Decatur church fuels fun with food at park

By Lauren Hollon
The Baptist Standard
Texas Baptist Communications
Published: June 22, 2010

DECATUR—When Ken May and Candy Burden learned that one child in 10 in their area goes to bed hungry every night, they decided to do something about it.

Every Wednesday this summer, volunteers from First Baptist Church in Decatur will prepare food and deliver it to Harmon Park, where they’ll set up during the lunch hour under an awning edged with colorful plastic flags to offer children a free meal.

“The idea came from a children’s health care summit sponsored by Cook Children’s hospital,” said Candy Burden, children’s minister at First Baptist Church.

The hospital conducted a study of six counties to find out major needs in the area. Hunger and health topped the list, Pastor Ken May said.

In the first week of their summer feeding program, the church distributed lunches to 100 children. Volunteers said they hope that number will increase as more people find out about it.

“We just felt like this was something we should do and something God was calling us to do,” Burden said.

First Baptist Church sent fliers home with students through local schools and places an ad in the newspaper each week to advertise the meal, Burden said.

“We also put signs out (at the park entrances), and that really draws kids in,” Burden said. “A lot of kids from nearby neighborhoods hang out in this area.”

Members of the congregation were eager to support the free lunch program. Volunteers arrive at the church at 9 a.m. to prepare the meal and load their vehicles. They start setting up in the park around 10 a.m.

“We’ve had 20 to 25 volunteers helping, from some of the older people all the way down to teenagers in the youth group,” May said.

The idea has also been well received by the community. The first week, a passerby stopped to ask how she could help, Burden said.

“One of the neat things that has happened is we’ve had some banks and businesses donate things. Legend Bank donated the water we’re handing out,” May said.

Burden hopes the church can increase the program’s frequency to two days per week, as well as get other businesses and churches involved.

The free lunch is funded by an offering that was taken up on a fifth Sunday, as well as a Vacation Bible School offering.

“Every year, the VBS offering goes toward a mission project of some sort,” Burden said. “The kids bring in their coins and we make it into a contest between the boys and girls to see who can bring the most. Last year at VBS, the children gave around $1,300, which ended up weighing around 300 pounds.”

More than 3 million Texans don’t know where their next meal is coming from, but the Texas Hunger Initiative—a partnership between the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission and the Baylor University School of Social Work—is seeking to make Texas food-secure by 2015. One of the first steps is starting summer feeding programs. For more information about how churches can get involved in feeding hungry children, call (888) 244-9400.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, Psalm 146:7 NIV

Gospel Renewal Among the Homeless

http://jonathandodson.org/
By Jonathan Dodson
June 22nd, 2010

It is impossible to avoid homelessness in Austin, where it is estimated that on any given night up to 6,000 people sleep without a home. In January, at Austin City Life, we talked about renewing our beloved city by moving people from a place of mercy to a place of justice, from temporary hand-outs to permanent transformation. As one City Group discussed the call of the gospel to advocate for justice, they began to ask questions about what it would look like to do this with Austin’s homeless. In a matter of months, a vibrant, viral gospel ministry has begun among Austin’s homeless, moving them from mercy to justice. Here are some stories of transformation among our homeless friends (by Nate Schlueter, a mission leader in one of our City Groups).

read the incredible stories at http://jonathandodson.org/category/missional-church/

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 1 Corinthians 4:11-12 NIV

Local inmates hear Gospel

by Stephanye Gilyard Public Safety Reporter
Published: May 1, 2010

For more than 20 years, J.A.I.L ministries have been changing the world, one life at a time. While most of society has written off people who land in jail, an army of three counselors and one intern in Belton (Texas) don't. Instead, the team carries them a message to save them.

"At one point, I didn't think I could do it," said Executive Director Steve Cannon, who has led the organization since 2003. "Not all people can go into these cells and stare into eyes that have no life - only hurt and anger.

"I know it was God that called me to do this," he said.

