The recent political endorsement of current Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance has caused quite a stir and rightly so. Mayoral candidate, Senator Cathy Pugh in disrupting the endorsement forum last week at Friendship Baptist Church did more than reveal an egregious departure from tradition and fair process that would have allowed all candidates to vie for the IMA’s endorsement; her action pulled back the covers on an organization that has lost its way.

Like many civil rights-era organizations; the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance is struggling to find its footing in a world that is vastly different from the one which it knew in its heyday. In its prime, the Alliance was a force to deal with particularly between the ’50′s – ’70′s especially – addressing pressing matters over the years like employment for African Americans and social justice for the most vulnerable in Baltimore. The Alliance demanded respect from political leaders and helped to secure much needed legislation and programs for those who otherwise had no voice with the powerbrokers. Its strength was, in part, found within the strong personalities that served as magnetic forces attracting other pastors and concerned residents to, as James Brown would say, “get up, get into it, and get involved.”

However, the IMA is now far past its prime and struggling to regain its vigor.

The endorsement forum last week caused a tremendous blow to the credibility of the organization and its debatable as to whether or not the Alliance can fully recover if things remain the same. The endorsement of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake by the Alliance should be thrown out and summarily disregarded by the public. It did not represent the input of the full membership and many clergy members did not even know that it was scheduled to take place. Furthermore, the endorsement is deficient because it was not predicated upon alignment with any clear IMA agenda.

The truth is that the endorsement was just the first public example of the Alliance’s struggles. For at least the past 4 years, the Alliance has been faltering. It’s leadership process is questionable and its public action is largely symbolic and absent of substance or follow up. It has no agenda to hold anyone accountable to and its past-strength was wrapped around larger-than-life clergy personalities and through the example of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and others we’ve seen that that model is not sustainable for the longterm. The membership has shriveled from 250 active members at one point to now just about 10-15 pastors (a good number of them retired) who regularly come to the monthly meetings.

Despite the current troubles of the IMA; as a past Vice President of the group, I believe that there is still hope for the organization. Not only do I believe that, but I pray for a revival of the group. The legacy of the IMA is too rich and too important to the history of Baltimore to discard now just because it has made a very public mistake. Should the Alliance be held accountable? Most definitely and it deserves every bit of criticism that it has received because of the endorsement “process.”  However, there’s an old saying: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Anybody who wonders about the irrevocable importance of the IMA should read books like Harold McDougall’s Black Baltimore: A New Theory of Community or pay a visit to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum or the African American Department at the Enoch Pratt Central Library and review the burgeoning vertical files which detail the commendable actions of this group over the years.

No people of sound mind would throw away such a magnificent aspect of their story on the timeline of history.

Nevertheless things do need to change with the Alliance if it wants to be around in a meaningful way for the next generation and for this city. If the bulk of your accomplishments can only be found in museums and libraries, then that should be a sign that the health of the organization is suspect. Here are a few of my recommendations related to how the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance can be revived and revitalized.

1. The IMA should shelve its practice of endorsing candidates for office at this time.

An endorsement is based on the strength of the endorsers connection with a constituency. Many would argue that these clergy-activist have become disconnected from those whom they ultimately purport to represent so the endorsement doesn’t mean much in the end.

2. The IMA should go on a Listening Tour to decipher a clear agenda that is connected to the community

Preachers are used to talking. We’re celebrated and compensated for our oratorical ability. However, there comes a time when listening is preferred and needed. The IMA says it speaks for the “voiceless,” but if it sits and listens, it just might find out that the “voiceless” do have a voice worth paying attention to. Go listen and from what you hear, craft an agenda for this time.

3. The IMA should re-introduce itself to Baltimore

Most people 45 and under have little clue about who the IMA is and what it has been about. It can’t just rely on the seniors to remember their heyday. They must educate those who weren’t around during its prime. It’s hard to appreciate a history that you know nothing about. In partnership with the Great Black in Wax Museum, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Universities, and others; the IMA should travel to various churches and other sites around the city presenting on its history and having its past members/leadership talk about the triumphs and challenges of the group.

