Capital Baptist - October - November 2020 Edition

October- November 2020 Vol. 1| Issue 1

Capital Baptist Magazine A Publication of the District of Columbia Baptist Convention

One Faith. Many Cultures. Endless Possibilities.

Embrace

Inside this Issue 5

Manarin embraces new role as Executive Director/ Minister

8 “Give me that online religion”

10

Annual Gathering goes virtual

12 Church Announcements

20 Church Gifts

Magazine Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin Executive Director/ Minister

Rev. Starlette Thomas Managing Editor

Mrs. Loretta Polite- Shipman Associate Editor

A bi- monthly publication, the Capital Baptist Magazine aims to highlight the work and witness of its member churches in the District of Columbia and the surrounding metropolitan region. © 2020, District of Columbia Baptist Convention 1628 16th Street NW| Washington, D.C. 20009 www.dcbaptist.org

One Faith. Many Cultures. Endless Possibilities.

Where do I begin?

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Letter from the Editor

October- November 2020

By Rev. Starlette Thomas, Managing Editor More than six months into a once in one hundred years global pandemic, the year 2020 has been nothing that we could have seen and fits none of the visions that we had for ourselves. Not on our vision boards, we did not see this coming and yet, the pandemic has allowed us to see ourselves in ways that we would not have otherwise. Shut in our homes and six feet apart with masks when around others, we are seeing who we really are and what we are mostly made of.

As we stock cabinets and pantries, we are also taking stock of ourselves. We ask like mystic and theologian Howard Thurman, “Who am I really?” The Church is also asking itself the same question. Brick and mortar or hands and feet of Christ, we are looking at our church services and ministries with fresh eyes. Are we a building or the Body of Christ? Connected through the Holy Spirit and Wi-Fi, we now gather online, a sight for sore eyes who would have never seen this coming, not even in one hundred years.

I have not been writing for as long but for as long as I can remember, I have been working with words. I started journaling as a prepubescent teen and have been writing ever since. I write on most everything and will write on anything, newspaper, an old receipt, my hand. I write poems and meditations, blog posts and Bible study curriculum, sermons and lectures, opinion pieces and now editorials.

The Capital Baptist Magazine is a spin off the newsletter, the Capital Baptist. While the cover art is new as well as the template, there will be things that remain the same, like feature articles and a focus on the work and witness of our member churches.

Names change but the purpose remains the same, like the section “Church Announcements,” which highlight staff changes and ministry milestones (page 12).

Each edition will be thematic. This month’s theme is “Embrace” and focuses on the 144th (virtual) Annual Gathering as well as the Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin who embraces her new role as Executive Director/ Minister. You can read about it on page 5. If you want to see what’s trending, turn to page 14.

October is Breast Cancer and Domestic Violence Awareness. It is also Pastor Appreciation Month. Please support the organizations that do the work of advocacy, health and wellness and the people who are victimized by intimate partner violence. Also, support our pastors, who are burdened by so much more these days due to COVID- 19. Pray for them and encourage them this month and in the months ahead. So much work ahead of us, I wonder, “Where do I begin.”

Let’s get started.

Executive Director/Minister Ready to Embrace Her New Role

By Rev. Starlette Thomas, Managing Editor

The Reverend Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin assumed the role of Executive Director/ Minister on August 17th. She takes the helm of the D.C. Baptist Convention and becomes the first woman in this position in the organization’s 144- year history. It is historical. In the midst of a global pandemic, the first in one hundred years, the backdrop couldn’t be bleaker. Still, she represents hope for the future of denominational leadership.

Manarin brings a plethora of experience, both denominational and pedagogical, having served as the Executive Coordinator for the MidAtlantic Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the former Director of Supervised Ministry at the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Arlington, Virginia. A former missionary, she brings a passion for local ministry and a global perspective informs her practice. She was able to bridge the two in her role as Coordinator for the Division on Mission, Evangelism and Justice at the Baptist World Alliance. Now as the Executive Director/ Minister of the D.C. Baptist Convention, she brings all of her experience and expertise to one office, the Office of Equipping Leadership, which focuses on pastors, clergy and their families.

Recently I asked Dr. Manarin about her new role.

Here’s what she said: How do you view your role as the Executive Director/ Minister and as the first woman in this position? What does this moment mean to you and for the D.C. Baptist Convention?

Photo Credit: Fam Sae Cho 5

October- November 2020

open to the movement of the Spirit!

