she said. “The finance and banking sectors have a significant impact on the environment and on vulnerable communities,” she said.

But how many people know that?

As Christian climate activist Jessica Bwali, who co-moderated the webinar, asked: “How familiar are you with the role of the bank clients in responding to the climate emergency?”

Through an interactive survey, participants indicated a wide range of knowledge—and all indicated an eagerness to learn more.

More education on this matter is desperately needed, said Paloma Escudero, UNICEF global special adviser to Advocate for Children and Climate Action. “One billion children are at extremely high risk from climate change,” she explained. “Twenty-four out of the 33 countries most impacted by the climate crisis are in subSaharan Africa.”

Probing questions brought forth more ideas on how to help these vulnerable children. As Frederique Seidel, WCC programme executive for Child Rights, who initiated and comoderated the webinar, asked: “Why is climateresponsible banking a moral imperative?”

Among other reasons, it is a moral imperative because many banks refuse to admit their role in fostering economic props for a non-sustainable world, said Shawna Foster from the Rainforest Action Network. “Banks are intervening to keep the fossil fuel market alive,” she said. “One way

that banks help out fossil fuels when they really do not have to is throwing them a life preserver of debt to get them through the bust times.”

Other speakers and participants shared reports, resources, and platforms for people to use as tools to learn more.

An important aspect of learning more about climate-responsible banks is being aware of the definition of “fiduciary duty,” said Nikki Reisch, director of the Climate & Energy Program at the Center for International Environmental Law. “We’ve been hearing that fiduciary duty is often used as an excuse for inaction,” she said. “But first, let me take a step back and explain: what is the fiduciary duty as it relates to finance—and responsible finance?” She underlined the interpretation that banks have a fiduciary responsibility to take global warming into account and the best interest of the children of bank clients.

Many findings resulted from careful research conducted by groups such as the Leave It in the Ground Initiative. Director Kjell Kühne set out to find the biggest fossil fuel projects in the world. “We found 400 such projects around the world,” he said. “Half of them are coal mining, half of them are oil and gas projects. Forty percent of these projects have not started yet; if not stopped, their combined potential emissions would represent twice the global carbon budget that must not be exceeded—thwarting the objectives of the Paris climate agreement and the fight against climate disruption.”

As the webinar ended with a session on how to move forward, speakers and participants voiced their ideas and their sheer determination to act for change.

“Our goal is to move seven billion dollars out of potential fossil fuel investments in the next year—and we can only do that if we do it together,” urged Sophia Cowen from Switch It Green.

Lynne Iser from the Elders Action Network reflected, “I have learned in my work that elders have a moral voice just as people of faith have a moral voice.”

As a result of the webinar, its organizers already saw a strengthened collaboration.

Kirsten Laursen Muth, chief executive officer of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities, was a co-organizer of the event. “We hope to continue to engage with our other cosponsors of this event and to continue to do the work that all of you are doing in this area,” she said.

Dr. Iyad Abumoghli, founder and director of the Faith for Earth Initiative, who also co-organized the webinar, described it as “science meeting religion.”

He urged churches and other institutions to consider not only their banks but also their internal finances. He also described plans for COP28 i n Dubai in 2023. “We are facilitating a global movement toward COP28,” he explained. “We’re going to have a high-level faith leaders summit, unifying their voices for another call to action but also to move them forward together, unified in their action for future generations against climate  change.”

Seidel described the efforts to stop carbon bombs as one of the most urgent measures for the safeguarding of children. The WCC’s programme Churches’ Commitments to Children will coordinate the next steps of the initiative.

Link to story: https://www.oikoumene.org/ news/climate-responsible-banking-thechildren-are-not-afraid-to-follow-the-moneyare-adults. ❏ ❏ ❏

A Tim Scott Presidency

Quardricos Driskell, Columnist

In 1968, there was no great enthusiasm for the Republican nominee Richard Nixon, nor was there great support for the Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey, who was identified with an unpopular Lyndon B. Johnson for his support of the Vietnam War. This dynamic allowed the former segregationist governor of Alabama, George Wallace, to run as a relatively successful third-party candidate in that election.

And fifty-five years later, despite the excessive number of political scandals, lawsuits, etc., former President Donald J. Trump is still widely viewed as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Yet, arguably, Biden has been the most progressive president ever in the United States and is sorely unpopular. The 2024 election cycle could mirror the 1968 presidential election similarly, paving the way for either a viable third-party candidate or a stronger Republican or Democratic nominee. It is doubtful any serious Democrat would challenge President Biden, and thus, all attention will be given to the Republican nomination.

The Republican Party remarkably has dramatically changed since 2016. It has been a hostile takeover; the base of the Republican Party is now far to the right of center, if not authoritarian - one of the reasons I and others left the party. Trump’s brand represents that point of view. However, the last three elections—2018, 2020, and 2022—in which Trump played a direct or indirect role did not go well for the GOP. In the last three elections, there have not been enough of the far-right voters. This should be a rallying cry for the GOP.

This is why Tim Scott has a chance of gaining momentum and galvanizing the base of the party.

He was born a poor African American in the deep South. A local business leader in the community invested in Scott, which led him on his path. Scott’s life and worldview are shaped by the African American southern traditions, allowing him to embrace the fullness of America. He

speaks of his Christian faith in a way that doesn’t offend the religious progressives but can easily court the evangelical vote. His story, his beliefs, and the opportunity he was proffered allowed him to embrace and flourish in economic freedom and equal opportunity, true principles of the Republican Party. With this, Scott could garner at least eight percent of the black vote.

While I have lamented his lack of veracity, lucidity, and decisiveness in his comments on race and politics, especially during the Trump administration, I applaud his willingness to work across the parties on a potential criminal justice reform legislation, his convening of conversations on race and economic freedom. Furthermore, the economy leaves an open lane for Scott, especially given his work on committees of banking, housing, urban affairs, and finance in the United States Senate.

Scott fundamentally believes that economic opportunity is the solution to America’s

struggling communities. His significant legislation included in Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allowed for the creation of opportunity zones for reinvestment in struggling and low-income communities. Scott has served in the Senate since 2014, when he became the first black senator to be elected from the South since Reconstruction, and while many establishment Republicans in Congress and the presidential candidates are heavily weighing in on the cultural wars, Scott has a different playbook. He counters Trump’s “American carnage,” providing economic solutions while maintaining his conservatism that is not offensive or authoritative.

He is a classical Republican – an ode to Republicanism that now feels ancient. Nevertheless, his story is the American story. The Republican Party needs him as the nominee; frankly, the country needs him. But will the base see his story as compelling enough to make him the GOP presidential nominee – time will tell.

Understanding Internal Controls in a Church Environment Part II

Cynthia Gordon-Floyd, C.P.A., C.F.E., Contributing Writer

In our previous discussion, we defined and discussed the necessity for internal controls within the church. As a system of checks and balances, it protects the church from intentional and unintentional acts that could cause a loss of the church’s financial assets or result in the misreporting of the church’s financial information.

This discussion will review risk assessment as another area of internal control. Risk assessment involves looking at the control environment, policies, procedures, and personnel in a church and determining what inherent risks exist that could resu lt in an intentional or unintentional breach of security and controls.

The following risks exist in most churches:

❖ Leadership that lacks training in required financial policies and procedures. Outside of a secular career in accounting or finance, most clergy and lay leaders are unfamiliar with how church financial operations should be structured. They may also lack the tools and experience to provide the required oversight to ensure accurate financial reporting.

❖ Unequipped volunteers/minimally paid individuals who carry out financial processes. It is a blessing to have church members volunteer to assist with the financial management of the church. Yet, in most cases, these individuals have a willing heart and very little practical experience. Even though unintentional, this usually ...continued on p12

Professor Quardricos Bernard Driskell is adjunct professor of legislative politics at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4.

results in inefficient systems and procedures.

❖ Lack of training and inadequate staffing. Unfortunately, as is common in many church environments, adequate human resources and proper training for those individuals are unsupported due to financial constraints or poorly managed funds. In these environments, the risk of errors, omissions, irregularities, and intentional acts is very high.

❖ Lack of leadership oversight. Within the

gathering of the saints, we may not be naturally inclined to be concerned about theft, bad actors, and accurate financial reporting at our church. This makes the risks of undetected problems very high.

These risks mentioned above are inherent risks because the primary business of churches is not to make a profit. Therefore, the lack of a profit motive can lead to a lack of focus on

the efficiency and effectiveness of financial policies—except when a breach of trust occurs and churches try to backtrack to determine what went wrong. Ideally, each pastor, steward, and trustee should assess the risk environment and look closely at their current operation to determine where internal controls should exist and how to mitigate potential loss. Assessing and mitigating risk is a foundational requirement for maximizing internal controls.

Cynthia Gordon-Floyd is a certified public accountant and a certified fraud examiner. She is the founder of Willing Steward Ministries, LLC. Willing Steward Ministries (www.willingsteward.com) is a financial consulting and accounting firm for churches and other faith-based nonprofits, specializing in Bible-focused financial practices, pastoral compensation issues, IRS compliance, and other financial needs specific to churches. Cynthia is a graduate of Lake Forest College and holds her MBA in Accounting from DePaul University. She teaches a certificate program in Church Financial Management at Turner Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia.

on public policy.

“The National Council of Churches is excited that Bishop McKenzie has agreed to serve in this pivotal leadership role. She brings the necessary insight, expertise, and ecumenical commitment to the Council to lead us into the future,” said Board Chair Bishop Teresa Jefferson-Snorton, the ecumenical officer of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

“The entire Board is excited about Bishop McKenzie’s vision and leadership. We are grateful for her willingness to use the full vessel of her ministerial gifts to lead the NCC,” added Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and NCC Governing Board vice chair.

“I am honored to serve the National Council of Churches, and I look forward to building upon the strong foundation laid by the men and women who have led the way in ecumenism and advocacy work for more than seven decades. I look forward to engaging every communion within this great collaborative to serve the 100,000 congregations and the more than 30 million members that fall under its ecumenical umbrella,” said Bishop McKenzie, who has been active in social justice issues for more than three decades.

Bishop McKenzie served as the 117 th elected and consecrated bishop of

the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was the first female elected to the Episcopal office in the AME Church’s two centuries of operation. She is the first female to serve as president of the Council of Bishops and president of the General Board and has served as presiding bishop in southern Africa—Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, and Lesotho—and in the United States in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas.

Bishop McKenzie is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Howard University School of Divinity and has an earned doctorate from United Theological Seminary.

She was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama to serve on the inaugural White House Commission of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This group worked on behalf of Americans committed to improving their communities, regardless of religious or political beliefs. In 2014, The Huffington Post named her one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Religious Life in the World.

She is the author of six books, including  Not Without a Struggle, Journey to the Well, and  The Big Deal: Taking Small Steps to Move Closer to God.

Endowment, this initiative discerns what is vital in Black Methodist piety and how those practices lead to thriving congregations. The presiding elders’ conference was onsite and virtual, enabling presiding elders from across the Connectional church to participate from Episcopal districts beyond the 13 th. Both events were filled with roundtable discussions and pres entations on self-care and personal resiliency. Above all, time and space were given to just relax.

The minister leaders’ retreat is part of Payne’s life-long learning efforts, with the centerpiece being the Gordon, Hill, Treadwell, and Bell Lay Institute. It offers non-degree seminars and events that offer the opportunity for members of the laity and clergy interested in expanding their knowledge base and learning from highly esteemed seminary faculty and leaders in the church. The institute aims to provide Christian leaders with topics that will enhance their leadership skills and provide them with the biblical and theological foundations to address real-time situations in the community. The cost is minimal. The courses are convenient and cover traditional topics in theological education and innovative issues, including Spiritual Formation, Liberation Theology 101, Ethics in Leadership, The Church and the Environment, An Exploration in Financial Liberation, The Church and Social Justice, Prayer, and many others.

The presiding elder’s conference has, as a major part, the sharing of information about Payne’s three-degree programs-Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Religious Leadership, and Doctor of Ministry. The other major part is geared toward sharing information to enable presiding elders, especially newly appointed presiding elders, to perform their roles in a more excellent way. Payne is blessed to be able to fund both events wit h grants secured through the Lilly Endowment. ❏ ❏ ❏

...From Bishop Vashti p1

...From Understanding p11

...From Payne p1

Faith-Based Refugee Resettlement Agencies Denounce New Asylum Rule

The new rule, which goes into effect May 16, rejects asylum claims for most people who cross the border but do not first seek asylum in Mexico.

Many faith-based refugee agencies have long called for the end of the emergency health rule that allowed the government to expel undocumented immigrants crossing the border quickly.

But now that the rule is expiring at 11:59 p.m. Thursday (May 11), those same faithbased refugee agencies are denouncing the replacement rules announced this week by the Biden administration, which they say would basically ban asylum.

Thousands of migrants are amassing at the Mexico-U.S. border as the emergency public health rule, known as Title 42, ends. The rule, put in place by the Trump administration, allowed border patrols to immediately expel anyone trying to enter the country illegally to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Previously, migrants applying for asylum could wait in the country — sometimes for years — until a judge heard their asylum claims.)

Now that the pandemic has ended, though, the Biden administration has proposed a package of new rules intended to better manage the surge of migrants at the southern border. Chief among those new rules is one that rejects asylum claims for most people who cross the border but do not first seek asylum in Mexico. The rule will go into effect Tuesday. The new asylum rule is similar to one put in place by the Trump administration, and refugee agencies say it wou ld deprive people of due process under the law.

“Our values oppose any ban that would impact the ability for people seeking protection at our border to access that protection meaningfully,” said Jill Marie Bussey, director for public policy at the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of ten agencies that partner with the State Department to manage the reception and placement of refugees. Seven of those ten agencies are faith-based.

Migrants wait for U.S. authorities between a barbed-wire barrier and the border fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, May 10, 2023. (AP Photo/ Christian Chavez)

Refugee agencies such as LIRS and HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, as well as Church Relief and Church World Service — all of which provide case management and assistance to refugees, some of whom are asylum-seekers — say the new rule violates federal law. They anticipate it will be challenged in court.

“As a Jewish humanitarian organization that has spent more than a century helping people fleeing persecution, we agree with secretaries (Antony) Blinken and (Alejandro) Mayorkas that our asylum system should be ‘safe, orderly, and humane,’” said HIAS president and CEO Mark Hetfield in a statement. “However, those can be nothing more than buzzwords when access to asylum in this country is shrinking, even as pathways to resettlement are increasing.”

Americans are divided on immigration and refugees, a March poll by The Associated PressNORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed. About 40% of U.S. adults say the level of immigration and asylum-seekers allowed in the country should be lowered, about 20% say they should be higher, and about a third want the numbers to remain the same.

The Biden administration has taken some steps to welcome migrants. It created a parole program that offers two-year permits for up to 30,000 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans a month. And it has allowed some 300,000 Ukrainians who have arrived in the United States to flee war with Russia, provided they have a private sponsor to take responsibility for them.

The Biden administration’s new asylum rule may respond to pressures from the Republican Party to keep the surges of migrants at the

border under control. The asylum rule was not the only new policy targeted by faithbased refugee agencies. They do not like the introduction of a smartphone app to process asylum claims at the U.S. border. Such an app may be difficult to access for people unfamiliar with the technology or the languages it uses or unable to pay for a smartphone.

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), which describes itself as the largest faith-based agency serving immigrants, asylumseekers, and refugees, said these policies keep the agency from carrying out its mission.

“People of faith are called by their values and their faith traditions to welcome and support asylum-seekers,” said Bussey. “When we see our siblings struggle, as a faith-based organization, we’re called by the Gospel to stretch out our hand in solidarity.”

In announcing these restrictions, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State said they “have a robust plan to humanely manage the border through deterrence, enforcement, and diplomacy.”