4. The IMA should reconsider the makeup of its membership

There was a time when preachers were more likely to be the most respected and educated members of the Black community. However, that has changed. There are so many lay people (non-clergy) who have degrees, experiences, insight, and education that need to be involved with partnering with the clergy to address pressing concerns. Currently, the IMA is made up of just clergy. Perhaps it’s time to change that.

5. The IMA should dedicate resources to an aggressive recruitment campaign to attract younger members

Many organizations are struggling to attract younger professionals to its ranks. Sometimes this is because the organization really doesn’t want young people involved and other times they just want young people to be tokens for their group photo. Young professionals will not tolerate either. They’ll much rather go and start their own organization with their peers than to partner with elders who patronize them. IMA is overwhelmingly made up of clergy 55 and older. If nothing changes and you add 15 years to the current active members; the IMA will be in an even worse state of decline if it exists at all! Young professionals (clergy and otherwise) need to be engaged, invited, and welcomed into meaningful leadership roles within the group. They need to help cast vision for today and tomorrow and be empowered to provide the tools needed to be effective in todays world. The fact that the IMA doesn’t have a website, facebook page, or twitter account should be sign enough that it needs the expertise and energy of youth.

I love the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. It has been an invaluable resource to the development of this preacher and I’m a better pastor today because of the group. However, it has lost its way and now the question is will the leadership do what’s necessary to revive this spectacular association of social justice-minded clergy.

I pray so, but only time will tell.

For the past maybe 15 years, those of us in the Black Church tradition have jointly witnessed the rise of ecclesial bodies and newly ordained bishops in denominations that theretofore did not engage in such practice. I still remember being a host of a Baltimore-based, two-way talk radio show some years ago and engaging in passionate dialogue with listeners around the question of where all these bishops are coming from.

I must admit that initially I was rather critical of what I was seeing. It seemed like everyone was jumping to be a bishop of something and many times that something was a group that they created. Even the word “bishop” was losing currency with me and many others even as some scrambled for even “higher” titles like “Apostle”. It seemed like people where grabbing these titles to prop themselves up instead of in the spirit of serving others.

And while some of that is still around; with the advent of the Joint College of African American Pentecostal Bishops and other similar groups; this movement has matured and gained some structure. While you still have people jumping up claiming that they’re bishops or “bishop-elects” – now there is stronger credentialing infrastructure and “quality controls.”

I’ve come to appreciate this development as a move to bring about higher levels of order and accountability. I don’t make such a big fuss anymore about bishops and ecclesial bodies, but my main concern is to ensure that even bishops are in accountable relationships. And while it’s rare to see bishops publicly held accountable, it should be appreciated – even by the critics – when it does happen.

And this month it happened.

For nearly a year, Bishop Eddie Long has been embroiled in legal proceedings related to allegations of sexual abuse by four young men whom he claimed as mentees and spiritual sons. It has been an ugly mess – a mess that Long has only stirred up more by first pledging to fight the allegations in court and then reaching an out-of-court settlement last month. Understandably, many are confused by the turnaround and seeking an explanation.

While some pastors are attempting to quickly jump to the message of forgiveness; the one who ordained Long as a bishop has a special message for his spiritual son: REPENT!

Claiming that Long doesn’t take his calls anymore, Bishop Paul S. Morton, founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship, made his feelings on the matter public in a recent message at his Atlanta church. Urging Long not to ignore the situation hoping that it will go away, Bishop Morton stressed that Long’s church, his supporters, and the Body of Christ at Large deserve to hear something that will make way for repentance, forgiveness, and ultimately edification.

Click here for Bishop Paul Morton’s full message:

It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The kingdom [of God] is not only beyond our efforts, it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it’s a beginning, and a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the workers.

We are the workers, not the master builders.

We are ministers, not messiahs.

We are profits of a future not our own.

The old folks in church used to sing a song that says, “Whisper a prayer in the morning. Whisper a prayer at noon. Whisper a prayer in the evening. It will keep your heart in tune.” Well before the rigors of research revealed the truth of this song; our Ancestors and Elders believed in prayer’s power to impact our lives in positive ways.