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I view my role as a leader among leaders, pastor among pastors. (William Powell Tuck wrote, “The leader needs to remember that he or she is primus inter pares, first among equals….” (A theology for healthy church staff relations,” Review and Expositor (Winter 1981): 11). As a highly collaborative person, I seek to listen and to engage others on the journey. Building relationships with churches, clergy, our various communities and the DCBC staff is essential to my role as the ED/M. Like Deborah of the Hebrew Scripture, I hope to invite others to action and will certainly join-in. I value people’s time, ideas, dreams and history. I long to dream new dreams together and to explore the future as we shape the road and try out new types of routes, ushering in God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.

I “came of age” during my university and seminary days in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s, when Rev. Dr. Molly T. Marshall was facing many trials. In those days, I thanked God for Dr. Marshall’s leadership in the midst of hugely public trials. She didn’t simply pave the road; she forged the path.

Yet, in many circles, the path has been washed over and women continue to face injustice in the midst of their calls. It is disappointing that in 2020 we are still surprised, perhaps even shocked, when a woman is chosen to lead. Of course, I am delighted to serve the Convention in this capacity, but I would have hoped that this many years after Dr. Marshall, for goodness’ sake after decades and centennials of great women of the Christian Faith and Baptist Church from all around the world, that the novelty would not be so.

I know no other way of life but as a woman, a woman called by God at the age of 13 who has served with churches in Pennsylvania, Alabama, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, D.C., Zambia, Uganda, Macau, India and around the world. It has been an incredible journey in service with and to people from all walks of life. I believe “for such a time as this” God has called me to serve the DCBC with all that I have to learn, with all the experiences I bring and with all hopes and dreams that await us as the DCBC, if we are but

I believe this moment in time is providing us with incredible opportunities as the church and therefore the Convention. We have been moving at “lightning fast speed at a snail’s pace” since March 2020. In these days of quick changes and ever-so-slow resolutions, new growth is emerging.

Some churches are catching up with technology while others are more deeply engaging their communities. I realize many have worked overtime and still can’t seem to rest while others have had more time to reflect, to think on things more deeply than in pre-COVID days. We have considered why we gather and what is important. I am more and more convinced that we are meant to live out our call, individually and collectively in all our diversity, together, as the People of God, the Body of Christ. We now do this mostly via a screen, but one day, I trust, we will meet both over screens and in person, side-by-side.

What do you hope for the D.C. Baptist Convention and its member churches under your leadership?

We have been given a great opportunity, in these days of trials, tribulations, waiting and lamenting, to dream God-sized dreams together! The adventures that await us as the wind of the Holy Spirit blows upon us are endless. Our motto: One Faith. Many Cultures. Endless Possibilities can be lived out afresh as we together seek first the Kingdom of God. I hope we will forge new paths yet to be created, let alone explored. I would love for the Convention to be known for our luminescence and our saltiness that will leave no one wondering if we are the sibling of Jesus.

Article continues on page 13.

In Praise of the Reverend Paula Moutsos Rev. Dr. Donald R. Kelly, D.C. Baptist Convention President

On behalf of the DCBC Board of Directors and the entire Convention, I want to thank you for your faithful and exemplary service as Interim Executive Director/Minister, particularly during challenging times for the Convention and the Church community atlarge.

You served in this leadership role with the utmost integrity and character, and you have truly brought to mind what it is to be a true “servant leader.” In these difficult and unprecedented times, you maintained a positive spirit of serving God with a genuine “servant’s heart.” It is fundamentally important for leaders to walk in vital union with Jesus Christ, and truly you have done so honorably. Thank you!

Jesus’ words from John 15:5: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” This promise reminds me that if we stay in close connection with Him, He will infuse our leadership with power, creativity, courage, and whatever else it takes for us to bear fruit for the glory of God. I have met church leaders all over the world, who admits to me privately in hushed tones that they have never experienced the challenges we are facing today.

Please know that you are indeed a “God-send” and a blessing to the Church. May the Lord continue to bless you and all that you do for the kingdom of God.

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“You served in this leadership role with the utmost integrity and character, and you have truly brought to mind what it is to be a true ‘servant leader.’”

“Give me that online religion” DCBC Churches embrace change amidst COVID-19

By Rev. Starlette Thomas, Managing Editor

October- November 2020

“Bedside Baptist Church” has been a long running joke with members who claim to worship at home and in their pajamas. But the pandemic has made it a reality as millions of believers now gather in front of a screen. If two or three gather in Jesus’ name, they need to stand six feet apart and wear a mask, unless they are family members in the same household. This federal mandate has greatly restricted church worship services, which pride themselves on being family friendly, hospitable and close- knit communities of faith.