But to Catholic activist Dylan Corbett, Biden’s new border policy “is dressed in the neutral language of incentives and disincentives.”

“It is a major blow to U.S. commitment to asylum, an unforced error by a Democratic administration that will be hard to repair, and will result in pain and death,” said Corbett, executive director of Hope Border Institute, on Twitter.

The El Paso-based Hope Border Institute has offered humanitarian aid in Juarez, Mexico, through the Border Refugee Assistance Fund, a

A migrant gestures to Texas National Guard members standing behind razor wire on the bank of the Rio Grande, seen from Matamoros, Mexico, May 11, 2023. Pandemic-related U.S. asylum restrictions, known as Title 42, expire on May 11. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

joint initiative with El Paso Bishop Mark J. Seitz. The fund has financially assisted churches and other groups helping migrant families by offering them food, clothing, and shelter.

“As Pope Francis said when he visited us, we don’t measure (as does the White House) the impacts of bad policy in ‘numbers and statistics,’ but ‘with names, stories, and families.’ No more death. No more exploitation,” Corbett said.

Under the new rules, migrants caught crossing illegally and without having scheduled an appointment at a port of entry could be deported and barred from the U.S. for five years “and subject to potential criminal prosecution for repeated attempts to enter unlawfully.”

“This is just the new way of restricting access to asylum,” said Pedro De Velasco, director of education and advocacy of Kino Border

Initiative, a Catholic group that advocates and provides humanitarian assistance for migrants in Nogales, Arizona, as well as in Nogales across the border in Mexico.

These restrictions will only benefit human smugglers telling migrants they can get them to the U.S. — once they pay a fee — now that Title 42 is coming to an end, De Velasco told RNS.

That’s misleading, De Velasco said, because smugglers will have migrants illegally cross through a remote area, which can lead to their subsequent deportation to Mexico or their home country.

“We’re trying to fight this misinformation, publicly telling asylum-seekers (to) beware of

human smugglers,” he said.

De Velasco said migrants are being forced out of their countries due to violence, political crisis, economic reasons, and climate change. The longer the federal government continues “to see migration as a problem that needs to be solved, that’s all that it’s going to be,” De Velasco said.

But, he added, “If we start seeing the opportunity, if we start to see migration as our brothers and sisters that need and deserve to be welcomed, this whole situation is going to change.”

“That’s what our faith is about. Our faith teaches us to welcome the stranger,” De Velasco said. Link to story: https://religionnews. com/2023/05/11/faith-based-immigrantresettlement-agencies-denounce-new-asylumrule/https://religionnews.com/2023/05/10/ covid-19-health-emergency-may-be-endingbut-some-faith-based-vaccine-clinics-continue/.

Sitting at the Feet: Wisdom From Growing Sunflowers

Debra Whitlock-Lax

There is much to be gained from planting seeds about evangelism, church growth, and its maintenance from planting sunflower seeds. I sat in the classroom held by Professor God, assisted by the sunflower.  I was humbled by what I did not know concerning the care of tender plants and seedlings. They are very much like people. I also learned what happens when you do not follow instructions and the destruction that potentially leads to death when one doesn’t know what they are doing.  I found that when I seeded too deep, the seedling was bent over by the weight of the soil that should help sustain them but actually bent them ov er and potentially could kill them if not discovered in time. The good news? I found seeds stuck under the weight of the dirt, and now they are growing.  I also learned that there were seeds that were inadequate for planting.  While they were planted, watered, and appropriately nurtured, they did not survive!

Either their seed coat, its protective armor, would not open and allow the kernel of life to flourish, or the actual grain was not viable for life. I also learned that sunflowers have a tap root that grows deep.  If it is stifled, the plant can be stunted and growth hindered.  When I investigated the soil -s ome seeds could not sustain life no matter how much effort I gave.  I planted 40  seeds;  33 survived. Three kernels could not support life.  I lost four seeds due to my ignorance; I planted them too deep.

Here are my questions shared openly for personal meditations, spiritual growth, and development:

1. How many people become disenchanted by veteran members who are over-protective of church traditions? They are the seed coat that will not let the baby seed emerge or grow.

2. How many non-believers or newly born Christians are weighted down by religious legalism, schisms, and divisions?  They are the seedlings weighted down by the soil’s dirt.

3. How many are bent over by sin and the unwillingness of church folks to hear their plight?  These are those that are weighed down by the soil but no one searches for them in the dirt.

4. How many believers do not adequately grow because they are ill-watered or nurtured?  These are the seeds left in the soil to fend for themselves and never held accountable.

5. How many churches are stifled by the church’s environment, the relics worship, the traditions embraced, and the poor of or absence of technology?  These are the seeds planted in rigid potted plants.

6. Do we consider that some churches within their community will never reach a particular body of believers?  These seeds have not been touched by God himself, who gives life!

What is certain, all Christians are called to dig up, plant, water, and nurture souls.  All Christians are called to bring in the harvest of souls.  There are millions of souls that someone else seeded, watered, and nurtured. They are ready for the harvest. Will Christians do the work of digging up, planting Gospel seeds, watering, nourishing, and nurturing non-believers?  It is called discipleship. As much as I wish I had all the answers, sitting in God’s classroom taught by one of its mighty teachers, the sunflower continues to remind me that we must be open to learning, growing, developing, and putting into practice what God desires for us to understand about his vineyard.  ❏ ❏ ❏

Pedro De Velasco

Photo via Kino Border Initiative

...From Faith-Based p13

“In Sickness and in Health”…A Caregiver’s Story – “A Familiar Stranger”

Mrs. Darian W. Porter Jones

March 20, 2021

My husband was born in 1948. He is the fourth of five children and grew up in North Carolina. His mother and father were educators, so John was very smart, very meticulous, and very by the book from kindergarten through college. His favorite subjects were anything math related.

John’s first memory loss episode occurred in June 2011 during a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, and San Diego, California.  Unfortunately, the episode caused him to end up in Los Angeles, California, where I had to track him down, fly him home, then have the San Diego hotel pack up and ship his luggage. Thank God for the barista at Starbucks in Los Angeles who helped me get him on a plane home.

Upon picking John up from the airport, I took him to the doctor, thinking he had been slipped something that caused him to temporarily lose his memory. He was tested, but no substance was found. The doctor’s initial diagnosis was that John suffered from transient global amnesia, a sudden, temporary episode of memory loss that can’t be attributed to a more common neurological condition, such as epilepsy or a stroke.

During an episode of transient global amnesia, your recall of recent events simply vanishes, so you cannot remember where you are nor how you got there. In addition, you may not remember anything about what is happening in the here and now. Consequently, you may keep repeating the same questions because you don’t remember the answers you’ve just been given. You may also draw a blank when asked to remember things that happened a day, a month, or even a year ago.

This condition most often affects people in middle or older age. With transient global amnesia, you remember who you are and recognize the people you know well. Episodes of transient global amnesia always improve gradually over a few hours. During recovery,

you may slowly begin to remember events and circumstances. Transient global amnesia isn’t serious, but it can still be frightening, and to me, it seemed like a logical explanation for what was occurring with John. So….life went on. Nothing was out of the ordinary…or so I thought.

Today, as I look back, things were happening right in front of me, but I didn’t know to know. You know what I mean? I did not know to recognize that maybe there was too much meat in the kitchen and the garage freezers. But, on the other hand, I love ice cream, so it was not really odd that there were three gallons in the kitchen freezer and another six to eight gallons of ice cream in the garage freezer.

John always did all of the grocery shopping, so I just figured he was making sure we were well-stocked. John loved Raisin Bran for breakfast, but 12 boxes definitely should have been odd to me. The ten cases of Gatorade did not seem out of place either because John drank Gatorade when he was doing yard work. And speaking of yard work, when I finally opened the door to the crawl space under the house, there were four brand-new lawnmowers from Sears. From 2011 to 2015, odd things were happening…but I did not know to know.

John’s next memory loss episode occurred during another trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, in March 2015.  Thankfully, the people at the hotel were able to help me get him home, though this time, his luggage was lost as he could not remember where he had left it, and it was never recovered.

John began talking about people and situations from the early 1980s.  He referred to me as “Paulette Ellison,” a woman he knew from his early days at EPA.  There were times when John absolutely did not recognize me and, on a couple of occasions, asked to see my driver’s license, then called the police to get the “intruder” (me) out of his house. It was frightening to have my home surrounded by police

officers, four outside and two inside. John called the police twice before I took his phone away at the sheriff’s suggestion. John also referred to our grandson, P.J., who was four years old at the time, as “Martin.”  Martin is John’s nephew, who was in his 30s at that time.

John’s episodes of forgetfulness were becoming more frequent. He stopped referring to me as Paulette but could not remember my actual name at all. He just addressed me as “Lady.” And to be fair, John actually never referred to me as “Darian,” except on our wedding day. After that, he always called me “Baby Girl.” But that went away too.

I had contacted the Wake County Sheriff’s Department, who was about to put out a Silver Alert because John had left the house on March 16 th and had not returned as of the next morning. As I was speaking with the deputy sheriff, John contacted me by cell phone, and the deputy sheriff immediately contacted the Virginia State Troopers, who were able to locate John based on a sign we were able to get John to read. They confirmed that John had driven to Richmond, Virginia, and was involved in a car accident. And just for clarification, John’s trips to Richmond were because he attended Virginia Union University, and his barber of over 50 years was there. So that was his way of returning to the familiar neighborhood to get a haircut. That should have been the end of it, right? It wasn’t.

John got away from me again and drove back to Virginia on March 31 st, where he ran out of gas and was picked up by the Brunswick County sheriff’s department. They realized that John was disoriented and contacted me immediately. My daughter and son-in-law picked him up, and at that point, I knew what had to be done and decided to remove his car so that he could no longer drive. I surrendered his driver’s license and sold his car.

I contacted John’s doctor, who referred him to a neurologist and had him do a CT scan. This

time, it was very clear that he was experiencing all of the signs of memory loss directly related to Alzheimer’s Dementia.

I remember clearly the grieving process that began when the doctor made the diagnosis. The doctor told me, “Your husband has Alzheimer’s.” What I heard was that the John I knew was gone and would never come back again. My grief was the same as if John had passed away. And then, I had to stop grieving and get on with the business of becoming a caregiver to this familiar stranger.

John’s doctor prescribed Namenda for him to take, but John refused to take anything, stating emphatically that there was nothing wrong with him. John’s doctor told me that I could crush the Namenda and mix it in his food. I planned to do that until I spoke with my sister Dionne, a registered nurse, about the possible side effects: vomiting, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain. There was no way I was going to create those issues in a man who was physically pretty healthy, except for what was going on in his brain, just to prolong the inevitable. I explained to the doctor that I didn’t want to do that, and he told me that the dementia would just run its course. John’s deterioration is all-natural, and it is amazing and frightening at the same time to watch him go from the John I knew and loved to a familiar stranger I now have to treat like a toddler in his terrible twos.

The first thing I had to do was learn to cook. Thank God for my momma, my sisters, Robin, and Dana, my daughter, Lexie, my best friend, Carmelita, and my sister friend Josephine. They gave me recipes and walked me step by step to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I depended heavily on my sister, Nurse Dionne, to guide me through the clinical aspects of what I saw daily, as each day brought a new change in John’s behavior.

John has forgotten our birthdays, which are a day apart in August. He has also forgotten Christmas, ...continued on p16

New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and our anniversary, which is April 8 th. He stopped calling me Lady and did not talk to me at all. He just hums, so I sing and play music most of the day. I also recorded a bunch of football games, especially Pittsburgh Steelers games, because John is a huge fan, so that’s the extent of his television watching. He can watch the same game over and over again, and it is new to him each time. He mumbles as he fusses with the referees and coaches after a bad play.

I filed for a durable power of attorney in 2016 and immediately took steps to lock down not only our financial house, as John had previously walked into the bank and was withdrawing money unnecessarily, but also our physical house, which meant putting deadbolts on all of the entry doors, installing cameras outside and throughout the inside of the house, including John’s bedroom and bathroom, and putting chain locks on the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets.

Prior to locking down the kitchen, I purchased some fresh shrimp from the grocery store and put it in the refrigerator, intending to cook it later. Instead, the shrimp disappeared; for me, it was out of sight, out of mind. So I forgot about it…until days later when something began to smell in the house. I thought a squirrel had gotten in the attic and died, but this smell was extremely strong, coming from John’s bedroom. I began opening drawers and, to my horror, found the shrimp in John’s underwear drawer. I’ll tell you, if you’ve ever seen or smelled rotten shrimp, it will almost make you never want to eat it again.

I also had to remove the stoppers from all the sinks because John would put the stopper in the sink, turn the water on, and let it overflow onto the floor. Thank goodness we have well water and no water bill!

It is hard to imagine how fast the years have flown by. John is worse and will eventually have to go into a facility. My cooking has

The Journey Continues

March 18, 2023

improved quite a bit. I have gotten used to John not talking to me or recognizing me at all. This once impeccable dresser now comes out with his underwear on top of his pants or puts all of his clothes on at once. And guess what? I allow myself to laugh. I laugh because I think back to children being allowed to dress themselves for the first time, and this 72-year-old man is now pretty much my child who insists on dressing himself. I laugh because I know that if John were my John, he would never do any of these things. I laugh because I don’t want to cry anymore. It was crazy in the beginning, but now I just remind myself that this familiar stranger is my responsibility, and I will always do what is necessary to ensure his safety and that he has what he needs. This is the part of the wedding vows we often overlook when we say, “In SICKNESS and health, and for better or WORSE.”

It is important to recognize when something is different and act as soon as possible.

Consider writing down access

codes, passwords, account information, etc., and putting it in a safe or file. Also, make sure you have a will or some type of written instruction in place for the person who may ultimately find themselves in the position of being your caregiver. During the power of attorney process, it became extremely difficult to access information because what I needed was in John’s head, so I often had to start from scratch.

In the beginning, I was ashamed to speak about John. I did not want people to know that he was regressing. But then I began to talk and found that everyone had someone in their family who had experienced what I was going through. The information I received was very valuable and just what I needed.

Recognize that not everyone will be in a position to help, but do not let that get you down. Not everyone is able to handle watching a person they know change so drastically. And that is ok.

Interestingly, I am writing about John today, as this is his time of year. John is a CPA, and this is tax season, so normally he would be working away upstairs in his office, doing taxes, crunching numbers, and using the floor and the stair rails as a file cabinet.

Alzheimer’s Dementia has changed all of that. There is no clicking away on the keyboard, no papers lying everywhere, and no curse words every now and then when the numbers don’t add up. Well, John still has one curse word in his head but only uses it when the doctor has to do something he does not like. Tax season is definitely different now.

John and I have been together for 33 years, and 2023 marks his 11 th year with Alzheimer’s. Notice I did not say that John “suffers” with Alzheimer’s, and the reason for that is John seems to be at peace. Unlike many others, John was never able to embrace nor accept his condition. It came on too fast to react or to even prepare for. But today, his demeanor is calm, and his eyes have a peaceful look.

I have a difficult time responding when people ask me how John is. See, if I say he is the same, then the assumption is that the Alzheimer’s has eased up. If I say he is doing well, then the assumption is that the Alzheimer’s has gone away. But if I tell the truth and say that John has gotten worse, people think he is laying in bed about to close his eyes. So the truth is, John is worse, but his “worse” is worse because he is completely nonverbal, except for that one curse word to the doctor.

John’s demeanor has truly changed. He is no longer the supercharged, aggressive, outspoken, alwaystraveling math wizard I met in

1989. John is very laid back, and his communication is now simply human touch. His hand touches my face. His fingers rub my hands and play with my rings and bracelets. When he plays with my wedding rings, I look into his eyes to see if maybe….but I don’t fool myself. He is pretty much like a child just playing with shiny things.

