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The Bishop Sarah Frances Davis Covenant Keepers and Intercessors (The BSFDCK and I
Evangelist Dr. Val Eloby-Slade
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The Bishop Sarah Frances Davis Covenant Keepers and Intercessors (BSFDCK and I) has led the African Methodist Episcopal Church’s Annual Connectional Day of Prayer for twelve years. This annual day takes place on April 13th with a one-hour prayer covering. There have been domestic and international subjects covered during this one hour of praying and exaltation to include children’s concerns and matters for our schools, political leadership, religious leadership covering, oppression of people domestically and internationally, human trafficking, injustices, profiling, discrimination, and many other prayer concerns. It is very important to share that the “Good News” in this article is that our BSFDCK and I will continue to pray on the first or second Monday at midnight of each month, and we are planning to have another African Methodist Episcopal Church Connectional Day of Prayer for April 13, 2023. One might say that this is quite early to share this date, but preparing for something so wonderful is never too early. We should be getting ready for another Connectional Day of Prayer to gather in prayer with the Connectional Church and exalt our God together in unity, spirit, and in truth.
The Connectional Day of Prayer is a moment when each of our twenty Episcopal districts can prepare by submitting to prayer and fasting in preparation for April 13, 2023. Our department’s staff, general officer, and the commission’s chairperson are fully aware that many of our Episcopal districts have already supported the Connectional Day of Prayer through localized prayer calls. We are proud of these and other types of gatherings and welcome any newly established prayer groups or teams to let us know what you are doing in your specific Episcopal district or local conferences.
You can find more information about the Connectional Day of Prayer on the new Department of Church Growth, Development, and Evangelism website: amechurchgrowth.org. We encourage everyone to visit the website and to download the department’s new app. To God be the glory! ❏ ❏ ❏
voters decided to keep abortion legal, rejecting an amendment to outlaw abortion
altogether. No faith is monolithic on the abortion issue. Yet, many followers of religion may lament that stricter abortion bans could supersede their rights and religious beliefs. While the attention is on abortion, the Supreme Court, on June 21, 2022, ruled that Maine must provide tuition at religious schools in its taxpayer-funded, state-run program to provide students with public education. This decision forces taxpayers to fund religious education, undermining our government’s secular nature and religious institutions’ freedom to engage in ministry without government interference. Similarly, the Court ruled in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District that the school district violated a coach’s free exercise and free speech rights as he prayed after each football game, in the center of the field, and his players joined in prayer after those football games. This decision fundamentally undermines religious freedom in public schools by holding that school officials must accommodate a public school teacher’s religious exercise at a school event. The decision flies in the face of decades of decisions that have allowed students and teachers to enjoy their religious freedom without fear of schoolsponsored religious practices. Unfortunately, the current Supreme Court is moving toward a vision of religious liberty that expands free exercise to the point that directly threatens principles of no establishment of religion by Congress. And while these cases are not as well-known in the American political ether, they emblematize the erosion of religious liberty. They will deeply impact religious freedom in America as we know it. So, with the religious imagery of Christian Nationalism on display on January 6 and the recent Supreme Court decisions, religious freedom and liberty are threatened, and how religion will shape the November election remains to be seen. Still, the religious-power dynamics of the religious left and religious right are likely to play a role in determining the outcomes of this election. One thing is clear: Political parties and the media need to pay attention to the nuances of religious affiliation and imagination, how those attachments and ideas overlap with pressing issues of the day like climate change and gun reform, and how different religious voters approach politics, evaluate candidates, and vote.
...From What Role p13
Quardricos Bernard Driskell is an adjunct professor of legislative politics, where he teaches religion, race, public policy, and politics at the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Follow him on Twitter @q_driskell4.
CONGRATULATORY Listings
*Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font, General Officers; and Blue font, Connectional Officers.