J.A.I.L is an acronym for Jesus Acts in Inmates' Lives, a non-profit organization. The faith-based ministry provides Bell County prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families with spiritual, emotional and practical support. It was founded in 1987.

From the website http://www.jailmin.com/:
What is J.A.I.L. Ministry?
Services at Bell County Law Enforcement Center: Individual Bible Studies, Church Services and One-on-One Encouragement held inside the Bell County Law Enforcement Center or Juvenile Service Center and attended by the offenders on a voluntary basis.
Professions of Faith: Those who have indicated by prayer or a “Decision Card” that they have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. (John 14:6)
Rededications: Those who have indicated verbally or by “Decision Card” they have in the past trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and are rededicating their lives to Him.
Baptisms: This total represents those who have prayed to trust Jesus Christ as Savior and have been baptized (immersed) in the J.A.I.L. Ministry Baptis-mal (a horse trough) in the Recreation Area of the Bell County Law Enforce-ment Center, and on the roof of the Bell County Annex.
Bible Study / Church Attendance: Offenders who have attended a J.A.I.L. Ministry Staff and/or Volunteer led Bible Study or Church Service at one or more times in the Bell County Law Enforcement Center or Juvenile Service Center.
Individual Contacts: Represents the contacts made by J.A.I.L. Ministry Staff and Volunteers inside the Bell County Law Enforcement Center. Contacts represent Offenders who have been contacted one or more times.
Correspondence Courses: J.A.I.L. Ministry administers the “Write-Way” Bible correspondence course as requested by Offenders in the Bell County Law Enforcement Center. “Write-Way” is an on going Bible study course. At the completion of each course the Offender will receive a “Completion Certificate” and then begin work on the next course. Over 60 courses are available. The “Write-Way” course may be continued in State Jail, Texas Department of Cor-rections or wherever the Offender may go.
Bibles Distributed: J.A.I.L. Ministry provides the New King James version of the Bible. “Free On The Inside” is a Bible with helps especially written for the incarcerated. There is no charge for an Offender to receive a Bible.
Volunteer Visits: Represents the total number of volunteer visits inside the Juvenile Service Center.
Prayer Requests: Those who have requested prayer as indicated on a “Decision Card” or via the internet at www.jailmin.com and the Bell County Law Enforcement Center website link to J.A.I.L. Ministry.
Project Angel Tree: This Christmas gift program begun by Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship provides 3 gifts each to Bell County Children of an Offender(s). The program is administered locally and funded by gifts from churches, area businesses and individuals. At least one of the gifts provided has a Chris-tian message. J.A.I.L. Ministry, Inc. also administers a program whereby the Bell County Law Enforcement Center Jailers and Juvenile Service Center Pod-Officers’ children receive gifts at Christmas.
Anger Management: A 6 hour or longer Court Approved course provided by J.A.I.L. Ministry. A certificate is awarded upon completion that is honored by the courts. Men’s Ministry Coordinator, Johner Martin, and Juvenile Service Coordinator, Cheryl Baird, are the Bell County Approved Anger Management Instructors for J.A.I.L. Ministry.

For additional information about this ministry, please contact us at:
J.A.I.L. MINISTRY, INC.
211 E. Central Ave. † P.O. Box 634 † Belton, TX 76513
Phone: (254) 933-8506 † Fax: (254) 933-7569
E-mail: jailmin@vvm.com † Website: www.jailmin.com
You can help us make a difference!

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:3 NIV

Milwaukee Man Meets Favorite Gospel Singer

By Charles Benson
http://www.620wtmj.com/
Story Created: Jun 16, 2010
Story Updated: Jun 17, 2010

He's used to sold out crowds. But his audience was intentionally much smaller.

That's because Malcolm Ramsey is about to meet his favorite Gospel singer Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson.

"Malcolm, what's up buddy, asked Keith Johnson." "Good to meet you man."

The Wisconsin Make A Wish Foundation flew Johnson in from New York to have dinner with Ramsey.

