Faith in Action

About a year ago, I received calls at work on a storm-cloud filled day with news on the other line that one of Baltimore’s most historic churches had been struck by lightning. I jumped in the car and drove to the church and joined hundreds of others who gathered at the smoldering building trying to make sense of what happened. Tears, cheers, songs, and prayers went up as the faithful and the curious watched in amazement as the billows of smoke rose higher yet into the sky.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, news reports began to surface about the church’s financial struggles and gifts that the church had given their pastor - the most scrutinized of which was a bentley automobile.

One year later the smoke has cleared and in this WBAL news report, Bishop Oscar Brown talks about where the church is now - debt free and looking forward to a new building in 2010.

Ok, so Mark Scandrette, author of Soul Graffiti, has a little Will Ferrell slash Vince Vaughn thing going on, but I dig his message. (no surprise there) He’s challenging us to think of Jesus differently - not as the head of an organized religion called Christianity, but as a homeless prophet who turned the world upside down (or right side up depending on who you ask) with a message and a movement known in its earliest form as The Way. My challenge now revolves around how to rediscover The Way and provide a safe haven for it inside the infrastructure of the local church. Is it even possible?

Hat Tip: Washington Post

Gambling Away Our Principles
Sunday, May 18, 2008; B08

It is easy to get caught up in the false promise of slots — of easy money and a quick fix to all that ails Maryland. But the simple truth is that Maryland can’t win and that Marylanders will lose if slots are legalized.

Gambling is becoming an increasingly pervasive element of American society, and legalizing slot machines in the state would be one more example of our society’s eagerness to abandon hard work and ingenuity in favor of a Band-Aid for a gaping wound. Encouraging gambling in our communities would be irresponsible and would result in lasting and irreversible harm.

Proponents of slots contend that their legalization would help finance public education. We ask: What lessons are we teaching our children? That they should throw hard-earned money away in the false hope of a big payday? Those who say slots will create revenue for the state don’t acknowledge the catastrophic ramifications of such a decision. For the state to win, the player must lose. As people of faith, we are called on to speak out to protect Maryland from the insidious vice of gambling.

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Revolutionary Freedom Fighter, George Jackson, said:

“The ruling clique approaches its task with a “what to think” program; the vanguard elements have the much more difficult of promoting “how to think.”

And that conceptual statement guides me as I lead the Bible Study at the church where I am blessed to serve as Pastor - Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Northeast Baltimore.

Bible Study has never been something that I’ve been overwhelming excited about namely because in my many experiences it has been either an opportunity for the Pastor to “preach” a lesson or it has looked like a facilitator standing in front of the audience telling them what they should think with very little meaningful interaction. I always said that if I ever became a Pastor that I would have a Bible Study that folks would want to come to.

So far we’re well on our way to creating that type of study experience. Pleasant Hope Baptist Church is on track to have the most dangerous Bible Study in Baltimore simply because I push the people to THINK. I don’t answer a whole lot of questions. I help folks to re-read the scriptures with “fresh eyes” and question what they read. I dissuade them from taking anything they read in the Bible at face value. EVERYTHING is open to questioning, criticism, challenge.

We read the scripture in its context understanding that it was written at a certain time, in a certain location, by a certain person (or persons) within a certain culture, for a certain reason.

The amazing thing is that as we engage in textual criticism and exegete the text in a way that honors the scripture’s original meaning (or likely meaning), my students then begin to draw parallels between the context and/or meaning of the passage we’re studying and their everyday realities.

Two weeks ago as we were studying the persecution of Jesus a discussion was born about the persecution of so many others who stood up against the status quo power structure and were viewed as a threat capable of organizing the masses thus necessitating their assassination or exile. It was such an invigorating discussion. It eventually led to us analyzing the Roman Empire and the Religious Order of Jesus’ time and looking at Baltimore’s Government and Shadow Government today. (We love dealing with “problem texts” by the way - like when Jesus called the syrophoenician woman a dog.)