Dr. Jacquelyn DuPont Walker, Consultant of the Social Action Commission of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, to Receive the Interreligious Council of Southern California 2022 Lucky Altman Lynch Award for Interfaith Excellence The Interreligious Council of Southern California 2022 Lucky Altman Lynch Award for Interfaith Excellence will be presented to Dr. Jacquelyn DuPont-Walker for her interfaith excellence. Through the award the council expresses its deep gratitude for her many years of work at local, regional, and national levels for economic justice, affordable housing, voter empowerment, racial equity, transportation, and interfaith collaboration especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The award will be presented at a luncheon gathering at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, October 11, at the Baha’i Center, 5755 Obama Boulevard, Los Angeles. Altman Lynch, who once staffed the Interreligious Council while serving as local leader of the National Council for Community and Justice, looks forward to being on hand to present the award to Dr. DuPont-Walker. The Interreligious Council of Southern California Lucky Altman Lynch Award for Interfaith Excellence
SEPTEMBER 2022
is presented annually to deserving recipients who meet the criteria of living out the priority of their life’s work “to build bridges of understanding and to eliminate bias and bigotry to those who held a different belief system.” The Executive Committee receives and approve nominations, and also consult with Lucky Altman Lynch during the selection process for each recipient. Dr. DuPont Walker’s extensive work with ICSoCal, particularly during the 1984 Olympics interfaith outreach and with the National Conference for Community and Justice, makes her well known to the ICSoCa.
...From Congratulatory p19 The Interreligious Council fulfills the promise of its name with the participation of all of the major religions of the world. Official delegates of the member organizations take part in the planning, decision making, and implementation of all programs of the council. Its mission is to promote religious pluralism, diversity, and collaboration in southern California. Congratulatory messages can be emailed to: jdupontwalker@gmail.com. On September 17th I Was Provided the Opportunity to Participate in the Ordination and Consecration of My Cousin, The Rt. Rev. Paula E. Clark, as the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Chicago Paula Clark is the first black person and first woman to serve as Chicago’s diocesan bishop. She leads more than 30,000 Episcopalians in 124 congregations and campus ministries across northern and west central Illinois.
Bishop Mariann Budde of the Diocese of Washington, where Clark served as canon to the ordinary before her election to the episcopacy, preached the consecration sermon. “Being in the presence of Paula Clark and watching her in action is like taking a master class in Christian leadership. That was true before all that transpired in the last 18 months, and it is even more so now,” Budde said, referring to the cerebral bleed that Clark suffered in April 2021, just days before she was originally scheduled to be ordained and consecrated, and to the death of Clark’s husband from multiple myeloma in November. “Paula, you have lived the last 18 months as if everything we proclaim as followers of Jesus is true,” Budde said.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was the chief consecrating bishop. Peace and Love,
Rev. Kenneth H. Hill, Ph.D.•hilldrkenneth@ comcast.net • Pastor • Shorter Chapel AME Church Two AMEs Receive Joseph R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement and Volunteer Service Award Congratulations to Dr. Georgianne Thomas (6th District) and the Reverend Alvelyn SandersSwafford (9th District), a mother-daughter duo, on each receiving a 2022 Joseph R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement and Volunteer Service Award in a ceremony on Friday, August 26, 2022, at the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, where many other distinguished recipients were honored. Dr. Thomas received the award for her work and courage as an activist in the Atlanta Student Movement while she was a student at Spelman College in Atlanta in the 1960s. The Reverend Sanders-Swafford was honored in the Media/ Storytellers category. She received the award for her work as the producer, writer, and director of the independent, award-winning documentary, “Foot Soldiers: Class of 1964.” The film tells the story of the women of the class of 1964 at Spelman College who participated in the largest coordinated series of protests in Atlanta’s history during their freshman year. The Rev. SandersSwafford and her mother, who tells her story in the film, produced the project together. The film was entered in the U.S. Congressional Record in May 2022 to commemorate the contributions of the “foot soldiers” and the 10th anniversary of the documentary. It premiered in the 2012 BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, before making its television debut on Atlanta’s PBS station, WPBA-TV30. “Foot