Nothing reminds John of me, but everything reminds me of him – mussels cooked in beer, tax season, B.B. King singing “I’m a Bluesman,” Ruth Brown singing “It’s a Real Good Day for the Blues,” the Pittsburgh Steelers, March Madness (of course John would be

ticked off because Carolina did not make it in this time), the smell of meat cooking on the grill. Day-today normal things remind me of him, and I often long to hear his voice say “Baby Girl” and to share with him as well.

I guess we have both changed. I am so very protective of John and his privacy, as well as my own. I am careful not to “put him on display” because I know that is not what he would want.

When I spoke about John in March 2021, I referred to him as a “Familiar Stranger.” I no longer refer to him that way because I have learned

“this” John. I have learned a new way of communicating with him without using words. I have learned to step up and handle the business – his business, my business, our business. I have learned that “in sickness and health” and “for better or worse” have no expiration date.

I am no longer nervous or ashamed to speak about John and am happy to share all that I can in hopes that it will help someone else who is a caregiver to a person with Alzheimer’s Dementia. But unfortunately, there is still no cure for Alzheimer’s Dementia (I check with Nurse Dionne periodically), so my mission

...continued on p17

continues to be taking care of John, speaking on his behalf, and ensuring that he has everything he needs whenever he needs it.

I ask your continued prayers for me to continue to make good decisions where John is concerned. And please pray for John that the peace I see in his eyes is truly the peace that now envelops his life.

Thank you again for letting me share my husband with you, and know that I continue to be grateful for the support of family, friends, and new persons in this circle of love. God bless you. ❏ ❏ ❏

Statement From the Council of Bishops Regarding Department of Retirement Services Litigation

We write to provide you with an update on the status of the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s efforts to resolve the litigation relating to the Department of Retirement Services and to reaffirm the church’s commitment to ensuring that our participants do not continue to suffer because of what has happened to us.

Since we uncovered this devastating crime, there has not been a day that we, and the professionals we retained, have not worked to find a reasonable solution. Lawsuits limit our ability to speak freely about all efforts underway; however, to be cle ar, our constant concern and attention have been on full restitution of the mishandled, misappropriated funds and on limiting the erosion of any recovery through legal fees which will accrue with prolonged litigation.

Last month the federal court overseeing this litigation dismissed seven of the nine claims against the church. It declined to d ismiss claims against others, including Newport and Symetra, who allegedly breached the fiduciary duties they owed to the church. In February of this year, t he church participated in an initial mediation with all parties, and the church expects to resume that mediation effort in early May. We pray that our se cond attempt at mediation will successfully accelerate a resolution.

We are still doing everything we can to pursue justice and compensation from those primarily responsible. However, whether we recover from these entities or not, we are family and committed to ensuring we receive what we expected before we uncovered this matter. By faith and some evidence, you WILL eventually receive the retirement funds you expected to receive before we all found out about this abomination. Again, we thank you for your patience and cooperation during this most challenging season in the life of African Methodism.

Yours in Christian service,

Bishop Ronnie Elijah Brailsford, Sr., President, AMEC Council of Bishops

Bishop Adam J. Richardson, Sr., Senior Bishop ❏ ❏ ❏

Alexandria – Thibodaux District, Central North Louisiana Conference Eighth Episcopal District

African Methodist Episcopal Church: District Conference

The Right Reverend Stafford J. N. Wicker, Presiding Bishop

Reverend Dr. Constance B. Wicker, Episcopal Supervisor

Reverend Gwendolyn E. Snearl, Presiding Elder

Mrs. Almeta J. Snearl, District Consultant

Reverend Floyd Womack, Host Pastor

The District Conference of the Alexandria – Thibodaux District, under the leadership of Presiding Elder Gwendolyn E. Snearl, was convened on March 10-11, 2023, at St. Peter AME Church, in New Roads, LA. The theme: Intentional and Purposeful in Kingdom Building!, set the tone for a spirit-filled conference.

The worship experiences during this district conference were powe rful, soul–stirring, and timely. The Word of God was preached with power by the Rev. Delphine Sumbler (Opening Worship Service), the Rev. Alvin J. Rideaux (Sons of Allen Celebration), and the Rev. Vincent Mills (Closing Worship Service). These preachers stood tall and mighty in the Spirit.

The workshop sessions consisted of four impactful workshops:

1) Evangelism: Pathways to Church Growth – the Rev. Dr. Lionel Jackson – Pastor, Gaines Chapel, Natchitoches,

John and Darian

John with daughter Lexie and grandson, PJ

Director of Evangelism – A.T.D.

2) Christian Education & Church School Convention – What to Know and Do!, the Rev. Dephine Sumbler & Attorney Y’Lani Hayes, Director and Assistant Director of Christian Education, A.T.D.

3) Pathways to Generosity as a Lifestyle: Stewardship, the Rev. Agnelis Reese, Pastor, St. Luke AME Church, Montgomery, LA - Director of Stewardship, A.T.D.

4) Church School Literature as a Bible Study Tool – Brother Charles Hamilton, Assistant Church School Superintendent, A.T.D., the Rev. Louis Smith, Pastor – King’s Chapel AME Church, Many, LA

All the workshops gave pathways of taking ministry to a higher level.

We salute Presiding Elder Gwendolyn E. Snearl for her love, dedication, and superb leadership in planning such an uplifting and dynamic conference. District consultant, Mrs. Almeta J. Snearl, is to be commended for her perseverance and faith as she continues to share her love with the members of the Alexandria – Thibodaux District.

The Rev. Floyd Womack, Mrs. Sandra Womack, and members of St. Peter AME Church are applauded for their radical hospitality in hosting this conference.

We continue to praise God for his many, many blessings!

Respectfully submitted, Eddie Mae Williams Washington ❏ ❏ ❏

Growing Number of Christians Obtaining Payday Loans

Aaron

Earls

Finding themselves in a tough financial hole, many people have attempted to use payday loans to dig themselves out.

Self-identified Christians living in the 27 states without meaningful regulations on those types of small, short-term, unsecured loans often have a complicated relationship with payday advances and the lenders who

timely. Those percentages are more than double what they were in 2016, when 16% described them as helpful, 17% as useful, and 7% as timely.

“Short-term financing is a real need for many Americans, so you expect to see a growing number of customers who appreciate the payday lending service. Yet, many describe payday loans with language that sounds more

offer them, according to a Lifeway Research study sponsored by Faith for Just Lending.

More than 3 in 4 Christians believe it is a sin to loan money in a way that the lender gains by harming the borrower financially, and most describe payday loans as expensive. Still, 1 in 3 have obtained a payday loan, and a growing number see such loans as helpful. Most also want government intervention and church involvement around these issues.

“The proliferation of retail payday lending establishments has increased the first-hand knowledge many Christians have of these financial institutions,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “The majority of Christians in states with few regulations on payday lending want more regulations that protect borrowers.”

Personal experience

For Christians living in a state without significant regulations on payday lending, 34% have obtained that type of loan for themselves—double the 17% who said so in a similar 2016 Lifeway Research study. Additionally, 45% say they know someone who has gotten a payday loan, up from 32% in 2016.

When asked which words apply to payday loans, most (57%) say expensive. More than 3 in 10 say harmful (32%) and predatory (31%). Another 10% say immoral. However, a growing number use positive terms. More than 1 in 3 say such loans are helpful (37%) and useful (35%), while 16% say

like warnings than endorsements,” said McConnell.

When asked directly, 77% of Christians in states with few regulations believe it is a sin to loan someone money in a way that the lender gains by harming the borrower financially. Less than 1 in 4 disagree (23%).

Christians are most likely to say their knowledge about fair lending practices comes from personal experience with their own loans (25%). Fewer say friends and family (18%), the Bible (10%), articles and news stories (9%), or their local church (3%) have influenced their thinking on the subject. Hardly any say they’ve learned about payday loans from the positions of elected officials (1%), national Christian leaders (1%), or teachers or professors (1%). One in 5 Christians in states where payday lending is less regulated (20%) has not thought about what lending practices are fair.

Regardless of their knowledge or experien ce, most Christians underestimate the percentage of payday loans rolled over into a new loan with additional fees after the first two-week period. According to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report, 82% of these loans are renewed within 14 days. Only 9% of Christians in states where payday loans are legal believe rollover rates are between 81%-100%. Most (56%) believe 40% of the loans or less rollover, including 38% who say it’s 20% or less. More than 1 in 5 (22%) estimate 10% or less are renewed.

Government involvement

Christians in states without regulation seem supportive ...continued on p19

of increased government involvement in the industry. Close to 2 in 3 (63%) say 36% or less should be set as the maximum reasonable annual percentage rate (APR) of a loan, with 39% saying it should not go above 12%. Only 7% believe there should be no maximum reasonable APR.

More than 3 in 4 (78%) believe laws or regulations should protect borrowers from lending practices that create loans that the borrower cannot realistically repay without additional loans. Specifically, 84% say laws or regulations should prohibit lending at “excessive interest rates.” Fewer than 1 in 10 (8%) say no to either proposal.

More than 9 in 10 (94%) agree that lenders should consider the borrower’s income and expenses and only extend loans at “reasonable interest rates” based on their ability to repay within the original loan period.

“Christians expect far more regulations that protect borrowers than exist in these states,” said McConnell. “The Bible does not define at what rate excessive interest begins, but it does forbid it. So, it is not surprising that most Christians want to eliminate excessive interest rates (APR).”

Church response

While Christians in states where payday lending exists with little to no regulation want legal responses to the industry, most also expect the church to be involved in addressing the issue.

Nine in 10 (89%) believe churches should teach and model responsible stewardship and offer help to neighbors in times of crisis, up from 83% who said so in 2016.

When asked what they’d like to see their church offer related to payday loans, most (53%) point to guidance for those with financial needs. More than a third (36%) would like to see their church provide gifts or loans for those facing financial emergencies. Around 1 in 5 want their congregation to advocate for changes in laws or regulations (22%), care for those with repeating payday loans (20%), or deliver sermons that share biblical principles on fair lending (19%).

Around 1 in 10 (11%) say their local church offers guidance or assistance related to payday loans. Around 2 in 5 (39%) say their church does not provide those. Half (50%) are not sure. Compared to 2016, more Christians say they know whether their church is helping. Those who say their congregation provides assistance increased from 6%, while those who say their church does not offer help rose from 34%. The percentage who say they are not sure fell from 61% seven years ago.

Still, Christians in states with little to no regulation on payday lending say they’re looking to their church to provide some guidance and help on the issue, but McConnell says too many aren’t finding it. “Most churches

are silent on payday loans at times when Christians desire advice and emergency help,” he said.

For more information, view the complete report or visit LifewayResearch. com.

Aaron Earls is a writer for Lifeway Christian Resources.

Methodology

The online survey of Americans in 27 states was conducted Feb. 22-27, 2023. The project was sponsored by Faith for Just Lending. A demographically balanced sample from a national online panel was used. This sample was screened to only include adults who indicate a Christian religious preference (Catholic, Orthodox, black churches, mainline, evangelical, and non-denominational). Maximum quotas and slight weights were used for gender, region, age, ethnicity, and education to reflect the U.S. adult population more accurately. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95% confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.3%. This margin of error accounts for the effect of weighting. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.

Twenty-seven states were selected by Faith for Just Lending because they do not have meaningful regulations on payday lending. The following states are included in the analysis:

Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

About Lifeway Research

Lifeway Research is a Nashville-based evangelical research firm specializing in surveys about faith in culture and matters that affect churches. For more information, visit LifewayResearch.com.

About Lifeway Christian Resources

In operation since 1891, Lifeway Christian Resources is one of the leading providers of Christian resources, including Bibles, books, Bible studies, Christian music and movies, vacation Bible school, and church supplies, as well as camps and events for all ages. Lifeway is the world’s largest provider of Spanish Bibles. Based in middle Tennessee, Lifeway operates as a selfsupporting nonprofit. For more information, visit Lifeway.com.

Faith for Just Lending is a coalition of faith-based institutions working to end predatory payday lending. The Faith for Just Lending steering committee includes Catholic Charities USA, Center for Public Justice, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Ecumenical Poverty Initiative, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Faith in Ac tion (formerly PICO National Network), National Association of Evangelicals, National Baptist Convention USA, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, The Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Ways to Resist Peer Pressure: Stand Your Ground

First Episcopal District Board of Christian Education — 2023 Founder’s Day Essay Contest

1 st Place Essay Winner – 8 th Grade: Anaya Robinson, St. John AME Church

Rev. Alicia Bailey, Pastor - Brooklyn, New York

Teenagers are often conscious of the terror of not fitting in and being bullied by those who consider others weaker. I ask mys elf these questions: Why does it matter what other people think about you? Why does everyone want to fit in or “be down?” Why do people bully the ones t hey perceive to be weaker than they are? Why do bullies look to harm, intimidate, or coerce someone who is vulnerable? Then it clicked–hurt peopl e, hurt people. Bullies feel low about themselves, so they must bring others down with them through insults, rumors, and fear. Bullies feel inadequate themselves, and they often function in a pack because they feel shielded in a like-minded clique.

In 1 Samuel 15:24, Saul followed the crowd; he could not stand on his own because he fell to peer pressure of rumors. I am not sure of Saul’s age in this verse, but peer pressure, cliques, and bullies are not specific to an

age group. Yet, as many young people are developing the skills to handle challenging social issues, I take it as a personal challenge to find ways to help my peers combat this growing problem.

...continued on p20

The past two years have been critical for children my age. We lost friends; well, I lost friends, but not due to gun violence or anything of that nature. I lost friends because of the pandemic, not being able to see my friends, go to school, play, talk, and just be children. It seems as if we grew up without each other, and returning to in-person social life seemed hard. The friends that I had known before the pandemic were all doing things I did not like. I always told my dad I was different. Proverbs 1:10 says, ‘’My child, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” If my “friends” want to hang out after school and do things I know are not proper and I do not find amusing, I will not go with them. They may try to pressure me into conforming by talking about me or putting negative things about me in a group chat, and it may hurt my feelings, but I know I am my own person, walking in my own destiny. With a best friend like God, I cannot fall into peer pressure. I asked my friend what she would do to combat peer pressure and bullying. Her reply was (1) Tell a trusted adult, (2) Ignore the bully, and (3) Do not put up with the nonsense; confront your bully. My thoughts exactly. My advice to my peers who might be experiencing their own “friends” trying to pressure them into trying things they are not comfortable doing is “DON’T!’’ Likewise, if people are spreading false stories about you and trying to make you feel less than you are, remember that God doesn’t make no junk.

My hope is that my peers all stand their ground against bullies and peer pressure. Stand in your beliefs, knowing that you are a child of God, and he has equipped you with an armor so thick that no false stories about you shall prosper. No bully will be able to phase you. No peer pressure can hinder you (Ephesians 6:8-10 adaptation). My hope is that we will follow the words of Ephesians 6:14-17: 14Stand, therefore, and belt [our] waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness 15and lace up [our] sandals in preparation for the gospel of peace. 16…take the shield of faith,...to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one[, and]. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

To my peers, not too many youths have that superpower of resilience, and it may get worse before it gets better, but do not give up; “[but] do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Mathew 6:34).

Stand Your Ground!

National Crime Prevention Council • Peer Pressure. National Crime Prevention Council. 2022. https://www.ncpc.org/ STOMP Out Bullying 2022. https://www.stompoutbullying.org/world-bullying-prevention-month

Revised

A Call to Action for an Impact on Rolling Fork, Mississippi

Many of us are aware of the unusual and powerful tornado in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 24, 2023. Officials said that 25 people had been killed as a result of the storm. The news media estimates the tornado, which began hitting western Mississippi on Friday night after it formed over the Mississippi River, traveled approximately 59 miles and lasted about an hour and ten minutes.

