The Chronicle
February 27, 2020
B3
RELIGION
Ford speaks on impact of Black History Month
Elder
Richard Wayne
Wood
Sunday
School Lesson
Called to accountability
Scriptures: Amos 5:18-24
By the end of this lesson, we will:
♦Comprehend advocating for all oppressed as a com
mitment to divine justice and righteousness;
♦Desire fairness for the disadvantaged;
♦Choose to become activists supporting the cause of
the poor and oppressed.
Background: Amos was a prophet during the reigns
of Jeroboam II, the king of Israel, in the north, and Uz-
ziah, king of Judah, in the south. The book of Amos deals
mainly with the malady of Israel, its condemnation and
future restoration and glory of Israel within a friendly,
renewed physical world. Amos condemns Israel repeat
edly for social and political ills. Israel was physically at a
time of peace and prosperity; spiritually, however, it was
a time of widespread corruption and moral decay. Some
of the political and social ills of then Israel are relevant
to us now. Note: Prophetic books like Amos are meant to
be read again and again, and meditated upon.
Lesson: Because the material prosperity, stability,
expansion, and political influence Israel is experiencing
is not a result of favor and blessings from God, but are
rooted in evil and exploitation of the poor, Amos slaps a
“Woe” (prediction of death) on those who are proclaim
ing the Day of the Lord. The popular understanding
of this Day was a day in which Israel would be saved
through God’s great power. The prophetic suggestion be
ing that God will use His power against His enemies.
Amos says “woe” because in this case, the enemy is Isra
el. To drive home the point, Amos uses images of a lion,
bear, and poisonous snake to show Israel how they will
escape one danger, only to be confronted with an equally
terrifying danger (verses 18-20).
God calls Israel out as hypocritical and very clearly
states, “I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased
by your solemn assemblies.” Israel had three national
feast days, Passover - the feast of Unleavened Bread,
Pentecost - the feast of Harvest, and Tabernacle or Booth
- the feast of Ingathering. They are all directed at thank
ing God, but God says through Amos that all of the feasts
and sacrifices brought by people who behave in a manner
offensive to God are unacceptable to God. “If you offer
... I will not accept them.” Israel was disobedient and
seeking to satisfy Israel and not God. What God wants
instead ... “But let justice well up like water, righteous
ness like an unfailing stream (verses 21-24). God wants
a repentant heart committed to obedience to His Word,
morally right, just and fair. UMI (The Jewish Study Bi
ble, The MacArthur Study Bible, and the UMI Annual
Commentary 2019 -2020).
For Your Consideration: Why do you think proph
esy should be read again and again and meditated on?
Application: God condemns injustice and encour
ages equitable treatment for all people. Israel was judged
because of their mistreatment, exploitation, and neglect
of the poor and vulnerable. To avoid the same judgement,
we should ask God to enlighten us on ways to use our
time, talent, money and other resources to serve others.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the
first and great commandment. And the second is like unto
it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew
22:37-39)
BY TIMOTHY RAMSEY
THE CHRONICLE
As Black History Month comes to an end, we have
the opportunity to reflect on the sacrifice, hope and sto
ries of those who endured the struggle to enable us to
make it to this point in 2020.
Many people have a strong affinity for Black History
Month, along with the trailblazers of the Civil Rights
Movement. Rev. Paul Robeson Ford, senior pastor of
First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue, sat down with
The Chronicle to talk about the importance of Black His
tory Month.
The Chronicle: From a pastoral perspective, what
does Black History Month mean to you?
Ford: I believe Black History Month for the black
community at large, but particularly for the black com
munity of faith, is a time to really reflect on what I talk
about in terms of salvation history and the history on
how God has delivered us again and again from the
many dangers. There are so many moments of glory that
we have experienced over the course of our history just
in this country, not to mention going back before many
of our ancestors were brought here in chains.
I spend most of Black History Month trying to zero
in on some of the stories of our people, stories that we
know well and in other cases, stories I may be introduc
ing people to for the first time. Stories about moments
where we saw people come together and the types of
ways they choose to move that demonstrate the highest
virtues of faith to which we’re called that have led to that
success and been the backdrop to those moments of glo
ry. Yesterday with our Friday noon service, was also the
anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. That’s a
day to talk about some of the other moments outside of
glory that we have experienced, but yet and still, the last
ing legacy that a man like Malcolm has, whether we are
Muslim or Christian, taught us how to be free black men
and women and to move, that way in pride, with boldness
and a sense of truth.