"I have him on Facebook as my friend, said Ramsey, "and I wanted to talk to him and meet him in person."

Ramsey is battling sickle cell anemia, a blood disease that has no cure. The 18 year old loves to sing in church.

Ramsey received a special CD that will allow him to sing Johnson's hits.

"So whatever you want to sing, you've got all your favorite songs right there, said Johnson. All you have to do is just sing the lead.".

But Johnson had something even more special for his new friend.

"I just want to be right. when you see me walking up. I just want to be right, sang Johnson.

The two sang together.

"I say be right, be right. If you want to be right, come on clap your hands," sang Ramsey.

What a wish!


Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: James 5:14 NIV

I pray for anyone who is afflicted with this disease, but if you have been reading this blog since it's inception, you know that there IS a cure for sickle cell anemia. My baby girl is living proof of that!!!!

Praying for peace on city streets

The Boston Globe

By Lisa Wangsness
Globe Staff / June 17, 2010

In a gesture borne of frustration and faith, a group of clergy from across Boston gathered in the City Council chamber yesterday to ask God for peace on the city’s streets.

“The violence in the neighborhood in which we serve is intolerable,’’ said the Rev. Cathy H. George of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Upham’s Corner. “And it wouldn’t be put up with anywhere else that I’ve ever been in the state.’’

The City Council opens each of its weekly meetings with a prayer, but yesterday, in a show of concern about a wave of violence in which five people under 16 have been shot this spring, Council President Michael P. Ross and Councilor at Large Ayanna Pressley asked a number of clergy to come and pray.

“This moment is about underscoring that there is power in prayer,’’ Pressley said. “And in times of chaos, when we cannot make sense of anything, we need to lean not to our own understanding.’’

The clergy took turns reading a prayer written by Pressley’s aide, George Williams IV, who is a minister in the United Church of God in Christ.

“Magnificent God,’’ the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, executive director of the Boston TenPoint Coalition, began, “we pause to remember the 28 people who have died this year from senseless violence.’’

Several others followed. Sister Barbara Gorham of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Roxbury asked God to “bless the children of this city, too many of whom walk the streets of their neighborhoods in fear.’’

The Rev. Walter Waldron of the same parish asked God to “strengthen their will to resist the lethal seduction of a romanticized lifestyle of violence.’’

In the past, clergy have played a significant role in reducing violence in Boston. In the early 1990s, black ministers teamed up with the police and social service workers to visit the homes of gang members, and their work is credited with leading to a dramatic drop in crime known as the Boston Miracle.

Similar efforts continue today, but not on the scale they once did, and it is not clear whether they remain as effective. This summer, clergy are gearing up for another series of activities designed to stave off violence, but they have been asking the city to provide more help, particularly in the form of money for summer jobs for teenagers.

Ross acknowledged yesterday that “prayer alone isn’t going to solve the problems in our city’’ and said he would work with clergy on some of the specific requests they made to him.

“In addition to prayer, we need action, and we need action that makes a permanent difference,’’ Ross said.

But Ross said he thought it was important to bring the clergy to City Hall at the beginning of the summer to give them a chance to talk and to signify the city’s focus and seriousness of purpose about addressing youth violence.

Those who came yesterday were women and men, black and white, Baptist, Presbyterian, Jewish, Catholic, Episcopalian, and nondenominational Christian.

They included the Rev. Stephen T. Ayres of Old North Church in the North End; the Rev. William E. Dickerson II of Greater Love Tabernacle; the Rev. Gayle Elizabeth Harris, suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts; the Rev. Hurmon Hamilton of Roxbury Presbyterian Church; and Rabbi Elaine Zecher of Temple Israel.

Many of the clergy who came to pray yesterday said they were encouraged by the diversity of the group, because often black male ministers from the hardest-hit neighborhoods are the public face of the clergy response to violence in Boston.