The tornado developed from a supercell storm—a rotating storm where the updraft and the downdraft are separated. It is caused by warm, unstable air near the ground and changing speed and direction of the wind at increasing heights. According to the News Weather Service, these storms are some of the least common but the most destructive.

Drone videos show recovery underway, but it is a long road to recovery in Rolling Fork, but the strength and perseverance of the rural community are evident.

This news was devasting. Many of us were praying that God would intervene, and God did, but there is something we can and must do to intervene in this devastating circumstance. The Western New Orleans Baton Rouge District of the Lousiana Conference of the Eighth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, under the energetic and scholarly presiding elder, the Rev. Bland L. Washington, Sr., and his queenly wife, Mrs. Brenda Washington, decided on a call to action to make an impact on Rolling Fork with 84 gift cards from Walmart which were delivered to the Reverend Reginald Anderson of the Shiloh Baptist Church which was one of the delivery locations to help for the people of Rolling Fork.

The Rev. Roger Robertson and First Lady Lori Robertson of Days Chapel AME Church in Clinton, Louisiana drove presiding elder and Mrs. Washington to Rolling Fork.

The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, New

Standard Version with The Apocrypha, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003. ❏ ❏ ❏

...From Ways to Resist p19

P.E. Bland Washington, Mrs. Brenda Washington, Mrs. Lori Roger Robertson and the Rev. Roger Robertson.

Presiding Elder Bland Washington, Rev. Reginald Anderson, and Consultant Brenda Washington.

Allen University Graduates Largest Class in Decades; DickersonGreen Seminary at Allen University Has Largest Graduating Class Since Its Inception

On May 6, 2023, Allen University graduated its largest class in decades with 112 students. In like fashion, the Dickerson-Green Seminary at Allen University graduated its largest group of students with a Master of Divinity and Master of Science in Religious Studies since its inception. The 2023 commencement services were celebrated in two locations on campus and ushered in approximately 1000 family members, alums, and community leaders.

“To say that we are extremely proud of the 2023 graduating class is an understatement. These young adults persevered through the pandemic as well as other personal hurdles that may have posed distractions along the way. They are evidence that all that can be imagined is being achieved at Allen University.”-Dr. Ernest C. McNealey, President of Allen University. ❏ ❏ ❏

A New Path for Turner Theological Seminary

“ 3[We] thank [our] God in all [our] remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of [our] for you all making [our] prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

–Philippians 1:3-5 (ESV)

Turner Theological Seminary (TTS) began as a department of Morris Brown College. The founders of Morris Brown College believed that educating the people and leaving the pulpit ignorant would be detrimental to the Black Church. Therefore, they proposed having an educated ministry. As a result, Turner Theological Seminary is known for preparing and training practitioners of the faith who have bridged the gap between academics, practical ministry, political factors, so cial and cultural changes, theological education, and technological advancements.

Turner was instrumental in 1958 in the creation of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), a consortium of historically black denominational schools, as a chartered member, which included Gammon Theological Seminary (UMC), Morehouse School of Religion (Baptist), and Phillip School of Theology (CME) intending to establish a permanent relationship and promote a center for theological education and prophetic leaders.

On April 14, 2023, the ITC Board of Trustees declared financial exigency, effective immediately. Despite this declaration, Turner Theological Seminary will remain open and explore viable options to continue our 129-year commitment to theological education as an established seminary in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Since this announcement, we have consulted with our Academic and Student Affairs Standing Committee for guidance and support to assist the seminary as we help our current and future seminarians navigate exigency’s unexpected disruption and consequences.

Bishop Reginald T. Jackson, Board of Trustees chair, affirms, “The Sixth Episcopal District of the AME

Church and its community have a longstanding historical relationship with Turner Theological Seminary

and will continue to support Turner now and into the future. Turner provides a culturally unique theological experience vital for the life of the church and society. We stand with Turner Theological Seminary and Dr. Ammie L. Davis as they adapt to the ever-changing theological landscape.”

“We are #TURNERSTRONG. Our institution remains financially solvent and envisions emerging more vital than before with a liberating and transformational approach to theological education and social justice,” states the Reverend Ammie L. Davis, Ph.D., Turner’s 8 th president-dean.

Turner’s history and impact on African Methodism are significant, and we must preserve, pursue, and promote our legacy. Turner graduates continue to serve as ecclesial leaders on every level of the African Methodist Episcopal Church as bishops, general officers,

presiding elders, chaplains, clergy, and laity.

Turner remains committed to its motto, “For a Prepared Ministry,” in keeping with the aim of its founders to be “an institution for the preparation of training for every department of Christian work. The ability to train for the ever-changing theological landscape is highlighted in Turner’s rich history and legacy. Turner Theological Seminary stands prepared and poised at this hour to continue Bishop Henry McNeal Turner’s heritage while looking at the current trends to create a theological education model for the 21 st century. With God’s help and wisdom, Turner will continue to #ELEV8. ❏ ❏ ❏

Sons of Allen Day Celebrated at Mount Zion AME Church, 19 th Episcopal District

Bro. Onkgopotse Maboe (PK)

Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bloemfontein, celebrated Sons of Allen (SoA) Day on 19 March 2023. They organised and led both morning and main worship experiences. This year’s theme is “Leadership without boundaries; We need each other” – 1 Peter 4:10. The Rev. T. Matsaseng organised men and launched SoA in the unit on 20 March 2011, which makes us 12-years-old this year, and we thank the Lord for such a milestone, praise the Lord. We are an organization with the church, which consists of men only, and we are called Sons of Allen; our purpose of existence is to create a ministry for men, both clergy and lay, which will seek to address the needs for distinctive ministries for men, who are faced with spiritual, social, political, and psychological challenges.

Mt. Zion AME Church is one of the richest charges with regard to the history of the church. It was established in 1904, making it 119 years of preaching the Word of God. We hosted the previous Orangia Annual Conference under the leadership of the presiding prelate of the 19 th Episcopal District and president of the Council of Bishops, the Rt. Rev.

Ronnie E. Brailsford, Sr.

We are blessed to have the 19 th Episcopal SoA President, Dr. Malefetsane Mokoena, as our member in the unit, who always encourages us never to give in when the times get tough in God’s vineyard. Of course, his willingness to be led at the unit level is selfencouraging.

We held a successful day; we led both morning and main worship experiences, with the following as highlights:

❖ Exhortation, morning worship, Bro. Pule Bhukula’s theme was “Ho kgalemela motho (Rebuking man)” from Jeremiah 12:4 & main worship, Bro. Moeketsi Mojatau’s theme was “Jesus Christ our embassy of hope” from Job 8:7, Acts 2:46-47, and John 15:1-5.

❖ Cher ry on top with a paper from Bro. Padi Mokodutlo says, “Monna (Man) as God envisaged.”

❖ Our vice president, Bro. Bongani Sigasa, presented our first Social Outreach programme for the church year 2022-2023. We manage d to give away food parcels to 5 families worth R400+ (26USD) each.

❖ For fundraising, we managed to sell 86 plates out of the 100 planned. We thank the Lord that all we planned for the day was exe cuted.

The Rev. Matsaseng gave fathers an assignment that each find a boy and mentor and report back by 18 June 2023 to ensure we live the SOA purpose “to empower men to serve as role models to young men.”

Brother Onkgopotse Maboe, the unit president, offered a vote of thanks to everyone who made the worship experience possible, from the background team, SoA executive and all members, our dedicated chefs, programme participants, presidents of auxiliaries and its members, congregation as a whole, and the support and guidance of the Rev. Thabo Matsaseng. The Rev. M. Kompi was in attendance; we are thankful. ❏ ❏ ❏

CONGRATULATORY Listings MAY 2023

* Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font , General Off icers; and Blue font , Connectional Officers.

AME Church Treasurer/CFO Receives Honorary Doctorate From Payne Theological Seminary

At the May 12, 2023 commencement of Payne Theological Seminary, AME Church Treasurer/CFO Marcus T. Henderson was bestowed the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the institution.

In his remarks to those assembled, he stated, “So, the question I pose to you is simple, one that you will have to ask yourself everyday until it becomes your life’s standard. I say standard because goals change, move, and morph, YET a STANDARD is how you live your life.  So here is the haunting question, ‘Are you going to be prophetic or pathetic?’ They both start with ‘P’ and sound a little bit alike, but as you know have vastly different meanings, effect, and delivery.”

It was also announced that Dr. Henderson and his wife Yolanda Mason Henderson seeded the Henderson Family Endowment at Payne with a $100,000 contribution.

Contact: mhenderson@amecfo.org

Congratulations to Marvin Frank Curtis Zanders, Esquire, for Earning the Taxation LL.M.

Congratulations to Marvin Frank Curtis Zanders, Esquire for earning the t axation LL.M. from New York University School of Law on Thursday, May 18, 2023.  Attorney Zanders is the first FAMU law graduate to earn the LL.M. in taxation from N.Y.U. Law School. He has completed the Florida Bar and will begin his law career with the Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP law firm. He is the son of Bishop Marvin C. and Supervisor Winifred H. Zanders of the 16 th Episcopal District AMEC.

Congratulatory expressions can be sent to Attorney Zanders at Marvinzanders3@gmail.com or 4003 Eagle Landing Parkway, Orange Park, Florida 32065.

Augustine Speaks for University’s 2023 Baccalaureate and Honor Cord Ceremony

The Reverend Dr. Jonathan C. Augustine, senior pastor of St. Joseph AME Church (Durham, NC) and member of the AME Church’s Judicial Council, delivered the sermon as part of St. Augustine’s University 2023 Baccalaureate and Honor Cord Ceremony. The service was held at St. Augustine’s historic campus chapel, on the university’s main campus in Raleigh, NC, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Information from the university can be seen here: https://www.st-aug.edu/event/baccalaureate-and-honor-

cord-ceremony/. Founded in 1867, St. Augustine’s University is an HBCU administered by the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Jonathan C. Augustine, J.D., D.Min. 31 st Pastor, St. Joseph AME Church

National Chaplain, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

https://www.stjosephame.org

https://www.jayaugustine.com

jayaugustine9@gmail.com @jayaugustine9

Claire B. Crawford Received the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Political Science From the University of Southern California

Congratulations to Claire B. Crawford, who received the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Political Science from the University of Southern California on May 11, 2023.  Dr. Crawford is the daughter of the Rev. Marvin L. Crawford, M.D., M.Div., pastor of First Saint Paul AMEC, Lithonia, Georgia, and Dr. Sherell Vicks-Crawford (former Connectional YPD director).

Dr. Claire Crawford has accepted a position as assistant professor of Africana Political Thought, Department of Political Science & Program of Africana Studies at Wake Forest University.

Congratulatory notes may be sent to: Dr. Claire B. Crawford 5695 Hunters Chase Ct. Lithonia, GA  30038 clairecr@usc.edu

The Rev. Sharrice L. Autry Received Her Master of Divinity From Emory / Candler School of Theology

I am proud to announce that on May 6, 2023, my daughter, the Rev. Sharrice L.Autry, received her Master of Divinity from Emory / Candler School of Theology. The Rev. Sharrice Autry is a fifth-generation preacher and we are both so very grateful to God for all his divine benefits. Many thanks to all her supporting cast who prayed her through. Please help me congratulate her on the completion of her Masters program. To God be the glory!

Congratulations can be sent to: sharrice.autry@gmail.com

Rev. Minnie Autry, Retired Pastor Michigan Conference

Minnieautry@att.net

On behalf of Publications Commission chair Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., president/publisher of the AMEC Publishing House (Sund ay School Union) the Rev. Dr. Roderick D. Belin, and editor of The Christian Recorder Dr. John Thomas III, we celebrate and applaud your achievements.

“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 (NRSV)

To share or receive information about Connectional clergy family bereavements and congratulations, please contact the AME Church Clergy Family Information Center: Mrs. Ora L. Easley, administrator • 5981 Hitching Post Lane • Nashville, TN 37211 • 615.833.6936 (CFIC Office) • amecfic.org • facebook.com/AMECFIC.

NECROLOGY Listings MAY 2023

The Reverend Ella Jones, a local elder at Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lexington, Kentucky, Kentucky Conference, Thirteenth Episcopal District, and the widow of Mr. George H.Jones

Mrs. Evelyn Hill, the widow of the late Presiding Elder Horace Hill, the “Dynamic” Daytona Beach District of the Central Annual Conference, Eleventh Episcopal District

Mrs. Lois Marie Williams, the widow of the late Reverend Napoleon Williams; they served in the Southwest Texas Conference where the Rev. Williams served as pastor of Greater Ball Tabernacle AME Church in San Antonio, Texas, Tenth Episcopal District for many years

The Reverend Ernest L. Montague, Sr., presiding emeritus, Baltimore District, Baltimore Conference of the Second Episcopal District, the spouse of former CONNM-SWAWO + PK’S treasurer, Mrs. Irene Montague; a father and grandfather beloved

Mrs. Barbara Raleigh, the aunt of Mr. Bobby Rankin, chief of Protocol of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Mr. Samuel David Waymon Alexander, Jr., the brother of the Reverend R.W. (Linda) Alexander, Sr., pastor of Mt. Pleasant AME Church, Pine Bluff, AR, Twelfth Episcopal District

Mrs. Charlie Mae Cook, the mother of the Reverend Julian La Rosa Cooper, pastor of Saint James AME Church,

Manalapan, New Jersey, New Brunswick District of the New Jersey Annual Conference, First Episcopal District

Brother Sam Wallace, Jr., the spouse of the Rev Linda McDowell Wallace, the pastor of Stephens Chapel AME Church, Gause, Texas, Paul Quinn District of the Northwest Texas Conference, Tenth Episcopal District

Brother Lester Lamar Stevens, son of our Connectional Lay Organization director of Public Relations, Sister Diane Battle

Deaconess Peggy Myers, mother of the Reverend Aaron D.Myers, Sr., and motherin-law of the Reverend Karen Myers (pastor of Gaines Chapel AME Church), grandmother of Brother Adam Myers, Sister Ava Myers, Brother Aaron (A.J.) and Sister Christian Myers

Dr. Sylvia Ross Talbot, retired Episcopal supervisor, was married to the late Bishop Frederick Hilborn Talbot, African Methodist Episcopal Church; the first African American woman elected vice moderator, Central Committee, World Council of Churches and first African Methodist elected national president, Church Women United/USA; author, and minister of health in Guyana; and appointed delegate to the United Nations General Assembly from Guyana

The Reverend Dr. Leeomia W.Kelly, former member of the Judicial Council of the AME Church serving as

chaplain, music composer, school administrator and founding member of CONNM-SWAWO+PK’S

Mrs. Kelly Jimpson Handy, sister of the Reverend Dr. Gloria E. Jimpson, pastor of Payne AME Church in Chatham, NY, Western New York Annual Conference, the First Episcopal District

The Reverend Dr. Elvin J.Parker III, pastor of New Bethel, Hialeah of the Super South District, South Annual Conference, Eleventh Episcopal District

Ms. Irene Jones of Ladson, SC, the mother of the Reverend Dr. Albert L. Jones and mother-in-law of Mrs. Carolyn Jones, pastor and first lady of Mt. Carmel AME, Moncks Corner, Kingstree District, Palmetto Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

Mr. Eric Jason Jones of Ladson, SC, the brother of the Reverend Dr. Albert L. Jones and brother-in-law of Mrs. Carolyn Jones, pastor and first lady of Mt. Carmel AME, Moncks Corner, Kingstree District, Palmetto Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Reverend George H.Beachum IV, retired itinerant elder in the First Episcopal District, following retirement the Reverend Beachum served on the ministry staff at Bethel AME Church, Wilmington, Delaware

The Reverend James Parson, 84, a local elder, at Union Bethel AME Church, in Brandywine, Maryland, Washington Conference, Second Episcopal District

The Reverend Betty O’Neal of Henderson, Texas, the spouse of the Reverend George O’Neal; both were retired pastors in the North Texas Conference, Tenth Episcopal District

The Reverend Janetta Ann Britton, the pastor of St. John AME Church, Dallas, TX in the North Texas Annual Conference, Tenth Episcopal District

Mrs. Vashti Olivia Cason Johnson, the sister of Dr Shirley Cason Reed, Ninth president, International Women’s Missionary Society, and aunt of the late Mrs. Valerie Faith Gary Bell, 14th president, Connectional Lay Organization

Mr. Gregory A. Cummings, the nephew of Presiding Elder Remus Harper, Jr., Kingstree District, Palmetto Annual Conference and the brother of the Reverend Patricia Vanderhurst, pastor of New Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston District, South Carolina Annual Conference of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church

The Reverend Lillie B. McMullen, the wife of the Reverend Michael A. McMullen, pastor of St. John, Lebanon Harrisburg District of the Philadelphia Annual Conference of the First Episcopal District

Condolences to the bereaved are expressed on behalf of Public ations Commission chair Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., president/publisher of the AMEC Publishing House (Sunday School Union) the Rev. Roderick D. Belin, and editor of The Christian Recorder, Dr. John Thomas III.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NRSV)

To share or receive information about Connectional clergy family bereavements and congratulations, please contact the AME Church Clergy Family Information Center. Mrs. Ora L. Easley, administrator • 5981 Hitching Post Lane • Nashville, TN 37211 • 615.833.6936 (CFIC Office) • amecfic.org • facebook.com/AMECFIC

* Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font , General Off icers; and Blue font , Connectional Officers.