Soldiers: Class of 1964” received two awards at the 21st Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles in February 2013: Best Documentary Short (57mins) in the juried competition and Audience Favorite in the documentary short category. The filmmakers completely volunteered their time to make this film, which still resonates with audiences a decade later. It will be featured on Maryland Public Television (PBS) in September 2022 as a part of that station’s HBCU week of special programming, Dr. Thomas and the Rev. Sanders-Swafford give God praise for the distinguished honor of the Presidential Award, which is bestowed on behalf of the president of the United States, Points of Light, and AmeriCorps. They are grateful for the blessing of producing the documentary. It was produced as a gift to pay homage to the courage and sacrifice of the “foot soldiers” and the Atlanta Student Movement participants. Dr. Georgianne Thomas is a member of Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is a trustee emeritus. She is an adjunct professor of humanities at Clark Atlanta University. The Rev. Alvelyn Sanders-Swafford is the pastor of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (Avondale) in Birmingham, AL. She serves as a member of the administrative staff for Bishop Harry L. Seawright, and as a member of the staff for general secretary/CIO, the Rev. Dr. Jeffery B. Cooper, upon invitation, for Connectional meetings. The Rev. Sanders-Swafford serves on the Finance Committee and the Board of Examiners of the Northwest Alabama Annual Conference, and she is married to the Rev. Raymond Swafford, the pastor of Hopewell African Methodist Episcopal Church (Kingston) in Birmingham, AL. The Rev. Sanders-Swafford has served as an instructor at Morris Brown College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. Sanders-Swafford was one of 15 writers selected to participate in the inaugural master class of memoir writing at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. As a member of the faculty at Morris Brown College, she was one of twenty instructors selected nationally to participate in the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation faculty seminar on the television entertainment industry held in Los Angeles. For more information about the honorees, please visit: drgeorgianne.com and alvelyn.com. Email: Dr. Georgianne Thomas:georgiannethomas@ gmail.com • the Rev. Alvelyn Sanders-Swafford: alvelynsanders@gmail.com The Reverend and Mrs. Charles Singleton Celebrate 65th Wedding Anniversary It’s “Another Day” of THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU LORD! as expressed by the REVEREND & MRS. CHARLES (Jeanette Pinckney) Singleton of Awendaw, SC. The couple met and became sweethearts 83 years ago. On September 7, 1957 they became ONE. On September 7, 2022 (they celebrated) 65 years of marriage. They are still very active and sharing with many groups and organizations. The Rev. Singleton is a superannuated pastor in the AME Church and Sister Jeanette is a life member of the Women’s Missionary Society of the AME Church. They thank, respect, praise, and appreciate their family members, acquaintances, and friends for their kindness and respect. TO GOD BE THE GLORY as they celebrate their BLUE SAPPHIRE ANNIVERSARY!
Congratulatory expressions can be emailed to: JeanettePSing@att.net. Congratulations to the Rev. Alexander for 50 Years of Faithfulness to God’s Calling Congratulations to the Rev. James Avery Alexander, Sr., the pastor of Brown’s Chapel AME Church in Homerville, GA in the Sixth Episcopal District
On Sunday, August 28, 2022, the Rev. James Avery Alexander, Sr., celebrated his 50th preaching anniversary. Pastor Alexander preached his first sermon on the 4th Sunday in August, when he was 18 years of age in 1972 at Avery Chapel AME Church in Oklahoma City, OK, where his father, the late Rev. Robert H. Alexander, Sr., was the pastor. Congratulations, Rev. Alexander, for 50 years of faithfulness to God’s calling. Greetings may be emailed to: alex0361@bellsouth.net.
The Harrisburg District of the Philadelphia Annual Conference Congratulates Presiding Elder and Consultant the Reverend and Mrs. Lawrence C. Henryhand on the Celebration of Their Wedding Anniversary The Harrisburg District of the Philadelphia Conference, First Episcopal District proudly announce the thirty-seventh wedding anniversary of the Rev. Lawrence C. Henryhand, presiding elder and WMS consultant Mrs. G. Marie Henryhand, Harrisburg District on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Presiding Elder Lawrence C. Henryhand met his Mona Lisa, Sister G. Marie Henryhand, at Cosmopolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, Bronx, New York, through a mutual friend, the late Mother Clara Brantley who introduced them. On September 21, 1985, they were joined together in holy matrimony and God blessed them beyond measure as they followed the example found in Proverbs 18:22, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.” Now 37 years later they are still celebrating their marriage every day. To God be the glory for how he has showered them with a multitude of blessings.
