Religion

Faith Leaders Pray for Peace, Prosperity and Themselves

James Wright WI Staff Writer

Faith leaders primarily from places of worship east of the Anacostia River in the District joined residents in praising God and asking for His help as the city grapples with problems such as persistent gun violence, uneven economic growth, a nagging pandemic and even pastoral burnout.

“You do so many wonderful things,” said Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, D.C. to a crowd of about 150 people at a prayer breakfast held at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Ward 8 in Southeast on Dec. 17. “You do so many wonderful things for people who don’t know how to say thank you.”

Gregory, who delivered the closing prayer, is the first African American to reach the level of cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church. Gregory supervises about 139 churches and other Catholic programs in the Washington, D.C. area. He also has a voice and vote on high-level church matters such as the selection of a pope. During his brief remarks before his prayer, Gregory said those in the clergy need to take time out to minister to themselves.

“It’s time we need to pray for ourselves and for one another,” Gregory said.

The constant theme that prayer can make a difference in the lives of District residents resonated throughout the program. Individual pastors prayed for a healthier environment, economic growth, the halting of community violence and stopping the spread of drugs and better police-community relationships. Pastor Reginald Luckett, speaking on fighting gun violence and drugs in the District’s neighborhoods, said prayer is the “key to making the community whole.”

“Prayer is the deliverance for our nation,” Luckett said. “We can succeed. No weapon formed against us will prosper.”

The Rev. Anthony Motley, a well-known Ward 8 civic and political activist, touched on police-community relations. He talked about the importance of forgiveness and how it should be practiced by people on both sides of a conflict. Motley also briefly commented that grace must be shown “to those who labor in the vineyards.”

The Rev. Anika Wilson-Brown, the senior pastor at Union Temple Baptist Church in Ward 8, served as the keynote speaker of the event. Wilson-Brown mainly talked about clergy burnout.

“As ministers, we should respect our own well-being,” she said. “We seem to ignore our own selves to care for others.”

Wilson-Brown said pastors should be intentional when praying for the uplifting of their psyches.

“We have to be on point when praying for words of encouragement,” she said. “Even when we need encouragement ourselves. The preacher needs a pastor.”

Wilson-Brown admitted that she didn’t have the answers to

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then, which gives him an advantage with the material in this national touring company production.

As the clues kept adding up to solve the murder, several characters trip over themselves through a combination of inconsistent alibis and wavering loyalties between friends.

The 2020 Broadway revival of “A Soldier’s Play,” directed by Kenny Leon, won the Tony Award for Best Revival. Leon has done a superb job directing this national touring company at the Kennedy Center. Bringing Lee into the company was easy for Leon. He was familiar with Lee’s work in the original production. Leon also directed Lee in other Broadway productions.

“He knows the character,” Leon said about Lee’s portrayal of Waters. “I also got to know Charles Fuller over the years before he passed in October,” Leon continued in a one-on-one interview during intermission. “When you combine the work of Eugene Lee with these young actors, then put Norm Lewis with that, you’ve got a great company.”

For tickets and more information on “A Soldier’s Play” visit the Kennedy Center website at www.kennedy-center.org. WI @bcscomm

5 Reverend Wanda Thompson (c) and Reverend Donald Issac (r) co-chairs of the Ward 7 & Ward 8 Faith Leaders with Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory who delivered the benediction at the Ward 7 & Ward 8 Faith Leaders Breakfast on Sat., Dec. 17. (D.R. Barnes/The Washington Informer)

HAIR from Page 28

with hair assignments on more than 60 TV and film projects.. Early hairstyling roles were with TV series “Third Rock from the Sun” and “Malcolm and Eddie.” She has led the hair department on several Marvel films, including “Captain Marvel,” “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2,” and others. Friend has also led hair departments for the films “Tenet,” “Charlie’s Angels,” and “Us.” She was the personal hairstylist to Samuel L. Jackson in the film “Ptolemy.” Currently in London for a year, Friend is working on the film adaptation of “Wicked.”