St. Matthew Church, Orange, New Jersey, Set to Present Sizeable Donation to RIP Medical Debt

Jerry Roberts, 1st Episcopal District (with additional info from TAPinto.net)

On Sunday, May 7, 2023, the congregation of St. Matthew African Methodist Episcopal Church, Orange, New Jersey, under the leadership of the Rev. Melvin E. Wilson, presented a check of $15,000.00 to RIP Medical Debt immediately following their 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning worship service. This $15,000 donation will eliminate over $1.5 million in medical debt for residents of New Jersey. Rest in Peace Medical Debt is a national non-profit whose sole purpose is to strengthen marginalized communities by abolishing financially burdensome medical debt. The non-profit uses analytics to pinpoint the medical debt of those most in need: households that earn less than four times the federal poverty level (varies by state and family size) or whose debts are five percent or more of annual income.

When asked what makes this moment so special and significant, the Rev. Wilson, senior pastor, said, “St. Matthew AME Church has always been a congregation that is concerned about the well-being of members of the community, whether we know them personally or not. We consider this effort to be a part of the fulfillment of the Gospel of Matthew 25, where Jesus implores us that being helpful to others is just like being helpful to him. We have been very involved in addressing the needs of the community before, during, and after the pandemic. This donation continues that focus.”

“The St. Matthew family led by the Rev. Melvin Wilson continues to serve the Oranges in action and in deed,” said West Orange Council President Tammy Williams. “This act of kindness goes far beyond the Oranges and eases the burden of medical debt throughout the state of New Jersey. This example should be followed by many and provides a blueprint for how to erase the financial burden the underinsured face today.”

All 929 households across 18 New Jersey counties will see the impact of their medical debt relieved through this donation. As outlined in his remarks, the Rev. Wilson noted that:

35 recipients in Atlantic County totaling $61,340.86

67 recipients in Bergen County totaling $226,192.15

164 recipients in Burlington County totaling $340,603.28

21 recipients in Cape May County totaling $51,215.36

33 recipients in Cumberland County totaling $45,812.85

62 recipients in Glouster County totaling $96,695

74 recipients in Hudson County totaling $79,255.17

14 recipients in Hunterdon County totaling $84,669.84

123 recipients in Mercer County totaling $242,791.67

74 recipients in Middlesex County totaling $105,291.75

58 recipients in Monmouth County totaling $84,245.30

34 recipients in Morris County totaling $74,858.29

61 recipients in Ocean County totaling $80,486.68

29 recipients in Passaic totaling $50,000.53

12 recipients in Salem County totaling $22,470.92

24 recipients in Somerset County totaling $24,497.84

9 recipients in Sussex County totaling $35,039.02

35 recipients in Warren County totaling $23,401.69

“We will see a day when medical debt is non-existent because the system has changed, but until that day, there is St. Matthews standing in the gap,” said Assemblywoman Britnee N. Timberlake. ❏ ❏ ❏

Why Donald Trump’s Indictment Will Matter so Little to Most of His Christian Supporters – White Evangelicals Have Long Abandoned Their “Values Voters” Brand

Robert P. Jones, White Too Long

On April 4, 2023, former President Donald Trump was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, stemming from an attempt to cover up the payment of $130,000 of “hush money” to adult film actress Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. This action marks the first time in American history a former president has been charged with a crime.

One of the most blatant acts of public hypocrisy I’ve witnessed in more than two decades observing conservative white

Christians was their easy discarding of the “values voters” moniker along the road to supporting Trump.  This abrupt abandonment of the “values voters” brand was particularly striking, given that its original purpose was to exploit the sexual indiscretions of Bill Clinton as a campaign weapon to be wielded against other democratic candidates.

Jonathan Merritt highlighted the hypocrisy in a 2016 Atlantic article. He quotes Southern Baptist Seminary President Al Mohler making

this point explicitly, “If I were to support, much less endorse, Donald Trump for president, I would actually have to go back and apologize to former President Bill Clinton.”

By 2020, Mohler had nonetheless become a public supporter of Trump, even standing by his vote for Trump after the ...continued on p27

January 6 th insurrection. “Based upon the binary choice we faced on November the third, I believe then that that was the right action to take,” Mohler said on his podcast on January 7, 2021. “And going back to November the third, I would do the same thing again.” To my knowledge, Mohler has yet to issue an apology to Bill Clinton.

As we anticipate the potential indictment of a former president, the data suggests that even such an unprecedented event would have little impact on the support for Trump by white evangelical Protestants and other conservative white Christians.

The Unwavering Support of Trump by White Evangelical Protestants

First, we have the testimony of the trends: the unwavering support of Trump by these former “values voters” across Trump’s presidency, despite numerous well-known episodes of lewd, bigoted, and unethical behavior. Check out the chart below.

the counting of state electoral votes to stay in power. The 2020 election becomes the first in U.S. history not marked by a peaceful transition of power. On January 13, 2021, Trump is impeached for a second time. By the fall of 2021, after losing the election, inciting an insurrection, and becoming the first U.S. president in history to be impeached for a second time, his favorability finally dropped among white evangelical Protestants—but only 7 percentage points to 67%.

❖ By the fall of 2022,  Trump’s favorability among white evangelical Protestants dips modestly to 63%, but his popularity remains comparable to this same point in his 2016 campaign.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth

Avenue and shoot somebody….”

At a campaign stop at Sioux Center, Iowa’s Dordt College—an institution whose website assures students that “Everything at Dordt revolves around Jesus Christ”—Trump infamously described his confidence in the unfettered allegiance of his supporters. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Trump remarked. “It’s, like, incredible.” NPR described the audience that day as “receptive” to his message.

In a series of PRRI surveys across Trump’s presidency, we set out to see just how many Trump supporters would explicitly affirm such an allegiance to the former president.  In the fall of 2020, nearly half of Republicans (49%) and white evangelicals (46%) who approved of Trump’s presidency declared there is almost nothing Trump could do to lose their approval.  These findings were generally consistent each year throughout Trump’s presidency.

The Abandonment of Even the Pretense of Principle

Now, consider just a few of the public revelations and remarks by Trump that occurred during this period covered by that chart:

❖ Oc tober 7, 2016:  The Access Hollywood tape is released. On a hot mic, Trump brags about forcibly kissing and groping women, declaring, “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything…. Grab them by the p---y; you can do anything.” Between September 2016, before the tape was released, and 2017, Trump’s favorability among white evangelical Protestants climbed 12 points, from 61% to 73%.

❖ August 12, 2017:  The white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, which gathered around a statue of Robert E. Lee that was slated for removal, resulted in the murder of a counter-protester. Trump refused to denounce the white supremacists, declared that there were “very fine people on both sides,” and suggested that it was the counter-protesters who were “very, very violent.” Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals remains at 73%.

❖ January 12, 2018: The Wall Street Journal  breaks the story about Trump’s hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, reporting her claim that Trump had an affair with the adult film actress at a celebrity golf tournament in 2006. Trump was just a year into his marriage with Melania and just months into being a new father following the birth of his son Barron. At the time, Daniels was 27, and Trump was 60. Additionally, in April, Trump’s inhumane policy of separating immigrant children, some as young as four, from their families came to light. Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals remains at 73% throughout 2018.

❖ De cember 18, 2019:  Trump is impeached for the first time for attempting to get Ukraine to announce an investigation into Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military and other assistance. Trump’s favorability among white evangelicals remains at 73% throughout 2019 and even inches up to 74% in 2020.

❖ January 6, 2021:  Trump incites a violent insurrection designed to thwart

Finally, PRRI polling also documented a stunning wholesale abandonment of even the pretense of a political ethic of principle by white evangelical Protestants and other conservative white Christians. In 2011 and again in 2016, PRRI asked Americans whether “an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life.”

Across this five-year period, no group shifted their position more dramatically than white evangelical Protestants. In 2011, only 30% of white evangelical Protestants agreed that an elected official can behave ethically even if they have committed transgressions in their personal life, a position one might expect from a group billing itself as “values voters.” But by 2016, with Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, 72% of white evangelicals agreed—a 42-point jump from 2011. These results were largely unchanged the last time PRRI asked this question in 2020.

Trump may yet make history again this week, becoming not only the only president to be impeached twice but the first former president to be indicted.  Should he run in 2024, it is likely that such ...continued on p28

a distinction will hurt him in the general election, especially given that he lost the 2020 election by over 7 million votes and his favorability ratings among all Americans are consistently underwater.

But an indictment is unlikely to have a great impact on the white evangelicals and other conservative white Christians who have been

Africa Day Matters!

Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith

his staunchest supporters. To those who have long abandoned their posture as “values voters” and have fully embraced an authoritarian figure they see as the savior and protector of white Christian America, the moral repulsiveness of the crass violation of his marriage vows and the legal evidence of a coverup, even if they are substantiated in a court of law, will likely have little weight. As has been the case since Trump’s

LET BRONZE BE BROUGHT FROM EGYPT; LET CUSH HASTEN TO STRETCH OUT ITS HANDS TO GOD. — PSALM 68:31

In 1993, Dr. Cain Hope Felder, a New Testament scholar of African descent, served as the editor of The Original African Heritage Study Bible: King James Version. The Rev. Dr. Renita Weems, a woman of African descent and a mentee of Dr. Cain Hope Felder, wrote the book Just a Sister Away, in which she focused on women of African descent relative to the Bible. People like Dr. Cain Hope Felder and Rev. Dr. Weems have understood Africa matters in the Bible.

May 25 is Africa Day—or Africa Liberation Day for some. It is a day when we all have another opportunity to take a closer look at the importance of Africa and her diaspora in our lives. The Bible is a good place to start. African leaders, peoples, and places are identified throughout the Bible. Further, many of us are Africans or people of African descent—or live among people of African descent. Do you know your story as it relates to this and your community?

May 25 also invites us to scrutinize the negative narratives and images of Africans and people of

African descent. For example, while it is true that the data does show disproportionate numbers of Africans and people of African descent affected by hunger and poverty, this data often does not show the counter-narrative of faith, resilience, resolve, and financial contributions of Africans and the African diaspora. For example, did you know Africans in the diaspora are Africa’s largest financiers? Remittances from the diaspora to Africa grew from $37 billion in 2010 to $96 billion in 2021.

Further, the largest social movement in the United States was the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, according to the New York Times. Recently the vice president of the United States, the first woman of African descent in this role, visited African nations with priorities on democracy, economic development, and partnership. This, after the African Leaders Summit in December 2022 was hosted by the president of the U.S. Executive orders concerning a way forward with Africa and the African diaspora were signed.

emergence as a national political figure in 2015, any excuse to deny the obvious will do. An indictment—particularly by a district attorney who is a black Democrat from Manhattan who Trump has already derided as a politically motivated “racist”—is likely to reconfirm their perception of a world upside down and strengthen their allegiance to Trump. ❏ ❏ ❏

A historic session of the U.N. Permanent Forum of People of African Descent was held in December 2022, when African leaders visited Washington, District of Columbia. The second session is happening this year at the United Nations. Bread for the World invites you to a webinar about this forum on Africa Day, May 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. EST. The theme is Africa Day: Pan-Africanism, Liberation, and Restorative Justice. You can join the meeting on Zoom.

Recently, Bread for the World partnered with the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Black Church Food Security network for an Earth Day weekend, at which we celebrated the importance of reinvesting in black farmers with the Farm Bill. Learn more about the Farm Bill, which supports Africa and the African diaspora, and how you can help. Angelique Walker-Smith is a senior associate for Pan-African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.

AME Treasurer/CFO Receives Honorary Doctorate From Payne Theological Seminary

At the May 12, 2023, commencement of Payne Theological Seminary, African Methodist Episcopal Church Treasurer/Chief Financial Officern Marcus T. Henderson was bestowed the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the institution.

In his remarks to those assembled, he stated, “…[T]he question I pose to you is simple, one that you will have to ask yourself every day until it becomes your life’s standard. I say standard because goals change, move, and morph. Yet a standard is how you live your life. So here is the haunting question, ‘Are you going to be prophetic or pathetic?’ They both start with ‘P’ and sound a little bit alike, but as you know have vastly different meanings, effect, and delivery.”

Dr. Henderson and his wife Yolanda Mason Henderson also seeded the Henderson Family Endowment at Payne with a $100,000 contribution. ❏ ❏ ❏

Arizona OKs $5 Million to Protect Faith Communities From Terror Attacks, Hate Crimes

Shannon Levitt, Jewish News

Over the last 18 months, Tucson’s Prince Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church experienced a series of troubling incidents. First up was a stone through one of the church’s stained glass windows. Then a Bible and a Harry Potter book were set ablaze and tossed into the window well leading to the building’s basement. Additionally, the church and its neighbor, the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, had their air conditioning units vandalized and copper wire stolen.

The church’s pastor, the Rev. Gerald Richard, reported the crimes. As a former prosecutor, he believes in utilizing the criminal justice system. While he does not know the motivation behind the broken glass and the arson, “I have to take every precaution for my congregation,” he told Jewish News. Using private funds, the church put wire cages around the air conditioning units and set some basic security measures.

“There’s more to do. We live in a time of individuals using weapons to get their point across, as we can see with so many mass shootings. We will take steps to prevent that with armed security,” Richard said.

While he had to rely on personal money for the initial work, he has reason to hope the state will fund enhanced security measures for his church and others going forward, thanks to the effort of a coalition of religious and nonprofit organizations throughout the state and a bipartisan political process.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a budget into law recently that includes $5 million in funding to secure the state’s small and mediumsized houses of worship, as well as nonprofit organizations — including Jewish organizations — at high risk of terrorist attacks and hate crimes due to their mission or beliefs.

The money will go towards deterrence and target-hardening applications such as installing security cameras, gates, and fences that make a facility harder to penetrate, security guards, and preparing for active shooter scenarios.

The Jewish community is well aware of the need for security. A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report in March found that anti-Jewish incidents increased by nearly 20% in 2021 relative to 2020, a total of more than 10,800 hate crimes — the highest number in decades. As in previous years, anti-Jewish incidents comprised the majority of the 1,590 hate crimes based on religion.

However, the cost of that security can come at a steep price. While a federal nonprofit security

grant program administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) already exists, it is not accessible to many small congregations or organizations.

The Department of Homeland Security reimburses costs for security enhancements and other security-related activities after the grant application is approved. Without a guarantee to recoup the costs, many communities, Jewish or otherwise, can’t afford to take the risk.

