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Black Churches Team Up To Tackle Problems Facing Black Men

posted by mconsoli | 5:46pm Tuesday February 23, 2010

The leaders of three black Methodist denominations are joining together — for the first time in 45 years — to address unemployment, crime and other problems that disproportionately affect black men.
“`When people talk about us being in an economic downturn, that’s nice talk for the general community, but for the African-American community, we are in depression,” said Senior Bishop John R. Bryant of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
“Our people are hurting. They’re hurting financially and we want to put our heads together and our hearts together to see what we can do to try to ease that kind of pain,” he said.
Bryant’s church, along with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, are planning a “Great Gathering” for March 1-3 in Columbia, S.C. that is expected to attract thousands of church members.
The meeting, organizers say, will spearhead projects such as minority mentoring programs in local congregations across the country.
It marks the first time in 45 years that the three denominations — with a combined total membership of more than 5 million — have come together in such a concerted way to address social ills affecting African-Americans.
All three churches trace their roots to John Wesley’s Methodist movement, but gradually broke off on their own, mostly because of racism in white Methodist churches. Ten years ago, the United Methodist Church formally apologized to all three denominations.
“Because of the plight that we see now of African-American men, especially as it relates to unemployment — that we believe is directly tied into much of the crime and the incarceration that we find our young men involved in — we believe that it is time for the church to once again come together,” said Senior Bishop George W.C. Walker of the AME Zion Church.
“We believe that as three denominations we can do more than any one single denomination.”
When he was a seminary student more than four decades ago, Walker attended a similar gathering of Methodist leaders in Atlanta, the last time the churches worked together in a concerted way.
“Some of the same social issues that affect us today affected them then,” he said. “There comes a time when we have to renew our commitment, and I believe this is a time of renewal.”
In recent weeks, the three denominations have worked jointly to address earthquake-relief efforts in Haiti; AME Zion Church leaders voted to give half of their Haiti funds to the CME Church, and half to the AME Church, because those two denominations already have ministries in Haiti.
The Rev. Staccato Powell, chair of the summit, said it’s unclear whether the organizations will connect with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, which includes a task force on fatherhood and healthy families.
“We have not ruled out collaborating with them, but we want to insure … the AME, AMEZ and CME communions are the impetus behind this initiative,” said Powell, pastor of Grace AME Zion Church in Raleigh, N.C.
“We strongly believe the impact our collective witness will bring to the issue of African-American males will provide the kind of traction the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) gave to the civil rights movement.”
Organizers have invited President Obama to address the gathering on its concluding day but have not yet learned if he will attend.
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.



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Comments read comments(11)
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pagansister

posted February 23, 2010 at 8:24 pm


Isn’t that the kind of thing churches are supposed to do?



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nnmns

posted February 23, 2010 at 10:12 pm


It sure seems worthwhile, unlike some of the things they do. I wish them luck.



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jim

posted February 24, 2010 at 11:23 am


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Henrietta22

posted February 24, 2010 at 12:20 pm


Who did the art work?



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nnmns

posted February 24, 2010 at 2:58 pm


We’re back to the early days of computer graphics.



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pagansister

posted February 24, 2010 at 3:51 pm


We’re not only back to “early computer graphics” but the irritating sales pitch for shoes! Where is the person/people who are supposed to check on these boards for such things in the wrong places…the comment sections of articles??



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cknuck

posted February 24, 2010 at 7:49 pm


How ignorant is jim?
There are many forces at work in African American areas to keep the areas depressed. The areas are targeted by drugs, alcohol, tobacco, poverty is driven by not low employment but by almost no employment. Police hurry to get every young black person in the legal system ruining their chances of employment. In many states some of the felonies these young men get tagged with are life sentences. In Pa. a felony cannot be removed from a person’s record until 4 yrs after death. Other people with money keep their kids from taking that legal hit but poor blacks just take whatever the law deals them.



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nnmns

posted February 24, 2010 at 10:35 pm


Excellent post, cknuck.



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jim

posted February 25, 2010 at 12:06 pm


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jestrfyl

posted February 25, 2010 at 2:27 pm


ck,
Add to your post that the neighborhoods where these folks live are often targeted for leaving industrial, chemical, and biologically hazardous waste. The health problems that result simply compound all the other issues.
We HAVE GOT to stop treating ALL people like they are less than or even simply other than “us” – whoever “us” is.



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cknuck

posted February 25, 2010 at 10:17 pm


jest, you are absolutely right as a matter of fact learning disabilities have recently been traced to leaded paint in the houses, pollutions in the air, toxins and fluorides in the drinking water



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