“I think symbolism is important, and what is unique about today is you have people across denominations and across faiths united in one purpose, and that is to see the end of violence in our communities,’’ Brown said. “Sometimes, it takes a crisis to bring people out, but I feel a sense of resolve that the tide is beginning to change in terms of people’s commitment.’’

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding Proverbs 3:5 NIV

This is my city.....all I can say is this is a start....Pray for us!!!

School trades evangelism access for shoes, school supplies

http://www.usatoday.com/

Talk about school spirit! A news story brings a new twist to the latest moves by cash-strapped schools selling advertising and promotional access to everything in sight to raise school supply and activity moola. Now a Florida school is selling access to kids' souls.

Combee Elementary School in Lakeland, Fla., where separation of church and state is clearly not on the social studies curriculum, has been "adopted" by First Baptist Church at the Mall.

According to the story in the Wall Street Journal, the church, in turn, has stocked a resource room with $5,000 worth of supplies. It now caters spaghetti dinners at evening school events, buys sneakers for poor students, and sends in math and English tutors.

The principal is delighted. So are church pastors. "We have inroads into public schools that we had not had before," says Pastor Dave McClamma. "By befriending the students, we have the opportunity to visit homes to talk to parents about Jesus Christ."

So far the evangelists visited 30 homes at Christmastime and 13 "came to the Lord," the pastor said. One woman, grateful for the attention to her child, told the WSJ they were still very nice even when she declined to visit the church.

The pastor was up front on the church's end of the souls for soles deal:

"The purpose is to show them the church cares, and that there is hope, and hope is found in Jesus Christ."

Steve Comparato, the principal who faced a 33% drop in funding for school supplies, told told the newspaper,

If they want to come in and help, who am I to say no?

He says he would welcome congregations of any faith as sponsors, but adds of his students, "My personal conviction is that I hope through this they'll know Jesus and they'll get saved."

The standard is a bit different in the Polk County office where superintendent of schools Gail McKinzie said,

He personally can hope anything he wants, as long as he offers programs at the school for parents who don't believe in the Baptist faith or anything at all.

But Comparato does more than hope. He stands in the school halls surrounded by the pastoral team from the church praying in front of his office.

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14 NIV

There are more churches than there are schools, so what if every congregation adopted its neighborhood school???? How many lives would be changed? How many people would give their lives to Christ? Imagine the decline in crime. Imagine the improvement in attitudes. If only.......

It seems as if I haven't blogged in days, when in fact, it was just last Thursday. It has been a very busy 5 days for me!!! My oldest daughter, Clarke (the Cla in Clavier Chanean) graduated from Boston Latin School - the oldest public school in the country!!! Both sets of my parents and my baby sister flew into Boston from Milwaukee to share the occasion with us. We had a great time, but I am more tired now than before they got here!! Clarke will be attending Northwestern University in the fall. 1 down.....3 to go!!!

I recently found out that Child Evangelism Fellowship http://www.cefonline.com/ will be bringing their Good News Across America Program to Boston next month!!!! I am incredibly excited about it, as my mother has been working with this program in Milwaukee for years. From their website - God is using Good News Across America to enable churches to connect with their communities and impact them with the Gospel. Each year thousands of children and families are being reached; lives are being changed, and churches are growing. This is exactly what we need in Boston....and the world for that matter!!! We have had upwards of 20 homicides this year and the year isn't half way over. This city, country, and world need Jesus more than ever, so please pray for the staff of CEF that the Boston launch of Good News across America is successful and that their nets become as full as Simon's.
4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
Luke 5:4-7 NIV

God's Pantry Opens Pantry Number Ten at Old Pilgrim Baptist Church

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/
Submitted by Carol Minehardt • June 3, 2010

God's Pantry, an ecumenical outreach to food insecure neighbors, has opened a pantry at Old Pilgrim Baptist Church, located at 3540 Woodruff Road, Simpsonville, SC. The hours are Wednesday 5 – 6:45 p.m. and Thursday 9 -12 noon.