Understanding the hurdles faced by small houses of worship, Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, spiritual leader of Congregation Kehillah; Paul Rockower, executive director for Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix; and Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood, executive director for Arizona Faith Network, began investigating a state-based alternative. Rockower applied to the Jewish Federations of North America’s Shine a Light program.

“My father always told me, ‘If you want to make things 100% better, you have to make 100 things 1% better.’ This campaign seemed like a positive and practical way to strengthen all vulnerable communities in Arizona,” Rockower told Jewish News.

The trio engaged the help of Goodman Schwartz Public Affairs to develop and lobby for the legislation. In December, before the start of the legislative session, Stuart Goodman and his team met with the incoming Gov. Katie Hobbs’ administration and legislators to talk about the issue and test the viability of their approach.

“The work we did in December showed there was genuine support for the approach,” Goodman told Jewish News.

According to Goodman, Republican Sen. David Gowan was the right person to introduce the bill because he sits on the committee for public safety and for “his commitment to faith and his own general philosophy for improved security.”

Senate Bill (SB) 1713 passed Arizona’s Senate by a vote of 20-9, representing a supermajority of legislators and giving it momentum to get through the House Appropriations Committee with a vote of 13-1, demonstrating the broad bipartisan support that helped it become part of the budget conversation — Goodman’s overall strategy.

Metaphorically, SB 1713 served the same helpful function as rocket boosters for the space shuttle. Once the shuttle is in orbit, they fall away. “Instead of orbit, SB 1713 got the program in the budget, and the design, concept, and intent of

the bill was all captured there,” Goodman said. One thing he hadn’t planned for was this year’s unique budget process. Hobbs, a Democrat, negotiated the process with Senate President Warren Petersen and House Speaker Ben Toma (both Republicans) and split up $2.5 billion in surplus money among the executive branch and each party’s caucus to spend at their discretion — provided legislators vote for the budget. Any member who voted against it would lose their spending request.

Even though the notion of an individual allocation started after the security funding legislation was already underway, Goodman’s strategy for passing it remained the same.

“The only thing that changed is that rather than competing with other members, we had to compete within Gowan’s allocation priorities,” Goodman said. Gowan had $30 million to allocate, and he committed $5 million to the security grant program.

“We got great votes, support, and did our work with the governor’s office to make sure they were on board. But the reality is a lesser bill sponsor who may have had other commitments or wasn’t as reliable might not have got this done. When Gowan commits, he commits. I’m not surprised how it played out,” Goodman said.

“Individuals seeking the comfort of a religious service should have the confidence of knowing they are in a safe environment,” Gowan said regarding his decision to fund the program fully.

Sharfman and Sexton-Wood spoke to those concerns in their Senate testimony. Sharfman told senators that the government is responsible for protecting its citizens and their rights, and “one of our most cherished rights is to practice our religion.” Sexton-Wood spoke of needing to lock the front door of churches before stepping into the pulpit and then still keeping one eye on it.

Pastor Aubrey Barnwell of First New Life Church in Phoenix, a predominantly African American church, knows what it is to feel uneasy in his church. Not long after a 2015 mass shooting in a Charleston, South Carolina church left nine African American parishioners dead, a white man came to his service. The man, who came only to worship, was a stranger to the church, and everyone was on edge.

“You want to be welcoming, but you never know,” Barnwell told Jewish News.

His church is located on 19 th Ave., a busy ...continued on p30

thoroughfare. It has been the target of thieves, vandals, and aggressive proselytism from groups espousing radical theologies, which has been overwhelming and frightening for many church members. Barnwell wants to use the funding to install a security camera system to keep an eye on the many events the church hosts, especially the youth events.

Barnwell is also chairman of the African American Christian Clergy Coalition, which includes nearly 130 churches across Maricopa County, all of which “could benefit tremendously” from the new program, he said.

The plan will allot one million dollars a year in grants of up to $100,000 to houses of worship and nonprofits for the next five years or less if the demand is great enough. Goodman, a member of Temple Chai in Phoenix, is proud of his part in getting the program funded. If it is

successful and embraced broadly, he sees a need to have a conversation again in a couple of years about allocating additional money.

“You create the program and momentum and get a following. Nothing is easy, but the hardest part is initially creating the concept. If it’s successful, it’s easier to justify a second round of funding,” Goodman said.

Lynn Davis, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in southern Arizona and whose office in the Tucson Jewish Museum makes her Richard’s neighbor, appreciates the interfaith nature of the program.

“Working in the Jewish community, we have a lot of these conversations from a Jewish communal lens about antisemitism and hatebased violence, but it’s important to realize that security is a community-wide concern,” she said.

Mission Kenya 2023 March 9-22

Rev. Dr. Rodrecus M. Johnson, Jr. and Rev. Dr. Melvin D. Wilson, Jr.

Richard reached out to his trustees after the budget passed and told them, “I want to get together with our Jewish neighbors and see how we can collaborate on both our properties.” He wants to work with other houses of worship in the area to make the neighborhood safer overall. “The people who live in the neighborhood will be happy. The whole concept is one of community,” he said.

Rockower, who could not be happier about the program’s passage, agreed with Davis and Richard.

“The rising tide of security raises all boats. It’s clear that houses of worship having security benefits all faith communities,” he said.  Reprinted with permission.

Due to my younger children, I have gotten accustomed to the music and phrase “a whole new world.” Despite the slightly different conditions, the idea still holds true for our mission trip to Kenya. It is simple to become paralyzed by worry about the “what ifs” as we undergo sh ots, pills, immunizations, and CPR training as we prepare for Kenya—however, a call for missional transformation needed to be answered. After months of preparation, Anderson Chapel-Killeen, along with the pastor and first lady of Bethel-San Antonio, embarked upon a life-changing mission trip to Nakuru, Kenya. Despite the delays and detours (in Paris and the island of Mauritius), we made it to our destination with a warm Kenyan welcome from Presiding Elder Moses Achola and the Kenyan ministerial delegation.

In the cities of Nakuru and Eldoret, the Mission Team was able to provide inspiration and snacks to 1,200 students at Flamingo Secondary School, lunch and inspiration to over 1,000 students at Kenyatta Secondary School, groceries (compliments of Bethel-San Antonio) to over 70 people during a noon-day revival, and groceries to over 60 people, summoned to Bethel-Eldoret (the Rev. Priscah Onyango)—the Rev. Dr. Melvin Wilson, Jr., Sis. Brooke Wilson, the Rev. Dr. Rodrecus M. Johnson, Jr., the Rev. Ayonna D. Johnson, and Master Rodrecus M. Johnson III (13 years of age) delivered messages throughout the week (to include a women’s conference, 2-Day Ministerial Institute, 2-Night Revival, food giveaways, and two Nakuru secondary schools). Although the need was so great, the gratitude expressed for the simplest of items was unmatched and easy to obtain.

Ministry, from its very basic points, is similar despite locale, admiration to the almighty, outreach to the oppressed, and evangelical means to capture the lost. But however similar, the flavor added was unique, beginning with unparalleled worship and uninhibited praise. If the distance people traveled was not impressive, people traveling by foot into a standing-room-only facility while others stood outside the windows just to hear the WORD, even in the rain, was extraordinary. The Mission Te am was undoubtedly transformed with every worship encounter and personal interact ion with school administrators, students, preachers, and residents.

This trip changed our perception of ministry forever, from being comfortable at a traffic stop by the local police to a now-rai sed expectation of praise and worship! ❏ ❏ ❏

Mt. Hermon, Ft. Lauderdale Burns Mortgage and Holds Groundbreaking for Apartment Development

TCR Staff

On April 30, Mount Hermon African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida celebrated two momentous events in the life of the congregation. First, the church formally retired its Family Life Center mortgage and second, they held the groundbreaking for the new Mount Hermon Apartments affordable senior housing facility. The congregation, AME clergy from across the 11 th District, and members of the community were on hand to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Mt. Hermon’s pastor, the Rev. Trae Green, presided over the worship service welcoming participation from Presiding Elders Vincent Mitchell, Willie Cook, and Henry Green III. Trustees and stewards from Mt. Hermon read the various parts of the mortgage burning and groundbreaking liturgies throughout the service. Bishop Frank Madison Reid III, presiding prelate of the 11 th Episcopal District, delivered the message, “Victory Starts Here: Taking Care of Business” (Luke 19:11-27). He implored the congregation to focus on financial freedom and faith drawing from the example of the Free African Society. The service reached its apex with the burning of the mortgage papers in

the presence of the congregation. Special honor was given to Presiding Elder Green who as the immediate past pastor of the church negotiated the final terms to pay off the mortgage as well as the deal for the new housing facility. After the service, the congregation immediately proceeded to the groundbreaking of the Mt. Hermon Apartments. Operated jointly with the Housing Trust Group (HTG),the new seven-story property will offer one and two-bedroom units reserved for income qualifying residents 62 and older. The property is financed with a mix of public financing, bank loans, and grants and is slated to open in 2024. It is estimated that the development will have a $39 million dollar economic ...continued on p32

impact in the church’s community.

Reflecting on the day, the Rev. Green commented, “Today was proof that every crisis has an expiration date; we must continue in all things

Transitions

A TRIBUTE TO REV. JOHN Q. OWENS

Rev. Damon Mitchell, 4th Episcopal District

I lost one of my heroes, Reverend JohnQ.Owens.He was my pastor for 20 years, in my formativeyears.Hepushed me to start a choir when I couldn’t play piano, so he volunteered to pay for my piano lessons. He found out I wanted to

bowl and gave me a bowling ball. He taught me by word and action to be professional. Most importantly, he taught me the Word of God. I was a child and learned things like the doctrines of salvation, different translations, some Greek, exegesis, types, and anti-types. I was definitely a nerd. He and his wife, Doctor Dorothy, launched ministries that still exist today, including an organization of

REV. DR. JOHN Q. OWENS (1926-2023)

to trust in God. Bishop Reid gave us a word for the ages at today’s groundbreaking and mortgage burning celebration—T. C. B. Take Care of Business. If we do that God will take care of us.” ❏ ❏ ❏

the African Methodist Episcopal Church that supports clergy families and, locally, a non-profit (MAPO) that supports shelters and raises money for scholarships. Just in case you didn’t know, all those Christmas concert fundraisers for scholarships…his idea. “Use your gift to help others.” He always did that.

I took his picture at his 97 th birthday party. Regularly, he called me son and loved on me. I called him pop and loved him back. He was a brilliant thinker. Who loves

to worship! I loved to see such a multifaceted man be so down to earth. I loved watching him take over my uncle’s solo a few times. Lol. So many precious memories. So much impact. Sooo many laughs.

Pop, you fought a good fight, kept the faith, and finished your race. Sixty-three years of marriage, 46 years of pastoring. Several sons and daughters in ministry! Your legacy is strong, and your fruit remains! Job well done. Man of God. Job well done. Enjoy your rest, reverend!

The Reverend Dr. John Q. Owens was born on March 6, 1926. For a young man who had no interest in being a minister, a World War II Veteran of the United States Army, whose intention was to re-enlist, active in the Pentecostal faith, pastored Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church Madison, Illinois for over 20 years must have been the work of God. Until the Rev. Owens’ retirement, many members born into the church only knew of one pastor. A long-running tenure of 20 years at one church was almost unheard of in the itinerary of the AME Church.

Before the appointment to Bethel, the Rev. Owens and his wife Dorothy served a combined 20 years at three other churches. He is a prolific preacherteacher and became a Connectional officer in the AME Church.

The Rev. Dr. John Q. Owens’ Social Action director/consultant tenure began immediately following the transitioning of Dr. Leroy Nesbit in South Africa. Attending the General Board Meeting as a member for 16 years in Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. John Owens was approached then by the church secretary, Dr. Richard Allen Chappelle, to serve as the interim Social Action d irector/consultant, several bishops approved, the late Bishops John H.Adams, Vinton R. Anderson, Howard Thomas Primm; a motion was made by the late Bishop Frank Madison Reid II, and several seconded the motion. Dr. Owens served faithfully with his spouse, Dr. Dorothy with perfect attendance over 21 years. Serving on the Connectional level, pastored over

DR. SYLVIA ROSS TALBOT

forty Years and retired under Bishop John R. Bryant (retired) from Bethel AME Church, Madison, Illinois.

Dr. Owens died on April 25, 2023. He is survived by his wife of over 63 years, Dr. Dorothy Owens; his son Senior Elder Kevin K. Owens and a host of other family members, including Gina Owens, Kevin K. Owens II, Kerminth Owens, Dr. Mary Owens, Justin Owens, Dr. Quincy Owens, Renarford Owens (Bish), Anna Owens-Sumner, David Owens, Linda Owens, Niyoni Owens, Kevin Owens, Melinda Owens, Dr. Phillip Owens, Mrs. Phillip Owens, Jean Owens, Violet Owens, Pat Owens, Latono Owens-Moore, Donna OwensRenfro, Jay Owens, Cheryl Owens, Betty Jo Owens-Morrison, Gloria Owens, and Jeanne Owens.

Dr. Sylvia Ross Talbot was married to the Late Bishop Frederick Hilborn Talbot, 90 th elected and consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A native of St. Croix, Virgin Islands, she was educated at the following institutions: Inter-American University of Puerto Rico, Bachelor of Science in Biology summa cum laude, 1955; Yale University, Master of Science in Public

Health, 1957; Teachers College, Columbia University, a Doctorate in Health Education, 1969. She was the first spouse of an AME bishop with an earned doctorate.

Dr. Talbot led regional, national, and international religious organizations, including the Continuation Committee, the Caribbean Conference of Churches, and the Christian Medical Commission of the World Council of Churches. She was the first African American woman elected as vice moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and the first African Methodist elected as the national president of Church Women United/USA.

She had a rich and varied work experience in community health in the United States and Guyana. Dr. Talbot was appointed minister of health in Guyana, heading a government department responsible for the country’s hospitals, pharmacies, and public health service and becoming the chief spokesperson and advocate for public health in Parliament. Later, she was appointed a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly

from Guyana. For seven years, she worked with her husband in his diplomatic career, accompanying him on his tours as permanent representative to the United Nations and later ambassador to the United States and Canada, then to several nations in the Caribbean.

Other experiences include World Bank consultant in School Health to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, organizer/executive director of a non-profit interfaith disaster relief organization in St. Croix, Virgin Islands; vice-chair, Board of Trustees, University of the Virgin Islands; advocate for abused women in St. Croix; Board member, Girl Scout Council of Cumberland Valley, Tennessee.

Her service to the AME Church spanned all levels, including organist, Sunday school teacher, conference branch president of the Women’s Missionary Society, and Episcopal district director of the Young People’s ...continued on p33

Division. Later, as the spouse of a bishop, she undertook responsibility for supervising women’s, youth, and children’s work in the districts to which the spouse was assigned. Over 32 years, she served in the 16 th district (the Caribbean; South America, Europe); 6 th (Georgia); 12 th (Arkansas and Oklahoma), and 13 th (Kentucky and Tennessee).

She inspired and guided women and young people to address health, education, poverty, and sexism issues. During her presidency of Church Women United, she succeeded in having them adopt poverty as a fiveyear imperative for the program. She worked continuously in leadership development. She was recognized for innovative programming.

Special section on Reproductive Justice

Dr. Talbot traveled to many countries in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Caribbean. In addition, she authored several books, including her autobiography, Finding My Voice.

Awards and citations include:

“Essence Woman,” ESSENCEMagazine , 1972

“Legend of Our Times,” ESSENCE Magazine , 1990

Listed in “Profiles of Outstanding Virgin Islanders”

“Churchwoman of the Year,” Religious Heritage of America, 1989

“International Citizen of the Year,” Alpha Kappa Alpha, 1990

Listed among “25 Most Prominent Men and Women in the Virgin Islands”

Dr. Talbot died on May 15, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. ❏ ❏

Editor’s Note: On June 24, 2022, the United States Supreme Court decided in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to return abortion policy to the states reversing the national policy articulated in Roe v. Wade.