This morning I not only embrace this truth, but I’m currently buzzing off of its blessing as well. This morning my church started an early morning prayer circle. At 6AM a small group of us pressed out in cold, clammy weather to meet in a “safe place” (sanctuary) just for prayer. In jeans, headwraps, sweatsuits and no “church bulletin” – we circled up, shared our concerns, hopes, and dreams and started praying.

I was so excited about prayer this morning that I woke up before the alarm clock went off and then sped to the church -barreling over speed bumps and remembering once I arrived that I forgot to brush my hair. It didn’t matter. I was in the right place at the right time and my soul knew it.

I firmly believe that prayer is a largely untapped resource and resevoir of power that has import to many if not most Faith traditions. From Muslims, to Hindus, to Buddhists, to Jews, to Christians and so many others – people of Faith at different times and in different ways attempt to transcend this time and place to commune with their God. In this fast-paced, 4G, broadband, 2.0 society, we would do well to remember that prayer is an Ancient Technology which far surpasses the ability and battery life of the latest trinkets on sale at our favorite store.

Prayer is not wishful thinking. It’s not “escapism”. It’s not a sign of retreat. But prayer can be thought of as the “forward march” of faith. Even as millions in Egypt are bringing revolution to that great African country, it’s powerful to watch as they stop their chanting, marching, and cheering, and jeering to bend their knees en masse in prayer. Even revolutionaries – or especially revolutionaries – need to pray.

In his classic book, Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster devotes a chapter to the discipline of prayer. He says that “prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.” And after 1 hour of prayer on this rainy Saturday morning, I must testify that I know I’ve been changed! I thank Almighty God for the blessing of the timeless spiritual practice of prayer.

We’ll gather again for community prayer on Saturday, March 6, 2011, 6AM at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church for one hour of prayer. All are welcome.  (If you’re unable to make it out, we welcome your prayer request.)

Pastor John Hagee

In terms of slavery in America in the 18th and 19th centuries, Catholic Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore was a slave owner and Patrick Lynch, bishop of Charleston not only was a slaver owner, but published a pamphlet in defense of slavery. Additionally, it is reported that the Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) had more than 400 slaves working on their Maryland plantations.

The Roman Catholic Church was also involved in the genocide and Stolen Generations of the Aboriginals in Australia which prompted Pope John Paul II to offer an official apology in November 2001.

It’s been said of Apartheid in South Africa that without the support of the Dutch Reformed Church, it would not have survived as long as it did. While there were many members of the clergy and representatives of churches that challenged apartheid, the Dutch Reformed Church was helping to prop it up. In fact, the South African Prime Minister who led the campaign for complete segregation, Daniel Francois Malan, was a Dutch Reformed Minister.

A few years ago, I was deeply moved to read the confession of Father George Zabelka. He was the Airforce Chaplain for the U.S. airmen who dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He was the one who used God’s name to quiet the conscience of conflicted airmen as they prepared to murder en masse. Years after, he came to deeply regret his role in using the cross of Jesus Christ to justify the annihalation of innocent civilians and penned his conversion in a piece entitled, “Blessing the Bombs.”

I am becoming more and more convinced that Pastor John Hagee will one day be viewed as being a part of this unfortunate fraternity of clergy who were trusted to preach the truth of God and instead proclaimed a lie. For his personal and political gain, he is preaching a message of separation, discrimination, and occupation in light of Palestinian people. Apartheid literally means “separateness“.

And what I saw while in Palestine/Israel with Interfaith Peace Builders was state-sponsored separateness based on ethnicity. There are different laws in Israel based on your ethnicity alone. For example, there are Israeli-only roads that Palestinians are prohibited from driving on. (Imagine the outcry if there were “White-only” highways in today’s American cities.)

SOURCE: Annainthemiddleeast.com

Furthermore, Palestinians have a white and green license plate on their car. If you’re Israeli you have a yellow license plate. If you’re a Palestinian driver you are subjected to checkpoints (stationary and “flying checkpoints”) where you must stop and present information to an Israeli soldier about who you are, where you’re going and your car may be subjected to a search just because you’re Palestinian. Even with all of this the soldier still may not allow you pass the checkpoint – no matter the urgency of your situation. These are just two of the MANY discriminatory practices that hound Palestinian lives.

