Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 October 1995 — Page 17

SPORTS ■ JAWS

C SECTION

' SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7,1995

RELIGION

National leader to preach at Episcopal Cathedral

Christ Episcopal Cathedral on Monument Circle is privileged to welcome the Rev. Darryl F. James as guest preacher at the 11 a.m. service Sunday, Oct. 8 in conjunction with the Circle City Classic. Father James is newly-elected president of the Union of Black Episcopalians. For the past 10 years, James has been rector of Messiah-St. Bartholomew Parish in Chicago. A graduate of Howard University, he holds master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. His ministry has been committed to fostering development of children and young adults as productive, educated contributors in their communities, families and churches. Beginning with the establishment of St. Thomas

Episcopal Church in Philadelphia by Absalom Jones in 1794, through the election of Barbara Harris, suffragan bishop of Massachusetts, there has always been a strong nucleus of Black Christians in the Episcopal Church, people like James Holly, Henry Delaney, John Walker, Diane Porter, Deborah Harmon Hines and countless others. Organized in 1968, the Union of Black Episcopalians encourages the involvement of Black people in the total life of the church on every level and in every way, including mission, stewardship, evangelism, education, leadership, governance and politics. The union is committed to helping in translating these words into Christian action for all Episcopalians and at all levels of the church’s mission. Christ Church Cathedral was founded in 1837 and has occupied

the current site on the northeast portion of Monument Circle for its entire existence. The present stone building was constructed between 1857 and 1859 and is listed on the National Registerof Historic Places and in the Historic American Buildings Survey. As the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis, Christ Church serves as the home church for Bishop Edward W. Jones, who oversees 50 congregations in the southern two-thirds of Indiana. The congregation of Christ Church Cathedral is a diverse mix of races and viewpoints, with city dwellers and suburbanites alike. On Sundays, communion is celebrated at 8 a.m., 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Services take place at various times each day of the week. The cathedral’s music program is well known for its excellence. The Cathedral Choir of Men and

Rev. Darryl F. James

Boys and the Cathedral Girls’ Choir have toured extensively and have recorded compact discs. The cathedral’s education program provides opportunities for

downtown workers as well as for parishioners and it includes a national education conference for clergy and teachers. Christ Church Cathedral has a strong commitment to serving the needs of the wider community of Indianapolis. Members of the parish serve in a variety of ways, through volunteer work, through serving on boards and communities in the community and through active prayer and pastoral concern. In addition, the cathedral ministers to the urban poor and gives financial support to a variety of ministries, including two major institutions in Indianapolis, the Damien Center — formed in a cooperative effort with the Roman Catholic Diocese to serve the needs of those with HIV and related diseases — and the Dayspring Center, which provides assistance and shelter for homeless families.

AMsIaminAiwerKa Instead of marching let’s start organizing By Imam W. DEEN MOHAMMED Editor’s Note: Imam W. Deen Mohammed, at a public address in Decatur, III. on Sept. 10, gave this response to the question, “What is your position on Minister Louis Farrakhan’s Million Man March ?” My position, No. 1, is that this is not in the way or the practice of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. He was very, very strong against marches on Washington or marches to the White House or marches on the government. He was strongly against it. He condemned the civil rights movement very strongly for that. He said that instead of begging them — and organizing to go demonstrate before them to beg for something — that we should organize to do something for ourselves. Now, I think we need a million men marching on the blight, the neglect, property neglect, personal neglect, family neglect in our own African-American communities. We need a million man march on our neglect; that we are neglecting ourselves, neglecting our families, and neglecting our neighborhoods. That we are not putting businesses in our own neighborhoods, just doing nothing and remaining idle as businessmen and business people and letting every other race put businesses there to serve and supply us with our needs. To march on that, I’m ready. I will join him, right now. If he wants to have a million man march, a 1,000 man march, or a hundred man march against that kind of thing in our neighborhoods — something to shock us into more responsibility for our own life and our circumstances and our own future — if he wants a march like that, then I am ready to join his march. But if he wants a march just to show President Bill Clinton that he can get a million young Blacks together, then I’m not going to join that. If he wants to demonstrate that we don’t have jobs, which he hasn’t made that clear, if he wants to demonstrate to the White House and to the country that “I have a million men here who won’t accept that we don’t have employment and we demand 1 million jobs,” I won’t join him. Why? If we can get 1 million men to listen to us, then we can create a million jobs. All we need is a million men and we can create a million jobs. If those million men, instead of marching on Washington, would just agree to buy from us, we will find talent enough in qualified businessmen. If they will support them and be hired by them, oh man, we will have a Black economy, an African-American economy that is out of sight in a matter of days with a million men supporting it. The message to Farrakhan (The following statement has been sent to Minister Louis Farrakhan.) To date, no clear statement has been made by Minister Louis Farrakhan of the purpose of the march. I wholeheartedly support and urge our African-American men to accept responsibility for themselves, their wives, their children, their families and their communities throughSee AL-ISLAM, Page C3

Blessed abundance The Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church family and pastor, the Rev. Wayne Taft Harris, celebrate their new sanctuary, administrative office wing, family life center and Kingdom Builders Day Care Ministry. The celebration was held Sunday. {Recorder Photo by Curtis Guynn) Book explains why Islam works for many Black men

