iM
13A
RELIGION/ The Charlotte Post
January 18, 1996
Church Notes
Thought for
the week:
"Some people
make the
Bible say what
they want to
hear. ”
will be the guest speaker.
The Rev. Warren Nance is
pastor.
209 West 28th St.
The Rev. James Hawthorne
and First Mount Calvary
members yvill host installation
services Sunday at 3 p.m.. The
Rev. D.K. Martin and mem
bers of New Life Baptist
Church will be special guests.
• Charlotte's First
Baptist
301 S. Davidson St.
John K. Rosemond, a family
psychologist, will conduct two
seminars titled "The Frantic
Family Syndrome; Stop the
Insanity!" and "Your Child's
Self-Esteem" at 3 p.m. and
4:30 p.m. Feb. 11.
The cost is $5. For more
information, contact Margaret
McArthur or Louise Warren at
375-1446.
Greater Providence
Baptist
200 Milton Road
The winter session of
Metrolina Extension Center
began Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Metrolina Extension Center
is jointly sponsored by Shaw
Divinity School and the
Seminary Extension
Department of the Southern
Baptist Convention. All cours
es are accredited by three
national educational bodies
and taught by pastors with
earned doctoral degrees.
For more information, call
532-6228.
•New Pleasant Valley
Baptist
500 Ingle St.
The annual installation of
officers will be 3 p.m. Jan. 28.
The Rev. Clement Morris Jr.,
pastor of Tabernacle Baptist
Church, will be the guest
speaker.
For more information, call
399-0217.
Closing services are at 5
p.m. Guest speaker is Pastor
Marion Newton, Jehovah
Missionary Baptist Church,
Sumter, S.C.
• Statesville Avenue
Preshyterian U.Sj\.
3435 Nevin Road
The church's 44th anniver
sary will be celebrated 4 p.m.
Jan. 28.
For more information, call
548-8664.
• New St. John Baptist
2000 St. John Road
The pastor, the Rev. Robert
H. Leak, will deliver the ser
mon for the 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.
service. The themes are "The
Road Ahead and at a
Crossroad in Life" and "The
Danger of Making Bad
Choices."
For more information, call
375-2149.
Trinity Park Baptist
9115 Trinity Road
Help for students in kinder
garten through second grade
to improve their reading skills
will be offered second and
fourth Fridays in January.
Volunteers will be available
to listen to children read and
read to them starting Friday
at 7 p.m.
First Mount Calvary
Baptist Church
• Hopewell AME Zion
Huntersville
The annual missionary pro
gram, "100 Women in Hats,"
will be 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Evangelist Tina Johnson of
New St. John Baptist Church
Shiloh Institutional
Baptist
2400 Greenland Ave.
Shiloh Institutional Baptist
will celebrate the fifth
anniversary of pastor Rev.
Clinton Ceasar Sr. through
Sunday.
All announcements for
“Church Notes” must be post
marked, faxed or hand deliv
ered to :
The Charlotte Post
1531 Camden Road
Charlotte, NC 28230
Attn: Andrea Richards
Ministering to new generation
Continued frompage 12A
stand the language, not speak
it well.
At 14, Rodriguez picked up a
microphone in church and
compared God's love to an
eagle caring for its offspring.
Church members wept, mak
ing him feel that “things that
came out of my mouth result
ed in changed lives."
Galvanized by the experi
ence and needing to be fluent
in Spanish, Rodriguez decided
to learn the language. He took
courses at Penn State and
Kutztown universities, where
Spanish professors questioned
whether he was, after an easy
“A."
“I was born in Jersey," he
told them, “and I'm here
because I really want to learn
to speak this language per
fectly well."
While at Penn State,
Rodriguez married Eva
Feliciano, daughter of Raul
Feliciano, a retired lawyer
from Puerto Rico and former
president of the Allentown
Pjierto Rican Parade
Committee. They met in
Allentown's Mount Sinai
Pentecostal Church, where
they are members.
After graduating,
Rodriguez took a job teaching
social studies and economics
at his alma mater. Liberty
High School in Bethlehem.
Rodriguez is director of
yo^th ministries for
Assemblies of God's northeast
region and, during the school
year, he preaches on week
ends in 250 churches in 14
states from Maine to Virginia.
He pnd his wife, their two
preSchool children and
Rodriguez's musical and logis
tics teams pack into two cars
for the trips. Summers, the
touring is more ambitious,
taking Rodriguez to places
like El Salvador, the
Dominican Republic and
Nicaragua.
Rodriguez has aimed his
preaching prowess at
Generation X. Using his youth
and images, music and slang
gleaned from urban youth cul
ture, Rodriguez tailors ser
mons to a generation notori
ous for its short attention
span.
“I'm competing with MTV,"
he said. “I'm competing with
Sega and Nintendo. I'm com
peting with Mortal Kombat 1
and 2. I'm competing with
Michael Jordan returning to
the Bulls."