Black History Month becomes an opportunity to
make sure our people really are remaining conscious
of the complexities of our history and the lesser known
stories that need to be told. The fact of the matter is, we
struggle now as a community because we lack some of
the cohesiveness and shared common purpose that we
had during the days when we were under the foot of seg
regation and oppression.
Black History Month is the month that positions us
to zero in on that in a way that other times of the year
just may not facilitate as much and it’s also a time when
the rest of the nation and society is being called upon to
pay attention to us a little bit more as well. That becomes
an opportunity that people are looking at the right things
and it points to the lasting values and virtues that people
should associate with our people.
The Chronicle: Is the black community as cohesive
and together as they were during the Civil Rights Move
ment?
Ford: Kevin Cosby has talked about the five institu
tions that sustain black life. One of them is the black
church, another one is the black family, another one is
black media, another one is black business and the other
is black schools. All of those institutions are struggling
now, arguably more than ever before. Part of it is because
of the unintended consequences integration played out.
The reality is that during the days of segregation, while
the levels of oppression were such a greater burden to
carry than they are now, because of that reality the black
community was generally all in one place. Black people
of all class levels living together, exposed to each other,
and that lended itself to a more tight-knit community.
Integration, of course, presented this opportunity to
move into the white world to take advantage of some of
the opportunities that had only been available to whites,
but it also meant our people started scattering and mov
ing away. Sometimes for good reasons, seeking a better
life, because the drug epidemic settled in and some of
our neighborhoods went way down. By spreading out
that way, it obviously weakens that solidarity and bond.
One of the things that has settled in was the class con
sciousness and the decision to bond with people of simi
lar class, rather than of similar community.
I constantly tell my folks here, churches like this one,
old institutional churches, have been at the center of the
lift of the black community. This congregation, over its
141 years, literally runs parallel to much of the history of
the black community in Winston and has moved as the
community has moved. We started out where the black
community was in downtown Winston; we moved over
here basically when the black community was doing the
same.
The Chronicle: Some say one of the big problems
Submitted photo
Rev. Paul Robeson Ford is the senior pastor of First
Baptist Church on Highland Avenue.
with African Americans is that since integration, black
people have a sense of complacency and do not have that
same drive as we did during the Civil Rights era. Do you
agree with that?
Ford: I think there is a sector of our community that
is comfortable for themselves, because they have made
these shifts, so the sense of urgency gets diminished if
you’re not still living in the community, or the side of
town where you look out your door and the police cars
are constantly flying by, or you look down the street and
see police, because someone got shot.
Then what has to happen is, there has to be a mind
set and there has to be a set of what I call theological
commitments, that even if I am now geographically or
locationally distanced from the communities of need,
which is disproportionately the communities from where
I came from, or the people that look like me come from,
I am going to go back and work for those communi
ties. That requires another step, it’s the mission step. It’s
the stretching yourself outside of your comfort zone and
to go back into places where the need is great and where
the challenges are many, but where I would argue the
heart of God is.
The Chronicle: Do you feel the importance of Black
History Month has been lost with the younger genera
tion?
Ford: You will hear many people lament that our
children are not being taught their history anymore. Most
of my preaching here, focusing on pulling together bibli
cal insights with the history of our people in an effort to
always be uplifting, especially for our younger people to
make sure what they are not getting in school or at home,
they will get in the church.
I am going to always make it a point that the teach
ing of our history is weaved into everything we do here,
and I think we need to try and do that elsewhere also. We
cannot and should not rely upon the public-school sys
tem or other spaces to be doing the work for years we
have done in our community institutions and spaces. We
as black churches and black people have the responsibil
ity to make sure our children know our story and know
our history and they can take that out into the rest of the
world.
The Chronicle: Was there a particular person that
inspired you from the Civil Rights era?
■ Ford: As I said yesterday from the pulpit, much of
the fire in my preaching and public witness was inspired
by the legacy of Malcolm X. I tell people constantly,
there is a big difference in the mindset that it leaves you
with, to come from a city with a Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard, you won’t have a hard time finding it in any
community with a dozen black people. But I come from
a city with a Malcolm X Boulevard and you will have a
hard time finding those around this country.
