Capital Baptist Newsletter - August/September 2021 Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS FEATURES

District of Columbia

From Bondage to Deliverance and the Birth of Damascus House Community Development Corporation Reaching the Least Evangelized People in the World: The Deaf

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Baptist Convention

1628 16th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 202.265.1526 (office)

www.dcbaptist.org info@dcbaptist.org

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Office of Executive Director/Minister Executive Director/Minister Trisha Miller Manarin, Ext. 214

DCBC SPOTLIGHT Building Community

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The American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Mission Summit

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DCBC Notables

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Rosalind Porter: Exploring a Path to Chaplaincy

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Reducing Fixed Operating Expenses

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Church Mission Giving

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Ministry Assistant Loretta Polite-Shipman, Ext. 213 Campus Ministries LeeAnn Carrera Mental Health Coordinator Jevon Billups

Capital Baptist Editor Sonia Myrick Office of Administration and Stewardship Chief Operations Officer Lashanor Doolittle, Ext. 203 Ministry Assistant Wilbur Willis, Ext. 204

IN EVERY ISSUE From the Desk of the DCBC President

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A Message From the Executive Director/ Minister

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Calendar

Building Maintenance Saul Garcia, Ext. 212 Accounting and Administrative Specialist Fam SaeChao Chock, Ext. 206 JBCC Building Coordinator Robin Foulk, Ext. 215

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Office of Public Relations and Outreach Minister of Public Relations and Outreach Kimberly A. Palmore-Ferguson, Ext. 208

FOLLOW US

ERT Coordinator James Barbour

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From the Desk of the DCBC President

Olive Branch Community Church Welcomes DCBC 2021 Annual Gathering During the COVID19 shutdown, Olive Branch Community Church, who I have the privilege to pastor, was blessed by the hand of God to have our house of worship built. This was truly only God, and we give Him the glory! Like many of you, we shifted to online worship, and, now, we are preparing to shift to hybrid worship in our brand new facility! We know the church is not a building but is the people; nevertheless, we are thrilled that God provided the workers to build and prepare our new home!

As a Convention, we have also had to shift. Our Executive Director/Minister, Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin, was called amid the pandemic. Rev. Dr. Miller Manarin initially only got to meet with the search committee and the board virtually, and she did not have the opportunity to meet us at our 2020 Annual Gathering. This year’s Annual Gathering, titled “Making the Shift,” will examine the story of the woman at the well (John 4), who left her water jug and went to tell others all she had learned and experienced in Jesus the Christ! Like Olive Branch Community Church post-pandemic worship, the Gathering will be a mix of online and in-person sessions, and we will also celebrate our 145th anniversary in this hybrid format.

Olive Branch Community Church is looking forward to welcoming you October 21 and 22 as we fellowship, worship, learn, study and, of course, do the sacred business God has called us to during the DCBC Annual Gathering and christen our new home.

In the meantime, I invite you to join us on September 12 at 3 p.m. for the installation service for our Executive Director/Minister at St. Mary’s Baptist Church. She is eager to meet you!

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Dr. Donald R. Kelly President of the DCBC Board of Directors August/September 2021 | Capital Baptist Newsletter

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A Message from the Executive Director/Minister

Making a Shift

I remember learning to drive a manual transmission car. One time, I got stuck on a hill, and I was overwhelmed with fear! How in the world was I going to move this car up the hill and forward to the destination? I really wanted to simply drift backward down the hill and find a different route, but that was not an option. Eventually, I was able to sync my feet with my hands and brain, and up I drove. I perspired profusely and was very anxious, but once I figured out that union of foot, hand and brain, shifting from neutral to first then second and so forth became a natural movement.

How often does this analogy play out in other areas of life? We try to make it up the “hills” of life and to move after stopping. We perspire, we’re touched by or overcome with anxiety, but then we move and, by the grace of God, are able to shift!

There are many Bible stories about God’s people making a shift. Sometimes those shifts are guided by the Holy Spirit and sometimes they are guided by fear. We can look to Bible heroes, as well as the unnamed, and see shifts all throughout people’s lives. Imagine what it was like when the woman at the well (John 4:28 – 30) left her water jar there and ran to invite others to come see Jesus — and they went! Everyone in this story shifts — the woman and those who followed her!

I pray, as we prepare for this year’s Annual Gathering, October 21 – 22, we will all be willing to make a shift to a hybrid environment — meeting online and in-person. As the Dream Team continues its Holy Spirit work of dreaming a new future for the Convention, I also pray that an excitement about this shift, like that exhibited by the woman at the well, takes hold of each of us and causes us to want to invite others to come and see.

I look forward to meeting many of you on September 12 for a holy time of installation and covenanting together at St. Mary’s Baptist Church.

