Keep The Faith Issue 115

S E K’ ND IC IN E U K A HN AZ TH AC I-ET MAG BL LT AN U M ISTI R CH

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

ISSUE 115

#BLM:

A YOUTH PERSPECTIVE When the statues fall DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR BLACK BUSINESSES

Race

Leadership and Conflict TIME FOR A

PARENTING REMIX

JEANETTE YOUNG TIME TO LEVEL UP

£4.95 where sold

AT HOME

SHOULDN’T MEAN AT RISK

OF DOMESTIC ABUSE #YOUARENOTALONE

If you are controlled or physically, sexually, economically or emotionally abused by a partner, ex-partner or family member, this is domestic abuse. Household isolation rules do not apply.

Police and support services remain available.

If you are in immediate danger, or suspect someone else is, call 999.

If you are unable to talk, call 999, listen to the operator and then either press 55 on a mobile, when prompted, or wait on a landline to be connected to the police, who will be able to help.

If you’re worried you, or someone you know, may be experiencing domestic abuse: The Freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline run by Refuge offers support for women: 0808 2000 247

The free Respect Men’s Advice Line offers support for men: 0808 801 0327 Galop’s free National LGBTQ+ Domestic Abuse Helpline offers support for LGBTQ+ people: 0800 999 5428 The free Respect Phoneline offers support for men and women who are harming their partners and families: 0808 802 4040 The free NSPCC helpline offers support for anyone worried about a child: 0808 800 5000

Find more support, online and text relay services at gov.uk/domestic-abuse

Editor’s

NOTE

Welcome to issue 115!

Shirley McGreal

Dr Daniel Tulloch Jackie Raymond Becky Wybrow Diverse Media Group Limited advertising@diversemediagroup.co.uk T: 0203 868 0664 Josie McFarlane Keep The Faith Ltd 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden London WC2H 9JQ keepthefaithteam @keepthefaithmag keepthefaithmagazine www.keepthefaith.co.uk www.keepthefaithdirectory.co.uk

Juliet Fletcher, Milton B Allen, Marcia Dixon, Bishop Claion Grandison, Ashley Gabriel, Gary Clayton, Darron Spencer, Marlene Cato, Ben Harrell, Laura Nelson, Shana Dawn Lewis, Dr T Ayodele Ajayi, Vanessa Grossett, Roy Francis, Dionne Gravesande, Martins Agbonlahor, Verona White, Jeanette Young, Keno Ogbo, Marnita Coleman, Tina Boyle-Whyte, Krish Raval OBE, Cornelius Brown, Claudine Reid MBE, Karen Carberry, Michaelene Holder-March, Tricia Z George, Akosua Dwomo-Fokuo our supporters and advertisers.

2

020 has been a difficult and challenging time so far. First, the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in total lockdown in the UK, and then the brutal murder of George Floyd in the USA, which initiated global protests, statues being removed, and the UK standing in solidarity with the BLM movement. TV programmes are being banned; street names are changing, and people are calling for an end to racism in all its forms. And finally, the world is slowly emerging from lockdown, and we are able to move around more freely after almost three months of restrictions. Unlike some, I have been enjoying lockdown, and am not in any rush to return to ‘normal’. This awful virus is still out there, and still very real!

Our aim is always to inspire, inform, encourage and highlight some of the great people and projects within our community. I am loving all the editorial features in this issue, and am happy to welcome two new features: fashion and hair!

The main focus in this issue is racial injustice, and how faith, leadership and the Black Lives Matter movement can help deal with racism in the UK. KTF had the opportunity to speak with Commissioner Cressida Dick, Head of the Metropolitan Police, to find out more about its BAME recruitment drive, and what steps are being taken to encourage and support ethnic minorities to join the Met Police. I believe if we want change, we need to come forward and be part of the change, and I believe that is happening now.

We look at parenting issues, mental health, and the power and potential of kindness; entrepreneurship and the Church, and how Black businesses have experienced a double whammy with CV-19 and BLM. Learn about an exciting new charity, launched to address health inequalities amongst BAME communities.

All our articles are contributions from the community we serve, so thank you, we value you. If you would like to be part of our community, please get in touch.

Enjoy the rest of the summer, and please, #StayAlert #StaySafe.