Malcolm X and his work permeated the conscious
ness of so much of the black community, not just in
Harlem, but beyond. His death was so traumatizing,
but his legacy has remained so strong and it impacted
me directly just being in that city where he worked so
See Ford on B6
RELIGION CALENDAR
NOW - March 1
Quarterly meeting
The North Carolina Area of the Northwestern
District of the Holiness Church of God, Inc., Quar
terly meeting will convene at Kimberly Park Holiness
Church, located at 1640 S M Caesar Drive, beginning
Wednesday, Feb, 26, through Sunday, March 1. Over
seer Robert Edmond is the host pastor. The theme for
this session is “And God is able to make all grace
abound towards you; that ye, always having all suffi
ciency in all things, may abound to every good work”
(2 Corinthians 9:3). Weeknight services start at 7:30
p.m. and the Sunday service begins at 4 p.m.
TODAY, Feb. 27
Pop-up Bible study
Greater Faith Empowerment Church (GFEC) will
be having Bible study at a pop-up location on Thursday,
Feb 27, from 7-8 p.m. Bible Study for tonight will
be held at the Stafford Place Apartments, 1140 Staf
ford Place Circle, in the movie theater space (next to
the leasing office). GFEC will host Bible study at vari
ous venues within the city limits throughout the year.
For more information, see the Facebook page at https://
www.facebook.com/greaterfaith.
Feb. 27
Speaker series
Faith & Justice Committee of St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church, 520 Summit St., presents the In My Backyard:
Faith and Current Events Speaker Series on Thursday,
Feb. 27, at 12:15-1:15 p.m. Dr. Richard Groves, who
is the former pastor of Wake Forest Baptist Church and
professor of religion and philosophy, will be the speak
er. The topic will be “Things I Never Heard a White
Person Say.” The conversation is to explore what
words say about our stance on race. Bring a bag lunch
if you wish. Beverages and cookies will be provided.
Feb. 29
Black History Program
The Modernistic Club presents its 3rd annual Black
History Month Program, “Leaping Into History For The
Future” on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 2 p.m. The event will
feature District Court Judge Denise S. Hartsfield and
will be held at Sharon Baptist Church, 3890 US High
way 220, Stoneville. The event is free to the public.
Marchi
Sunday service
St. Philips Moravian Church, 911 S. Church St.,
will worship at 11 a.m., March 1. We shall celebrate
Holy Communion on this First Sunday of Lent. The
Rev. Sandra Thigpen will lead the service and preach.
Welcome!
March 1
Worship services
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 4055 Rob
inhood Road, will have two services Sunday, March 1.
The speaker at both 9 and 11 a.m. will be Don Kautz, a
retired nursing professor. At the Forum, 9:15 a.m., Fel
lowship president Mary Law will lead a discussion of
the search for a minister, plans for our grounds and the
annual budget. For more information, see UUFWS.org.
March 5 - April 9
Lenten Revival Services
Mount Zion Baptist Church, 950 File Street, will
hold Lenten Revival Services at 7 p.m. on Thursday
evenings from March 5 thru April 9. The theme is “The
Worthy Lamb.” Good Friday Service at noon on April
10 will feature “The Seven Last Words of Jesus.”
Dr. Serenus T. Churn Sr. is the host pastor. Guest
ministers are listed as follows:
♦Thursday, March 5, Rev. James Clyburn, Red
Bank Baptist Church
♦Thursday, March 12, Dr. C. Anthony Jones Jr.,
United Cornerstone Baptist Church
♦Thursday, March 19, Dr. Verenander Hughes,
Genesis Baptist Church in Greensboro
♦Thursday, March 26, Dr. Dennis Leach, Morning
Star Baptist Church
♦Thursday, April 2, Rev. Clarence Cox, Hanes
CME Church
♦Thursday, April 9, Dr. Paul Lowe, Shiloh Baptist
Church
How to submit items to the Religion calendar:
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calendar items submitted for that week’s paper. Send
your calendar items to news@wschronicle.com. You
can also drop them off, Monday through Friday be
fore 5 p.m., or mail your items to Winston-Salem
Chronicle, 1300 E. Fifth St., Winston-Salem, N.C.
27101; or send them via our website, Hw. wschron-
icle.com.