Joy and Grace,

Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin Executive Director/Minister

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THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAPTIST CONVENTION

----WORLOW! DE

FOR PEACE IN OUR COMMUNITIES, CITY, REGION, COUNTRY AND WORLD JOIN DCBC ON ZOOM, AUGUST 24 AT 7 P.M., FOR A PRAYER VIGIL THAT WILL KICK OFF A WEEK-LONG CALL TO PRAYER AND FASTING FOR PEACE IN OUR CITY, REGI ON, COUNTRY AND WORLD.

EVERY DAY, A SIMPLE MESSAGE OF PEACE WILL BE SHARED ON THE DCBC SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES (FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM). WE WILL ALSO HAVE A LITANY AND NUMEROUS RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR USE IN WORSHIP SERVICES AND MEETINGS. DURING THE PRAYER VIGIL, WE WILL IDENTI FY MI NISTERS TO PRAY FORA VARIETY OF CONCERNS - GUN VIOLENCE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, CHILD ABUSE, ELDER ABUSE, ENVIRONMENTAL ABUSE, SCHOOL SAFETY, STREET SAFETY - FACING COMMUNITIES IN THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF OUR CI TY, MARYLAND, VIRGI NI A, HAI TI, EL SALVADOR, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, MYANMAR AND NIGERIA.

WE INVITE YOU TO SIGN UP AT https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WZFXPV5 FOR AN HOUR TO PRAY AND FAST DURING THE WEEK WE ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO DISPLAY SI GNS OF PEACE I N YOUR COMMUNITY AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9HFkFNkkcN0/TdsLm2PAoI/AAAAAAAABo8/XFgAy4Wy0hk/s1600/blackmenjail.jpg

FROM BONDAGE TO DELIVERANCE And the Birth of Damascus House Community Development Corporation

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By Kevin G. Williams

n the 1980s, I experienced a traumatic event that my brain completely suppressed but that would cause me to develop self-destructive behaviors. I started abusing alcohol, which resulted in the loss of my college football scholarship opportunity and , was the beginning of my life spiraling out of control. Alcohol led to drugs, drugs led to crime, crime led to incarceration, and I nearly destroyed every family and social relationship I have ever had.

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A Cycle of Incarceration Believing a change in surroundings would change my behavior, I moved from Maryland to California in 1990 to pursue a business opportunity with a friend. Within six months, however, I was involved in everything I had left the Washington, D.C. area to escape and more. I was arrested within a year, sentenced to county time, released, rearrested, and sentenced to state prison for three years. For the remainder of the 90s, I cycled in and out of prison, spending only a year and a half on the street.

I returned home to Maryland 11 years later when my parole was transferred and thought that with my faith in God and the Biblical studying, teaching and preaching I did while incarcerated I would be fine. For the next three years, I worked and rebuilt relationships. However, since I had never really dealt with the underlying causes for my addiction or how to identify the triggers of my self-destructive behavior, I ended up recidivating through the Prince George’s County Correction Center.

The Way Out Finally, in June 2010, three significant events would lead to my ultimate deliverance. The first event was that I was incarcerated again. This time, however, I fell beside my bed and asked God why I kept ending up in this place I hated.

At that instant, that portion of the memory I had suppressed to protect myself was released.

The second significant event occurred late one afternoon as I watched a guy who had been released from our unit that morning return to the same cell before dinner. As I watched him nonchalantly walk toward his cell, I remembered

the words of Isaiah 58:12: Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundation of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of the Streets to Dwell In. In that moment, the concepts for Damascus House Community Development Corporation (DHCDC) and Game to Glory Ministries, LLC, were conceived. Initially, I did not understand why God had placed the vision for this ministry in my heart, because I was facing a maximum of 69 years, but I continued to pray. I told God: “If this is You, get me out of here with nothing holding me. Allow all the charges to be dropped, the probation to be canceled, and all the traffic tickets and fines to be dismissed. If You do this, You won’t have to worry about me again.”

The third event started to unfold as I witnessed the answer to my prayer. Within, three months, each case and fine against me was dropped and the probation was terminated. I went to rehab and directly into a sober-living house. I engaged in mental health counseling integrated with Christian principles and confronted the trauma that so easily beset me. I attended Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and used the principles I learned from studying Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promise Land to guide my personal and business decision making.

From Vision to Reality After earning a few hundred dollars, which my mother matched, I had enough to start Game to Glory Ministries, LLC, a metal recycling business. The money raised from this endeavor

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Photo courtesy Katina Burks

June 7, 2021 ribbon-cutting ceremony for Miriam’s House, an eight-bed home in Temple Hills, Maryland. From left to right: Victor J. Coelman, Pastor of Temple Hills Church of God in Maryland; Maryland Senator Arthur Ellis; Kevin Williams, RISTORe’s Executive Director; Maryland Delegates Geraldine Valentino-Smith and Andrea Fletcher-Harrison; and Prince George’s County Council Member Rodney Streeter.

funded the purchase of Damascus House Community Development Corporation (DHCDC), the first transitional house that would help others through their transitional process to successful and productive lives. It opened in 2013 in Riverdale, Maryland, and I employed men in transition along the way. I learned what works by first walking through the process myself!