Blessings

Shirley McGreal

The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher.

To discuss how Keep The Faith could work with you, request a media pack or book an advert, please contact Diverse Media Group.

Call 0203 868 0664 or email advertising@diversemediagroup.co.uk

CONTENTS ISSUE 115

24 43

16 NEWS 05 Bishop McFarlane Passes 05 ImAVessel 06 Hidden Secrets 06 Government guidelines for places of worship 06 Jesus was Black

22 Race, leadership and conflict

By Roy Francis 24 Faith, leadership and Black Lives Matter

By Krish Raval OBE 26 Taking to the streets in support of BLM UK

By Marcia Dixon 28 BLM: A youth perspective

By Pastor Ashley Gabriel

18 LIFESTYLES

30 How to develop mental resilience and strength to overcome racism

By Cornelius Brown

40 The double whammy for Black businesses

By Keno Ogbo

08 Gettys announce first ever six-continent worship event as Sing! Conference goes global

By Laura Nelson

31 Opportunities for change for the Black Church in light of Black Lives Matter 2020

By Karen Carberry

42 Anti-racism campaigns: What does this now mean for Black authors?

By Vanessa Grossett

09 Lurine Cato - Lockdown but not shutdown!

By Marlene Cato

32 When the statues fall

By Martins Agbonglahor

43 Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake

By Shana Dawn Lewis

33 Humane policing outlines groundbreaking approach to widespread police reform

By Darron Spencer

44 Parenting remix... It’s never too late to teach love

By Marnita Coleman

GOSPEL MUSIC

10 Music Matters

By Ben Harrell 12 Ending our Christian vs Gospel Music Race War

By Juliet Fletcher 14 Interview with Charisse Beaumont

By Marlene Cato 16 Dreaming again with James Fortune

By Ben Harrell with Milton B. Allen

FEATURE 18 Commissioner Dick, the Met Police, and encouraging a diverse workforce

By Akousa Dwomo-Fokuo Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

COMMENT 34 Food for thought

By Marcia Dixon 35 Where do we go from here?

By Bishop Claion Grandison

46 Uncertainty transitioned to faith

By Tina Boyle-Whyte 48 The power and potential of kindness - What has it to do with mental health?

By Dr T. Ayodele Ajayi

36 Beyond the #BLM hashtag

By Dionne Gravesande

49 New charity launched to address health inequalities amongst BAME communities

By Tricia Z George

38 Drive carefully

By Gary Clayton

50 Healthy hair from the inside out!

By Verona White

39 Entrepreneurship and the Church

By Claudine Reid MBE

52 Time to level up

By Jeanette Young

NEWS 05

ImAVessel

O

n the back of his most successful year yet, which saw him headline Big Church Day Out and Rocknations, and have a single premiere on BBC 1Xtra radio, MOBO Award-nominated London rapper and vocalist, J VESSEL, recently launched a new charity entitled ImAVessel.

ImAVessel is an online media platform, dedicated to exploring how to practically apply biblical truths to issues affecting young people in the UK today.

The charity creates and delivers resources, such as devotional videos and lesson plans, for young people and their youth workers. The charity’s aim is to see a generation dare to be different, go against the grain, and be all God created them to be.

Bishop McFarlane passes Church leaders took to social media to pay tribute to the late Bishop Harold McFarlane, pastor of the Built on the Rock (BOTR) church in Walthamstow, east London, who died recently.

BOTR was formerly based in Bethnal Green, and was a well-known church in the area. Its leader, Bishop McFarlane, was also well-known across the Christian community.

Pastor Peter Nembhard, Senior Pastor of ARC churches, attended BOTR following his conversion to Christianity at the age of 18.

He was personally mentored by Bishop McFarlane, whom he regards as a spiritual father. Bishop McFarlane also ordained him as a minister and conducted his wedding.

Pastor Nembhard described Bishop McFarlane’s life as ‘fruitful and productive and God-honouring’, and stated: “Pastor has finished his work on earth, having preached the Word of God and pastored souls for over 50 years. Sleep on, Pastor Mac. Never to be forgotten.”

“A very inspirational figure and a champion of theological education.

He was creative, innovative and principled.”