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To be sure, this pandemic has changed a lot of things, including those that we claimed that we could not live without. Forced to worship behind screens, we have to reconsider what we really need in order to worship God, what is essential to our faith and its practice, what we can leave out of the worship service, what is no longer appropriate: no passing around the offering plate, no meet and greet and no fellowship hour.

We are cutting back on more than budgets. We are slimming down our liturgy, our order of service has been reordered by this virus. This online religion is inviting us to lose our traditions, some of them at least. And this is not a bad thing as believers around the world are thinking deeply and more intentionally about what they want from their faith. They are asking questions not unlike the one posed by Howard Thurman, “Does religious experience, as defined, make a difference in the outward life of the individual, including in the outward life the very context in which such a person lives and functions?” In short, “Does going to church make a difference in my life and in my surroundings?”

Rev. Marty Anderson, Commonwealth Baptist Church Overwhelmingly, D.C. Baptists have responded to the challenge, moving online and reimagining what worship looks like in a virtual space. From Bible study to committee meetings and worship services, convention churches have ensured that their members remain connected through a strong internet signal. Not missing a beat, they joined the unusual rhythm of a pandemic that has caused us to move away from church as usual and church as traditional. We are on one accord in a way we have never been, singing the same song, “Give me that online religion!”

Rev. Saw Ler Htoo, Calvary Burmese Church

DCBC Foundation Provides $100,000 in Grants Rev. Dr. Trisha Miller Manarin, Executive Director/ Minister

In these days of shelter in place and limited in- person gatherings, many of our churches have faced new challenges. In an instant, church leaders were forced to learn new technology, allowing them to connect with congregants more easily. These needs were often a financial challenge to our congregations. These challenges, alongside the challenges of reaching out in the name of Jesus to neighborhoods and communities in need of hope, while figuring out how to fellowship with each other have been no small fete.

We are grateful for the ongoing support of the DCBC Foundation. In the last few months over $100,000 in grants have been distributed to over 43 churches in the Convention. These funds have helped provide a boost, not only financially, but in hope and connectedness.

“Your gift helps us continue to serve our neighborhood and care for our congregation,” stated one pastor in Virginia.

A Maryland pastor shared, “Our plans for reopening our church building in the future are greatly being made possible because of your generosity.”

The moderator of a church in D.C. said, “We are so very grateful that the extra funds from the DCBC Foundation will ease our financial burden for all of these changes. (Wi-Fi, electric grid, signage, etc.).”

As a result of one grant, a relatively new pastor wrote, “If we can be of service to the DCBC family, please reach out to us.”

One Faith. Many Cultures. Endless Possibilities. Thank you, Mrs. Melany Tendeyong Pierce and the DCBC Foundation Board for allowing our churches to live out the D.C. Baptist Convention motto more strongly.

Thanks be to God for your faithfulness.

th

144 Annual Gathering

The D.C. Baptist Convention goes virtual This year’s program committee has worked long and hard, representing our member churches well:

October- November 2020

Rev. Paula Moutsos, Pathways Baptist Church Rev. Robin Toogood, Purity Baptist Church Rev. Karen Taylor, Mt. Airy Baptist Church Alyssa Vasquez, You Belong Rev. Novona Byrdsong, Fort Foote Baptist Church Rev. Curtis McLaughlin, Carmody Hills Baptist Church

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This year, the D.C. Baptist Convention will host its first virtual Annual Gathering on October 22nd and 23rd. While it has traditionally been held at a member church in the metropolitan, this year, D.C. Baptists will be hosted by a website. They will join in the humble prayer of millions around the world: “Lord, don’t let us lose the connection.

Amen.” Technology is our host.

It is a first for many organizations, faith-based or otherwise. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has many institutions, organizations and people doing what they said they would not or could not do— change.

Never say never. Because here we are, making changes on all fronts for the safety and well- being of our family, friends and neighbors. We have had to embrace the reality that this virus is with us and it may remain for months to come.

Not unlike other conventions, faith- based organizations are thinking in new ways about ministry in a virtual space and during a pandemic. Internet unseen, its Wi-Fi spirit connects us. This year’s Annual Gathering theme is “Embrace: Rediscovering the Call to Fellowship” and inspired by Hebrews 10.2425.