I received my bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies that same year and, ultimately, my master’s and license in professional counseling. From 2013 through 2015, seven of the 12 men who I met through NA and AA, and who had been housed by DHCDC, successfully transitioned and continue to be active in the recovery community.

Game to Glory Ministries, LLC, was the sole funding source for DHCDC’s residential efforts until the end of 2020 when we received money from Mustard Seed Foundation, Alfred Street Baptist Church and Destiny, Power and Purpose, an organization which funds returning citizens from the Prince George’s (PG) County Department of Corrections. The PG County Executive Office followed suit and selected DHCDC for the FY 2021 Community Partnership Grant Program.

In the past year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, DHCDC RISTORe Program has been blessed to open one fully functional 10-bed men’s house. DHCDC gained nonprofit status in 2016, and with the help of Katina Burks, our invaluable program administrator, and the DHCDC board we are energized to expand the organization’s therapeutic transitional services.

DHCDC opened Miriam’s House for women in June and is poised to open another men’s house within the next two to three months.

The Goal Over the next two years, Maryland will receive hundreds of returning citizens and Prince George’s County will be home to many of them.

DHCDC’s short-term goal is threefold: (1) to demonstrate to returning citizens that through the RISTORe Program, they can learn to lead productive lives, (2) to demonstrate to the community that the program’s success will increase its safety and security, and (3) through these accomplishments, to secure increased support from the local government. With 35 to

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50 beds, our empirically based programming and evidence-based interventions, which include spiritual principles, are successful in transforming returning citizens and should be incorporated as a best practice in Prince George’s County. We realize that not everyone will be open to using spiritual principles, but our individualized approach to treatment planning will ensure that those individuals will not be excluded from taking part in our program.

Our ultimate goal is to operate a freestanding 150-bed facility, capable of delivering residential, outpatient and family reunification services for returning citizens. We also want to strengthen our partnership with the State Navigator’s re-entry service efforts for those in Maryland State Prisons, as well as with Prince George’s County Department of Correction’s at the county jail level, to streamline the transition

Kevin Williams, RISTORe’s Executive Director, celebrates the opening of Miriam’s House with Kimberly Clark (far left), DHCDC Board Secretary; Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin (in blue jacket), DCBC Executive Director/Minister; and Katina Burks, RISTORe Program Administrator.

process once returning citizens are released to our program or the community.

Kevin G. Williams is the Executive Director of the RISTORe Program, Damascus House Community Development Corporation (kevin@DHCDCristore.org).

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Master Classes (Online Only) October 22, 2021

Session 1 Offerings (10:15 a.m.):  Race Literacy 101  Healing Our Divides  Darkness to Light

 Glocal Missions

Session 2 Offerings (3:15 p.m.):  Creation Care/ Environmental Justice  Dreaming into the Future  Branding Your Church Registration begins August 20!

www.dcbaptist.org

Don’t wait hours at the emergency room. Washington, D.C., has 22 healthcare clinics participating in the Right Care, Right Now program. These clinics stand ready to care for you in all non-emergency situations.

Have you met the staff at your local participating clinic? Benefits of going to a clinic include: • • • •

Shorter wait times Better preventive and follow-up care Convenient locations in your neighborhood Working with doctors you’ll get to know and trust

Schedule an appointment with your local clinic using the list below.

Participating Clinics

If you already have a healthcare provider, please contact them for your non-emergency medical needs. If you don’t, please contact a Right Care, Right Now participating clinic from the list below: WARD 1 Community of Hope Marie Reed Health Center 2155 Champlain St NW Washington, DC 20009 202-540-9857 La Clinica del Pueblo 2831 15th St NW Washington, DC 20009 202-462-4788 Unity Health Care 1660 Columbia Rd NW Washington, DC 20009 202-469-4699 Unity Health Care 3020 14th St NW Washington, DC 20009 202-469-469

WARD 2 Bread for the City 1525 7th St NW Washington, DC 20001 202-386-7020 Whitman Walker Health 1525 14th St NW Washington, DC 20005 202-745-7000 GWU MFA Associates* (Urgent Care Facility) McPherson Square IPC 1101 15th St NW Washington, DC 20005 202-798-0100 GWU MFA Associates* (Urgent Care Facility) McPherson Square IPC 1101 15th St NW Washington, DC 20005 202-798-0100