Bishop Wayne Malcolm of iCan Community church wrote: “There are no words to describe the vacuum that his transition has created for those who knew and loved him. I received the gift of the Holy Spirit in his home at 15 years old; studied under his tutelage at Bible School; received commission and assistance from him to start a church at the age of 21; performed my first wedding and funeral under his guidance, and enjoyed his fatherly support throughout all the twists and turns that would follow my ministry. You fought well; you kept the faith; you finished your course. Till we meet, sir!”

Pastor Paul Bailey, of the Regeneration Project, described Apostle McFarlane as “a very inspirational figure and a champion of theological education. He was creative, innovative and principled.”

Bishop McFarlane, a senior leader within the Bible Way Church of our Lord Jesus Christ denomination, started pastoring BOTR church in 1977. Aside from his pastoral work he was a church planter, and planted churches in Africa, the Caribbean and Asia.

A community-minded pastor, under Bishop’s leadership BOTR ran courses, provided Christian counselling, ran a prison ministry, and collected clothing and educational items, which were distributed to churches in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

He is survived by his five children and grandchildren.

Speaking about the inspiration behind ImAVessel, J Vessel says: “Many young people living in urban communities across the UK are being brought up in households of faith. However, in the last ten years, Sunday service attendance has dropped by 75% for 15 to 19 year olds. Some are disengaged with the Christian faith of their parents/carers, as they feel a disconnect between the culture of church and the teachings and Person of Jesus Christ.

“Our job is not to make Jesus relevant He does that all by Himself. Our job is to translate the deep principles of God into simple, modern forms of teachings, through daily devotional videos and lesson plan resources, that help young people on their journey of faith.”

Visit www.vessel.org.uk for more details. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

06 NEWS

HIDDEN SECRETS

T

he growth of social media has given creatives a platform to share their artistry and productions. One man taking advantage of this is Emmanuel Lawal, 28 a member of RCCG Victory Assembly in Sidcup.

His six-part drama, Hidden Secrets, is currently being broadcast on YouTube, and has to date received thousands of views.

Hidden Secrets tells the story of a seemingly happy church-going family, but as the story unfolds, issues of infidelity, domestic violence and alcoholism come to the fore, as well as

issues like jealously and illegitimacy.

Emmanuel, who plays the lead character, also wrote the script and produced the series.

He said “Hidden Secrets is inspired by my own real-life story. After a year of working on the project with my church youth group (from Victory Assembly), Laurelle Jones (director and producer) reached out to me with the suggestion that we collaborate and turn what was once a play into a web series.”

The cast was found after putting a call out on social media, and filming for the series took just six days. Emmanuel is pleased with the public response to the series.

There are several key themes that Emmanuel is keen for Hidden Secrets to convey. He stated: “Hidden Secrets covers a wide sphere of themes over a short space of time. The three key messages we’d like our audience to take away are: firstly, there’s more to any situation or story than meets the eye.

Secondly, you have to love yourself before you can love others - sometimes we live life pouring into others from an empty cup, and thirdly, no matter what you’re going through, there’s someone out there going through worse.

“The response and support from the public have honestly been amazing! Within 24 hours of Episode One going live, we had close to 600 views, and the main response has been that people can’t wait to see more.

It’s often been mentioned that they love the

Government guidelines for places of worship As the Government continues to ease lockdown, guidelines have been published for churches, giving them information on how to conduct worship services.

Limits have been placed on the number of people who can meet for worship gatherings. These are dependent on the size of the meeting place, because social distancing of 2m (1m, if the space is small) must continue. Singing is banned, however, due to fears that the virus can spread via droplets.

Up to 30 people can attend weddings or funerals.

Attendees at religious gatherings have been asked to limit their contact with each other to stop the spread of the virus.

dynamics between the characters, and are shocked at the use of improvisational dialogue throughout the whole series.”

He’s now thinking of doing another series.

“Yes, definitely! Considering how the first season ends, the viewers would call for my head if there weren’t at least a second season.

In terms of time frames, it all depends on collating the correct funding, but the plan is not to wait too long to get the second season out there, and maybe a third, fourth… you never know!”

JESUS WAS BLACK The new Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, has publicly stated that Jesus was a Black Man. Speaking in the Sunday Times, Archbishop Cottrell stated: “Jesus was a Black Man and He was born into a persecuted group in an occupied country.”