The committee chair, Rev. Jevon Billups, is the pastor of Dominion Life Center in Largo, Maryland. Asked about the theme of this year’s Annual Gathering, Rev. Jevon Billups responded, “The theme “Embrace” was chosen to encourage our congregations to press beyond the challenges of the pandemic, economic crisis and social unrest and consider the benefits of remaining in fellowship, explore ways to stay connected and continue working together to advance the Kingdom.

(The theme as chosen to) call our churches to fulfill the words of Christ: “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Participants can expect a slimmer schedule but sleek online appearance with the worship, workshops and opportunities to witness the continued embrace of God through the work of our member churches.

This year’s program committee has worked long and hard, representing our member churches well:

October- November 2020

Rev. Jevon Billups

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This year, the D.C. Baptist Convention will host its first virtual Annual Gathering on October 22nd and 23rd. While it has traditionally been held at a member church in the metropolitan, this year, D.C. Baptists will be hosted by a website. They will join in the humble prayer of millions around the world: “Lord, don’t let us lose the connection.

Amen.” Technology is our host.

It is a first for many organizations, faith-based or otherwise. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has many institutions, organizations and people doing what they said they would not or could not do— change.

Never say never. Because here we are, making changes on all fronts for the safety and well- being of our family, friends and neighbors. We have had to embrace the reality that this virus is with us and it may remain for months to come.

Not unlike other conventions, faith- based organizations are thinking in new ways about ministry in a virtual space and during a pandemic. Internet unseen, its Wi-Fi spirit connects us. This year’s Annual Gathering theme is “Embrace: Rediscovering the Call to Fellowship” and inspired by Hebrews 10.2425.

Rev. Paula Moutsos, Pathways Baptist Church Rev. Robin Toogood, Purity Baptist Church Rev. Karen Taylor, Mt. Airy Baptist Church Alyssa Vasquez, You Belong Rev. Novona Byrdsong, Fort Foote Baptist Church Rev. Curtis McLaughlin, Carmody Hills Baptist Church The committee chair, Rev. Jevon Billups, is the pastor of Dominion Life Center in Largo, Maryland. Asked about the theme of this year’s Annual Gathering, Rev. Jevon Billups responded, “The theme “Embrace” was chosen to encourage our congregations to press beyond the challenges of the pandemic, economic crisis and social unrest and consider the benefits of remaining in fellowship, explore ways to stay connected and continue working together to advance the Kingdom.

(The theme as chosen to) call our churches to fulfill the words of Christ: “Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

Participants can expect a slimmer schedule but sleek online appearance with the worship, workshops and opportunities to witness the continued embrace of God through the work of our member churches.

Church Announcements

October- November 2020 12

Rev. William T. Young IV is called as pastor of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ.

Rev. Young received an M.A. in Global Political Economy from Birmingham University in England, the Master of Theology from Edinburgh University and the Master of Philosophy from Glasgow University in Scotland. He has been senior Minister of 2 congregations since 2013: Morison Memorial URC in Clydebank, Scotland and Drumchapel Essenside URC in Glasgow before being called back to the United States as pastor.

Rev. Paul Clark remembered.

Denominational leader and pastor, Clark was on staff at the D.C. Baptist Convention and most recently served as intentional interim pastor at Ferry Farm Baptist Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C. where the memorial service was held.

Rev. Dr. Robert Cochran honored with a retirement banquet.

A banquet was hosted at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, Maryland in Cochran’s honor and in celebration of his twenty- five years of faithful service to the D.C. Baptist Convention.

Rev. Joel Ojelade retires as pastor of Alafia Baptist Church and the church calls Rev. Dr. Kayode Opadeji.

Ojelade has been named pastor emeritus, having served since 1996 and Opadeji now serves as presiding pastor.

Rev. Wallis C. Baxter III and his wife welcome their first child.

Baxter is the pastor of Second Baptist Church Southwest in Washington, D.C.

Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ celebrates 75 years of ministry.

The theme of the gathering is “Let the next generation begin” and events are scheduled to be held October 24-25.

Reverends Austin and Alison Almaguer welcome baby girl.

Austin Almaguer serves as lead pastor at Vienna Baptist Church in Vienna, Virginia.

Ready to Embrace Her New Role, cont.

What can the pastors, clergy, lay leaders look forward to during your tenure as Executive Director/Minister?

I hope, with God’s help, you will experience my sincere desire to pastor pastors and engage with congregations.

I hope, with God’s help, you will join me as we explore our call to be glocal (global and local) in our mission efforts.

October- November 2020

I hope, with God’s help, you will understand my call to bring us together as collaborators, not as competitors, where uniformity of thought and belief is not necessary though unity of the Spirit is essential.