WARD 3 *GWU MFA Associates (Urgent Care Facility) Cleveland Park IPC 2902 Porter St NW Washington, DC 20008 202-525-5287 WARD 4 Mary's Center 3912 Georgia Ave NW Washington, DC 20011 1-844-796-2797 WARD 5 Community of Hope Family Health and Birth Center 801 17th St NE Washington, DC 20002 202-540-9857

GWU MFA Associates (Urgent Care Facility) Rhode Island Ave IPC 2350 Washington Pl NE Suite 110N Washington, DC 20018 202-544-7580 Unity Health Care 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE Washington, DC 20018 202-469-4699 Providence Urgent Care Center (Urgent Care Facility) 1150 Varnum Street NE Washington, DC 20020 202-854-7001 WARD 6 Unity Health Care 555 L St SE Washington, DC 20003 202-469-4699

WARD 7 Unity Health Care 4414 Benning Road NE Washington, DC 20019 202-469-4699

Family and Medical Counseling Services 2041 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Suite 303 Washington, DC 20020 202-889-7901

Unity Health Care 3924 Minnesota Ave NE Washington, DC 20019 202-469-4699

Unity Health Care 1500 Galen St SE Washington, DC 20020 202-469-4699

Unity Health Care 765 Kenilworth Terr NE Washington, DC 20019 202-469-4699

Whitman Walker Health Max Robinson Center 2301 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE Washington, DC 20020 202-745-7000

WARD 8 Community of Hope Conway Health and Resource Center 4 Atlantic St SW Washington, DC 20032 202-540-9857

Note: Urgent Care Facilities These facilities are for urgent care use only and do not provide preventative or follow-up care.

When to Call the Doctor • • • •

Annual check-ups Common colds Scraped knees Filling or re-filling a prescription

• • •

Sprained or twisted ankle Blood pressure testing Diabetes screening

Call 911 if you think your symptoms may be serious or life-threatening (for example, chest pain, trouble breathing or slurred speech).

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REACHING THE LEAST EVANGELIZED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD: THE DEAF

By LeeAnn Carrera

A group of Gallaudet students gather for an outreach ministry training. A deaf leader, a Gallaudet alumnus who is now an evangelist, leads the session on “How We Create the Church Outreach Plan and Work. (Photo courtesy of LeeAnn Carrera)

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round the world, about 40 percent of deaf people have access to formal education. Here in America, we are blessed to have excellent educational resources for those in this community, but when it comes to their spiritual life, many grow up with little to no church background. Some of them attend churches that have no sign-language interpreter and rely on their parent(s) to write down the sermon so they can read it. This is the same reality for Gallaudet University students. Only a handful of them are followers of Christ, and those who do learn and practice the Bible stories in their heart sign language — American Sign Language.

MY STORY As a deaf person, I live this reality. I was born into foster care and lived under three different foster families before being formally adopted at age seven. My adopted parents were like Abraham and Sarah – beyond childbearing age – but they taught me many valuable lessons when they took me to visit hospitals and nursing homes and to funerals. Reading the tombstones as I walked around the graveyards, helped not only with reading but with numbers as I counted the gravestones with my fingers. I grew emotionally mature at an early age, and, by the time I was in high school, I was able to help people who sought advice from me.

However, I felt a massive void from not having a normal childhood like other kids with young parents and siblings. My world was upside down as I struggled with my deafness.

I read Jeremiah 1:5 many years ago: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I separated you for myself. I have appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.” This scripture let me know that God knew me before I was formed as a baby girl with hearing loss and appointed me to be a servant to the Lord for the rest of my life. But, why can’t I be hearing like others? Why can’t I choose my field as an attorney or physician? I wondered.

Even as I questioned, God’s spirit hovered and convinced me, one summer’s night in 1982, to surrender my life to Jesus as

my personal Savior. Six months later, God called me into the ministry. How did I know His call? On my first mission trip to Puerto Rico, I worked with deaf children and adults.

The first night I arrived at the campground and met the people, I was shocked to learn that deaf people there were educated only up to the third grade and then worked on the farms. They did not understand or read their written language but could sign their heart language. They did not have any access to formal education. I had to draw pictures of Christ's birth story and was able to communicate with them in their heart language. That was the moment I knew God had called me into the ministry.

God formed me as a deaf person for a divine appointment, and He gave me many gifts to do so. One of those gifts is that I can communicate with deaf people in their heart sign language and across educational backgrounds. If I were a hearing person, I may never have connected to the deaf world.

All I know is my deafness is for the glory of God, so the deaf people see Him through me.