God's Pantry, a 501c3 non-profit organization, depends upon the generosity of volunteers and donors. We are a recipient of Greenville United Way and a member of several local chambers. All food is packed for distribution at our warehouse at 1312-A Old Stage Road, Simpsonville.

Our outreach includes three counties: Greenville, Laurens, and Spartanburg.

for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:9 NIV
For more information about this pantry or another God's Pantry location, or to volunteer or donate, call (864) 963-4441.

Ogden Baptist Church forgives man charged with vandalizing it

www.starnewsonline.com
By Matt TomsicMatt.Tomsic@StarNewsOnline.com
Published: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:29 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7:29 p.m.


Ogden Baptist Church wants Christopher Ryan Brown and his family to know they're welcome anytime.

Brown, an ex-con with a criminal record dating back to 1993, faces multiple charges in the May 28 break-in and vandalism at the church, which caused more than $250,000 in damage.

A vandal ripped the keys off a recently dedicated church organ, which had the most damage.

The sanctuary, doors, glass, walls and sound system also were damaged.

But all that is forgiven, a church official said Tuesday.

"We want to reassure (them) that we don't hold any grudge or animosity toward the family or toward that person," said Jim Arlart, the chairman of the church's deacons. "The door's always open."

The church recently bought the organ, Arlart said.

Members dedicated the organ late last year, when Carlo Curley, an international concert organist, played at the church. Curley was the first classical organist to play a solo organ recital at the White House.

Arlart said they hope to fix the organ by late July.

The church hired a cleaning company, which finished its work Friday, allowing the church to have services in the sanctuary Sunday, Arlart said.

Interim Pastor Duncan Futrelle said the church didn't cancel any Sunday services, but members met May 30 in the fellowship building.

Brown also stole $20 worth of permanent and dry erase markers during the break-in, according to an arrest warrant.

The church vandalism is Brown's most recent run-in with law enforcement.

He finished a two-year prison sentence for driving while impaired in 2006, according to the N.C. Department of Correction website.

Other prior convictions include two DWIs less than a month apart, resisting an officer, drug possession, multiple break-ins and multiple larcenies.

Brown also had an "unauthorized leave" infraction during his two-year prison term for the DWI.

Matt Tomsic: 343-2070

On Twitter.com: @StarNewsOnline



For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14 NIV

First Baptist Church hosts ceremonial note burning

www.neshobademocrat.com
6/9/2010
4:30:00 PM

When a fire flared up in the sanctuary following a Sunday morning service at First Baptist Church, a feeling of thankfulness stirred among members of the church's congregation.

This blaze consumed a "paid in full" bank note representing $1,600,073 in borrowed funds which helped finance the building construction, renovation and land acquisition program begun by First Baptist Church in 1999.

Supervising the burning ceremony were Dr. Daniel Howard, pastor, deacons chairman Bob Henson, finance team chairman Ryan McKay, and Future by Faith Campaign co-chairman Frank Moore.

Major projects included in the program were the addition to the FBC complex of the multi-story Christian Life Center and a top-to-bottom renovation of the church's sanctuary building.

In addition to accommodating Sunday services throughout the renovation of the sanctuary, the life center's full size gymnasium floor has made it possible for First Baptist to sponsor an annual Upward Basketball program open to youngsters in the community who are age eligible.

The center also provides and expands space available for special events sponsored by First Baptist. Additional classrooms, activity rooms and an exercise room are housed in the Christian Life Center.

During its construction an elevator was installed in response to recommendations from congregation members concerned with needs of mobility challenged persons.

It serves each floor of the center and the buildings housing administrative offices and Sunday school and child care classrooms and provides easier access to the sanctuary building.

Members providing volunteer service through building committee tasks included Rebecca Barnett, Scott Bounds, David Byars, Willie Jackson, Ellen Kilgore, Frank Moore, Patricia Perry, Stan Yates and the late Glen Perry.

Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple." 2 Kings 22:9

WKZK 103.7 FM launches a new gospel radio format this Friday featuring mix-tape mogule, DJ Sean Blu

June 10, 8:29 AMAugusta Gospel Music ExaminerBianca Woodard


WKZK, the only locally owned and operated gospel radio station in Augusta, is introducing a new weekend radio format, scheduled to launch this Friday Night at 9:00pm on 103.7 FM.

The new format, "StreetHymns Radio" will be a balance between urban contemporary gospel, gospel rap, and the current programming to provide a fresh feel for the station in addition to capturing a new listening audience.

This venture will be hosted by nationally acclaimed gospel DJ extraordinaire, DJ Sean Blu. His personal show within this format is entitled "The DJ Sean Blu Invasion".

Sean Blu is known for his prowess within the gospel hip hop/rap genre, but he plans to show the listeners that he is a multidimensional DJ with this new venture with WKZK. He also has plans to expand StreetHymns Radio beyond the current weekend time slot to provide an even wider variety of gospel music to the Augusta listeners.

Tune in to 103.7 FM at 9:00pm this Friday night and Saturday night at 9:00pm at to experience this ground breaking format. Listeners can also listen live on www.WKZK.net.

Sean Blu started his career in the summer of 1991 and released his first mix tape in 1996. He is no stranger to radio with experience working for WFAM 1230 as a part time radio board operator. He also has an educational background in audio engineering.

Sean Blu has officially released about 50 mix tapes in his career that have featured urban gospel artists such as Rob Hodge, Japhi Life, Claude Deuce, Shae Atkins, Sean Slaughter, T-Haddy, Young Chosen, Chosen, and Milliyon just to name a few. In addition, he has also performed in shows with Kirk Franklin, Trinity 5:7, and Mary Mary.

Fans can connect with Sean Blu on Twitter (www.twitter.com/DJSeanBlu), MySpace (www.myspace.com/djseanblu), Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Sean-Blu-Street-Hymns-Mixtapes/88285726506) and fans can listen to past music mixes on www.soundclick.com/djseanblu.


Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands Psalm66:1 KJV

Local School Sends Suspended Kids to Church

http://www.digtriad.com/
Tracey McCain


Greensboro, NC - When you're suspended from Smith High School, you don't go home. You go to church.

Smith's principal and the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church took the unique approach to keep kids learning and out of trouble while they're suspended.

"We saw that since they were out of school anyway they were just going to be at home. So we wanted to fill a component where they can just come to church," said Pastor Howard Woods.

Less than two miles from Smith High School, students who are suspended from three to fifteen days participate in the Stay Up While You're Out program.

Woods says the reasons for suspensions vary. "They're just overall minor infractions for being late to class, or just not making good decisions," said Woods.

Being at the church is not a day off from school. Retired teachers, who are also members of the church, work with suspended students going over the same lessons they would have learned in class.

"Once they open up and know we care, they're really smart kids," said Woods.

The Stay Up While You're Out program's goal is just that -- to keep kids from lazing around the house during suspensions.

"They'd be watching TV or sleeping or getting in trouble" said Woods. "Giving parents another option to have their child here has been working out real good."

In the last month Woods says the program has reduced suspensions and increased attendance at Smith. "We'd like to see zero kids participating," he said. "We're already getting calls from grandma's that want to know what can they do to help my child."

The church received a $106,000 grant from the North Carolina committee on dropout prevention.

The money will keep the program running through next year.


Let us discern for ourselves what is right; let us learn together what is good. Job 34:4 NIV

More black churches take on AIDS battle

As infections rise among blacks, compassion replaces condemnation

http://www.chicagotribune.com/
By Dahleen Glanton, Tribune reporter
dglanton@tribune.com

On a recent Sunday morning, the Rev. Stephen Thurston stood on the pulpit before a packed New Covenant Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago while a health care worker swabbed his upper and lower gums. After his sermon, she announced the results: Thurston had tested negative for HIV.