I hope, with God’s help, we will grow together in our faith and our witness that others might experience the Good News in and through us!

Do you want to write for the Capital Baptist Magazine?

December- January 2021 Article Submission Deadline: Monday, November 16th by 5 p.m. 

All submissions should be sent as a Word document with one- inch margins on all sides. No PDFs, please.



All articles should be typed in 12 font, double- spaced and limited to 400 to 600 words.



All articles should feature original content and be previously unpublished unless reprint permission is provided.

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All photos included become the property of the D.C. Baptist Convention. If persons are featured in a photo, the names of all persons pictured should be listed from left to right.

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All articles are subject to editing and may be held for a future issue.



Submissions not meeting the guidelines may not be accepted or will be returned for appropriate editing.

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Email submissions to: Mrs. Loretta Polite- Shipman, associate editor at loretta.polite-shipman@dcbaptist.org.

What’s #Trending?

By Rev. Starlette Thomas, Managing Editor

Top of American minds and headlines, race and its progeny are front and center. The taboo topic has managed to make its way into the mainstream as protesters march down main street in cities around the world. All summer long, there have been protests against instances of police brutality against unarmed African American men and women. George Floyd videotaped death, where officer kneels on his neck for eight minutes and forty- six seconds, cries out for his mother and echoes the last words of Eric Garner, also killed in police custody, “I can’t breathe,” has been described as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The Black Lives Matter movement was in the mouths of pundits and politicians alike as the nation again wrestled with its race problem. It would be a summer long demonstration as well as discussion with chants of “Say her name! Breonna Taylor!” filling the air. Protesters wanted answers to her death and a change in the way their communities are policed. There were calls to “defund the police” and refund the community a portion of the monies spent on law enforcement.

Community leaders and activists asked that the money invested in a militarized police force be given to afterschool programs, mental health professionals and social workers who would be called upon instead of police when force was not needed.

“Not everything is lost.

Responsibility cannot be lost; it can only be abdicated. If one refuses abdication, one must begin again.” | James Baldwin

It has been considered the second pandemic: COVID19 and race. Race, racism and police brutality are now being treated by voters with the same concern as healthcare, immigration and poverty. It has become a social issue and a political talking point. Voices raised in the streets, there has also been an increase in book sales for authors of books on race. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.’s Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, David W. Swanson’s Re-discipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Solidarity, Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of our Discontents and White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American 14 Christianity by Robert P. Jones are what’s #trending.

Church Gifts Mrs. Lashanor Doolittle, Treasurer Church Mission Giving

October- November 2020

For the Eight Months Ended August 31, 2020

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DCBC - 65%; Coop - 35% UNIFIED ABC COOP COOP

Churches Agape Bible Christian Fellowship Allow God Deliverance Min., Intl.

American Baptist Church Broadneck Baptist Church Buenas Nuevas de Salvacion Calvary Baptist Church Carmody Hills Baptist Church CenterPoint Missionary Baptist Church Chin Community Baptist Church Church of Restoration, The Church of the Great Annointing Clifton Park Baptist Church Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ Dayspring Community Church Dominion Life Center East Washington Heights Baptist Faith Shepherd Baptist Church Falam Baptist Church, Maryland Fellowship Baptist Church First Baptist Church/Camp Springs First Baptist Church/Silver Spring Forest Heights Baptist Church Fort Foote Baptist Church Heritage Baptist Church Israel Baptist Church Lai Baptist Church Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church Maryland Kachin Baptist Church Metropolitan Baptist Church Metropolitan Outreach Ministry Montgomery Hills Baptist Church Mt. Airy Baptist Church Mt. Gilead Baptist Church Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Nations United Baptist Church New Bethel Baptist Church New Creation Baptist Church Olive Branch Community Church Pathways Baptist Church Pilgrim Baptist Church Power House Baptist Church Purity Baptist Church Ravensworth Baptist Church Rehoboth Baptist Church River City Baptist Church Rivers of Joy Bible Fellowship Church Saint Mary's Baptist Church Saint Matthews Baptist Church Salem Gospel Ministries (Silver Spring) Second Baptist Church of Washington /NW Second Baptist Church SW Siyin-Chin Baptist Church Spirit of the Living God Baptist Church Takoma Park Baptist Church Temple of Praise The Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church Third Baptist Church University Baptist Church/College Park Upper Room Baptist Church Vienna Baptist Church Village Baptist Church Walker Memorial Baptist Church West Hyattsville Baptist Church Wisconsin Avenue Baptist Church Total