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS IN HEART SIGN LANGUAGE NEEDED What I saw in Puerto Rico is similar to what deaf people in the rest of the world experience, even today. Nearly 70 million deaf people around the world have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Of those 70 million, 1,534 deaf people die every day without ever knowing Christ. Most deaf people do not have the Bible in their heart

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sign language. The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, in partnership with a Bible translation organization, is working on developing the Bible stories in the heart sign language. To date, only 13 sign language versions have been completed, and four more versions are planned or in process. I have included the International Mission Board’s 2020 Annual Deaf Affinity factsheet, with some statistics about evangelism to “one of the least evangelized people on earth.”

There is much work to be done, but few laborers.

I encourage you to pray for the deaf world and Gallaudet University students. The Gallaudet students involved in ministry can help lead and use their ability to teach, train and develop the Bible translations in the heart sign language.

So, it is essential to give these students the ability to provide Bible stories to deaf people. And, not just Bible stories, but the tools and training to continue translations across the world. They will continue to practice and share the stories with

their peers on campus before graduation, as well as when they meet other deaf people around the world.

LeeAnn Carrera is the Baptist Campus Ministry Chaplain at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. For more information about the “A heart sign language bible translation,” email her at leeann.carrera@gallaudet.edu.

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August/September 2021 | Capital Baptist Newsletter

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Building Community

Saul Garcia, who lovingly tends the DCBC gardens, invites some of our neighbors into the garden to celebrate National Iced Tea Day with and get to know us.

Our beautiful gardens at 16th St NW and Corcoran provide a beautiful, tranquil place for prayer and meditation along a busy city street. DCBC is fortunate to have many neighbors, some directly touching our physical buildings, some part of the DMV, and others all around the world. Reaching out to our neighbors and offering them hospitality not only is an important aspect of building community, but also is part of the call of our faith. Jesus welcomed strangers and children, women and men to gather around him. He broke bread and offered living water.

On June 10, DCBC celebrated National Iced Tea Day by inviting passersby, ministry partners and convention members to enjoy a cup of iced tea in our gardens. It was a lovely

way to get to know our neighbors, some of whom voiced appreciation for our well-kept green space and one of them even volunteering to help with its upkeep! We welcomed some inside our building to share in the history and the beauty of God’s blessings through our facilities.

We again invited neighbors in to our garden on July 7 to celebrate National Chocolate Day when we shared ice cream on a very hot day! This time, we had two people volunteer to serve with us.

We will suspend our “garden parties” for the month of August, but they will return on September 30 as we celebrate National Chewing Gum Day. We invite you to come fellowship with us, get to know someone new and see what God can do!

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The American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Mission Summit Three exciting days of flavorful and rich experiences filled the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Mission Summit held in June. The Summit kicked off with several pre-sessions and five Caucus meetings: the Alliance of Asian Baptist Churches, the American Baptist Spanish, the American Baptist Women’s Caucus, the National Baptist Church Portuguese Speaking Caucus, and the National Black Caucus of American Baptist Churches, which were offered simultaneously. I started my experience by attending the Black Caucus, a wonderful time of singing, music, worship and social consciousness brought forth by the preached Word of God that prepared my soul for the rest of the Summit.

The DCBC shared the spotlight on a few occasions during the Summit. On one occasion, our very own Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin, along with three other Regional Executive Ministers — Rev. Brian Johnson (American Baptist Churches Michigan), Rev. Douglass Harris (Interim for American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island) and Rev. Dr. John Jones, IV (Interim for American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin) — were introduced to those in attendance.

Another occurred with the announcement of the election of Rev. Michelle Nickens, pastor of the Washington Plaza Baptist Church, as ABCUSA Vice President and Rev. Dr. James O. Wolfe III (Jim), who served as ABCUSA Vice President, as President. DCBC acknowledges and congratulates Dr. Wolfe and Rev. Nickens whose terms will run from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023.

The worship services were an amazing display of diversity. On June 24, Rev. Dr. Saw Ler Htoo, Pastor of the Calvary Burmese Church in Washington, D.C., and Rev. Florence Li, National Coordinator of Asian Ministries for American Baptist Home Mission Societies, gave the offertory appeal.

The Burmese Refugee Commission, which assists with the humanitarian crisis being experienced by our Burmese, Chin, Kachin and Karin brothers and sisters, was the focus of the offertory appeal. Every night of worship was filled with songs, prayer, and aspects of the services in different languages and worship styles creating a very fruitful environment for growth and solidarity.

— Rev. Wilbur Willis, III, DCBC Ministry Assistant

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DCBC NOTABLES DCBC shares the following notable events in the life of its members:  Congratulations to Rev. Peggy Scott (in white) who was ordained to the Gospel Ministry on July 12, 2021, by Rev. Daryl M. Washington, Pastor of St. Mary’s Baptist Church (3rd from right). Pictured with Rev. Scott are (left to right) Rev. Larry Hentz, Rev. Devis Mulunda, Rev. Dr. Robert Childs, Rev. Britni M. Johnson, Rev. Shermaine Mounoubai, Rev. Dr. Marilyn TurnerTriplett, DCBC’s Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin and Rev. Cynthia Williams.