He added that Jesus would have not only stood alongside and celebrated Black Lives Matter, but that He would have also joined in the protests.

Stephen Cottrell, who was ordained online (on Zoom), took over from the Rt Rev John Sentamu, the first Black man to be appointed Archbishop of York. One of Archbishop Cottrell’s aims is to help increase the number of Black leaders with the Anglican Church. He said: “The leadership of the Church of England is still too White, and I hope under my watch we’ll see further changes on that.”

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

WANTED!

Staff to serve in Christian schools abroad

We wholeheartedly desire to serve our Father’s world, to love Jesus Christ, and to see individuals and communities transformed by His Spirit through education.

info.uk@teachbeyond.org www.teachbeyond.org.uk

08 GOSPEL MUSIC

Gettys announce first ever six-continent worship event as Sing! Conference goes global

W

orld-renowned Christian hymn writers, Keith and Kristyn Getty, have today announced details of what they believe will be the most watched global worship event in history as, for the first time, they take the annual Sing! Conference global. The four-day event starts August 30, and is set to feature over 100 speakers and artists, including John Lennox, Joni Eareckson Tada, John Piper, Trip Lee, David Kim, Conrad Mbewe, Andrew Peterson and David Platt.

The Sing! Conference has become one of the most popular worship events in America in recent years, and organisers have spent the last few months planning how to expand this event to inspire a global audience with theological and artistic excellence. Sing!

Global will feature worship sessions led by celebrated musicians from six continents, and the Gettys believe it has the potential to reach tens of thousands of individuals and families, who may never have been able to attend the Nashville event in person.

Keith Getty OBE says: “I’m not sure we have ever had such anticipation for an event like we have for this year’s Sing! Global conference. I think we will look back in 30 years at this moment in history, as one of the most unique opportunities to sing of the beauty and riches of our Lord, and cry out together as part of His global Church.”

Kristyn Getty adds: “As we have shared in the same global crisis of 2020, we are more mindful of one another as God’s Church all over the world. We want to embrace this particular moment, using every facility of technology and innovation available to us to more greatly illuminate the gospel hope we sing and share

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

in, the hope we proclaim to every corner of the world.”

The theme for this year’s conference is the centrality of God’s Word in the singing of God’s people, and Keith Getty believes it is a timely moment for that message to uniquely and creatively engage the global Church; to pursue a greater glimpse of what every tribe and tongue singing with one another to the Lord might look like. “The times we live in have again reminded us that time is short and life is fragile. There is an urgent need to build deep believers. We want to connect families, pastors and churches to encourage that deeper congregational worship around the world,” Getty says. “In times like these, people need beautiful artistry that reflects the truths of God more than ever before.”

Josh Sutton, Head of Development for Getty Music, comments: “We are anticipating tens of thousands of delegates from around the globe to participate in this virtual event. The thing we are the most excited about, however, is the unique challenge of building a new form of conference from the ground up that is immersive, connected and accessible to believers from every corner of the earth.”

The Conference, which is brought in part

by Christian Healthcare Ministries, will include the four days of plenary sessions, over 40 breakout sessions, online concerts each evening, behind-the-scenes access and artist interviews, and will all be available for 90 days to allow attendees time to immerse themselves in the breadth of wisdom, teaching and worship. The event will take place from August 30th to September 2nd, and more details can be found at www.gettymusicworshipconference.com.

Laura Nelson

GOSPEL MUSIC 09

LURINE CATO

Lockdown but not shutdown!

The COVID lockdown had many people wondering how they were going to fill their time, except there were those who found quarantine actually got their creative juices flowing. Keep The Faith shines a light on one of the UK’s top female gospel artists, Lurine Cato, who has been active non-stop throughout lockdown, bringing artists together for various projects.

LOCKDOWN PROJECT ONE

LOCKDOWN PROJECT TWO

LOCKDOWN PROJECT THREE

Date: 29 March 2020

Date: 12 April 2020

Date: 3 July 2020

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS A Collaboration

AMAZING GRACE Gospel Artists Unite

The aim of this project was to uplift artists and the people affected by COVID 19. The hymn opens and ends with encouraging words by Premier Gospel winner, John Fisher and MOBO Award-winner, Volney Morgan.