In addition, we’ve started our studies off with warm up activities designed to get people’s juices flowing. We started with analyzing a Baltimore Sun article one night, we played a Jill Scott song the following week, and we read a Paul Lawrence Dunbar poem the following week. Who knows I might drop some Kanye West on them next time. They don’t know what to expect from week to week. I keep people on their toes and prayerfully am helping them to realize that critical study of the Holy Writ is just as much an act of worship as singing songs on Sunday morning.

We even have the teens coming out to Bible Study faithfully…and bringing their friends!

As we continue in our time of weekly critical study, it is obvious to me that this group will be a very dangerous sect of Believers. They won’t be walking around talking about “Bless me indeed” and “enlarge my territory” while hiding behind sofas when the Jehovah Witnesses knock on their doors.

They’ll be walking around with a heightened awareness of how the revolutionary message of God’s love toward humanity was understood over the centuries and how it applies to their lives and responsibilities to community today.

This Bible Study is a Bad Mutha - Shut yo’ mouth! What? I’m only talking about the MOST DANGEROUS BIBLE STUDY IN BALTIMORE!

Be there!

Every Tuesday 7:00PM
Pleasant Hope Baptist Church
430 E. Belvedere Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21212
(410) 435-0851

A few years ago I met an amazingly passionate woman by the name of Shirell Tyner. I wrote about my experiences with Shirell in past posts and this Saturday marks a big day for the vision that God gave her. After God delivered her from drug abuse, criminality, incarceration, and immoral behavior, The Almighty gave her a vision to start a ministry called Caring Through The Spiritual Eye, Inc.

This ministry involved feeding the homeless, housing those who are recovering, and supporting the spiritual, social, and economic development of those whom the world has disregarded. Shirell, with little structured support from outside entities, funded her own vision and persevered when it looked like no one would come to assist.

However, now a new chapter is starting for Caring Through The Spiritual Eye, Inc.!

On Saturday, June 14, 2008 11:30AM - until, the Caring Through The Spiritual Eye Outreach Center will open its doors in the Park Heights Community. Free Food, Music, Games, and Resources! Call (443) 449-7515 for more information.

Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to listen to Shirell Tyner’s interview with a local station.

This sermon got Father Mike removed from his church - the Faith Community of St. Sabina. To their credit, the St. Sabina family is standing with their pastor. Mary Mitchell writes an interesting article in the Chicago Sun-Times about this situation pointing out that Cardinal Francis George moved slow to remove a pedophile priest, but with great haste pushed Father Mike to the side!

It is with great excitement that I share good news related to the next phase of my service to God and community. I have recently been called to serve as the Pastor of the Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. (430 E. Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore, 21212) Pleasant Hope is a loving congregation situated not far from the intersection of Belvedere Avenue and York Road in North Baltimore City.

I am truly thankful to God for this opportunity to serve God’s people and the broader community in this way.

All are invited to attend my first Sunday at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church which will actually be this Sunday, June 1, 2008. Sunday School begins at 9:30AM and morning worship begins at 11:00AM. As we are anticipating a crowd, I invite you to get there a bit early if you do plan on coming.

For those who are unable to come, I certainly solicit your prayers for me and my family. I’ve had the distinct privilege of serving alongside many of you as we advocated for justice for Isaiah Simmons, III, the removal of liquor stores from Park Heights, a quality education for Baltimore City public school students, a peaceful remedy for the people of Darfur, Sudan, engaging in civil disobedience at the gates of the White House in reference to the American invasion and military occupation of Iraq, and so many other important issues. Now more than ever I need your support as I have become an heir to a great tradition in my family and community. The Black Church, in my estimation, is the most valuable institution in the African American community and I will strive to honor the legacy of the Great Ancestors and Elders who have gone before me. With your prayers and God’s guidance, I will be successful in my quest.

Let’s continue to work together in an effort to usher in the realization of the Beloved Community in this world - starting right here in Baltimore City!

May God’s Peace be yours,

Pastor-Elect Heber M. Brown, III
Pleasant Hope Baptist Church
Baltimore, MD

I’m putting the finishing touches on my presentation which I will share at The Johns Hopkins 58th Institute for Spirituality and Medicine. The conference started Monday, May 12th and will continue until Wednesday, May 14, 2008. National and local presenters have converged on Charm City to talk about “Violence and the Challenge of Healing in Our Communities.”

