Church Bonds Over Sisterly Love

By HALEY HUGHES, The Aiken Standard
Monday, January 18, 2010

Friendship Batist Church-The women of Friendship Baptist Church recognize the bond between sisters is unbreakable, even if they don’t know what their sister’s favorite TV show is.

Multiple sets of sisters gathered at the church Sunday in “Always Sisters, Always Friends,” which celebrated the love of sisterhood and helped encourage the siblings to strengthen the connection between themselves and with Christ.

At least one sister of each set attends Friendship Baptist Church.

“There is nothing like the bond between sisters. Ladies, we’ve got to stick together,” said church member Donna Moore Wesby. “Children would come up and speak with me after church, and God just placed it on my heart when I realized that most of them were sisters. After further investigation, it appears our church has nearly 25 sister families. We are sisters not only in blood but also in Christ.”

But the sister sets soon learned that they may not know everything about each other.

Three pairs of sisters were called to the front of the room to play a version of “The Newlywed Game.” One sister from each pair was sent out of the room while the others answered questions about their siblings that touched on details like favorite TV show, favorite color, memorable moments and romantic relationships.

The absent sisters were then allowed back in the room.

“What is your favorite TV show?” Wesby asked.

“‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,’” Vernice Grant Moore said.

“I said ‘The Bold and the Beautiful,’” sister Jeanette Grant Coleman said.

“Oh, yes. I like that one, too,” Moore chuckled.

Moore and Coleman and sisters Doris McManus Freeman and Juanita McManus Robinson proved to be no match for twins Ebony and Ivory Kennion.

The Kennions walked away with the highest score, though their victory had its share of laughs, too.

“What is one thing you could change about your sister?” Wesby asked Ebony.

“Her attitude,” Ebony answered.

“I do not have an attitude,” Ivory exclaimed.

Coleman said, when she first moved to Aiken, she and her sisters were very much like fric and frac, though now they get along very well.

“My sisters Vernice and Maxine epitomize unity. Our mother instilled in us togetherness, love and unity to keep us together,” Coleman said.

NAACP: Many challenges despite Obama presidency

Trust God, not government, Baptist convention told

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

FromThe Detroit Free Press

Despite the election of President Barack Obama, African-Americans and others still have not achieved equality, the president of the NAACP told an audience of Baptists Thursday night in Detroit.

“We’re not the National Association for the Advancement of a Colored Person,” said Ben Jealous, the youngest president in the history of the 100-year-old civil rights organization called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “Until all of them are OK, we’ll be fighting hard.”

Speaking at the Detroit Marriott in the Renaissance Center, Jealous said many in the U.S. suffer from extreme poverty, racial profiling, poor schools, and a criminal justice system that he said unfairly targets minorities. And so while the election of Obama was a great event, on Jan. 21 — the day after his inauguration — “to be honest, not much had changed” for many Americans, he said.

“Dads were still out of work,” Jealous said. And it was still harder for black men to get employed than white men.

Jealous made his remarks on the fourth day of the Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA, the biggest African-American religious group in the U.S. His speech was notably different in tone from other speakers during the convention, which stressed religious education and personal morality rather than social justice issues.

Jealous didn’t talk about Christianity in his remarks, instead focusing on the struggle for human rights in the U.S. Jealous was once director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International.

While praising Obama for being an excellent role model for blacks, he cautioned against saying the fight for freedom is over.

“It’s not enough to have great examples,” Jealous said. “We got to have a plan.” He said there should be efforts to make sure “all kids go to a good school.” And he assailed racial profiling, saying that not only is it immoral, “it also doesn’t work.”

Jealous’ speech was different in tone from an earlier address Thursday by a National Baptist leader. Speaking to thousands of Baptists inside Cobo Arena , the head of the educational branch of the nation’s biggest African-American religious group called upon people to trust in God, not the government, during difficult times.

“I know General Motors is in bankruptcy. I know Chrysler” is facing problems,” said the Rev. R.B. Holmes Jr., of Tallahassee, Fla., president of the Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA. “But when you put your faith in his hands…when you do this, you will find victory over fear, over doubt, over demons, over depression.”

His afternoon address in Detroit focused on the importance of faith. The National Baptist group has millions of members across the U.S., many of whom gathered in Detroit this week for a five-day conference that was to draw up to 40,000 Baptists.

Holmes said: “You have nothing to lose…Take a chance on the Lord. Call on the Lord. Seek the Lord…turn to the Lord.”

“The Lord, the Lord,” he stressed, waving his finger at the audience. “Not the government.”

Holmes’ talk was preceded by several gospel musical performances that brought the crowd to its feet.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: nwarikoo@freepress.com.

