A Tale of Two Churches
By Rev. Joelynn T. Stokes, Esq. , 4th Episcopal District  It was the best of times and the worst of times. This quote from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens aptly explains the feeling of many in our church these days. The recent lockout of a woman in ministry because of her gender would have one believe that the African Methodist Episcopal Church is as misogynistic as our most previous president. However, as the Rev. Deborah Blanks aptly noted in her Facebook post referencing the lockout, “This is not us.” While there is much work to be done in the AME Church as a whole on the issue of gender justice, it is clear that there are leaders in our Zion who not only understand the importance of gender equity and parity but also practice gender equity and parity. Read More Here |
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WMS-AMEC COVID-19 Public Education Campaign
By Kiratiana Freelon, Columnist
 Deborah Taylor King’s ultimate wish is for her 19-year-old grandson to get the COVID-19 vaccine. She has done everything to convince him to do it. She constantly sends him info about coronavirus and the vaccine. She always invites him to local vaccination clinics. During last year’s holidays, she packed a plate of soul food for him because he was banned from entering her house. Read More Here |
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Violence Has a Face
By Rev. Mmakgabo Gwendoline Sepoloane, Contributing Writer
Violence against women, especially rape, is not reserved for the woman on the street but can also take place right in the sanctity of our homes. This sad reality was brought to light by Sister Johanna Hlahasoane, the 19th Episcopal District Charlotte Maxeke Ladies Fellowship (CMLF), who told of her ordeal of being brutally attacked in her bedroom while her husband lay tied up on the side. “I thought he was dead,” she remarked.
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Living the Lifting As We Climb Lifestyle
Dr. Gloria Reese, 13th Episcopal District  Over a century ago, Anna Julia Cooper, one of the most prominent Black scholars in history, wrote, “Only the Black woman can say ‘when and where I enter, in the quiet undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing or special patronage, then and there the whole Negro race enters with me.” A Voice from the South by A Black Woman of the South (1892). Throughout her lifetime, Mary Elisabeth Johnson Mills, born in Franklin, Tennessee, on the Fourth of July, embodied the very spirit of Cooper’s prescient words. These phenomenal women believed that education was the key to the problems that plagued women in society. Through their scholarship and example, each woman became a transformational figure by dedicating her life to inspiring others, challenging the limits of what one could achieve, and bringing to the forefront the importance of education in uplifting their community.
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A Contextualization of the Bomb Threat: A Brief History of America’s Use of Firebombing the Black Church
By Aaron M. Treadwell, PhD., Contributing Writer 
Black History Month (BHJM) is the oldest historical celebration in America, and its existence has challenged the ideological fears of white supremacy since 1926. The father of Black History, Carter G. Woodson, conducted the celebration, and its purpose was proactive – never again should people be allowed to deny the existence of black history. Woodson, who was told that researching black history was an impossible task at Harvard, used the pen to examine how hateful ideology could turn into prejudice, bigotry, and even violence for the disinherited. In his seminal work, “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” Woodson even makes the bold claim that “there would be no lynching if ‘it’ did not start in the schoolroom.” Read More Here |
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Living and Ministering Through Two Enemies
Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Jr., Columnist
Our lives have been turned upside down by an invisible pandemic. We are also on voter alert regarding efforts to limit our ability to vote and exercise our God-given right. We think we have overcome, as we sing during African American celebrations, but we now understand that to be fully recognized as complete citizens is still a fight we must be engaged. So how do we minister through these two enemies, one we can see and other attacks without sight or warning?
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The 128th Turner Theological Seminary Founders’ Observance
Theme: Prophetic Problem Solvers: Leadership and The Politics of the
By Rev. Lola S. Gresham Russell, Ph.D.
Turner Theological Seminary (TTS), a constituent seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), celebrated a historic 128th Founders’ Observance on February 7–8, 2022, at Flipper Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC). It was a reflective gathering of alumni and supporters alike –all facing the challenge of leading as prophetic problem-solvers during a time of great socio-economic and spiritual challenge to the church and its mean of preparing leaders for such.
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The Pastor Who Won’t Give In to Georgia’s New Voting Restrictions By Sam Brodey, Congressional Reporter
Turner Theological Seminary (TTS), a constituent seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), celebrated a historic 128th Founders’ Observance on February 7–8, 2022, at Flipper Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC). It was a reflective gathering of alumni and supporters alike –all facing the challenge of leading as prophetic problem-solvers during a time of great socio-economic and spiritual challenge to the church and its mean of preparing leaders for such.
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BE Prepared—Know Before You Go
By Robert Barton
Scout Master Troop 487 and 3347 In preparation for the January District Winter Camporee, we held our usual Troop 487 Camping Planning Meeting at Lions Camp Merrick, in Nanjemoy, Maryland, about 30 miles from our home Church, Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church, Ft. Washington, Maryland. Leaders met before Christmas and planned for the Camporee. I had a roster with all Scouts and Leaders’ names, addresses, phone numbers, medical records, and permission slips. We reviewed the Scout’s planned activities and our camping, cooking, communication, and weather requirements. The weather forecast did not call for snow. Read More Here |
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Yesteryear and Today: Embracing the Sanctity of Black Lives
By Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith
 Recently, I discovered the gravesite of a great-auntie with an older cousin. Her gravesite—like so many gravesites of people of African descent in the Black Belt of Alabama—was hidden. A few days later we visited the family gravesite of my great-great-great-grandmother, also hidden and buried behind the high hedges of a very well-kept white cemetery with many other descendants. I fell to my knees, prayed, and once again gave thanks for my ancestors and for the honor of being their descendent.
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