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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1996
11A
RELIGION
Take
time to
study
Sunday
School Lesson
Devotional Reading: Psalm
74:1-12.
Lesson Scripture: 2 Kings 24,
25.
Although prophets such as
Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and
Ezekiel had been warning their
audiences repeatedly that the
destruction of Jerusalem was
imminent, these men did not
rejoice to see the dty falL Theirs
was not an “I told you so” atti
tude, as they watched
Jerusalem’s residents leaving
their homes in tears.
No type of discipline, whether
coming from parents, judges,
church elders, or prophets is
easy to administer. But in a fall
en world, such discipline is nec
essary to maintain order in a
home, a church, and a society.
Those who fail to heed the clear
warnings they have been given
should expect no other treat
ment except that of punishment.
Perhaps we should pause at
this point to consider how
unparalleled the message ♦^he
cross continues to be. The Son of
God, who did nothing to deserve
punishment, took upon Himself
the treatment that we had com
ing to us. In mercy God has pro
vided a way for sinful man to be
saved. A way was also provided
for the people of Judah. They
simply refused to accept it.
Zedekiah was the native king
whom Nebuchadnezzar had left
to rule Judah after the ten thou
sand captives had been removed
in 597 BC. He was an uncle of
the king (Jehoiachin) who had
been taken to Babylon (v.l5).
Zedekiah had been made to
swear allegiance to
Nebuchadnezzar (2 Chronicles
36:13), but now he rebelled.
Perhaps it distressed him to pay
the heavy tribute to Babylon
year after year. He may have
thought Nebuchadnezzar and
his army were busy with trou
bles elsewhere in the empire. He
may have hoped for an alliance
with other small kingdoms,
which would be strong enough to
break off the yoke of Babylon. It
is also possible that he thou^t
that Egypt would come to help
him, especially since a new,
more aggressive pharaoh had
recently assumed power in
Egypt. Whatever his reasons
were, and in spite of the warn
ings of Jeremiah, Zedekiah
broke his oath and rebelled.
The ninth year of his reign
refers to Zedekiah, thus placing
the beginning of the siege
around 588 BC. All his host
means that Nebuchadnezzar’s
entire army was involved in this
campaign. Of course he had
other troops in other parts of his
empire. We are not told how
many soldiers came against
Jerusalem, but surely the num
ber was so overwhelming that
the men of Judah would not
dare to meet them in open bat
tle. The people of Judah could
only take refuge behind the
strong walls of Jerusalem.
The Babylonians surroimded
the city and pitched their camp
on every side, so that no one
could sneak in with food for the
hungry defenders or escape fixim
the besieged city. 'They alo) built
forts against it roimd about. The
Hebrew word rendered forts is
the same word translated fort in
Ezekiel 4:2, which was a part of
last week's lesson text. There
Ezekiel visualized the coming
siege of Jerusalem; here his
prophecy came to fulfillment.
The word denotes the assault
towers manned by archers by
which a besieged city was
attacked. These towers were
sometimes as much as twenty
stories high.
Americans religious quest mimics shopping spree
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WINSTON-SALEM
Americans today are likely to
approach religion much as
they would a trip to the super
market, religion experts at
Wake Forest University say.
They pick from a variety of
activities and experiences.
They view weekly trips as vol-
imtary, going when they want.
They're not as wedded to
brand names as they used to
be.
“Congregations have to act
intentionally about their iden
tity, and with integrity,” said
Bill J. Leonard, dean of the
divinity school at Wake
Forest.
He helped lead Tuesday's
daylong session on changes in
American religion along with
Nancy T. Ammerman, a pro
fessor of the sociology of reli
gion at Hartford Seminary,
and Charles A. Kimball, the
chairman of Wake Forest's
department of religion and an
expert on Islam.
Leonard said that because
many people no longer
respond to such bran,d names
as Baptist or. Presbyterian,
some congregations have
dropped the denominational
affihation from their names.