Alabama church dissolves the color barrier By GREG GARRISON Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Not long ago, South Park Baptist Church in West End was a declining, predominantly white church in a predominantly Black community. Now, it’s a growing church that retains a remaining core of white members and has successfully reached out to attract Black worshippers from West End. The Rev. Hugh Foster was named co-pastor on May 1, the first Black minister in the church’s history. The Rev. S. Jim Hendrix, 74, recently stepped down as co-pastor, preaching his last sermon Aug. 13. He will continue to serve the church with the title pastor emeritus. Hendrix said in early September that attendance was about 60 when he became pastor in 1987. “It was an all-white congregation with declining membership, facing an unknown future,” Hendrix said. In 1992, the church decided against selling the building. “They wanted to perpetuate the ministry of our Lord in that community,” Hendrix said. “It’s working real well. It’sa community church. That’s what the founding fathers would have wanted.” About 20elderly white members continue to attend the church, he said. Attendance on Sundays usually includes 25 to 30 whites and 75 to 80 Blacks, Foster said. “It has gone back up considerably,” Foster said. “It’s getting bigger and bigger.” The Rev. John E. King Jr., Inter-Baptist director for the Birmingham Baptist Association, praised the South Park Baptist Church’s effort to serve and reflect its community. By sharing responsibility between Black and white leaders, the church demonstrated its commitment to the community, King said. “It serves as a model to other churches on what can be done,” he said. “They’re getting a tremendous response.” Foster said he wants Hendrix to remain actively involved in leadership and Hendrix See ALABAMA, Page C5

“Adam! Where Are You?: Why Most Black Men Don’t Go to Church” is a book that attempts to save the African-American male from his spiritual death. The media provides a litany of slanted statistics concerning the African-American male, as if to predict his inevitable downfall. For instance, the African-American male holds the unfortunate position of leading the country in such statistics as homicide, suicide, prostate cancer, incarceration, AIDS, unemployment, school suspensions and special education placements. Jawanza Kunjufu, best-selling author of the series “Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys” and 14 other books, looks to the Black church as a crucial means of saving the souls of the AfricanAmerican male. This is not an easy task, as Kunjufu documents, as 75 percent of the Black church population is female and only 40 percent of the entire African-American

population attends church. Two of the seven chapters describe where^Adam really is on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. In one chapter, Kunjufu classifies, the Black church into three categories: entertainment, containment and liberation. He thoroughly destroys the myth of the Black church as monolithic. Another chapter explains the influence of Islam on the AfricanAmerican male. It explains why the population ratio of the mosque is 75 percent male, which is the reverse of the female-dominated Christian church. Kunjufu brilliantly describes the dichotomy between Islam and Christianity and its effect on African-American men. The highlight of the book is Chapter 5, in which the author provides the readerwith21 reasons why most Black men don’t go to church. The final two chapters provide answers to these 21 “excuses.”

Happy anniversary Pre-anniversary services are being held 7 p.m. nightly for the Rev. and Mrs. Fitzhugh Lyons at Galilee Baptist Church, 2624 E. 25th St. The Thursday night guest was to be the Rev. Melvin Glrton, pastor of Christ Missionary Baptist Church and the Friday guest was to be the Rev. Ray Ware, pastor of Eastside Baptist Church. The 14th anniversary will climax 4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 8 with a musical rendered by the Galilee Music department.

Truth may sting you, heal you I think it’s terrible how you answer people’s questions and never print their names! These “cowardly Christians” shouldn’t be allowed to hide their lowly comments behind a newspaper columnist. Some of the things they say are absolutely not true and I think they should be called to task for making accusations like that. For example, the person who wrote about the stealing and the missing of items in her church. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe God’s children would stoop to such in His house. When you print such comments as those, you allow the non-Christian world to think church people are the lowliest of the lowly. There are probably wrongdoing, worldly people out here who would join a church and be servants of the Lord if you wouldn’t print such negative and untrue things that people send you. Also, if you would make those people send their names in with the article, they would limit a lot of that negativity. JJV. Dear J.A., You’re right! If I would demand that my letter writers sign their names for publishing, there probably wouldn’t be too many to publish. And this is not necessarily because of “cowardice,” but simply because church folks would be ostracized by both members and clergy if everyone knew who they were. Believe it or not, most of my letters come from people in the church. I’m not trying to paint good church folk as the “lowliest of the lowly.” But I do want to impress upon them the importance of giving the very best to God at every opportunity possible. If this means I must step on a few toes and make a few folks uncomfortable, then so be it. I feel God has anointed me with a purpose, to tell the truth about His churches. We, as followers of Christ, often become habitual and toughskinned on our journeys. Many times, we do and say unrighteous, cruel and inconsiderate things in our churches. Sometimes, we have been doing those things so long, we have desensitized ourselves into believing there is really nothing wrong with what we’re doing. And yes, that includes maneuvering ways to “take from God” everything we can get our hands on, rather than giving to Him. Often our religious experience is like a boil or blackhead on the face. That boil or blackhead collects pus and gets bigger until the skin breaks. And so it is with us. God can’t really deal with us until he breaks the skin and pours a little alcohol on, to clean us out. I allow my writers to share without printing their names. That is because I don ’ t wish to inhibit them. Having an avenue to voice their opinions without reprisal is healthy. They get a little brash, sometimes, and ci/t right to the chase. And they deserve my most candid and truthful answers to their concerns. Ifmy truth stings a little, just think of it as “alcohol” on the nasty little pimples of our religious journeys. We encourage readers to submit questions and comments for Ethel McCane ’s “From the Front Pew. "Letters should be addressed to Ethel McCane, P.O. Bax 18141t Indianapolis 46218.