Baptist teens take closer look at hip-hop

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

After showing a music video by T-Pain with suggestive lyrics, the pastor posed a question to the group of Baptist teenagers:

“Is it all right to be a Christian and listen to this?” asked the Rev. Tracy Samuel from South Carolina.

The Rev. Tracy Samuel leads Hip-Hop Culture and Christianity, a session for teens, Tuesday during the Congress of Christian Education.

The response was varied, reflecting the lively discussion Tuesday on the second day of the annual Congress of Christian Education of the National Baptist Convention USA, the oldest and biggest black religious group in the nation.

The workshop, Hip-Hop Culture and Christianity, was among the forums held Tuesday in Detroit’s Cobo Center aimed at young Baptists. They’re an attempt, say organizers, to keep youngsters in the church and to deal with the influence of pop culture.

In Samuel’s session, the group discussed a wide range of issues, from how to dress in church to how to spread the gospel.

“You and I got to get out and be real” in order to spread the Christian message, Samuel said.

Kedryck James, an 18-year-old Baptist from Charleston, S.C., who attended the session, said he is an active member of his church; this is the sixth Baptist convention he’s been to.

But because he has dreadlocks, he said he sometimes gets looks inside his church from some parishioners who don’t think his hair is appropriate. Still, he said that didn’t prevent him from being part of his church choir.

“I dare you to keep me from praising the Lord,” James said.

Noelle Washington, 16, also of Charleston, goes to a Baptist church but says she likes nondenominational churches because they focus more on the youth.

With Baptist churches, “they’re like tradition, tradition” and not as willing to try new things, Washington said. Still, she and other teens said they liked the closeness of Baptist churches.

“It’s like you’re with family,” said John Miller, 16, of Charleston.

Contact NIRAJ WARIKOO: 313-223-4792 or warikoo@freepress.com

Athlete, Musician Wayman Tisdale Dead at 44

National Basketball Association star, three-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma and jazz musician Wayman Tisdale died in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma today, Friday, May 15. Tisdale was 44.

The 6 foot-9 inch hoopster played for Indiana, Sacramento and Phoenix, and earned a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team.

Tisdale also made a career as a popular smooth jazz bass guitarist. Among his eight-CD musical legacy is a gospel/sacred album he recorded in 2003, called Wayman Tisdale Presents 21 Days.

Photo: Brad Barket/Getty Images

Legendary Gospel Singer Eugene Smith Dead at 88

TBGB learned today from both Joseph Middleton and David Jones that Eugene Smith of the Roberta Martin Singers died today, May 9, at his home in Chicago.

The senior living apartments where Smith was a resident confirmed his passing. They found his body in his apartment this morning.

Eugene Smith just recently celebrated his 88th birthday; “Gospel Memories” dedicated its April 6 program to him.

Smith was a charter member of the Roberta Martin Singers, joining in 1933 when it was known as the Martin & Frye Quartette. He became the group’s manager when Martin decided to leave the road and concentrate on her publishing business.

I had the great pleasure to have known Smith these past few years and considered him a friend. He was one of the last of the living gospel pioneers. We were planning to go out to Burr Oak this Memorial Day weekend to visit Roberta’s grave and tidy it up a bit. It was a trip Eugene made many a Memorial Day to pay tribute to the woman who was so much a part of his life.

What Eugene once said about Roberta I want to paraphrase about Eugene: “There never has been, and never will be, another Eugene Smith. Uh-uh. No sir.”

Here is an article from the New York Times. Scholar and author Anthony Heilbut, a friend of Smith’s for 50 years, is quoted in this piece.

The Chicago Tribune’s Sara Olkon contributes this remembrance: Eugene Smith.

Visit Joseph Middleton’s tribute to Eugene on YouTube.

This Saturday morning’s “Gospel Memories” program will pay tribute to Eugene Smith, the celebrated singer, manager and announcer for the Roberta Martin Singers.

Here are the homegoing details, courtesy of President Dennis Cole of the Chicago Area Gospel Announcers Guild:

ORDER OF SERVICE:

VISITATION & CELEBRATION
Monday, May 18, 2009
6pm-10pm

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
HOME GOING SERVICE
10am-11am Visitation
11:00 Service

All services will be held at:

CHRISTIAN TABERNACLE CHURCH
4712 South Prairie Avenue
Chicago, IL
Pastor Maceo L. Woods, Officiating

Pastor Joseph Jackson
of Mount Pisgah Church
Will Deliver Eulogy

Please join me in remembering this special man and praying for those whom he touched so deeply over the years with his singing, his personality and his abiding faith.

Photo: Eugene Smith in front of Ebenezer M.B. Church, where he met Roberta Martin in 1933 and became a member of the church’s Junior Choir the same year.