Just being a Palestinian is a crime in Israel and there are a mountain of laws to prosecute you for that “crime”. The laws that Israel has enacted to occupy the lives of Palestinians in Palestine/Israel is in many instances identical to the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws that Africans in America endured.

There is growing international awareness of the occupation and oppression of Palestinians. The Government of South Africa funded and coordinated an International Legal Study entitled “Is Israel an Apartheid State? Do Israel’s Practices in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Amount to Crimes of Apartheid under International Law?” The conclusion was that Israel’s practices in these territories constitute both colonialism and apartheid.

This is the system that Pastor John Hagee is staunchly defending. In his role as pastor and televangelist, he is invoking the name of God on the suffering and murder of innocent people and while he should be censured by responsible clergy, he is welcomed into pulpits across America.

(In fact, this weekend, Bishops in the Baltimore area – Bishop Harry Jackson and Bishop Clifford Johnson are opening the doors of the Black Church to his apartheid sermon. How sad and ironic it is that the descendants of American slaves are providing sanctuary to a sermon of state-sponsored segregation!)

Future days will show that Pastor John Hagee is decidedly on the wrong side of history and is the vocal leader of an egregious movement to affix God’s stamp of approval on this devastating social sin.

Take for instance this message he posted in The Afro on June 9, 2007: “How much impact do the Afro Americans and Black Caucus (Federal & State) have to empower our people?” For him it wasn’t just about trying to get people to visit his church. For him, it was about trying to get people to think. And then based on their thinking – to act.

Given his commitment to clergy activism, his ministerial legacy will be eternally tied to groups like the NAACP, The Baptist Minister’s Conference of Baltimore, and the United Baptist Missionary Convention of Maryland, of which he is a former president who ushered the Convention into a heightened season of organizational and social impact.

On Thursday, January 28, 2010 11:50PM, after nearly 40 years of service to the First Baptist Church of Guilford, God called Pastor John L. Wright from labor to reward. Our prayers go out to his lovely wife, Ida Mitchell Wright, and daughter, Dr. Sheila Wright.

It’s been a continuing revelation to me that Communion – one of the central ordinances of the Christian Church is more than ritual. Since my childhood, I just recognized it as a day to sorrowfully drink grape juice (or wine for the more risque congregations!) and eat small bread wafers. However, these days the movable feast of communion is taking on greater meaning. Books that I’ve read recently and conversations that I’ve been a part of have helped me to think about communion in new ways.

For the purpose of this post, I’ve really enjoyed being reminded that more than ritual – the scriptural story surrounding Communion was centered on a meal amongst Jesus and his disciples. Yea, I know we’ve been calling it “The Last Supper” from time immemorial, but I’d never really thought about it as a meal because for one, in my house we didn’t use the term “supper”. We used dinner. Now, if the proverbial “they” called it “The Last Dinner,” it probably would have had more cultural currency for me. But to this point “The Last Supper” has had an other-worldly, purely heavenly connotation. In line with mainstream Christian doctrine, it is believed to be a memorial of Christ’s atoning sacrifice of the cross. Indeed, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew draws this out specifically.

But I’m not convinced that Communion must have just that one meaning. In fact, it probably could be argued that the Christian understanding of “The Last Supper” is a remix of the Jewish understanding of Passover. That is to say that Christians of antiquity took what was Jewish ritual and because of a moment of divine proportions centered on Christ; found new meaning in an old ritual.

Is it possible for Christians today to honor traditional understandings of scripture as it relates to communion and yet find new meanings based on our Faith in context?

Communion was a meal. There were bowls, breads, drinks, blessings, and a dinner table. Jesus was speaking and hungry people were eating. (Numerous passages in scripture suggest that Jesus had a knack for dealing with the whole hungry people problem. During some stretches in scripture it seems like whenever Jesus showed up it was time to eat!)