 Congratulations to Willie King, who was officially named one of Montgomery County, Maryland’s 2021 African American Living Legends

by County Executive Marc Elrich!  On July 25, members of West Hyattsville Baptist Church bid a fond farewell and offer blessings to Rev. Emmett Dunn, who served as their senior pastor for seven years. He leaves to begin serving as Executive Secretary-Treasurer, CEO of the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention  On July 18, Pastor Daryl Washington of St. Mary’s Baptist Church and the congregation celebrated his five years as the church’s pastor.

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 Welcome to Rev. Thomas Rainsbury who began his tenure August 1 as Senior Pastor of West Hyattsville Baptist Church.  August 22 marks a big day in the life of Alafia Baptist Church in Glenarden, Maryland: the church will celebrate its 25th anniversary and the retirement of its pioneer Pastor, Rev. Joel Olu Ojelade.

Condolences We extend condolences to…  Rev. Dr. Paris L. Smith, Pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, Washington, D.C., and his family on the passing of his big sister Fritzenna, one of his oldest siblings, who passed on July 2.  Rev. W. Anthony “Tony” Brown of Metropolitan Outreach Worship Center on the passing of his wife, First Lady Debbie Brown, on July 12.

Rent/Utility Assistance Program STAY DC (Stay.dc.gov) is a program that will pay 12 months of past due rent, 3 months of future rent, and past due utilities. This program is one where tenants who have faced financial hardship due to COVID-19 will be able to apply to this program and have their rent paid directly.

STAY DC seeks to aid DC tenants to be proactive in seeking money to pay their home and utilities without sacrificing other basic needs This is a federally funded program and one where the information gathered will only be used to make a decision on the type of rent relief the applicant will receive — and nothing else. The federal funds supporting this program must be used before September 2021, so spread the word now! STAY DC will keep neighbors and families housed and out of rent-debt.

How to Apply • • • •

Check Eligibility (Prior to beginning the application, confirm eligibility – Am I Eligible?)

Gather Documents (Review the “Prepare to Apply” section; compile the necessary documentation) Begin Application (Click the “Apply Now” button and enter your information or Download Paper Application) Check Status (Sign In to your account and track as your application is processed)

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Rosalind Porter: Exploring a Path to Chaplaincy Prior to accepting the call to ministry, Rosalind Porter, the 2021 DCBC summer intern, thought her career path was to be a business leader whose ministry was assisting others in mission work. Porter is from South Carolina by way of New York. She began taking small steps on her faith journey as a young adult at Mt. Sinai Baptist in Washington, D.C., and she became more involved in church at National Church of God in Fort Washington, Maryland. While a member of National, Porter went on a mission trip to South Africa and felt that mission work was her calling. Her call to ministry began to deepen after doing local voluntary mission work.

Porter joined Village Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland, and it was here she finally decided to accept the call she knew God had on her life to ministerial service. Over the years, she’d been discouraged from seeking leadership roles in the church by some good Christian men, so she tried to talk herself out of this call. She decided to enroll at Wesley Theological Seminary and credits Rev. Starlette Thomas, interim pastor at Village Baptist Church, who listened to and encouraged her as she began walking down that path. Porter thanks her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every day for walking with her on this journey and knows that she is nothing without Him and everything because of Him. Capital Baptist reached out to Porter, who is in her third year of seminary, to learn a bit more about what brought her to DCBC as she pursues a Master of Divinity. DCBC also extend a hearty thank you to her for her work with us this summer.

Capital Baptist: What brought you to the DCBC? Rosalind Porter: I needed to find an internship that would encourage what I believe are my strengths: writing and training. I was still unsure about my preaching ability, so I chose

to learn more about preaching first in school before attempting to intern at a church. For some, that may sound counterintuitive.

However, I am a firm believer in doing what feels right for me. I attended one of the workshops that DCBC held (pre-pandemic)

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and was impressed with the level of clergy participation. I reached out to Rev. Thomas (former DCBC Minister to Empower Congregations) to see if she would be willing to take me on as her intern and discovered that the DCBC had had previous Wesley students as interns, making for a great match. She graciously accepted.

CB: What were some of the projects you were involved in while at DCBC? Porter: Because my internship occurred during the pandemic, I was only able to attend one DCBC member church — Dayspring Community Church — in person. I attended some virtual services, which allowed me to see the similarities and differences in how each church worshipped. In addition to Dayspring, some of the churches I visited include Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church and Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church.