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NECROLOGY Listings
*Purple font connotes Episcopal Family; Red font, General Officers; and Blue font, Connectional Officers.
SEPTEMBER 2022
Presiding Elder John
Madison, superannuated of the West Tennessee Conference, Thirteenth Episcopal District, who served faithfully and relentlessly as the presiding elder in the South Memphis District for over 15 years, and pastored several churches, including his last charge, New Tyler AME Church in Memphis, TN
Mother Lucy Ree Watts
Marshall, the mother of Presiding Elder Dr. Willie Eugene Marshall of the Ozark Troy District in the Southeast Alabama Conference of the Ninth Episcopal District
Mrs. Dorothy Jean Culver
Phillips, the wife of the Rev. Paul Phillips, retired pastor from Allen Chapel AME Church in Skipperville, Alabama in the Southeast Alabama Conference, Ninth Episcopal District
The Late Honorable Mother
Francine Coleman-Postell, the cherished and sainted mother and mother-in-love of presiding elder and district consultant, the Rev. Henry L. Postell II and Mrs. Beverly H. Postell, Eleventh Episcopal District Miss Annie Seales, sister of the Rev. Dr. Esther L. Seales, pastor of Tyree AME Church, Philadelphia, PA, First Episcopal District
Mr. Edwin L. Swan (09/07/1993 – 09/06/2022), son of Monica Swan-Giles and the Rev. James H. Giles, Sr., presiding elder of the Hot Springs/Arkadelphia District, West Arkansas Conference, Twelfth Episcopal District
The Rev. Mokete Gladman
Ramatong, a retired presiding elder of the Goldfields District of the Orangia Annual Conference, Nineteenth Episcopal District, and the husband of Mrs. Faith Keelole Ramatong; father of Pogisho Chakalane, Keatlegile Ramatong, Kelebogile Ramatong (deceased), Keatlaretse Ramatong, Keitumetse Ramatong, and Keleagile Ramatong
Brother Cornelius Alexander
Kennard who grew up in Bethel AME Church in Batesville, Arkansas and was a faithful member who answered the call to preach and received his license to preach from Presiding Elder Angela Brewster of the Little Rock/Jonesboro District, Twelfth Episcopal District
The Rev. Lummie L. Spann,
Sr., local minister, St. Matthew AME Church, Raleigh, North Carolina, Western North Carolina Conference, Second Episcopal District
Mrs. Florence J. Warren,
secretary of the Episcopal committee for 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 quadrennials, and the director of Lay activities of the Connectional Lay Organization, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Sister Frances Harris Cofield,
former Connectional WMS historiographer-statistician and WMS life member and the mother of the Rev. Swayne A. Cofield, M.D., pastor of Rose of Sharon AMEC, Norwalk, CA, Fifth Episcopal District
The Rev. Clifford H. McKinney,
Sr., an AME pastor that served churches in Perrine, FL, before retirement and the brother of the Rev. Dr. Hazel Linton (superannuated pastor in the East Arkansas Conference) and brother-in-law of Mr. Henri Linton, Twelfth Episcopal District
The Rev. Dr. Barbara Yvonne
Glenn, retired pastor of First AME Church-Gaithersburg, Maryland, Washington Conference, Second Episcopal District Condolences to the bereaved are expressed on behalf of Publications Commission chair Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., president/publisher of the AMEC Publishing House (Sunday School Union) the Rev. Dr. 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
EDITORIAL
The Imposter Within
Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt, Columnist
I was at an event to offer words about a colleague in the youth development field retiring. Right before I was to speak, a woman came over to me and said she remembered me from her teen years. She said that one of her friends I had known since the 80s recently died. I was crestfallen. As soon as I got home, I called the best friend of the deceased, Sonice (not her real name), and got the sad details. We laughed, reminisced, and cried for our departed sister, friend—and mentee. Sonice, by all accounts, is successful, so it was surprising when out of nowhere during our conversation, she said, “Uncle Fonzo (that is what I told all young people to this day to call me), when you first met us, we were all messed up. Given what I have been through growing up, I have to admit that sometimes I feel like an imposter.”