The roll call of artists that took part in the recording include Royal wedding lead singer, Paul Lee; X Factor runner-up, Jahméne Douglas; X Factor finalist, Shan Ako; former Voice contestants, Roger Samuels, Janine Dyer, Wayne Ellington, Shezar, and Jason Nicholas-Porter to name but a few.

Marcia Dixon, PR guru, did a great job: Lurine was interviewed by 13 BBC Radio interviews across the UK – even the island of Jersey – and

by Premier Gospel, and the track picked up traction on the airwaves even though it was intended to be a video only.

This hymn helped raise funds for the Cavell Nurses’ Trust, which gave financial support to nurses and others working in the NHS, who had fallen on hard times.

Gospel Artists Unite consists of some of the UK’s top gospel artists, including guest artist, Jamaican multi award-winning artist, Chevelle Franklyn; Priscilla Jones Campbell from the former multi award-winning group, Nu Colours; Emmanuel Smith, Ruth Waldron, Tony Momrelle, lead singer of Incognito; Jason Nicholson-Porter, Remi Odumesi, Natalie Pearl, Adelaide McKenzie, Dave Daniel, Yolanda Antonio, David Copeland, Andrae Jourdine; Jenny Ingram Brown; Barbra Jacob, and up-and-coming young artists, Charles Dada, Tehillah Daniel, Rachel Cato-Tyson and Janine Edwards.

ALRIGHT - LURINE CATO QUARANTINE KIDS PROJECT feat JAYESS x KIDS UNITED

To watch the video click here.

In support of The Diana Award: www.diana-award.org.uk Adults move over, this one is for the kids!

It doesn’t matter what is going on around you, your friends will be there, and God is going to be there!

Energetic and talented bunch of singers, dancers, musicians and kids that just like having fun! The track crosses RnB, hip-hop and pop, with an explosion of afro beat.

To watch the full video click here.

‘All the lockdown videos have one thing in common and that is, unity. That’s what we need more than ever - love and unity’

To watch the video click here.

Marlene Cato www.keepthefaith.co.uk

10 GOSPEL MUSIC

Music Matters A COLUMN BY BEN HARRELL - GLOBAL MUSIC LINK EDITORIAL TEAM

GLOBAL MUSIC LINK EDITORIAL TEAM

Data - the Currency of the Music Business

A

s an artist in the UK, making good music is only the first step. The data behind the music can introduce the music industry to your brand. Understanding the difference between the two is a key aspect to your growth, mission and vision. An artist typically has a goal to create and share, and two words that should be important to an artist - or their team - are Analytics and Reporting. Before your music hits the shelves or is made available digitally, the work that paints the picture of your brand has already begun.

Official Charts Charting in the UK as an artist can instantly broaden your reach.

Take the time to register your music with Official Charts (OCC) - https://www.officialcharts.com/ - to allow yourself to make a global music footprint. After all, you want as many people as possible to discover you and your music.

OCC, founded in England, compiles data from digital and physical sales, and provides many genre-specific charts on a weekly basis. The capturing of your digital and physical sales is pivotal in today’s music business. Registering your music with OCC allows your sales to be reported accurately, which will put your product on the radar of the tastemakers looking for new music.

Labels and advertisers will evaluate your sales to determine how you fare against your peers, as well as your brand power.

This can ultimately lead to opening doors to advertisements and partnerships. The result of this exposure leads to more resources to create and share more music.

Next Big Sound Analytics help an artist create a roadmap for the future. Next Big Sound (NBS) - https://www.nextbigsound.com/ - is a tool that the artist and music industry can utilise to monitor the impact and influence of a professional music maker’s brand.

Each social media and music distribution platform have dashboards in place to track interactions with fans and sales. NBS pulls data from multiple social sites to provide a high level and detailed view of the artist and how consumers interact with them.

So how do we benefit from using NBS? A couple of days after connecting your Facebook and Twitter accounts, you will begin to see data captured. This data,

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

combined with other sources, build your NBS profile. Based on how followers react to your posts; stream your music on platforms like Pandora, and view other connected sites, NBS will designate an ‘artist stage’.

Artist stage, which is based on your overall fan base, is broken into five categories: Undiscovered, Promising, Established, Mainstream and Epic. You should have a goal to move up in status, which ultimately translates to the growth of your brand.