It was an unusual scene in an African-American church, where for decades many black ministers and parishioners have stood silent as HIV and AIDS festered in the community. Consumed by fear, a lack of information and conflicting messages about religion, sex and homosexuality, some pastors condemned the disease in sermons as HIV/AIDS grew to epidemic proportions just outside their church doors.

But in recent years, with more access to information about the disease, increasing numbers of black churches are slowly becoming outspoken advocates for testing, increased government funding and education. For some, it has meant changing their views about religion and opening their doors to gays and lesbians, whom they once shunned.

"Our response has not been as compassionate and loving as it should be," said Thurston, who also is president of the National Baptist Convention of America, which claims 1.5 million members nationwide. "We are single-minded in saving the souls of individuals, but not as opened-minded in terms of saving that person's life."

While a handful of churches, such as Trinity United Church of Christ, have long had HIV/AIDS outreach ministries, others are just beginning to introduce the subject to parishioners. Some ministers pepper their sermons with calls for tolerance. Some invite HIV-positive speakers to address misconceptions and put a human face on the disease.

Some have taken it further. At Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago, HIV testing was integrated into a recent women's day program. At Faith United Methodist Church in Dolton, a display of brochures about homophobia, HIV testing and the risks of Christians contracting HIV is placed near the entrance of the welcome center.

And pastors are taking HIV tests in an effort erase the stigma and encourage churchgoers to be tested. After Thurston's test, 41 people lined up after church to be tested, according to the health worker, who also is a member of New Covenant's health awareness committee.

There is an effort under way, pastors said, to change the culture of black churches — one of the most powerful voices in the African-American community — to view HIV/AIDS like other health issues that disproportionately affect blacks, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. But it has not been an easy transition.

"African-Americans are very conservative people, particularly in talking about sex," said the Rev. Charles Straight, the pastor of Faith Church, which is hosting an HIV/AIDS forum for ministers on June 25. "Many of our churches believe it is a sin to be gay, and we can't get to anything else until we fix what's wrong with you. Preachers have to look at today's environment and today's culture and say, 'How do we apply the biblical principle and have an open mind?'"

Several Chicago ministers, including Thurston, are part of a national coalition of about 50 preachers from around the country promoting legislation in Congress that would provide grants to public health agencies and faith-based organizations for testing and prevention, and develop programs specifically targeting black women, youth and gay men. The bill, known as the National Black Clergy for the Elimination of HIV/AIDS Act of 2009, also calls on President Barack Obama to declare HIV/AIDS an epidemic in the black community, which would bring additional federal dollars to help curb the growing numbers.

read the conclusion of this powerful story at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-blackaids-church-20100606,0,3719438.story?page=1


Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:25 NIV

Pew Study Shows that More African-Americans Are Saying They Don't Believe In God

http://blackchristiannews.com/
Religion News Service
Chika Oduah and Lauren E. Bohn

Standing before a room full of fellow African-Americans, Jamila Bey took a deep breath and announced she's come out of the closet.

Her soul-bearing declaration is nearly taboo, she says.

"It's the A-word," said Bey, 33, feigning a whisper. "You commit social suicide as a black person when you say you're an atheist."

Bey and other black atheists, agnostics and secularists are struggling to openly affirm their secular viewpoints in a community that's historically heralded as one of America's most religious.
At the first African Americans for Humanism conference recently hosted by the non-profit Center for Inquiry, about 50 people gathered to discuss the ins and outs of navigating their dual identities as blacks and followers of the non-religious philosophy known as humanism.

"We need black non-theists to gather in one place and say, `Look at her or look at him: he looks like me and they're atheists. And that's OK,"' said Norm Allen, a former Baptist and now the executive director of African Americans for Humanism.

A 2009 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found that African-Americans were more religious on a variety of measures than the U.S. population as a whole, with 87 percent of African-Americans describing themselves as belonging to one religious group or another.

Nearly eight in 10 African-Americans said religion is very important in their lives, compared with 56 percent of the general U.S. adult population.

