Faith in Action

Kevin A. Slayton, Sr. is a lobbyist with the Slayton Group, LLC and is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Howard University in Washington, DC. He currently resides in Baltimore, MD.

The Gospel and Black Culture: A Past Perspective Still Relevant

The modern concept of the “mega church” in African American faith communities is raising many interesting questions about authentic discipleship today. Urban ministries in Baltimore are developing influential ministries never before introduced into the fabric of church life, while creating a visibility deserving of federal scrutiny. But is the influence being used to change the lives and communities in which these churches exist or are they perpetuating a gospel damaging to the Kingdom of God. What is the cultural phenomenon of the “Mega-church” and the impact it has on the spreading of the Gospel to a community in need?

In most urban cities across the country exist three or more churches that fit the “mega church” model, Baltimore is not different. Most are defined by huge million dollar facilities with extravagant facades, large memberships and multiple worship services. Another staple of the mega-church is cloaked in the persona of its leadership. The mega-church pastor tends to be very theatrical, charismatic, flamboyant and verbose in his/her presentation. Granted those are the characteristics that will initially attract most parishioners in the first place, in addition to amazing music ministries. The rosters of many of these churches exceed five and six thousand active members. Ironically, many of them are located in communities where the average income is far below the median. The visual dichotomy presents a very interesting contrast between the pastor and parishioner, as well as, the temple and the average homes in the community. Despite the stark differences new members continue to flock to these congregations seeking some form of renewal and hope.

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I just received word that Dr. Jeremiah Wright will be delivering the 11AM morning message this Sunday, April 13, 2008 at the Historic Bank Street Memorial Baptist Church (Norfolk, VA) where the pastor is Rev. William Dixon.

I’m sure that Wright’s phone is blowing up these days so I wondered how Bank Street confirmed him for this Sunday. According to this article, Bank Street has the hookup. Someone from the church is related to Dr. Wright and the church will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Booster’s Ministry.

Kudos to my seminary brother, William Dixon for bringing Dr. Wright to the Norfolk area.

Unfortunately, however not everyone considers Dr. Wright’s presence in Norfolk a blessing. Of course you expect certain folks to frown upon his coming, but another African American pastor?!? Oh come on.

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Friday was a long day, but I did get a chance to drop in on the King Commemorative March and Rally in West Baltimore. The event was put on my Wayland Baptist Church’s Community Development Corporation. Dick Gregory was the keynote speaker and he was….Dick Gregory. LOL

It was so funny watching the faces of the dignified pastors as Gregory said some off the wall stuff! You know how he mixes comedy with political commentary. One minute he’s talking about manganese and the next minute he’s talking about wishing he was back in school since all these teachers now are having sex with the students! Crazy. I got some video from the event and I’ll try to have it up later this week. In addition to speeches there was dancing, singing, and great music. An all around great event. Good job to all involved!

Hat Tip: God’s Politics

The media frenzy over the remarks of Barack Obama’s former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, raise critical challenge to the prophetic role and voice of the black church. These “incendiary” remarks have set off a firestorm in the media, exposing the deep divide that exists on Sundays - America’s most segregated hour of the week. This controversy serves as a stark reminder that the problem of the color line that still divides the U.S. and its churches. This often misguided debate obscures the rich and necessary prophetic role of the black church. Most coverage fails to capture the competing narratives and self-definitions of the U.S. that coexist depending on one’s race and social location. While I’m uncomfortable with some of Dr. Wright’s overly provocative rhetoric, and disagree with some of his claims (like his suggestion that AIDS was a creation of the U.S. government), I still vehemently defend the prophetic tradition that Rev. Wright has advanced over the course of 36 years of ministry. I agree with the Rev. Otis Moss III, the new Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, that we do a grave disservice by boiling down over 207,000 minutes of Dr. Wright’s preaching into a handful of 30-second sound bites, most taken out of context.