Others intentionally market
themselves to a specific audi
ence, offering specialized pro
grams that give people a rea
son to travel on Sunday morn
ings.
“Congregations are an essen
tial part of the social well
being of communities,”
Ammerman said. They teach
civic skills, give people an
identity, build trust and dehv-
er social services.
Ammerman said Christians
need to apply the same self-
examination they experience
during Lent to make changes.
And sometimes after that
journey toward change, she
said, there's a resurrection at
the end.
New fellowship roars through nation
Charlotte minister to head Full Gospel Fellowship conference
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
The Full Gospel Baptist
Church roars into Charlotte
Sunday - at least that is what
the Rev. Norman Kerry hopes
will happen.
Kerry, pastor of Chappell
Memorial Baptist Church, was
recently appointed overseer of
the western conference of the
fledgling fellowship that formed
two years ago in New Orleans.
“From this day forward I have
got to go out and canvas the
area and community and let
them know about us,” he said.
The group to which he refers
has definitely made a name for
itself nationally by attracting
yomig people euixious to find a
church committed to community
development. The first
Fellowship Convention drew
over 30,000 people.
The fellowship has garnered
headlines by drawing some of
the nation’s strongest and
largest churches including the
Greater St. Stephens of New
Orleans, which boasts 18,000
members, and Charlotte native
Bishop Eddie Long’s Atlanta
powerhouse. New Birth
Missionary Baptist Church.
“It really appeals to young
people in its organization,”
Kerry said. “When we have our
annual session, we have our
instructional time-but we also
cater to music.”
Many Generation X gospel
artists, including Kirk Frankhn,
BeBe Winans and Fred
Hammond, have embraced the
group and performed at its
armual conventions. T.D. Jakes
and Carlton Pearson have also
bought into the conference.
Since joining, Kerry has seen
an increase in Chappell’s mem
bership. The church averages 25
new members monthly, he said.
The fellowship was formed in
1994 by Bishop Paul S. Morton
of New Orleans’ Greater St.
Stephens Baptist Church.
Morton wanted to develop a
church to meet the needs of the
Afiican American religious com
munity, both spiritually and
physically. The idea was to
enhance existing fellowships
rather than create a new one.
“We wanted to give Baptists a
choice,” said the Rev. Ed Dillon
of the fellowship’s home office in
New Orleans. “Basically we
grew out of the need of a num
ber of Baptists who wanted to
practice charismatic,
Pentecostal beliefs.”
The church, which embraces
speaking in tongues, faith heal
ing has grown by leaps and
bounds. In less than three
years, the Fellowship has grown
to encompass more than 2,200
churches nationwide and has a
membership of more that
500,000.
“The Gospel Conference is one
that embraces the ministry of
the whole spirit,” Kerry said. “It
is one that is viewed as not
being as pohtical. We’re seeking
to bring about change and give
back to the community.”
The group does not consider
itself a denomination, but an
additional fellowship for mem
ber churches. Member churches
remain members of their
denominations and keep their
names.
Aside fiom an annual conven
tion that drew 50,000 in July,
the group also advocates an
aggressive agenda for member
churches, who can join the fel
lowship no matter what the
denomination.
“This organization is very pro
gressive and aggressive in its
thinking,” said Kerry. “That is
another important part of our
denomination. We are open and
ecumenical.”
The church uses the term
Baptist only because it was
foimded in the Baptist church.
There are a lot of m3fths about
the church, Kerry said. Part of
his job as overseer is to dispel
myths about the group.
“We don’t consider ourselves
to be a denomination,” he said.
“We are a conference - a fellow
ship. Chappell Memorial will
fellowship with our local associ
ation, state association, and the
National Baptist Convention. It
is not something that causes us
to be separate, but to unite.”
Kerry
The terms the church uses
occasionally have caused confu
sion. The group uses new testa
ment terminology for titles thus
minister are often called bish
ops.
“We tend to think of bishops
as part of the Episcopalian
structure of churches,” he said.