That will scare the living day
lights out of every single City
Council member, the mayor,
the whole political establish
ment of the Lehigh Valley."
But Rodriguez said he will
not enter politics, having
declined an offer from
Bethlehem political leaders to
run for an office he refused to
identify.
The result is high-energy
raps.
“I got it from gangsta rap,
people like Snoop Doggy Dogg,
people who are talking about
shooting down and going into
neighborhoods," Rodriguez
said. “And I'm looking at this.
Here's a negative image that
the urban culture of America
is involved with, overwhelmed
with. They buy out these
records more than any other
records in America. Why?
How can we take that on that
screen and transform it into a
positive message? I got it.
Bingo!"
Rodriguez calls
Pentecostalism the Latino
civil rights movement.
Wour enemy is not the white
man," he tells the Latino com
munity. “Your enemy is not
racism. These are just scape
goats that we utilize with our
community to justify our con
dition. They are all lies. They
may exist in different areas
but they do not impede us.
“Here are the enemies we
must face: illiteracy, drug
addiction, social and economic
poverty, the problem of not
mastering the English lan
guage."
Rodriguez compares
Allentown Latinos to a politi
cal sleeping giant and sees a
cadre of political leadership
emerging from storefront
churches where the
“Pentecostal, charismatic, we-
want-to-get-your-attention"
kind of speaking is practiced.
“You have 18,000 Latinos in
Allentown, 90 percent or more
who do not vote," he said.
“These people will awake.
These people must awake.
Rodriguez eyes a different
prize: becoming a high-profile
evangelist. He said he has
been invited to preach next
year in Spain, Germany, Italy
and the Philippines. His idol
is Billy Graham.
“I wouldn't mind following in
his footsteps," he said. “That's
where we're leaning. That's
where we re going in due time.
No hurry. It's going to hap
pen."
Asked if he makes a lot of
money preaching, Rodriguez
got defensive. “Absolutely
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SIMPSON - GILLESPIE
UNITED METHODIST
CHURCH
Dr. Walter McKelvey, Pastor
Sunday School 9:30a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00a.m.
Bible Study - Tue, 7:00PM
3545 Beatties Ford Road
Dr. Walter H.
McKelvey
(704)399-2717
not," he said before listing his
expenses for a typical preach
ing trip to New York City: $15
for gas, food at McDonald's,
the toll on the George
Washington Bridge. He said
Latino churches rarely collect
more than $25 to $50 for a vis
iting preacher.
Youth congresses, such as
the one at the Scottish Rite
Cathedral, pay more. But
Rodriguez said the money
goes to make video and audio
tapes of his appearances and
to buy air time on Latin
American radio and television
stations.
“I have a problem looking at
Christ on this planet today
driving in a Mercedes or a
Rolls-Royce, if he were a min
ister," he said. “I would see
him driving a mid-sized car or
a family minivan, picking up
kids in the neighborhood and
taking the kids somewhere.
GALILEE BAPTIST
CHURCH
Rev. F.A. Griffin, PASTOR
Rev. F.A.‘Griffin
2933 Shady Lane • Charlotte, NC 28208
Sunday School 9:45a.m.
Sunday Worship 11:00a.m.
Sunday School Study - Wed. 7pm
Prayer Service - 8pm
333-0810
ROCKWELL
A.M.E. ZION CHURCH
"Celebrating 128 Years
of Christianity"
William M. Jordan III: Pastor
-WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS-
Sunday School-9t45a.in.Sunday Worship-lLOOa.m.
Tuesday "Youth In Action" 7-9p.m.
Wednesday - Prayer Service/Bible Study...6p.m.
Tutorial Prog. Tue. & Thur. all ages 4:00-6:00p.;m.
6301 Rockwell Church Rd. • Charlotte, NC 28269
596-8279
Wnow
A M 1 0 3 0
P.O. Box 23509
Charlotte, NC 28227
704-332-8764 Bus. Line
704-882-9669 Studio Line
704-882-1330 Fax
Interracial Interdenominational Christian
Programming for The Carolinas
Cornerstone Gospel Church
Monday-Friday
4;45-5PM
Pastors Russ and Sandy Hosey
Charlotte Area’s
Black Owned Funeral
Services
Alexander Funeral Service
112 N. Irwin Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28202
333-1170
Charlotte Mortuary
3431 Rozzelles Ferry Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28208
399-7610
Kings Funeral Home
4000 Beatties Ford Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
394-2722
Metrolina Funeral Service
3715 Beatties Ford Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
399-6301
Long & Son Mortuary Service
2312 Beatties Ford Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28216
394-1111
Grier Funeral Home
115 N. Cloudman St.
Charlotte, NC 28216
332-7109
Family Mortuary
2310 Statesville Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28206
377-4400
Beasley Funeral Home
3925 Beasley Lane
Charlotte, NC 28206
376-2273
Northwest Funeral Home, Inc.
400 S. Summit Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28206
332-1559