wfn.org | African-American pastors encouraged to rekindle gifts

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 13, 1998	Contact: Linda Green*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71BP{021}

NOTE:  Photographs are available with this story.

By Kelly Holton*

ATLANTA (UMNS) -- African-American pastors from across the country were
encouraged Jan. 4-6 to reclaim the spiritual gifts of power, passion and
authority to strengthen their churches and be more effective.

At the Convocation for Pastors of African-American Churches, some 350
participants, including several bishops, were encouraged to see their
pastoral roles in new ways. The United Methodist Board of Discipleship
sponsored the event to explore the needs of the black church and offer
solutions for growth. A denomination-wide emphasis is being placed on
strengthening the more than 2,500 African-American United Methodist
congregations for the next millenium. 

In plenary sessions that sometimes resembled revival services,
African-American leaders examined the black church pastor's multidimensional
roles -- as worship planner, steward, educator, administrator, leader and
preacher. All plenary sessions emphasized putting God first as central to
the development of strong pastors.

"The priority of God in our lives is not an option," said the Rev. Cynthia
Wilson Felder, minister of music and worship at Atlanta's Ben Hill United
Methodist Church. "It is the very centerpiece of our lives."

Vigorous worship punctuated plenary sessions and chat groups. Preachers
included the Revs. Sheron C. Patterson, pastor of Jubilee United Methodist
Church in Duncanville, Texas; James R. King Jr., Murfreesboro (Tenn.)
district superintendent; Joseph E. Lowery, president emeritus of the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Lydia Jackson Waters,  pastor of
Crossroads United Methodist Church, Compton, Calif.; and Felton E. May,
bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference.
 
Worship leaders encouraged the pastors to incorporate the theme of the
event, "Power, Passion and Authority: Rekindle the Gift of God That Is
Within You," into their lives and ministry. 

"The world is waiting for the church to be the church (and) for preachers
who have been ordained to take authority to show what God has done in their
lives," May said in the opening service. He urged participants to leave the
conference prepared to act with holiness and boldness. "There is nothing we
cannot do in the name of Jesus the Christ if we take the authority that is
ours." 

Pastors were called to examine the passion in their worship lives during a
plenary session entitled "The Pastor as Worshiper," led by Wilson-Felder and
the Rev. McCallister Hollins, pastor at Ben Hill. Pastors must be worshipers
themselves before they can guide parishioners to authentic experiences of
God, Hollins and Wilson-Felder said.

Hollins offered a list of qualities pastors must possess to lead people to
worshipping God.  Pastors must, he said: be humble and penitent in order to
"lead people into the reality of their own transgressions before the Lord";
deal with past hurts, sins and experiences that can "block the view of
Christ,"; be able "to lead people into an encounter with the Lord, a
therapeutic session at the feet of Jesus"; and  be able to have those
encounters themselves before they can expect to lead others to that "place
where the human and the divine meet."

Authentic worship, he said, will lead the people outside the walls of the
church into everyday lives.

Black preachers, still regarded as primary leaders in the African-American
community, have the power to be agents for change, Hollins said. Through
worship, they can lead others to challenge the status quo. "Dynamic
worship," he said, "opens our eyes, massages our hearts and stirs our
souls."

Not only must pastors participate in worship, they must also create
environments where authentic worship is possible, Wilson-Felder observed.
She counts prayer, meditation, private time, rest, study, play, fellowship
with family and peers, and time with mentors as essential ingredients for
developing true spirituality. Pastors should set aside time each day for
praise and worship, she said, and they should occasionally worship in
another church, "not to get new ideas but to encounter the Holy Spirit."

Meaningful worship services require planning and a team approach,  Hollins
said. The worship team, which might include both clergy and lay people,
should set aside time to build community and trust. Team members must be
passionate and comfortable with the inevitable conflicts and chaos that will
occur, he said. Worship planning should "begin with the end in mind."

As the convocation progressed, participants were reminded that the sense of
mission inspired by authentic worship yields good stewardship.
 
The Rev. Walter Kimbrough, pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in
Atlanta, said his church does not receive pledges or conduct a traditional
stewardship campaign. Instead, he said,  Cascade's stewardship emphasis
consists of making people faithful disciples through offering Bible study
groups and making people feel welcome through small group ministries. The
church holds 42 Bible study classes and plans to increase that number to
100. 

The Rev. Rodney Smothers, pastor of Ousley United Methodist Church in
Lithonia, Ga., encouraged pastors to focus their ministries on educating
Christian disciples. "Christian education is the lifeblood of all we say and
do in kingdom-building," he said. 

Education ministries allow the church to impart the hope of the Gospel and
to communicate God's agenda to God's people, Smothers said. Pastors must
recognize and train teachers to help in educating the congregation, and they
must use a team approach to learning that builds both self-esteem and a
sense of community, he said. 

Instead of trying to bring people into the church, Smothers suggested taking
the church to the people. As people are transformed through education, they
will come to the church, he stated. He  cautioned the pastors not to get
caught up in antiquated systems. He suggested that they change times,
locations and formats so people will come and learn to be disciples.

Smothers also believes that pastors should network with churches that have
successful education programs. Networking, he said, will assist in the
development of an education strategy that will enhance worship, increase
commitment and build a sense of community.

To have an effective education program -- or any other program -- the pastor
must be a good administrator, said the Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of
Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston. "If you expect your
church to march and not stumble into the 21st century, we ... must assume
responsibility for the effective and efficient administration of the
church."

The goal of effective administration is to move forward the vision for the
congregation, Caldwell said. "Administration in and of itself is not
exciting, but you better have it if you expect some exciting stuff to
happen." 

Caldwell emphasized that poor administration can kill a vision for the
church's future and render preaching purposeless. For a church to be
successful, pastors must learn to administer spiritual resources, financial
resources, human resources, physical resources and programming, he said.

They must be good managers as well as leaders, said the Rev. C. Anthony
Muse, pastor of Resurrection Prayer Worship Center United Methodist Church
in Brandywine, Md. A manager maintains systems and processes, he said.
"Managers can maintain direction, but they can't change it. To move people
in a new direction, you need influence." 

The key to developing influence, he said, is to embody what he calls the
personality of God, the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. "If
people are going to follow you, they've got to like you, and they've got to
know that you love them."

Muse said pastors must be open to God's influence in their lives and able to
communicate that vision to the church. "Give some direction,"  and "be clear
about where you got that direction. As you go, God's going to take care of
you."

If pastors are called to be worshipers, stewards, educators, administrators
and leaders, can they also be preachers? asked the Rev. Carlyle F. Stewart
III, pastor of Hope United Methodist Church of Southfield, Mich. Good
preaching is critical, he said, because churches die when "the worship is
lifeless, without passion or conviction."

Stewart suggested blocking time each day for Bible study and devotionals and
for formal sermon preparation. Fervent prayer in sermon preparation allows
the preacher to seek God's direction, to clarify the text, to get new ideas
and to deliver the sermon in a way that speaks to the congregation, he said.
"The Gospel is full of life and power. It should be presented that way."

The conference itself brimmed with that vitality. It awakened in the Rev.
Nedenia Clanton, pastor of the new Forrest Street United Methodist Church in
Valdosta, Ga., "the power God has placed in me as a pastor." 

She discovered that it's all right to use your talents and abilities and to
celebrate the gifts God has given you with passion, she said. "I will take
back (to my congregation) a modeling of teaching. ... I will go back and try
to empower them to come along with me to take the ministry out into the
culture."
# # #
*Holton is the associate editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, the
newspaper of the North and South Georgia annual conferences.

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