So what might this engagement of scripture mean in light of our reality of there being more than 1 Billion people in the world who are hungry. 3 million children under 5 years old die because they are undernourished. 11.7 million children in the U.S. live in households where people have to skip meals or eat less in order to make ends meet. [SOURCE]

That’s what we wrestled with yesterday at Pleasant Hope. I received word about a week ago that the local food pantry’s shelves were virtually empty. I could not in good conscience or good Faith ignore the cry for assistance.

It was a day of charity at church yesterday, but it was also a day of justice. Our morning speaker, Elder Marco Grimaldo from Bread for the World, brought the message and shared the mission of his organization speaking to the fabric of our Faith as it pertains to those on the margins. He used one of my favorite passages as his text – Luke 4: 17 – 21…what many call the Mission Statement of Jesus. Where The Christ took an old passage and breathed into it new meaning based on his context.

After speaking to us, Bro. Marco then led us into a letter writing campaign – right in the middle of service! We wrote letters to Senator Barbara Mikulski asking her to be a cosponsor to the Foreign Assistance and Revitalization Accountability Act.

And near the close of worship, we marched around during offering time (like good Baptists) and brought our tithes, our canned goods, and our letters to the Senator. All of it was placed at the altar. It was an offering like I’ve never experienced before! A euphoric feeling came over me as I watched young and old alike bring their offerings to the altar. It helped us to see that our ecclesiological understanding of “Offering” during worship has perhaps been too limiting. Offering is not just about money.

As candied yams, calls for justice, and monetary expressions of devotion hit our holy communion table; my eyes were fixed on the sacred carving on the side of that table – a passage featured on many holy communion tables of churches across the world – DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME. We didn’t drink grape juice nor did we eat wafers, but communion took on new meaning for me today. Meaning that I’ll enjoy processing in the weeks, months, and years to come.

I am in hot pursuit of rediscovering an ancient spiritual practice born in first century Palestine simply referred to as The Way. The Master Teacher of The Way, a mystic of divine proportions who dared bare a common name like Jesus, spoke in such creative language that it takes on average a lifetime for hearers to embrace their meaning and then only if they are diligent to living and wrestling with the questions that the Rabbi’s teachings give birth to.

A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon (is there such a thing) a website called Jesus Radicals and just recently have made personal contact with those behind the website. These are people who also question and wrestle with what and how Jesus calls us to be in this world. I recognize a kindred spirit with those I’ve conversed with in this community and appreciate the beauty of finding others who are attempting to be faithful to The Way as well.

While I’ve promoted their conference over the past couple of years via my blog; this year (Lord-Willing) I will finally be able to attend their conference myself. The theme for this year’s conference is: New Heaven, New Earth: Anarchism and Christianity Beyond Empire. Here is a synopsis of the focus of this year’s conference:

The 2009 Jesus Radicals Anarchism and Christianity conference will look squarely at the various crises facing the globe—especially the financial and ecological crisis. An economic system based on unregulated, exponential, constant growth and that depends on wanton consumption is simply unsustainable. Similarly, destroying the irreplaceable gifts of creation as if our actions do not have consequences is surely a sign of madness. The question we face at this pivotal time of global turmoil is not if our human empires will fall apart, but when they will fall. And the question is how will we face it?

I share this in hopes that perhaps some others will be inspired to conspire with us at the conference this year as we bare witness that a new heaven and a new earth is being born all around us.

I was blessed to be invited to present a workshop at this year’s Praise Covenant Interdenominational Fellowship Conference in late June. They gave me the freedom to create my own workshop and I decided to begin crystalizing some of my thoughts and readings on the church today. What came out was a workshop entitled, “Never Ever Go To Church Again.” I can’t say that any of the information that I shared was revelatory; (most of it can be found somewhere within the genre of “emerging church” literature/media), but experiences that I’ve had over these past few years in particular in addition to authors that I have been exposed to have really helped me to articulate what I’ve been feeling since graduating from seminary.

It was truly a transformative experience for me and hopefully for the other participants as well. What made it particularly interesting was that the participants were comprised of church leaders for the most part and at different points they would share perspective that made clear that they were being burdened by the weight of “corporatized ministry” – that might be a crude term, but by it I’m only pointing to some of the components of institutionalized church.

Enjoy this clip of the workshop and I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the dialogue.