The pandemic also provided me with an opportunity for another project at DCBC. I was interested in understanding to what extent member churches were able to pivot from having church in person to a digital (i.e., virtual) format. To that end, I determined which churches did or did not have a digital footprint (i.e., presence). It was surprising to find the number of churches that lacked an online presence.

Another important project that I had in my first term was providing my Clergy Learning Partner (CLP) with weekly meditations based on questions she posed to me. This was very helpful because it allowed me to make space for God through prayer,

meditation and reading the Word. I became more thoughtful, peaceful, and resolute in carving out that time that I spent with Him. CB: What are your plans for the future?

Porter: I am currently looking into chaplaincy.

While I am still in seminary, I want to take advantage of every opportunity available to me, and one of those opportunities is chaplaincy. I have a solid interest in this area because I have a sick parent who has benefited from me being with her during the many hospital stays and ER visits over this past year.

I only saw one chaplain during this past year.

Though, I suppose because of COVID, there were more virtual than in-person visits. I would like to determine if chaplaincy is the right path for me.

CB: How do you see your time at DCBC playing into your future plans?

Porter: That is a great question. I would say that my time at DCBC enabled me to see how my current skills would be useful if I chose to move into a role where I am able to serve as a beacon to church leadership in some capacity.

I would also say that it gave me a feel for the many different ways one can provide worship services to community. Finally, I believe that I was able to see the many different ways that my skills can be put to use for the people of God. — Loretta Polite-Shipman, DCBC Ministry Assistant

August/September 2021 | Capital Baptist Newsletter 23

Reducing Fixed Operating Expenses

By Michael D. McAfee

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 crisis was a “global pandemic.” Over the ensuing weeks, the virus continued to spread, and shortly thereafter, local, state and federal governments responded to this public health threat by mandating restrictive guidance, such as social distancing, shelteringin-place, quarantining and, finally, closure of businesses, schools and churches to prevent the continued spread of COVID-19. Consequently, churches found themselves scrambling to redeploy resources, cut costs and reevaluate expenses, while continuing to be the primary source of spiritual support, comfort, education, guidance and social service for those they serve.

Budget Scrubbing One of the questions asked by author and blogger, Ken Braddy, Jr., in his April 18, 2020 article, titled “24 Questions Your Church Should Answer Before People Return,” is “Do you have a plan for reducing expenses if your church’s offerings don’t rebound?” He suggests that now is the time for churches to do a “budget scrub” while offerings are still decent and expenses have been low because of reduced activities. Churches need to think about the “What ifs?”; for example, what if our offerings don’t hold steady because of rising unemployment among our members? Before church members return to the building, every church needs a “plan B” strategy in the event giving declines in late summer or early fall.

My friends in ministry believe the church has not felt the financial impact of COVID-19 like it will in the days and months ahead: They may be right.

Braddy wrote that article more than a year ago, and we currently are in the “months ahead” he spoke about. Your expenses are probably lower, but have your offerings held steady? Were your resources and budget positioned to weather such a prolonged disruption of your traditional community activities? Did you take on additional responsibilities to serve the new and unprecedented needs of your community?

What have you done to reduce your community’s expenses while remaining effective in serving your community? Where have you been overpaying your service providers? Where are there financial opportunities you can take advantage of within the municipality? If you haven’t done so, you must look to reduce your expenses. If you have done so, you should evaluate what you’ve done and reevaluate to uncover innovative and creative ways to reduce your

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expenses even further without affecting your service mission.

Utility Audits With that in mind, here are some measures you can take not only to ensure your church community survives the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic without any lasting negative impact, but also, potentially, to help you come out even stronger: •

•

•

•

Evaluate your insurance. Have a thorough review of and a conversation with your insurance agent about your current policy and the considerations they can share with you regarding COVID-19 and its impact on your church’s community activity?

Refinance your mortgage or other debt. If you have an outstanding debt or mortgage, speak with your banker about refinancing. The federal fund rate is effectively zero today. The only other time it was that low was during the 2008 financial crisis.

Review your budget: Conduct a lineitem review to determine if there is a better way, a lower cost option, without compromising service delivery and quality.

Examine your building expense.

Your building expense, depending on whether or not you have debt, represents approximately 20 to 35 percent of your annual budget expenses. This is the second or third largest expenses of every church

budget. Although it is often overlooked for cost reductions, it is usually the budget category that can have the fastest impact to a budget. Typically, you can make changes here and they will affect the budget within 30 days.

The categories in this budget item (utility expenses) include electricity, natural gas, water/sewer, telecommunications, trash/refuse, internet and cellular.

Without question, examining the utility expenses of any church could yield significant refunds from past expenses, as well as significant cost-saving reductions on future expenses. Best of all, it costs a church nothing to get started, there is no up-front cost and the only time a fee is paid is if something is uncovered. Then, the church pays only a percentage of the money found.