Notables such as Rev. Eugene Rivers (Boston), Bishop Doug Miles (Baltimore), Dr. David Kennedy, Dr. Harold Carter, Sr., Rev. Karen Brau, Pastor Billy Stanfield, and a whole slew of others are sharing on a variety of topics.

I’m honored to be invited to present on the topic “Faith in Action: Examining Religious Outreach and Activism in Baltimore.” I’ll be profiling some members of the clergy and Faith communities who have welcomed the expression of their Faith beyond the boundaries of their sanctuaries. Contrary to the opinion of some, Baltimore has a very rich history of religious civic engagement and only as of late have we as a community drifted from our roots and centered moreso on a gospel that speaks primarily to a middle class who is hungry for personal advancement at the expense of social justice for the marginalized.

Hopefully, my presentation will resurrect and rehash the legacies of those strong clergy women and men who have, in days past, pointed the way to the Beloved Community.

Here is a short video (about 12 min.) that I will be sharing as a part of my presentation.

Hat Tip: Baltimore Politics Examiner/Adam Meister

Separation of Church and State does not exist in Baltimore
By Adam Meister

Drive around Baltimore and you will notice that there are a lot of churches. Some are in large magnificent buildings while others are in run down storefronts or rowhouses. Most of them are tax exempt in one way or another. Many are considered 501(c)(3) organizations. 501(c)(3) organizations are not allowed to give political endorsements or aid to specific candidates. This law is ignored in Baltimore. Most of the so-called “serious candidates” for local office attend services every Sunday during campaign season. It is an unofficial rule of Baltimore campaigning to befriend as many local pastors (who usually live outside of Baltimore) as possible. They give you the support of their followers and you eventually reward them once you are in power.

I have no problem with churches collecting money to support prayer services and activities that pertain to goodwill, charity, and worship. I do have problems with churches that become huge tax exempt businesses that suck money away from parishioners. I have a problem with religion taking control of government and the elimination of the separation of church and state inside of Baltimore.

Do you find it troubling that supposedly neutral religious institutions yield so much power in a city so desperate for tax revenue?

Here are some interesting links about the power and powerful members of one particular church:

Church Power

Three new members nominated to the Board by O’Malley

Faith-based Community in Baltimore wants a new role in real estate

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. Despite the tumult that she has recently experienced in her own past marriage(s); “Dr.” Juanita Bynum will now be giving counsel to those couples who are planning to move forward with divorce proceedings on the Divorce Court television show. (Only in America can you have television shows centered around failed marriages. How does our society create a market for this mess!?)

I’m not one who totally discredits the marital counsel of those who have been divorced. Certainly, some of those individuals have learned much about marriage and themselves making them perfect candidates to point out potential potholes for others. However, I remain concerned that the wounds in “Dr.” Bynum’s relationship are still too fresh…too new to be able to counsel in a balanced and thorough way. (Even Star Jones - after her Bynum-esque wedding of the century went the rational route and is now engaging in a quiet divorce and is asking for “privacy with her thoughts“. That’s what newly divorced people do! They go sit down somewhere and get themselves together. They don’t call a press conference the day after the marital explosion claiming to be a spokeswoman for battered women across America!)

Wait. There’s more. According to this report, Bynum will also be talking about her divorce on the show. Talking about how she loves herself more now (nooooo really?), how she’s “done”, and how the rumors about reconciliation are false. Though her appearance on the television show could affect the mediation that she and her estranged husband are presently engaging in; Bynum will be on the set and in front of the cameras anyway.

Her marketing machine continues to roll full speed ahead. Bynum is certainly an ambitious sista who is striking while the iron of her own celebrity is hot. She seems to be jumping on every opportunity to get in front of a camera, call a conference, or sell a product.

I don’t know folks. I know I’m biased against Bynum for a number of reasons so perhaps I’m being too harsh and a bit unfair. I know I’m not one that’s interested in building a marketing empire that’s centered on me, but is there anything wrong with her doing it? Maybe I need to cut the sista some slack.