Deb Visits 50 Churches in 52 Weeks: #38 117 Years in the Making

WHERE I WENT AND WHY
When I attended the lecture series at Covenant on Race, Culture and Opportunity, one of the sessions was on affordable housing. They highlighted several programs in the community. One of them was St. Paul's Baptist church. In answer to their neighborhood being gentrified, and taxes and the prices of houses rising, they have bought land adjacent to the church and with the help of grants are developing it into senior housing and affordable housing. I was impressed with their approach and knew that I wanted to visit the church. Little did I know that I would be visiting on their 117th Anniversary.

WHAT TO KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GO
St. Paul's Baptist Church is located at 1401 Allen St. in Optimist Park between Seigle Ave. and Parkwood Lane Dress is "church dressy". Parking is an issue, though I found a place on the street. With the development of Centra Square in progress, it promises to get worse. Rev. Scott asked for patience and announced that a shuttle will begin running from Hawthorne School on Sundays.

REFLECTIONS ON WORSHIP

MOOD

All of the African American churches I've attended have been welcoming, but this one was by far the most welcoming so far. I was greeted warmly and even hugged during the sharing of the peace. Holding hands is obviously a custom in this church and mine was reached for during the prayers and Doxology with warmth. More children were present in this congregation than I have encountered in other African American congregations, though there was no programming specifically for them during worship. The worship including the hymns were signed for the deaf, the first time I've encountered this.

Signing the service and the Flag Accompaniment

MUSIC

When I arrived a choir was singing a capella with a call and response. The larger choir did several gospel hymns using talented soloists. They were accompanied by keyboardists, a trumpet, saxophone, drums and guitars. When the band played without the choir, they had a decided jazz feel, especially the trumpet and saxophone. The choir and hymns were strictly gospel, except for the Doxology which used a traditional organ and tune. The smaller hymn choir did a "Line Hymn" where a line was read aloud, and then the choir sung that line. They also had 4 flag bearers who waved pastel colored flags during many of the musical offerings.

MESSAGE

To celebrate their 117th Anniversary, they had a guest preacher today from Suffolk, Virginia, Dr. Steven G. Blunt. Except for one short reading from Matthew 21:1-11, no mention of Palm Sunday was made (though some parishioners had palm crosses on their lapels). Instead Dr. Blunt used Exodus 33 as the basis for his sermon. In this passage God tells Moses that the people have become "stiff necked" and are worshiping Baal. Moses intercedes with God, and the people take off their jewelry and ornaments. God changes his mind and sends an angel to cleanse the land so that the Israelites may have a land flowing with milk and honey. He protects Moses from seeing his face and puts him safely in the cleft of a rock.

After the reading, Dr. Blunt began his remarks by asking "Do you want to be insured or receive "Blessed Assurance." This he proclaimed is what Moses received from God. Though God punishes the people's disobedience with a season of sickness, it could have been worse. He said "You can't mess up God's mercy with your mess!" Moses points out to God that if he destroys the people, the Egyptians won't recognize his omnipotence. He said, "Sometimes what you are going through is not about you. God may have a bigger plan and be delivering a message to his enemies." When the people leave their ornaments at the foot of Mt. Horeb, he equated that to leaving old ways behind. When God protects Moses from seeing his face, he said, "As long as you are standing on God's rock, you are protected. He ended the 50 minute sermon by quoting many familiar hymns: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less, How Firm a Foundation, Blessed Assurance and This is My Story. His oratory and passionate delivery had many in the congregation on their feet, however I felt his message (to me at least) go lost in the powerful oratory.

Politics did "creep" into his oratory. Once he equated Moses with Obama and when Aaron made the golden calf, he said they were "hoping the calf would make America, I mean Egypt, great again". While I think that preachers should help us bring the Bible to our current situation, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with either sanctifying the former President, or demonizing the current one. I would rather preachers help us with our response instead.

OUTREACH AND OBSERVATIONS

Rev. Scott (St. Paul's pastor) had many announcements and observations about the Anniversary and his upcoming installation. He used humor and oratory of his own.
He said, "Where there's no vision, the people perish." I like this!
The church had recently approved a new $1.8 million dollar mortgage which he exhorted the congregation to pay it off early. It will be used to upgrade the video and audio of the sanctuary and refurbish the old sanctuary for a children and youth building along with offices. He talked about development of the adjacent land into affordable housing and senior housing as a way to change the lives of the people who come to live there. He said we have decided to invest and STAY HERE during gentrification.
There had been a Youth Community Fair as part of the Anniversary celebration (he said it was a lot better and more fun than a banquet). He recounted how he and the youth pastor had been "baptized" several times in the dunking booth. "I prayed for those that threw those balls this morning, and the Lord laughed at my prayer."
Recognizing folks who had recently gone through a "CEO (?) Class" and become members, he stressed that at St. Paul's discipleship is stressed over membership.
During the offering, members were asked to celebrate the anniversary by giving $117 above their tithe. He went through ways you can give and asked that those who give on line or through their app, raise their "smart devices" to be blessed. The offering was taken up by having the congregation file pass the offering plates. I asked the lady beside me to take mine up.
Dr. Scott is only the 5th pastor to serve the church in 117 years. Averaging over 28 years each, I would say they have a history of very strong call committees!
The Centra Square development was the only outreach mentioned. However the announcement bulletin mentioned a scholarship ministry, donating blood, wearing pink for a cancer awareness Sunday, and recruiting scoutmasters for their Boy Scout troop.
At the very end of the service, he called out (not by name) several folks who had complained to his wife about their daughter dancing during worship. He stood up for his family and said his young daughter authentically expressed herself and enjoyed imitating her dad. I respected the way he did this.
None of the African American churches I've attended (so far) have had child-friendly elements to their worship services. Youth activities may be highlighted in announcements or the bulletin, but they almost never occur during worship. Occasionally I've seen a youth choir, but no children's sermon, or dismissing children to children's church and having them return for a blessing, and no children's bulletin, or "wiggle bags". I've often wondered where the young people were, especially those in elementary school, too old for a nursery. I had sort of assumed that the children were in another building with programming of their own, even though a Sunday School hour is separate. But curiously, I do not see many children coming and going with their families in the parking lot. Their worship services seem to be geared strictly to adults, and the few children in the pews have been very well behaved and seem to operate under the "not being seen or heard" rule.