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MAY 2021
The Christian Recorder
GREATER BETHEL AME CHURCH, CHARLOTTE, HOSTS VACCINATION CLINIC By Angeline Pugh, 2nd Episcopal District
social justice and equality. Pastor Jay received his undergraduate degree from the prestigious Howard University in Washington DC. Following his graduation, he served in the military. After decorated military service, he earned his Juris Doctorate from Tulane University and served as a law clerk to Louisiana Supreme Court Chief (then Associate) Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson. He later earned his Master of Divinity degree from United Theological Seminary, as a Beane Fellow and National Rainbow-PUSH Foundation
THE PAIN OF RACISM THROUGH THE LENS OF CALVARY By Rev. Dr. Versey Williams, Contributing Writer
Greater Bethel AME Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, in conjunction with Atrium Health, hosted a community-wide COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic on March 12, 2021, in the main parking lot at 5232 The Plaza, Charlotte, North Carolina. The goal was to vaccinate 300 individuals on a first-come, first-served, no appointment necessary, basis between the hours of 8:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dr. Abdue Knox, the pastor, and Brother Neal Green, the chair of the Social Action Commission, worked tirelessly with the Mecklenburg County Health Department, Atrium Health, and Novant Health to offer the Greater Bethel campus as a vaccination site. Atrium Health responded first. At 7:00 a.m., an hour before the first shots were to be given, over 100 cars of individuals lined up, into six lines, to receive their first Moderna vaccination. Over two dozen volunteers from the Greater Bethel AME Church assisted Atrium Health at the Vaccination Clinic as well as neighbors from the Shannon Park Neighborhood Association and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. To ensure that this would be a successful and targeted event, the Greater Bethel Public Relations Commission spearheaded getting the word out. The church handed out flyers at the hundreds of weekly visitors of the food pantry, shared it on social media networks, and performed good oldfashioned word of mouth by calling members, friends, and informing the community regarding the Clinic. Many Greater Bethel members and various community neighbors attended the Clinic. In addition, the First Family (Pastor Knox and Sister Rashida Knox) and Sister Vanessa Byrd, the daughter of Retired Supervisor Theora Byrd, received their first vaccination. Atrium Health administered 279 vaccinations and several people were rescheduled because they arrived after closing. Atrium Health returned for the second Vaccination Clinic on April 9 and 281 second doses were administered. This was an excellent showing. Kudos to the Social Action Commission and Pastor Knox for planning and providing leadership, guidance, and orchestrating a successful COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic. “We are grateful for our partnership with Greater Bethel AME Church to provide access to safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines that will protect our community,” said Trent Legare, the Director of Community Care at Atrium Health. “Greater Bethel AME Church is a trusted community voice and with their support, we have been able to vaccinate hundreds of members of their congregation, network of friends and family, ...From Congratulatory p12
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Navigating racism in the 21st century means Eastertide 2021 holds an even deeper significance for me. Termed “Jim Crow 2.O,” I have always known God grieves when we are marginalized, ridiculed, and murdered at the hearts and hands of those who live out Satan’s decree to kill, steal, and destroy. God Incarnate, in the person of Jesus, gives us hope. Although it is difficult to stomach, racism has gotten better for us as a people. However, better is not good enough. We deserve to be valued and respected for who we are. We are good enough and lacking nothing in our personhood. Racism is evil personified to destroy us (John 10). I heard only a few minutes of the trial for the police who l officer ff h murdered d d the late Mr. George Floyd. I became so angry! When I was a little girl, I recall traveling to Mississippi with my parents. It was a somber trip. I learned someone was lynched. When I saw, again, the picture flash on the television with the officer’s knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck, I wanted to scream! Yet I know those who kill us could care not less about my cries. As I cried out, this time was different. I know that by Jesus’ strips I and we are healed. This time, God opened my eyes with deeper meaning and purpose. My insight brings me no joy or excitement, only the assurance that the person killed was held in the heart of a loving God. God knew people of African descent, and others, would suffer at the hands of evil. Every time Jesus was beaten, spit upon, ridiculed, stripped naked, and ultimately killed, God was bearing the unbearable for us. If I had another message to black men and women, it would be that God has not forgotten us. God could have opted a means to bear the unbearable another way but God chose Calvary. God gives us free will and we have a human responsibility to be good stewards of our life. Maybe that’s where justice comes in. We judge each other but Calvary welcomes our brokenness. He bore our iniquities, grief, and sorrows. Yet, the fact remains that life has been cut off. I remember feeling so broken that I became bitter. I was faithful but someone hurt me beyond what I could bear. I felt hopeless but I also trusted God. That night and several months after, I prayed a psalm. The same psalm might help others as they live with injustice. As people of God, we must trust God; and within our integrity, we must seek change. We are God’s righteousness and our prayers avail much. Vengeance indeed belongs to God. I get it. Sometimes the pain makes us react in unhealthy ways. God wants us to ask for God’s help. I leave you with the 137th Psalm. ❏ ❏ ❏ and neighbors. Thanks to Greater Bethel AME Church and our faith community partners serving as vaccination host sites, we can safely get back to being with others, back to work, and our children back to school,” he added. Special thanks to all the volunteers for their assistance as well. Due to the efforts of Dr. Knox and Brother Green, the Mecklenburg County Department of Health is planning another vaccination clinic to be held at Greater Bethel in May. These efforts embody the motto that Dr. Knox has adopted for the church, “Love God, Love the People, Do the Work!” ❏ ❏ ❏
Scholar, before completing a fellowship at Princeton Theological Seminary. Pastor Jay earned his Doctor of Ministry degree at Duke University in 2020. As a practicing attorney, Pastor Jay worked on many cases, a lot of them having to do with social justice. He successfully represented a class of plaintiffs in Carter v. St. Helena Parish School Board, one of the oldest federal desegregation cases in the United States, originally filed by Thurgood Marshall, then-counsel for the NAACP. Following this, he spent time teaching as an adjunct professor
at Southern University Law Center and Jarvis Christian College. He served in the administration of Louisiana’s governor as executive counsel and director of legislative affairs for the Louisiana Workforce Commission. All this experience has heavily influenced his time as a senior pastor. He served as the senior pastor at the historic St. James AME Church in New Orleans, the oldest predominantly Black, Protestant church in the city. In his role as senior pastor in both St. James and St. Joseph, he has often drawn from ...continued on p22