In the wake of this decision, legislation to restrict and/or ban abortion and other reproductive care was advanced in various s tates. In this special sectionwe look at how the Dobbs decision has uniquely impacted African American women with a selection of submissions from various perspectives.

Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey – The Black Woman’s Fight for Reproductive Justice

Ms. Stephanie Burks, 8th Episcopal District

Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey—let us remember these names.

These women were enslaved on plantations in Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1840s. They were subjected to medical experiments by J. Marion Sims, often recognized as a pioneer in the field of gynecology. Tragically, their suffering and that of others served as the basis for Sims’ medical advancements, and he conducted each experiment without providing any form of anesthesia. These women had no control over their bodies. These injustices still exist today, a disturbing reminder that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Nearly a year ago, the Jackson Women’s Health Clinic, the only licensed abortion facility in Mississippi, shut its doors. Commonly referred to as the “Pink House,” this establishment stood at the center of the battle for reproductive justice, and Mississippi

became the focus, drawing worldwide attention.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) delivered its decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the constitutional right to abortion. This 5-4 ruling overturned the landmark cases of Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey (1992), transferring the authority to regulate abortion to individual states.

Subsequently, on July 7, 2022, a Mississippi “trigger law” passed, imposing a comprehensive ban on all abortions, except when the pregnant person’s life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.

Currently, 14 states have enacted abortion bans, some of which do not provide exceptions for rape

or incest and even criminalize abortion providers and individuals seeking the procedure. This issue of reproductive bodily autonomy is deeply entangled with racial justice, as it disproportionately affects women belonging to black and brown communities.

The implications go beyond abortion.

Recent data from the Mississippi Maternal Report, published earlier this year, reveals a staggering increase in maternal health disparities, with black women experiencing four times higher rates of maternal death than white women, who, in contrast, have seen a decline. These statistics rank among the worst in the nation. Denying bodily autonomy is not unfamiliar to women of color, particularly black women. Mississippi, in particular, has consistently opposed federal efforts to expand healthcare access

What Is Reproductive Justice? Why You Should Care

Rev. Brandee Mimitzraeim

Can we be honest?

The history of the fight for abortion access in America is rooted and steeped in anti-blackness. When we are honest, we can acknowledge that Planned Parenthood’s forced sterilizations of black women – that continued well into the 1990s – did long-term harm and had a reverberating impact on

black communities. When we are honest, we can acknowledge that the Pro-Choice Movement of the mid-to late-twentieth century was centered around white women’s needs and stories. When we are honest, we can admit that this history makes us uncomfortable with white women and men coming into our communities and talking

about the “right to choose.” When we are honest, we can admit that those same white women and men seem to care a whole lot about what happens in the uterus but seem to be absent when Black children are murdered by police and are typically silent about the school-toprison pipeline and food deserts, and voting rights. When we are

for those facing poverty, resulting in the

closure of hospitals in several critically underserved areas within the state. These closures further worsen the healthcare crisis, disproportionately affecting women and children.

When a woman cannot choose how or if she gives birth, it has social and economic consequences. Additionally, it affects the environment in which children are born. These decisions affect us all, and it is crucial that we advocate for all of our citizens and not ignore seemingly distant situations. Recognizing the interconnectedness of these issues is essential in creating a society that prioritizes equal access to resources for all individuals.

honest, we can admit that we are not only watching the increase in black women dying during and after childbirth but also watching ...continued on p34

our sisters, nieces, and granddaughters receive shoddy care from an implicitly biased healthcare system that costs too much.

We can honestly admit that the concerns of the Pro-Choice Movement do not seem to align with our own – whether we, ourselves, agree that abortion access is between a woman and God or not. Because we are honest, we know that the issues facing black communities are legion – they are a multitude, intertwined, and insidious. Our honesty means we cannot afford to be single-issue voters, single-issue Christians, or have a myopic focus on one issue at the expense of all others.

This honesty, this level of critique, is not new to us as African Methodist Episcopal Church members. When, in 1994, black women scholars and activists gathered in Chicago to strategize for the many issues facing our community, the AME Church was there. The Rev. Dr. Toni Bond, who, in her words, “grew up AME, it’s still in me,” was one of the women at that symposium. The Reproductive Justice Framework emerged from that gathering, a theo-ethical approach to engaging reproductive health. The framework is rooted in human rights and includes three principles: the right to

have children, the right not to have children, and the right to nurture the children we have in a safe and healthy environment.

Within these three principles is the inherent theological assumption that the lives and experiences of black people matter to God. Reproductive justice posits that the oppression and injustices endured by our ancestors (and us) are evil and must be resisted, that reproductive oppression is one of the ways that evil manifests, and that the evil is passed down through generations through health care systems, school systems, prison systems, and even within our reproductive systems. Reproductive justice maintains that it is insufficient to focus on whose hands are on whose uterus when cops have their hands around the necks of Black children. Reproductive justice is as concerned about access to reproductive health care – abortion and prenatal care alike – as it is about safe schools, safe streets, and healthy food for Black children.

For us. By us. About us.

In June of 2022, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This “Dobbs Decision” overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized

abortions. But the majority decision did so much more. Dobbs declared that the 14 th Amendment does not grant the right to “liberty” and that states have the power over “intimate and personal choices” and may limit the ability to choose as they see fit. In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas made it quite clear that this was the start of unraveling the last 50 years of civil rights and justice progress in the United States. It was bigger than abortion access.

Honestly, it has always been bigger than abortion access for black people.

Honestly, we have all been impacted by reproductive oppression. The systemic oppression upon which America was founded and continues to thrive revolves around the control and manipulation of black bodies. From the use of enslaved black men as “studs” and enslaved black women as “breeders” during slavery to the grotesque experiments – including dismemberment and “ownership” of even our DNA – that founded modern medicine, our bodies and reproductive systems were someone else’s to use, someone else’s to control. We had no say in if we would have children. And Jim Crow, redlining, and ecological racism made raising our children in safe and healthy

Oh, How Precious Is the Freedom to Make Decisions

MAY 29, 2023

John Wm. Roberts, ED.D., Director of Music/Principal Musician; Lee Chapel AME Church, Auburn, Alabama, 9 th Episcopal District

environments impossible. Because of ecological racism, black women have higher rates of infertility, fibroids, and uterine-based conditions. Because of medical racism, black women are more likely to die during and immediately after childbirth than women of every other race. These risks are not mitigated by class or socioeconomic status. Our struggle for liberation, equity, and civil rights has always included reproductive justice – even if we never used that term for it.

Honestly, Audre Lorde was right, “There is no such thing as a singleissue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Anti-black racism impacts every facet of our lives – including our reproduction, our liberty to determine our family size and status, our access to social mobility, and even our medical care. Reproductive justice is one way to name the struggle and to reclaim ourselves as made in God’s image with the right to self-determination. This is the work of the AME Church. It is who we have always been. It is how we minister to the social, spiritual, and physical development of all people. Reproductive justice is another way for us to go about the work of the kingdom of God.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was the case that brought about the 2022 Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade. This ruling began the process of sending women’s reproductive decisions back to individual states. Chaos has ensued, placing the lives of unborn children and their mothers in jeopardy.

I am an older brother to five younger sisters ranging in age from 62-69 years and the father of a daughter who will be 53 in August. I am aware of both the ease and difficulty they have encountered as they entered and exited their prime reproductive years. In a recent study, statistics have shown that African American women are 35% more likely to die during or immediately af ter childbirth due to the lack of accessibility to quality women’s reproductive healthcare facilities.

I am pro-choice; however, many in my immediate and extended family are pro-life. Opinions and idea differences will always exist within families, organizations, and ethnic groups. There are a series of questions I pose to those who are adamantly pro-life: [1]-“While I applaud your commitment to the welfare of the child before birth, what safety nets, support networks, are in place for mother, child, and, yes, families, after

the child is born?” [2]-“If, upon receiving information, the child was conceived as a result of rape and incest, why is the mother being forced to carry the unborn child to term? What support systems are in place to aid with helping the victim deal with the trauma which resulted in the unwanted pregnancy?” [3]-“What are your thoughts about terminating a pregnancy if the fetus is proven to be unviable?” [4]-“What processes

are in place when the health of the mother is in the balance as a result of an at-risk pregnancy?”

These are questions I would and have asked. Though uncomfortable to face, these are questions that should be asked. Whatever your thoughts on the issue of a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her reproductive rights and health, how can these questions be ignored? Have Christians become

so entrenched in ideology they have lost compassion or objectivity?

One major point of contention is the passage of the draconian abortion bans, passed in 25 states in this union we call the United States of America. The majority of the state legislatures are controlled by ‘white men’ who have never conceived, let alone given birth. This is yet another method by which men seek to control the minds and ...continued on p35

bodies of women. Historically, this has a parallel within certain denominations of Judeo-Christian religions. For years, certain denominations would not, and some still do not, allow women to preach the Gospel from the pulpit wit hin the confines of their denominational churches. To preach simply means to proclaim. The Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, exhorts all who profess to

be followers of Christ to proclaim, teach, and baptize: 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” There are no distinctions between men and women as to those chosen to proclaim, teach, and

baptize! A person’s call to preach is personal – between them and God! Just as the call to pastoral service is personal, the decision regarding the sanctity of life is personal. The ability of a woman to make decisions regarding her health is, as with the aforementioned, personal.

Matthew 22:21b states, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things

that are God’s.” In the effort to control, certain segments of society have intermingled the ideology of society with the perceived ideology of God. The separation of church and state, in this volatile situation, needs implementation. The desires of man are not always those of God. Man has yet to attain that level of perfection. ❏

Response to the Anniversary of the Dobbs Decision from the AME Church Health Commission

Rev. Dr. Ann Marie Bentsi-Addison, Women’s Health Coordinator, Connectional Health Commission

As we approach the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (Dobbs), the International Health Commission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (IHC AME Church) has remained vocal about its opposition to the ruling and its harmful consequences, particularly for black women.

The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case centers on a Mississippi law that banned abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The law was struck down by a district court in 2019, but the state of Mississippi appealed the decision, leading to the Supreme Court’s decision in late 2021 that such bans are, in fact, constitutional. This decision has far-reaching consequences not only for reproductive rights but for the health and well-being of BIPOC individuals.

It is well-documented that Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color (BIPOC) communities face greater barriers to accessing quality healthcare, including reproductive healthcare. Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color are disproportionately affected by involuntary sterilization, lack of access to contraception or birth control, and limited access to quality healthcare providers. The Dobbs decision will only exacerbate these already-exi sting disparities by further limiting access to safe and legal reproductive healthcare, which BIPOC individuals will bear the brunt of.

Additionally, the systemic barriers that often prevent BIPOC individuals from accessing healthcare also increase their risk of experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, to begin with. Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color individuals are more likely to live in low-income areas. They are more likely to face unemployment, inadequate housing, food insecurity, and other challenges that increase the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy. The inability to obtain such needed care in a safe, accessible, and affordable manner will only perpetuate the cyclical effects of poverty, further widening the gap between racial groups. Moreover, we must also consider the psychological and emotional toll that this decision may have on BIPOC communities. Defined again by the context of their lived experience,

many have seen their access to safe healthcare deteriorate as policy concerns, insurance coverage, parental consent laws, and stigma impacting abortion access entrenches systemic and logistical barriers for BIPOC individuals. Expecting people to come to grips with being forced to make reproductive health decisions for which they are not financially or emotionally prepared and the lifelong fallout is only one injustice among many.

We must continue to actively push for more inclusive, patient-centered, and equitable policy solutions in the United States. Such policies will limit harm, prevent further health disparities, and support easier equitable access to health services.

Until then, the fight to reduce these invasive forces and practices that harm BIPOC individuals must

What Would Jesus Do?

Rev. Dr. Kent L.

Poindexter, Contributing Writer

We live in a country that boasts that it is a reflection of a “true democracy” and that, overall, it reflects a strong sense of “Christian” values. Over the last 15 years, it has become clear this is not the case. The loudest voices proclaiming their faith guides decisions about how we should live are those who have determined that they have the right to force everyone to believe in God exactly as they do. There is a major contradiction here—

remain at the forefront to push against the harm being done.

Social justice and advocacy are at the core of African Methodism, especially in uplifting the voices and needs of the black community. Much of our efforts have centered around promoting access to healthcare and reproductive rights, which Dobbs substantially threatened.

At the root of the church’s response was a clear understanding of the devastation that limits care, as Dobbs will do. Beneficial structures that ensure access to reproductive healthcare have fallen further away. The impact of this decision goes beyond healthcare access. When met with unnecessary and invasive political intrusions into their reproductive health decisions, BIPOC individuals are put into

uncomfortable and life-threatening situations. This adds to the legacy of trauma already existing in these communities.

In a political climate of general uncertainty around issues of one’s body, it remains an affront to choices made around it as an extension of longstanding black legal and social stripping. The IHC AME Church reiterates its long-held commitment to reproductive justice--that is, the right of individuals to choose and control their own reproductive lives and well-being. We continue our efforts in partnership with other healthcare advocacy organizations to educate congregants and allies against various threats to reproductive freedom.

what happened to the idea that “all are endowed with certain unalienable rights . . . among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?”

How is it that, on the one hand, the constitutional conservatives believe that life begins at the point of conception and that they must protect life, yet on the other hand, they determine that people have the right to own guns which are being used

to take away life? How can people call themselves “Pro-Life” when they only value certain lives and knowingly support the notion of allowing anyone to decide when they have the right to take a life?

These contradictions should be a sign to those who desire consistency in the interpretation of laws and rights in our country. They should open our eyes to the fact that the Dobbs v. Jackson decision over abortion rights does not reflect concerns about whether abortion is moral. Ultimately it turns decisions about abortion rights over to state governments, thus allowing the states to be arbitrators of people’s rights. This decision has set a precedent for states whose legislatures and leadership lean toward being part

Who Are We?

By Rev. Dr. Monica C. Jones

of the so-called “Moral Majority” to impose their will on people. Even before this decision, states had begun to redraw voting districts to favor this group and to, in effect, disenfranchise millions of people who take seriously the words of the Declaration of Independence and our nation’s Constitution, which provide for every citizen to have a voice in the nation’s affairs. Just as the “Moral Majority” has never represented the “majority” of voters in the country, neither does the “new school” of conservatism, which has its sights set on

determining exactly what rights are “inalienable” and who is truly entitled to enjoy such rights. Dobbs v. Jackson is the opening to taking away those “inalienable rights” and potentially turning our democracy into a dictatorship.

As we reflect on what decisions made by the very conservative wing of the Supreme Court mean for the country (one justice has indicated that Dobbs v. Jackson provides an opening to look at other decisions by previous courts which allow people the freedom to make decisions about their lives), it seems that we who profess belief and faith in Jesus Christ should be asking ourselves, “What

would Jesus do?” What would the “Original Revolutionary” have to say about a government that claims to be “of the people, by the people, and for the people” and yet seeks ways to decide when the people’s voices matter? What would Jesus say about those who say that they heed his call to “pick up their crosses and follow” and yet decide that it is okay to hinder people from having “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? What is Jesus saying about those who will not stand up and speak truth to power in these difficult times? What would Jesus do?

Had I had an opportunity to have children, it is likely that I would not have terminated a pregnancy. Yet, if I had needed to, I would not have expected to have someone in the halls of the stat e capital, congress, or other legislative body try to make the decision for me. I certainly would not have expected unyielding, power-seeking politicians to place my life in danger in an attempt to suspend my civil rights and reproductive freedom.

In the garden, God could have certainly forced the couple to obey the commandments they had been given and submit to God’s will. Yet, God allowed Eve and Adam to determine whether they would be obedient or disobedient.