This is a win/win for churches.

Nationally, 80 percent of institutions are over charged for their utility expenses and are entitled to a refund, credit or cost reduction.

In 2014, McAfee Energy, Inc., started examining utility expenses for the DC Baptist Convention and its member churches and recovered and saved them more than $100,000. To learn more about this solution, please visit McAfee Utility Bill Audit at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0kxjg PAax0).

Michael D. McAfee is the Managing Director of McAfee Energy, Inc., and serves as the Convention’s Energy Consultant.

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Church Mission Giving For the Seven Months Ended July 31, 2021

The Convention recognizes that the giving cycles of each church are different. Some give monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

DCBC - 65%; Coop - 35% UNIFIED ABC Churches COOP COOP Agape Bible Christian Fellowship Allow God Deliverance Min., Intl.

American Baptist Church Broadneck Baptist Church Carmody Hills Baptist Church CenterPoint Missionary Baptist Church Chin Baptist Mission Church Chin Community Baptist Church Clifton Park Baptist Church Commonwealth Baptist Church Dayspring Community Church Dominion Life Center East Washington Heights Baptist Faith Shepherd Baptist Church Fellowship Baptist Church First Baptist Church Of the City of Washington DC First Baptist Church/Camp Springs First Baptist Church/Silver Spring First Kachin Baptist Church of VA Forest Heights Baptist Church Fort Foote Baptist Church Glory Baptist Church (Korean) Heritage Baptist Church Hillcrest Baptist Church Israel Baptist Church Lai Baptist Church Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church Maryland Baptist Church (Tedim Chin) Metropolitan Outreach Ministry Montgomery Hills Baptist Church Mt. Airy Baptist Church Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Nations United Baptist Church Paramount Baptist Church Pathways Baptist Church 3,732.66 Power House Baptist Church Ravensworth Baptist Church Rivers of Joy Bible Fellowship Church Salem Gospel Ministries (Silver Spring) Siyin-Chin Baptist Church 300.00 Takoma Park Baptist Church The Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church University Baptist Church/College Park Upper Room Baptist Church Vienna Baptist Church Village Baptist Church Walker Memorial Baptist Church Washington Plaza Baptist Church West Hyattsville Baptist Church Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church Zion Baptist Church North Site 500.00 Total 4,532.66

100% Designated PNBC

DCBC

1,740.00 1,740.00

600.00 50.00 77.20 1,687.00 700.00 1,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00 1,458.31 500.00 1,800.00 100.00 3,510.00 500.00 300.00 3,750.00 4,763.57 11,222.76 637.99 42,030.00 100.00 800.00 500.00 500.00 2,000.00 3,178.00 600.00 350.00 10,800.00 300.00 1,500.00 3,591.96 300.00 350.00 300.00 700.00 350.00 700.00 2,500.00 750.00 7,533.45 500.00 2,000.00 2,900.00 1,000.00 250.00 1,000.00 2,000.00 100.00 127,140.24

ABC

NCAMO

3,782.61 380.00 361.49 300.00 1,581.00 1,271.00 600.00 7,224.00 770.00 938.17 8,787.45 250.00 22,406.55 3,839.17

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BWA

JBCC

600.00 8,381.20 933.17 9,914.37

-

MISC

YTD Total Gifts

1,271.00 2,500.00 3,732.66 6,477.28 13,980.94

600.00 50.00 3,859.81 1,687.00 700.00 1,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00 1,458.31 500.00 1,800.00 100.00 5,250.00 500.00 300.00 3,750.00 5,143.57 11,584.25 300.00 637.99 43,611.00 100.00 800.00 500.00 500.00 2,000.00 5,720.00 1,800.00 350.00 21,294.00 300.00 1,500.00 11,973.16 300.00 9,336.66 350.00 300.00 700.00 350.00 1,000.00 2,500.00 750.00 22,798.18 500.00 2,000.00 2,900.00 1,000.00 250.00 1,250.00 2,000.00 600.00 183,553.93

C A L E N DA R

24 Prayer Vigil 24 - 31 Week of Prayer and Fasting for our Communities, City, Nation and World

8 12 14 14 21 21 28 30

Chapel and Staff Mtg. Installation Service Grant Writing Workshop Board Mtg. Grant Writing Workshop Pastor's Chat Grant Writing Workshop National Chewing Gum Day/DCBC Garden

5 Grant Writing Workshop 5 Advent Experience Planning Mtg. 12 Grant Writing Workshop 13 Chapel and Staff Mtg. 19 Grant Writing Workshop 21 - 22 Annual Gathering 25 DCBC Offices Closed 26 Grant Writing Workshop

AUG SEP

OCT

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District of Columbia Baptist Convention 1628 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 202.265.1526 info@dcbaptist.org