“One might think that a bishop
has the right to make decisions
regarding another church. For
us, that is not true. Each church
is still autonomous. The title
bishops simply means a pastor
of pastors.”
The group boasts a strong
church development agenda
that provides aid to chiuches in
trouble, financially or spiritual
ly-
See KERRY on page 14 A
“Angry”
churches
call for
march
By Robert Tanner
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA - Leaders of
predominately black churches
burned in South Carolina hope
to call a national march here
next year to combat racism,
church and civil rights leaders
announced Friday.
“Let’s deal with the belly of
the beast in the belly, and call
the nation to come here,” said
the Rev. Terrance Mackey,
whose GreeleyviUe church was
bvimed Jime 20,1995.
Plans for the march were
made pubhc at a three-day con
ference on racism, where the
talk ranged from people’s first
brush with bigotry to the
Confederate battle flag.
South Carolina delegates
signed a letter to Gov. David
Beasley, asking him to per
suade legislators to lower the
flag from atop the capitol
dome. South Carolina is the
last to fly the banner from its
statehouse.
Beasley, who earlier in the
day called the burnings a
tragedy that could still help
people come together, had not
seen the letter, but his commis
sion on race relations has been
studying the flag concerns,
spokeswoman Ginny Wolfe
said.
The conference, sponsored in
part by the National Council of
Churches, has brought togeth
er church and civil rights work
ers from around the nation to
work toward solutions.
“We’re trying to find ways of
helping,” said Barbara
Campbell, a volunteer working
with rural churches in Georgia.
Some workshops looked at
the pervasive nature of racism
in housing and employment,
while others urged discussions
on individual experiences with
bigotry. Church leaders from
around the country talked
about ways to work together.
But many local leaders want
ed to see the three days of dis
cussion fuel participation in a
march, to be held sometime in
the spring.
“It needs to be done,” said the
Rev. Joseph Dmby, who heads
a local coalition of predomi
nately black churches. “It is
one of the few positive b3rprod-
ucts to come from the burn
ings.'”
Kevin Gray, conference orga
nizer and a former president of
the South Carolina branch of
the American Civil Liberties
Union, said the problems sur
rounding race are deeper than
burned churches.
See CHURCHES on page 13 A
Zionites rededicate ‘Negro Skyscraper’
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Bells rang last week for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
The church celebrated the official grand opening of the James Varick
Christian Bookstore and rededication of the the AME Zion Publishing
House, a Charlotte landmark for more than 100 years. Several down
town churches rang their bells at noon last Friday to mark the occa
sion.
“It’s one of the oldest businesses in downtown Charlotte,” Star of Zion
editor Morgan Tann says. “It is definitely one of the oldest black busi
nesses.”
The Star of Zion, one of the nation’s oldest Afncan American periodi
cals, is just one of several church pubhcations created in the building.
The inauspicious building at the corner of Second and Brevard is a
piece of history.
Built in 1911 by black contractor, W.W. Smith, it was the first pub-
hshing house in the nation to be built by African Americans and came
to be known as the “Negro Skyscraper.”
The dedication Friday, marks the opening of the James Varick
Christian Bookstore, a 2,000 square-foot sales space named for the
AME Zion founder, rededication of the building and the addition of the
Women’s home and foreign missions offices to the building.
“We’ve remodeled,” Tann says. “We have updated equipment and
added the Women’s Home and Overseas Mission office to the building.
The Star of Zion will be produced in its entirety from this office.”
The ceremony was well attended by Zionites and featured remarks by
several AME Zion bishops.
The bookstore officially opened to the public on Friday.
PHOTO/PAUL WILLIAMS III
Bishop George Walker speaks the dedication of the Publishing House. He is surrounded
from left by the Rev. David Miller, Bishops Marshall Strickland, Schuka Ekeman, George
Battle, Clinton Haggard, Warren Brown, Milton Williams, and Dr. Morgan Tann.