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A “hustler for justice” - that’s what a good sister-friend of mine called me not too long ago. And if that is the case then today I got my hustle on big time.

Faith in Action the radio program aired on Spirit 1400AM at 1PM and we talked about whether Faith or Race should hold ultimate authority as Believers engage matters of politics, public policy, etc. Pamela Wilson, author of Finding Soul Brothers: Dismantling Black Christian Racialism and Dr. Jonathan Walton, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside were our guests. The conversation was pretty interesting. Wilson contends that our cultural identification should be minimized when we “come to Christ” while Walton took the position that we shouldn’t allow ourselves to be narrowly defined by the “either-or” lenses of Faith or Race. You know where I stood with my Red, Black, and Green, Pan-Afrikanist, Daishiki-wearing, Revolution starting, White Power Structure critiquing self. (Have you donated to the Faith in Action show yet? If not, why not? I haven’t proved myself yet?)

We were joined in the conversation by Tracy Ward, reporter and writer with The Baltimore Afro American Newspaper. Sis. Ward is a powerful orator, poet, community activist, etc. who has given new life to the Faith in Action page of The Afro. That page has been a place where one could read about everything BUT people of Faith putting into practice what they believe. Ward’s writing is a breath of fresh air as she is on the grind telling the stories of Believers who are in the trenches living out Luke 4:18,19. Sis. Tracy was in the studio today working on a piece about me and the work that I’m doing in the Baltimore Metro area. The piece may be out this Friday, March 21, 2008 - “Good Friday.” I pray that the piece encourages those who are out there “hustling for justice” and that it convicts those who choose to neglect their duty as laborers in the vineyard. (I believe that at this stage if you’re a preacher and you’re not active in some substantive way in the community then it’s because you don’t want to be. Ignorance is not an excuse.)

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First it was Tim Russerts’ question to Sen. Barack Obama on live television about whether or not he supported The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (or was it some of Farrakhan’s past statements?). During the interrogation Russert mentions Jeremiah Wright, but keeps the focus on Farrakhan. Obama wisely cut off Russert (who was gearing up to go down a line of alleged Farrakhan quotes), stated his position, and scurried the conversation forward. As many suspected, however, the “drive-by” mention was just a preview of the scrutiny to come.

Good Morning America grabbed the baton from Russert and aimed its magnifying glass at Obama’s pastor, Dr. Jeremiah Wright.

According to this article they’re working on it, but Bynum’s people were quick to shoot down that allegation.

“As Dr Bynum has stated in the past, she feels that reconciliation with her estranged husband could be a tremendous testimony to the body of Christ; however that is not the case at this time.” (SOURCE)

That would be kinda hard being that Bishop Thomas Weeks plead guilty yesterday to a single charge of aggravated assault and is now on probation for 3 years STRANGELY ENOUGH, HOWEVER, Bynum was standing by his side at the trial and post-hearing press conference!?

So it’s easy to see how some might think that things are on the up and up though. I received the eyebrow raising flyer below in my inbox late last week. This week Juanita Bynum will be participating in a prayer conference with the aunt of her estranged husband. Bynum’s publicist explains:

“After severing all ties with the Weeks Family, Juanita Bynum Ministries received a request from Bishop Week’s uncle, Bishop Leo Smith to speak at his conference in Barbados this June. She also received an invitation from his grandfather and aunt, Bishop Thomas J. Weeks, and Dr. Gwendolyn Weeks to speak at their 2-Day Prayer Revival in Boston. Dr Bynum has always honored her ministry and has great love and respect for the Weeks family, and after much prayer she accepted both invitations.”