“Hair Scholars,” an online training school created by Friend, aims to bring diversity and inclusion into film and television hairstyling.

“We’ve set up full online classes about styling hair and wigs,” Friend said. “But we want to teach people how to get into the business and how to become a department head.”

“Hair Scholars” feeds Friend’s love for connecting with stylists. After all, she is a super hairstylist.

“I love teaching. It fulfills me in a whole different way,” Friend said. “I really feel blessed to be able to do this.

WI @bcscomm

problems the clergy deal with. But she reminded the audience that “it is God that sustains you.” Throughout the event, were performances of inspirational songs such as “I Need You to Survive”, “Worth” and “Mary, Did You Know.” While the songs were sung, people rose out of their chairs and swayed to the singer’s words and a few even danced a little to the rhythm of the beat. While the prayer breakfast focused on spiritual renewal, politics made its way into the discourse. D.C. Councilmember Trayon White (D-Ward 8) talked about the importance of staying engaged in the city’s political process. “When I came onto the Council in 2017, the District had a $14 billion budget,” White said. “Now the budget is up to $20 billion. It is important that we as Black people learn as much as we can about the budget process so we can get as much as we can.” Sheila Bunn, the chief of staff for D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), spoke on behalf of her boss, who could not attend the event. Bunn emphasized the importance of political engagement, and she stressed the clergy plays an important role in city affairs. wI @JamesWrightJr10 THE WASHINGTON INFORMER / WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM

the religion corner

WITH LYNDIA GRANT

A new year, a new you! The beginning of yet another new year is only days away, let us begin to put in some extra time considering what each of us should consider changing in our lives. We must make the necessary changes in the way we live our lives. It's time to ask yourself, why go through life doing the same old thing, day after day, month after month, and year after year! It is not beneficial to continue to live your lives without new experiences, it's time for change. We would not have moved up from kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade without learning something new each and every year!

Does this topic bring some new and exciting things to mind that you are interested in? My older brother who is now 78 years old has decided to learn how to use his computer. Though he has put this off all of his life, it has suddenly become of interest to him. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!

Let's take a look at some examples that you can relate to. Colonel Sanders is best known for creating a fried chicken recipe that would become the world's fast-food chicken chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel Harland Sanders was born on Sept. 9, 1890, in Henryville, Indiana. While running a popular Kentucky service station that also served food, his fried chicken was so good that he was designated as a Kentucky colonel. Eventually, Sanders focused on franchising his fried chicken business around the country, collecting a payment for each chicken sold to become the world's largest fast-food chicken chain.

Each of us can do more than we think. Research has proven how "learned behavior" can affect us. An excellent example is when an elephant is young and small, his owner will chain him to a large tree. The young elephant will try to break free of the chain, but because he is so small and the tree is so large, he is unable to break free. Over time, as the elephant keeps trying to break free, he eventually learns that when he has a chain around his ankle, he cannot break free. He is constrained. Eventually, he just stops trying. Even as the elephant grows larger and stronger, he continues to remember, by associating the chain around his ankle with a physical constraint. He simply tells himself, "I cannot break free from this chain." He is unable to realize as a baby elephant that his strength alone could help him break free. How can he know? He's never been a grown-up elephant. His little mind doesn't know what it does not know.

This is why you can see a grown, seven-ton elephant chained to a small piece of wood lodged in the ground. He won't try to break free, even though we know he easily could. He is still under the impression that he cannot; that chain equals physical constraint. This story tells us a lot about implied limitations.

Les Brown taught all of us speakers that we must fail our way to success. He told us that each time we fail, we will learn not to do that same thing again the next time, and thus we will be moving ourselves forward. Failure is not an option. It will happen to everyone. It is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.

My challenge to each of you is to try something new this year! In the words of the late, great Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, "If it is to be, it's up to me!" Start writing your list of things to do in a new journal now so you can be ready to take the necessary steps to make your change happen.

WI

A Time for Change

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