-

576.00 380.00 600.00 5,265.17 -

-

6,821.17

100% Designated PNBC 500.00 500.00

DCBC 600.00 25.00 46.49 1,339.00 150.00 500.00 800.00 200.00 2,000.00 500.00 100.00 3,166.64 1,500.00 800.00 632.94 800.00 500.00 700.00 4,358.00 8,341.74 682.55 14,122.00 800.00 675.00 2,000.00 4,182.00 1,200.00 2,000.00 450.00 6,900.00 350.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 4,036.80 250.00 100.00 200.00 1,000.00 350.00 300.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 1,000.00 1,200.00 350.00 500.00 500.00 700.00 150.00 5,000.00 500.00 750.00 500.00 6,848.94 500.00 1,000.00 768.00 1,000.00 1,000.00 2,000.00 94,925.10

ABC

NCAMO

1,768.64 100.00 1,181.16 1,097.60 1,254.50 1,300.00 3,623.92 -

1,500.00 658.00 166.00 1,917.25 200.00 -

130.75 9,419.20 1,917.25 -

-

50.00 509.60 32.00 1,254.50 7,182.42 -

1,000.00 300.00 327.50 6,988.72 1,000.00 19,942.04

250.00 4,691.25

11,467.20

-

5,362.82 14,391.34

Misc Column: Gifts for DCBC Disaster Relief, BJCPA, CBF, Bapt Sr Adults, & National Ctr Children & Family The Convention recognizes that the giving cycles of each church are different. Some give monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

BWA

JBCC

MISC

YTD Total Gifts 600.00 75.00 2,324.73 1,915.00 150.00 500.00 800.00 200.00 2,000.00 500.00 100.00 3,166.64 1,500.00 800.00 632.94 800.00 500.00 1,500.00 800.00 6,577.16 9,439.34 714.55 14,288.00 800.00 675.00 2,000.00 6,821.75 1,200.00 2,000.00 450.00 8,200.00 350.00 1,000.00 1,500.00 13,456.00 250.00 700.00 200.00 19,906.01 1,000.00 350.00 200.00 300.00 500.00 500.00 500.00 2,500.00 1,200.00 350.00 500.00 500.00 1,000.00 150.00 5,327.50 500.00 750.00 500.00 19,200.48 500.00 1,000.00 768.00 1,000.00 1,250.00 3,000.00 152,738.10

The Benediction

By Rev. Starlette Thomas, Managing Editor

We have reached the end of the first issue of the Capital Baptist Magazine. I hope that the words found on these pages were both relevant and resourceful. For me, it is a reminder that new ideas and innovations can break forth even in the midst of days that run together now more than ever due to the pandemic. We are all hunkered down in our homes but we are also all in this together. We are not disconnected but tightly bound by the hands of Christ, who pinned down his love for us on a cross.

October- November 2020

God is still with us. Jesus has not let go of us and consequently, we cannot let go of each other. There is much division in our nation for one reason or another. We would do well to live as the people who profess “the religion of love,” a love unconditional and unequivocal as we share space with our neighbors. We would be wise to not color in our Christianity or hyper- politicize it. Word made flesh, our faith needs no adjective because Jesus’ life and ministry, death and resurrection, Great Commission and promise to come back to us says it all.

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Besides, do you remember the words of the nationalist Jew Saul, renamed Paul and promoted to apostle? He said this to the Galatians: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3.27-28, NRSV). He says it again to the members in Colossae, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal, there is no longer Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free; but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3.9-11, NRSV)!” It bears repeating today. It is a favorite meditation of mine; I mull over and chew over these words often.

It is a reminder that we are not divided in Christ, that his body is undivided no matter our biological, cultural, physical, political and social realities. His hands hold us together and tie up any loose ends between us and God. In the midst of a pandemic, with roles compounded and the tight squeeze of various commitments, it may be hard for some of us to “have a little talk with Jesus.” Hundreds of thousands sick and millions more shut in, receive this little blessing, a benediction: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6.22-26, NRSV).

Capital Baptist Magazine Published bi-monthly by the District of Columbia Baptist Convention 1628 16th Street NW • Washington, DC 20009 Telephone: 202.265.1526 or Email: starlette.thomas@dcbaptist.org Unless stated, opinions in Capital Baptist Magazine do not express the official position of the DC Baptist Convention.

Capital Baptist Magazine D.C. Baptist Convention 1628 16th Street NW • Washington, D.C. 20009

One Faith. Many Cultures. Endless Possibilities.