I know she said she prayed about it and all, but what’s wrong with staying out of the public eye for a minute to let things settle in your personal life? What’s wrong with slowing down the Juanita Bynum Enterprise Machine for a season? Can’t the radio show, play, movie debut, online magazine, makeup line, soy candle collection (I’m not making this up), music CD’s, books, and conferences be put on hold for a while so that you can….I don’t know….I really don’t. Something just doesn’t feel right about all of this going on so close to all the drama that’s been going on in their family. Or maybe it’s just me. I’ve never really been drawn to Bynum and have viewed her ministry with a suspicious eye to be quite honest. I worry that the love of money, prestige, and social status may be threatening to overshadow her call to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ simple, full, and FREE. And what’s up with Thomas Weeks’ family calling Bynum in to participate in these conferences? His uncle, grandfather, and aunt have called Bynum in on ministry events since their big falling out. Have members of the Weeks family pinned Bynum as the cashcow they need to rake in the dollars?

Today, Rev. Scott Adams and Pastor Reginald Thomas (Greater Gethsemane Church) will be holding it down in my absence on Faith in Action. I have some business to take care of today, but the show will be left in very capable hands.

They’ll be talking about Gay Marriage in Maryland. This has been a perennial issue in Maryland for the past few year’s in our state’s General Assembly and some say that the “pro-gay marriage” activists have built the necessary support needed to push this over the top.

There are a plethora of bills that the Legislature is considering. The State Senate had its first round of hearings on these bills on Feb. 14th. The House will be hearing its bills in committee this Thursday, February 28, 2008. (Click here to see the full rundown of bills being considered.) Some say the issue is whether or not same-sex partners should be afforded the same rights that heterosexual partners are afforded under the law. Others say the issue is the normalizing and legislating of deviant behavior that goes against natural order and God’s design.

How should the state of Maryland come down on this issue?

That’s the question we’ll be asking Sen. C. Anthony Muse who is a member of one of the committees considering this issue and Chair of the Prince George’s County Legislative Delegation. Muse is also the pastor of The Ark of Safety Christian Church in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He is the lone democrat who has joined five republican senators in pushing legislation that would authorize a man and woman to enter into a “covenant marriage” - a move intended to strengthen heterosexual marriages, but does not address same-sex marriages.

Find out what he, Pastor Reggie Thomas, and our spirited callers have to say about this issue today at 1PM on Faith in Action on Spirit 1400AM (Baltimore). For those outside of the Baltimore area, the audio will be posted to the blog later this week, but in the meantime feel free to post your comments/questions here and we’ll possibly address them on air.

This from Pastor Delman Coates from the Enough is Enough Campaign:

I have received reliable assurances that the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference has not and will not receive any financial contributions or sponsorships for its annual conference. I would like to thank all those who have worked to bring about a resolution to this matter, particularly those who have expressed concerns about the appearance that black clergy are divided in this campaign against offensive and misogynistic lyrical content in the entertainment industry. I am confident that at this year’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference this issue will be further addressed…..

While those of us who are passionate about the exploitation of black people in the popular culture are combating this issue on a variety of fronts, it is my sincere hope that we will remain focused on the real issue, and this is, the corporations that produce, sponsor, and distribute lyrical and visual content that degrades black women, glorifies violence and criminal activity, and negatively stereotypes black men as pimps, gangsters, and thugs.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Delman Coates, Ph.D., Organizer
Enough Is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment
www.enoughisenoughcampaign.com

SDPC Integrity Not For Sale!

January 29, 2008

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. is committed to strengthening the internal capacity of African American congregations to enable them to engage in fruitful and strategic social justice ministries. The SDPC’s mission is to bring about effective and long-term change through education, advocacy and direct action. We have forthrightly addressed a number of issues including, Katrina, HIV/AIDS, healthcare access, end of life care, voter protection education, children’s rights, the prison industrial complex, media concerns and matters of faith.

It is unfortunate that both a misrepresentation of the facts and a zealous rush to judgment without benefit of any dialogue or informed research has resulted in a potential “divide and conquer” situation. Yes, we share the concerns about misogyny and the degrading and disempowering media images and messaging—both blatant and subtle—not just by BET, but in all American media. So yes, I signed the letter and I was not at all deceived.

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