Have you ever felt like you were an imposter and did not deserve your success? Since it is hard to have imposter conversations with people, let us delve into this issue. I believe that the imposter resides beside the real you—waiting for a time to discourage you (I know this from my past battles with the imposter) by bringing to mind your insecurities. The imposter whispers your secret fears to you, accurately citing past painful negative situations to buttress the point that you are a fraud. The odd thing is that deep down, you know what is presented is true, making it hard to refute the argument. No one can totally divorce his or herself from the past. Likewise, knowing what parts of the past will stay with you is hard. I know Sonice had a hard life, as did many of her peers growing up. It is why Uncle Fonzo had to step up and offer love and support to vulnerable children. Is it time to get rid of the imposter within? Are you tired of making fake advances that end in real retreats? The imposter within hates light, so shine the light of truth on your situation—the light that acknowledges past missteps, mess-ups, or miscues. Acknowledge what you see, own what you feel—and move on from it. This act of ownership removes the imposter’s greatest weapon against you, and that is, your “damaging” secret will be exposed. It is time for you to turn the tables on the imposter within by exposing your secrets— not so much to others but to yourself because you can never change what you will not name.
Rev. Dr. Alfonso Wyatt Guest Editorial
Can this be your declaration to the imposter within: while you know so much about me, I also have learned a few things about you? You always bring negative, regurgitated pieces of my past hurts, shortcomings, and brokenness to mind. You never give real advice or encouragement. But, imposter, I have outgrown your lies and threats. Your innuendos are no longer threatening to me. I had to go deep inside and find the strength I needed to overcome the past. It is with the same strength you deceptively convinced me was my weakness; so imposter, it is so nice to finally say you no longer have power over me.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) ❏ ❏ ❏
...From Congratulatory p20 his tender care. Oh, how great God is! He continues to keep them in Congratulatory email can be sent to: Lchchap@aol.com (Presiding Elder & Mrs. Lawrence C. Henryhand).
On behalf of Publications Commission chair Bishop David R. Daniels, Jr., president/publisher of the AMEC Publishing House (Sunday 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.
...From The “Man…” p17 ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’” And, when David confesses and repents, then Nathan replies to David, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you (worth more than hundreds of thousands of dollars; more than Rolex watches; more than sitting in official assemblies) will die.”
Making a molehill out of a mountain is not enough to move the man in the mirror closer to the man in the middle at Calvary’s mountain; treating something as if it were nothing is not enough to bridge the gap between the man in the mirror and the man in the middle; cheap grace was not enough for David to recognize the depth of his depravity, the pattern of his abuse of power, position, and of people. Cheap grace is not enough to constrain and correct “the thing which David had done,” and with which God was “displeased.” And, “cheap grace” is not enough for the pervasive pattern of “the thing(s)” which are done in the 48 pages. But, for all of us who recognize our own resemblance to the man (person) in the mirror, God’s mercy is everlasting. And God’s grace is more than sufficient to satisfy his demand for justice; and to move us to confession and repentance and change in behavior.
“The thing which David had done displeased the Lord.” God sent Nathan to David. David sees himself in “the man in the mirror.” Through Nathan, David confesses and repents when he comes face to face with God’s justice and judgment and God’s mercy and amazing grace. David must have been thankful that God sent Nathan to help David to see how much David looks like the man in the mirror. David could’ve vented his unlimited, awesome power upon Nathan to retaliate against Nathan, punish Nathan or remove Nathan from his office as prophet and replace Nathan with a spineless sycophant to give David an incessant shower of “cheap grace.” But Nathan is willing to take the risks and fulfills the dangerous two-fold mission God SENT Nathan on (justice/judgment and mercy/grace. Psalm 51 (a Psalm of David) is moist with the tears of David’s contrition and his confession for the thing he has done and his remorse and his repentance. In Psalm 32 (also a Psalm of David) David praises and blesses God for God’s amazing grace: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2). Furthermore, in 1 Chronicles 3:5, David even names one of his future sons with Bathsheba after Nathan. Thank God for sending Nathan to David. Thank God!!
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that save(s) ed a wretch, like me.” “Amazing grace shall always be my song of praise. For it was grace that bought my liberty. I do not know just how he came to love me so. He looked beyond my faults and saw my need.”
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. And no message could’ve been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change.” ❏ ❏ ❏
