 Sunday, April 15, 2007 |
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On this special Youth and Young Adult Sunday we welcome to our pulpit Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University and a Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Project. His first book, Exodus! Religion, Race, and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America won the Modern Language Association's William Sanders Scarborough Book Prize. He is also the editor of Is It Nation Time?: Contemporary Essays on Black Power and Black Nationalism and of African American Religious Studies: An Anthology with Cornel West. We look forward to the challenging words that we know he will bring to us.
The Don Immus comments about the Rutgers women's
basketball team indicate the rawness and anger that
people feel when it comes to race in America. What
Mr. Immus did not understand was that Blacks and Whites
cannot kid each other about race unless there is deep
trust in a relationship. Those who watch the
Tonight Show know that White comic Jay Leno and Black
band leader Kevin Eubanks practice verbal banter all the
time, much of it is racial. However, the two have a
long abiding friendship and they know where the lines are
and where not to cross.
Polish people tell Polish jokes, Irish people tell Irish
jokes, etc. It would be completely inappropriate
for a Black to tell a joke disparaging another race or
ethnic group. Another example is humor between men
and women. Many men have learned the hard way that
raw locker room humor that makes women the brunt of the
joke is rarely, if ever, funny to women. The short
of the matter is, humor that wounds or offends must
be avoided at all costs. There is already too much
anger and hatred in the world. What good does it do
to get a cheap laugh if a Christian does so by making fun
of the Koran, a Muslim by pillaring Christ or a Jew by
lampooning Hindu sacred writings?
The New Testament gives us the yardstick by which human
interactions and exchanges should be determined, "Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you".
Readings for April 22,
2007: Acts
9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19
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OUR PURPOSE
Building the Village by Caring
Concept: Our pastor, the Reverend Wallace Charles Smith, envisions a holistic Ministry of Building by Caring, which includes a 3-tier approach - Care for Ourselves (spiritually), Care for Our Relations (family, friends and members), and Care for Our Community (outreach). In building our capacity to care we will also create an atmosphere that will increase our church's membership, winning more souls to Christ; they will know we are Christians by our love;.