"You renounce your blackness," said Bey. "You almost denigrate your heritage and history of the people if you claim atheism."

The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found that those who claimed "no religion" -- popularly known as the "nones" -- were the only demographic group that grew in every state within the last 18 years, according to researchers at Trinity College.

Between 1990 and 2008, the number of nonreligious Americans nearly doubled, from 8 percent to 15 percent, according to the ARIS study.

Among African-Americans, the increase was also nearly double, from 6 percent to 11 percent.

Howard University graduate student Mark Hatcher says African-Americans are largely invisible in a secular movement that has long been represented by white male thinkers.

Concerned that black religious skeptics were alienated on campus, he started a humanist student group this year. "It is extremely important to get these people in one room and say, `Hey, you're not crazy,"' said Hatcher.

The LORD said to Moses, "How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? Numbers 14:11 NIV

Immersed in recovery

By Morgan Simmons
http://www.knoxnews.com/


Church ministry provides baptisms to inmates at Claiborne County jail

NEW TAZEWELL, Tenn. - Claiborne County's new jail is as clean and modern as they come, but it's still a jail.

Visitors are accompanied by a correctional officer at all times, and the doors are locked from a master control room. Windows are practically non-existent, and surveillance cameras are a constant presence throughout the building.

Every Tuesday afternoon, members of the Pump Springs Baptist Church in nearby Harrogate, Tenn., come here to minister to the inmates. Using a program called "Celebrate Recovery" - a 12-step approach based on Christian principles - the team delivers a message of hope and reconciliation.

Last week the ministry team brought into the prison a 60-gallon plastic laundry tub mounted on wheels. Twelve inmates had asked to be baptized that day. In keeping with Baptist belief, the ritual would be administered by full-body immersion.

Inmates in the jail live in separate, self-contained housing units known as pods. Each pod contains two tiers of cells arranged around a central gathering area. The male inmates live on the lower floor of the jail, and the women are housed upstairs.

Edwin Robertson, lay ministry coordinator for Pump Springs Baptist Church, said his church baptized 55 inmates last year.

"Some folks criticize it and call it jailhouse religion," Robertson said. "But nobody knows what's in a person's heart. People here have the opportunity to make a change in life. They're incarcerated day and night, with nothing to do but to be quiet enough to hear the Lord."

The program is strictly voluntary. When the Celebrate Recovery team visits the jail each week, between 30 percent and 50 percent of the male inmates usually turn out to listen, while attendance among the women is about 90 percent.

The baptism team rolled the mobile laundry vat from pod to pod. The water was lukewarm, and church members stood ready with towels. Scott Cannon, pastor of Pump Springs Baptist Church, performed the baptisms, while Daniel Carmack, a Celebrate Recovery leader from London, Ky., sang for the inmates.

Of the 160 to 180 inmates typically housed in the Claiborne County Jail, 45 to 50 are women. Sheriff David Ray said close to 85 percent of the inmates are incarcerated for crimes related to drugs and alcohol.

"I don't know of another jail where an outside ministry has taken on so much," Ray said. "I see what it does for the inmates. It shows in their character, the way they present themselves."

Pump Springs Baptist Church operates a halfway house for men in New Tazewell near the jail. The church also will soon open a rescue mission for women in Harrogate.

The Celebrate Recovery leaders who go into the county jail have used the 12-step program to recover from their own addictions. One of those leaders is Gil LaBroad, who spent 24 years as an alcoholic, drinking as much as a case of beer each day. LaBroad's hands and arms are covered with tattoos - all of them Biblically related except for the ones on the back of his hands, which depict his two dogs. During last week's visit to the jail, LaBroad wore a black T-shirt with the "Christian Motorcycle Association" emblem stenciled on the back.

"The inmates relate to motorcyclists, too," LaBroad said.

Morgan Simmons may be reached at 865-342-6321.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, Luke 4:18 NIV