Jesus, in all of his power and authority over humankind, gave us choices. When he said that he would stand at the door and knock (Revelation 3:20), he was making it clear that it was our decision to choose salvation or sin. It was our decision to choose the path we would take for our redemption.

Already, women have testified to the horrendous and lifethreatening circumstances to which they have been subjected.  Some have sat in cars outside of hospitals, hemorrhaging until their lives were declared “in danger.” A ten-year-old rape victim had to

travel outside her home state to get the care she needed.

Physicians have already testified about life-threatening emergencies that have occurred because of narrow-minded individuals who, without medical knowledge, have dictated when a pregnancy is viable or not. They were forced to sit by while their patients carried dead fetuses to term.

An interesting observation about this crisis is how some of us, as members of the Black Church community, have latched on to the one issue, standing side-by-

side with extremists and various evangelicals who uphold antichoice laws. These biased, illinformed voices declare that they are pro-life. Still, one does not see them putting as much energy and effort into advocating for the loss of black lives because of the inequitable application of capital punishment.

The question we should ask ourselves is, who are we to make decisions regarding the health and reproductive rights of women? Who are we to decide what a person should or shouldn’t do regarding the future of their family? Who

are we to attempt to legislate reproductive choice?

Who are we? We are human beings with fallacies and weaknesses, and shortcomings. We all have sinned; we have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We all have a right to our privacy, and we have no business deciding for other human beings matters that should be between them, their physician, and their God.

The Reverend Monica C. Jones is on staff and director of Christian Education at Big Bethel in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Pro-Life Agenda Is the Agenda of White Supremacy

Rev. Renita Green

Purity theology was introduced in a very pronounced way when a youth pastor was hired from the Foursquare denomination at my small childhood church in the 80s. I recall many messages about fornication and promiscuity, staying pure until marriage, the purity of a virgin is like the purity of God. These messages came from a man who sexually assaulted me

during a lock-in at the church.

Six months pregnant at fourteen, I was sent to a home for unwed mothers where I was told that I was to place my baby for adoption— and all the reasons why it was good. I was terrified and numb and did what I was told. No one in my family, school, or church asked me about being pregnant—not if I was, not by whom—nothing. The intake

paperwork asked for the father’s name. No one seemed to flinch at the fact that he was in his twenties and I was fourteen. They assumed I was just out having sex—sinful and impure. They did not know he forced himself on me, and I was too numb to tell.

Two girls were sent home after their babies were not selected for adoption—the babies would be

black. My Hispanic baby was chosen. After her birth, I was sent back to the hellhole in which I lived—despite my pleas not to have to leave. I received no counseling, no interventions, and no protection.

...continued on p37

They took my baby and sent me on my way. Years later, in a conversation about abortion with a woman mentor in ministry, I learned about “back alley” abortions and how white elites were sent away to “boarding schools” to give birth. I thought about my experience and how the stories were all too similar.

In 1967 Ronald Reagan signed a California law that made it easier for women to access abortion. Just three years later, a headline in The New York Times reported that there was a shortage of white infants in adoption agencies, and the conversation began to change. In 1972 Nixon used the issue of abortion to sway Catholic voters (recent data shows that Catholic women have the highest

rate of abortions). In 1980, Reagan, on a platform of being the party of the “moral majority,” promised more pro-life judges and a return to “family values.” It is well known that the rhetoric of both Nixon and Reagan was a dog whistle for white supremacists.

Fears of the replacement theory run deep in white supremacists. The Brookings Institute reports that by 2045 the United States will become a “white minority” country. Currently, women of color are the highest rate of abortions at 38.4%. “Women of color” includes Hispanic women (not Asian). This means that there are actually more white babies aborted than black babies—this is what scares them.

The “pro-life” issue in the United

States is not—and has never been— about babies or theology. This is an issue of wealth and power—an issue of white supremacy. The goal of white supremacists is to prevent “replacement” by breeding as many white babies as possible.

White babies are adopted at an average cost of $30,000. Religious adoption agencies—primarily rooted in Catholicism or Evangelicalism— prey on impoverished white mothers to place the babies with adoptive families so as to give the child a “chance for a good life.” However, this “good life” is set up for white babies—others get sent back home Historically, the church and the government colluded to control behaviors, amass wealth, steal land, and colonize indigenous people.

When the government needed to curtail a behavior, it was deemed a sin by the church. When the church needed to impose moral codes, the government created laws.

What we see from Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is the same tune but different lyrics.

The church has used the government as a moral muscle. The government agreed, in exchange, for the pulpit to be the promoter of white supremacist ideology. We must be sober-minded and watchful. The adversary is seeking to devour. Many see the Dobbs decision as good. However, everything “good” ain’t God, and if it ain’t God, is it really good? ❏ ❏ ❏

Excerpts From a Mother Day’s Sermon Entitled, A Mother Who Believes in a Pro-Life God

Quardricos Driskell, Columnist

Psalm 46:5: God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.

The ancient and biblical women or feminine figures in scripture are lessons on how to show strength during hardship and fearful moments. And unfortunately, in our contemporary context, the repeal of Roe v. Wade via the decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ruled that the United States Constitution does not confer a right to abortion, is such a moment. This decision continues to send shockwaves around the country, and some communities are still suffering from the aftershock of generations of reproductive injustice already predicated on poor and black communities.

We are the descendants and survivors of medical victimization, prominently in the same states that this decision will most negatively affect. From the abuse of women’s bodies as objects for medical experiments on the plantation to the same in the medical pavilions today, black women and mothers bear the scars that have become keloids long before this decision. Black women show up in worship laden with the sequelae of health

inequities, silently suffering in praise. When we pray, we lift our voices to God, yet, black women are still 3-4 times more likely to die in childbirth despite their age at pregnancy, socioeconomic status, or academic achievements. Black women are also more likely to suffer from “a Mississippi appendectomy” than our white counterparts. Black women and mothers are more likely to suffer the consequences into their senior years because of the inequities predicated upon their bodies, especially during reproductive years.

However, as this threat awakens a sense of urgency for the country, we, especially the church, can no longer remain silent. First, we must acknowledge that black women were already in a reproductive health crisis. And so, those of us founded and nurtured at the bosom of social Gospel, we cannot drop the ball in the fight for reproductive justice.

What has allowed us to believe that God is, in our politicized terms, pro-life? What has allowed us to be in a non-rigorous framework to captivate the political and theological imagination of the present time? Where have we learned such notions that ending unwanted pregnancy deserves God’s damnation? That abortions

are wrong and evil, anti-Christian, and not of God?

The traditional methodology for engaging scripture, especially in western evangelical Christianity, regrettably a dominant voice of religion in the United States, has always been more concerned with personal piety and using Christianity to advance their politics rather than being concerned about the “other,” “the least of these,” and using the principles of the faith to inform their politics that is concerned with the totality of life and all people. It is easy enough to speak of an ethic for life, but is that ethic uplifting actual lives?

I will submit to you that we, on this Mother’s Day, need a robust Christian ethic for life that cannot rest on a sanctity-of-life framework because it lacks theological and scientific rigor. Ultimately, “when life begins” isn’t the right question because it’s unanswerable often according to one’s belief. But from an ethical and moral perspective, the question then must be: how do we as a society reach a compromise that upholds the autonomous rights of the persons who may become pregnant, who may have excessive risks associated with a pregnancy, or who may simply not wish to be pregnant, that also observes whatever our societal

agreedupon understanding of when life starts within the womb?

Similarly, the feminist theologian Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza proposes that the Bible must function “as a resource for women’s struggle for liberation.” I would add that the Bible must also function as a practical resource for intersectional struggle: the liberation of all persons into their full potential as human beings.

What, then, should be the alternative pro-life framework? It should be a belief in a God who allows for life and the flourishing of life to control our sexuality, our gender, and reproduction.

God allows free will, choice, and liberty. God through Jesus delivers freedom, and liberation, and if liberty is the power of choice, freedom from arbitrary or despotic control, and the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges, then liberty and well-being are interdependent. And God has empowered mo thers and women to choose what ...continued on p38

...From The Pro-Life p36

is in their best interest and the best interest of their families, and whatever decisions are made are between them and their God. And thus, this moral framework transcends a myopic obsession with the womb that characterizes the sanctity-of-life framework.

For the psalmist says, “It will not be moved” (verse 5). In this strong profession of faith, though it seems like the world is collapsing around the children of God, it “will not be moved.”  For we believe in a pro-life God concerned about women and children throughout life and not only life in the womb but also outside of it. A God who trusts and is with women, mothers, trans, and non-binary people with free will and bodily autonomy. A God who believes in expanding Medicaid for children and the indigent, a God who believes in ensuring health equity for all, a God who believes that mothers and children will have basic access to take care of all needs.

We are called to exemplify faith and works - to speak for the poor and the oppressed. We must stand up and overthrow the powers of oppression. We must empower our members through education about their health and healthcare issues. We must also encourage healthcare advocacy from the sanctuary to the state and U.S. Senate.

But with God on our side and as the text says, “God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.” For we believe in a God who loved the world so much that she sent her Son into the world not to condemn it so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

Quardricos Bernard Driskell is pastor of the historic Beulah Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and 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.

One Year Since the Dobbs Decision:

Drawing Strength From Each Other’s

Faith for the Fight Ahead

Dora

Muhammad

This past March, I sat humbly listening to the Rev. William Lamar IV chisel out the Rev. Brandee Jasmine Mimitzraiem’s idea of TheChristianRecorder’ s potential role in amplifying my work at Planned Parenthood as its first associate director of faith engagement. The pastors’ creativity was sparked on the third day of a national faith table convening in Washington, District of Columbia, under the theme, “Imagining New Worlds: In Faithful Pursuit of an Inclusive Democracy.” The strength of their conviction of the possibilities invoked in my mind the anvil pictured atop the cross in the African Methodist Episcopal Church logo.

The intrinsic power embodied by their collective determination and vision of the way forward inspired me. That energy matched the story I heard of the founding African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation that purchased its own worship space in protest of the racist mistreatment of the Methodist church they attended to establish Bethel AME Church in 1794. From a renovated blacksmith shop, they used an anvil as an unassuming pulpit to deliver the Word of God and spread their faith. Extending from this ancestral boldness, it was evident why the AME Church today stands at the forefront of faith institutions fighting for reproductive freedom. The church was the first black denomination to issue a public statement against the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended the federal right to abortion after nearly 50 years when news of it leaked in May of 2022.

One year after that devastating Supreme Court decision to reverse the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, the federal judiciary, circuit courts, state courts, and state legislatures are still working to unravel ...continued on p40

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.

Chokeholds and Guns Usually Cause Bad Outcomes. They Did This Time, Too

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

Have compassion and sensitivity gone out of the window? Have extreme thinking and extreme action replaced them?

Is our immediate reaction to fatally harm someone that will result in death? Some would say we have become a society that is quick to kill.

We rise each day to start anew. We encourage ourselves and often get encouragement from others. Sometimes we hear about someone getting harmed. These acts have adversely affected our sensibilities.

Our America, which we love, is in a moral decline. It is a pandemic of harm and hurt. Our decision-making about life and death has changed. We shoot and strangle without thinking about the lifelong consequences.

Now sadly, we have lost another life due to a chokehold. Our memories of George Floyd, killed by a chokehold, are still fresh in our minds.

Recently, Jordan Neely was killed when a person used a chokehold on him in a New York City subway. Neely was 24 years of age.

Reports say Jordan Neely, an African American male, was not armed and appeared not to harm anyone. He was shouting that he was hungry and had

given up hope. Further reporting says that he had mental health problems. Does Jordan Neely, who did Michael Jackson impersonations, have to die because he was hungry and had given up hope? Is death the only alternative for someone who needs help and hope?

The person who administered the chokehold to Neely was Daniel Penny. He was a U.S. Marine veteran. Records show that he was a sergeant and served from 2017-2021.

Penny’s attorneys, in a statement, said, “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death. We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways.”

An interesting fact, in this case, is that Penny has hired Thomas Kenniff, who ran against current Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in 2021. According to CNN, Attorney Kenniff is a veteran and a major in the Army National Guard.

Daniel Penny, as of May 7, 2023, has

reproductive health care access and rights. It is excruciating to witness the relentless and arbitrary provisions in state fights as lawmakers gut the freedoms of religion and conscience and now conspicuously blend their efforts into a movement for a national ban on abortion.

Unnecessary barriers that force pregnant people to delay care, such as mandated clinic visits, waiting periods, and ultrasounds, have evolved into sixweek abortion bans, as in Florida and Georgia, 12-week bans in North Carolina and Nebraska, and total bans now in 14 states. Based on data that Planned Parenthood’s Data Strategy, Analytics, and Governance department collected from our state affiliates, after the Dobbs decision, from July to December 2022, travel to access abortion care increased exponentially from an average of 1.5 hours. Travel time is now greatest for patients living in total ban states: 15 hours in Texas, 12 hours in Louisiana, 8 hours in Mississippi, and 6.5 hours in Oklahoma. That is a huge increase.

This rapidly shifting landscape for abortion

not been charged with a crime. District Attorney Bragg is investigating the case and will decide.

There are a few perspectives regarding this case. These are my opinions. Was Daniel Penny engaged enough to see that he was causing Jordan Neely pain and discomfort? Why did onlookers not intervene? These questions will be answered soon.

Mass shootings are happening across America almost weekly. There have been over 180 mass shootings in this country in 2023.

There was a mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia recently. The shooter killed one person and injured four people inside a medical building.

Amy St. Pierre, a mother who worked for the Center for Disease Control (CDC), was killed in this shooting. CDC spokesperson Benjamin Haynes said, “Our hearts are with the family, friends, and colleagues as they remember her and grieve this tragic loss.”

The shooter was Deion Patterson, an African American male who, until

access has dangerous ripple effects for patients and healthcare providers, who are threatened with fines and imprisonment. The consequences of limiting the ability to get essential family planning and reproductive health services only make the welfare of all our communities more vulnerable. There are no reasonable compromises when it comes to someone’s reproductive freedom. Any law limiting a person’s ability to control their medical decisions fully is unacceptable. We must protect everyone’s fundamental freedom to control their bodies, decisions, and lives before the contemporary overreach of the government and courts creep further into autocracy.

Planned Parenthood will continue to join our progressive partners in litigation, legislation, and advocacy. We will not back down until reproductive health access is restored and reproductive justice paves the way for reproductive freedom for all. The challenge from the streets to the courts must now be extended to religious councils and cathedrals to move people of faith to get bold and beautifully courageous in

States Coast Guard. He is now in police custody. He reportedly had mentalhealthproblems.

Both Jordan Neely and Deion Patterson suffered from mental healthdisorders.Neelyisnolonger with us, and Patterson will be chargedwithacrime.

What else needs to happen before we start paying attention to mental health issues and gun acquisition? Our politicians make statements about doing better. However, the lawsremainthesame.

We, the citizens, wonder where tragedy will occur next. It is not if tragedy will occur; it is simply when. ❏ ❏ ❏

this fight. We must reclaim the faith narrative for reproductive freedom.

We need an unceasing pounding on the anvil of our spiritual identities until firm faith voices emerge from applying pressure for justice and protesting for free conscience. We are not welding metal but reconstructing theological thought. There, on the face of that anvil, where the transfer of energy from the inert to the forged changes the old into a new form, we can draw strength from one another to continue our resilient pounding and chiseling until we shift the culture within all denominations and faith traditions.

I am grateful to the Rev. Lamar for moving this vision of the power of faith voices beyond conversation into reality with this special edition of The Christian Recorder This moment calls on people of faith like never before to help drive the transformation of the institutions of their faith. We can and must harness our power to restore and protect the right of every person to control their futures in the frame of the AME motto — for all humankind, our family.

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