The Power Of Ebony: Four Powerful Black Women Pastors

Music is an inseparable element of Black life and therefore Black worship. The Black Church understands worship to be a communal act of adoration towards God that may involve praise or petition via song, dance, music (use of instruments), recitation, meditation, chanting, and or prayer (Mason, 2016). According to James Cone, Black music is unity music because it unites…the hope and despair;…and it moves the people towards the direction of total liberation; and confronts the individual with the truth of black existence and affirms that black being is possible only in the communal context (p. 5). It is with this understanding that black people worship through music and without this understanding worship and music are diluted. J. Wendell Mapson articulated this idea in his book, The Ministry of Music in the Black Church, when he noted that purpose of worship is forfeited when singing music that has no relationship to everyday life, and the worshipper becomes disconnected from the way music and worship have historically served blacks (41). In this same vain, James Cone asserted that Black music is theological because it reveals how God moves people towards unity and self-determination.

She reminds the people, through the untainted word of Jesus Christ that He saves, heals, and set free from the burden of sin and degradation that Satan inflicts upon His people. Evangelist Stokes has ministered extensively throughout the United States and South Africa spreading the Good

James Myers is the pastor at the East Campus of Biltmore Baptist Church. Myers has been employed with BBC for the past 4 years and has a Master’s Degree in Christian Education. He and his wife, Michelle, live in Asheville with their 2 children, Noah and Cole, and are expecting their third child, a girl, due in August. Myers says he is very lucky to be a part of this church because they have an extensive network of employees, including a group of licensed therapists located in the Hope Network.

The objective of this assignment is to conduct an interview with someone who currently works in the crisis intervention, in order gain a perspective of the work or service, what it entails and how to be successful in providing what is needed to those in crisis.

“Roll, Jordan, Roll”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Had”, “Go Down, Moses”, and “Wade in the Water” are the titles of only a handful of what were called “Negro Spirituals”, which originated during the reign of slavery in the United States (Frey). Such spirituals used call-and-response, a method of communication that was popular with slaves who brought African traditions to America, and gave way to the gospel music and unique form of preaching characteristic to the Black Church. The history of the Black Church, which began during the slave era, demonstrates the way that African Americans found refuge in Christianity, where the church became the center for African American communities (Baer). Born out of struggle and oppression, the Black Church not only became the focus for the religious practices of African American communities, but also worked to “re-member” the community through rituals such as that of call-and-response, a core element of the Black Church which served as a powerful tool for the African American community in the fight for the exercise of true freedom in America.

I am the minority of the usual church; typically I am one of four white people who attend the 8am service. I first went with a friend’s family after she had pass away. I was never nervous about going to a predominantly African American church. Everyone welcomed me. The family I went with had me stand up when they called for new people to the church. It then took me 30 extra minutes to get out of the church because everyone gave me a hug. Going into part two of this project I was actually very nervous about going to the Korean church. I think being by myself had a lot to do with it along with not know the language. I was very nervous about not understanding anything that was going on. Additionally I was worried they would not want me there.

Sunday was often the only day that enslaved blacks did not have to work. The Sabbath became a full day of preaching, community building and socializing. The African American church still maintains this practice of an extended worship day with longer services and sermons than most other religious. The average time for blacks’ churches services is about ninety minutes, with the sermons lasting more than thirty minutes long. This is the etiquette article of African American churches. The Methodist church, however, rules governs differently. Their etiquette is designed specifically and honorably to God. The honoring of the sanctuary in reference to the pulpit, communion table, maintain silence before God, church bibles and hymnals, treatment of the pews. Languages that honors God, enter and exit as directed appropriately. Honoring the Lord’s Supper which includes, kneeling at the communion rail, receiving the bread, receiving the cup, and remaining in church after receiving the Lord’s Supper and honoring the church building, that is, cleanliness is next to Godliness, eat only where it is allowed, keep the outside of the church building neat and clean and treat Christian symbols with respect. AME church, simple put etiquette is respecting the place you worship and embracing your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Etiquette is also an opportunity for teenager or youth church. Youth should also know the sacredness of God’s house. Their attire, language and behavior should

The bases of keeping women out of the ministry in most religions are more or less tradition. A Bible scripture such as (Mat. 10:2) as Jesus was searching for His disciples he only chose men. Even when he had to replace them, He only chose men. In most of the passages in the bible, Jesus never chose a woman nor did He address the public by speaking to the woman specifically. Some would believe that Jesus was a sexist, but during the times it was only tradition for a man to be the head of everything and the role of a woman during the biblical times were to listen to the man, nurture her family and husband. During the biblical times when Jesus walked this earth, Christianity was a very warous event. People were not accepting of the Christ therefore it leads to wars and battles. (Mat. 24: 6). During those days women did not do battle. As of today the tradition still holds and it plays a significant part in our everyday lives as well as our religious worship. We

The development of Black Theology in the United was one that shocked the nation as a whole. While in slavery, Blacks had to sneak and hold church services. This was partly because Whites felt that Blacks were not able to be accepted into heaven, and they believed that once one as a Christian they could no longer be enslaved. So to appease their conscience they would not allow Blacks to take part in theology. Due to these issues Black Theology soon originated within the United States.

There are various views of women in ministry. Some of these views are very conservative while others are very liberal and then there are those that trail the middle of the road. There are three major views, The most conservative view is the traditional view. The traditionalists believe that male and female were created differently and should hold different roles. They hold strong to Genesis 3:16, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you". Another Scripture that this group uses is 1Timothy 2:12, "I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man, she must be quiet" (Calagna, Paragraph 4).

I jumped at the opportunity to complete the extra credit assignment because of the topic. I have always wanted to attend an African American Baptist Church. I was raised Catholic in a predominantly white community and for the chance to experience something different was appealing. I’ve seen the stereotypes in movies and on TV about what an African American Baptist church looks like but I wanted to experience it myself. I wasn’t sure on what to expect but kept an open mind about the situation.

Second, a woman’s position in the church is not to be a preacher in the pulpit. The first reason a woman cannot be a pastor is because women are not have authority over men. Bacchoicchi states, “God wasn’t prejudices against the women, but he didn’t make women equal with the men but He still added them to part of the worship.” God did not make men and women to be equal in authority. The men are the have the authority and preach to the women. Women do not have the power over men to be ministers

Until recently, women were not allowed to preach or even speak in the Christian Church, but in modern times women are beginning to play a more significant. While sects of Christianity still hold the traditional teachings about women, others have given them equal status within the church, an increasingly accepted interpretation.

Her ability to show that she is an equal by putting Biblical language into every day, common language makes many people feel a bit more sense of belonging (P.69). Her demeanor and attitude is one of friendliness and smiles. There is a sense of ease and comfort as if one were listening to a friend talk. Her ability to not speak from a spiritual mountaintop unites people who know nothing about the Bible to listen and comprehend as well as the person who has gone to Sunday school their entire lives. It includes more people, but it also makes her feel more genuine as a listener.

For the last year, I was in the position of women’s ministry leader at church which I found to be much harder than I thought. It was not that I felt I could not lead but I found you cannot lead those that do not want to be led. I was led to do activities that would bring a gospel message to the women of the church while having fellowship. I found that day to day activities were much more important to the ladies in our church. The events that were the most successful, unfortunately were the ones that were of fellowship, little worship time and cost each person money to participate. My biggest challenge in this was coming to terms with the fact that the ladies have the choice whether or not they want to deepen their relationship with Christ through fellowship and the gospel. God gave us choices and I have to accept that some do not always choose to