8B
RELIGIONAtle Ctailitte $(i«
Thursday, December, 21 2006
Black churches still growing in Maryland
THE ASSOC/ATED PRESS
WALDORF, Md.-When
the Rev. Rodney J. Blackmon
took over Christian Unity
Baptist Church, it had 35 con
gregants. Now Blackmon is
planning to build a new
church with room for more
than 3,000.
The migration of black peo
ple from the District of
Columbia and Prince George’s
County has fueled the rapid
growth of Charles County
congregations like Black
mon’s, which now has 500
members.
“When I first got here, you
didn’t hear too much about
African American churches,”
Blackmon said. “Ever since
then, churches have been pop
ping up everywhere, and
theyve been growing.”
The expanding number,
scale and ambition of black
churches in Charles Coimty
mirrors what happened when
blacks migrated from the Dis
trict into Prince George’s in
the 1970s.
“The people came first, and
the churches followed. That’s
the pattern,” said Ronald
Walters, director of the Uni
versity of Maryland’s African
American Leadership Insti
tute.
As the population grows in
Charles County, where subdi
visions have replaced tobacco
farms, many local churches
are modeling themselves on
the megachurches in Prince
George’s County. •
Church leaders in Prince
George’s have been teaching
their counterparts in Charles
how to organize programs for
the homeless and cleanup
efforts in poverty-stricken
areas. They have been advis-
Church
News
Continued from page 5B
Methodist Church, 3545 Beat-
ties Ford Road. Rev. Ingram
will deliver the New Year’s
message. Breakfast served
immediately following service.
For information, or directions
call: (704) 399-2717
January 13
The University of Tbnnessee
at Martin choral ensembles
and the clarinet choir will per
form a concert as they tour
throughout the Southeastern
Coastal region of the U.S.
Selections from the program
include the music of Aaron
Copland, W.A. Mozart, Ben
jamin Britten, Eric Whitacre
and Moses Hogan. The
ensembles are led by Dr.
Mark Simmons, UT Martin
director of choral activities,
and Amy Parks Simmons, UT
Martin assistant professor of
woodwind studies.
The UT Martin Department
of Music has 100 students
majoring in music with 13
full-time faculty members.
The choral ensembles tour
yearly and the January tour
in 2007 will take them to
Myers Park Presbyterian
Church. All performances are
at 7:30 p.m. ’The concerts are
free and open to the public.
January 20
Steele Creek AME Zion
Church located at 1500 Shop-
ton Road will sponsor a Four
Season Tfea fundraiser from
2p.m. - 4p,m. Tickets are $6.
Call (704) 523-6552 for infor
mation or to buy tickets.
Cljarlotte
For more
news you
can use
ing them about how to win
government funding for faith-
based initiatives.
Black people have almost
exclusively driven the recent
growth in Charles. The coun
ty’s white population
remained relatively stagnant
between 2000 and 2005,
while its black population
increased by more than 50
percent, according to census
estimates. Black people now
make up about 34 percent of
Charles’s roughly 139,000
residents.
Black megachurches—
loosely defined as having
more than 2,000 worship
pers—have been popping up
in suburbs across the country.
'Their large congregations
give them the resources to run
significant social programs.
In Charles, LifeStyles Inc., a
faith-based community ser
vices organization affiliated
with the black ministers
group, launched a program a
year ago to provide dinner
and overnight shelter in
churches for homeless people
during the winter months.
Called Safe Nights, the pro
gram was modeled after the
Warm Nights program in
Prince George’s. When it
began in Charles, two church
es participated. Now 26 are
involved, and the organization
was awarded a small grant
Sum the county government.
This year, an army of volun
teers from First Baptist
Church of Glenarden, which
has a 7,000-member congre
gation, came several times to
Nanjemoy, a severely impov
erished rural area of Charles.
They provided free clothing,
household goods and books,
as well as dentistry and other
medical services.
Local churches were so
impressed that they asked
First Baptist to help them
organize their own social pro
grams.
‘Tt really was a blessing to
see that tiiere was a system
that was in place,” Blackmon
said. “1 think Charles County
has the resources, but no one
put the system in place.”
Meanwhile, Blackmon is
moving forward with plans
for a 31-acre campus. It
would include a sanctuary
that would seat 2,500, plus
with computer labs, play
grounds, athletic facilities
and classrooms.
“There’s plenty of numbers
to fill those buildings,” he
said. “I declare it.”
going on now!
take an additional
%
off
all Christmas decor
including ornaments,
wreaths, cards, wrapping
paper, Christmas apparel
and so much more!
learance Items
have been re
ducedeveninrthe
/Marshalls.
700 stmos iiationwicte Call 1-800-Marshalls fot a sfoie near you cm visit usat www MaishallsOnlin(j.com Styles will vaiy by store ©2006 Marshalls.