Use the information provided by your connected sources to continue to build relationship with your followers.

The Currency of Music Music plus data equals recognition. This a formula for the currency of the music business. There are many tools that help your brand’s impact, but Official Charts and Next Big Sound are great starting points.

IMPRISONED

WITH ISIS “Do you know what waterboarding is?” they asked.

“Yes,” I said, “I know what waterboarding is.”

“Well, you don’t know how it feels. We will show you.”

This is the remarkable story of Petr Jasek, sentenced to life imprisonment in Sudan, and put in a cell with ISIS fighters. One had taken part in the murder of Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach.

Another had been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. Petr would be behind bars for 445 days before being released thanks to God and the prayers of thousands of Christians worldwide. £15.00 including p&p (Amazon: £17.68)

Go to releaseinternational.org or call us on 01689 823491 Charity Reg No 280577 (SC040456)

12 GOSPEL MUSIC

Ending our Christian vs G JULIET FLETCHER

is a former BBC Producer and funding Executive of the GMIA

F

rom what I can see, there seems to be no facet of human life that the current issue of racism has not touched. This includes Christian music, of which gospel music is a part.

Right among our ranks - between churches, as well as among the commercial music industry Christian streams - there are many expressions of unhappiness (to say the least) between Black and White Christians, as people open up on social media and Zoom discussion groups.

It was the 1960s when Dr Martin Luther King Jr said: “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.” The specific stories are different, but the principle factors are largely the same here in the UK too. Sixty years on, we have seen some changes - but not nearly enough. Truth is, matters have gotten to a point where we must talk and act more transparently and honestly, so that our voice, for the sake of CHRIST, does not have an indistinct and consequently confused sound (1 Corinthians 14:10, which follows the chapter on LOVE). One surety is that there is nothing wrong with ‘the music’ per se, but there is something wrong with the systems that carry the music, and the people who operate (or conversely do not operate) those systems fairly.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

WE CAN’T ERASE HISTORY It’s happened, and what can we do but learn and do better than the generation behind us, so that the generation ahead of us can thrive, instead of strife and strive? Since we cannot erase history, I believe it’s very important that we be an honest broker of it.

A primary example is the constant battling over the phrase ‘gospel music’. Questions like “What is it?” or comments like “If it means Black, does that mean White people are excluded?” Such nonsensical things are said, which seek to undermine the heritage and legacy of where and by whom gospel music came to the fore. In the context of music art forms, gospel music is that specific sound in vocal and music that, for many decades, is known to have come to us from the Black African American experience. Recently, while talking about this to musicologist Matthew Williams, he advised me on the many number of professors and lecturers

of note, who have written and acknowledged gospel music by name. Therefore, what is our problem? Gospel music and blues are the parents of soul (first son, Sam Cooke); the first aunt and uncle of jazz; the grandparents of rock ‘n’ roll (Little Richard), and greatgrandparents of modern r’n’b/pop.

Enslaved Africans went to the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as North America.

We don’t know where among them specific descendants went, but in my mind, we have and do retain that right, which we have done by practice, to claim the spiritual energy of our ancestors in the folk music that expressed faith: in the spirituals, in the hymnody of the original songs, written by those who adhere

GOSPEL MUSIC 13

Gospel Music Race War Little Richard

to the passion, prose and melodies of composing. All over the African Diaspora, we have something that, out of the awful experiences within our Christian faith, is “of us”, which EVERYONE can share in and enjoy. And they do. We can see this from the popularity of gospel music in parts of Europe, like Norway, with its world-class Oslo Gospel Choir - an ensemble made up of White people, excelling in the authenticity of their own experiences.

DEALING WITH HURTS There is too much actual history for us to try to redefine or reinterpret what is clearly here.

And much of this redefining and reinterpreting is done by misled Black people. I was taken on board professionally by the BBC, as their sole expert in gospel and soul for nearly ten years. There was no prevarication. The strands of programming were specific, and two main ones - ‘Gospel Train’ and ‘The Deniece Williams Show’ - were groundbreaking. I introduced gospel to many BBC producers, who had never worked with or considered programme-making with Black music creatives, like Noel Robinson, Luke Smith, Audrey Lawrence-Mattis or Karen Gibson. I wasn’t introducing CCM (Contemporary Christian Music). It was a clear opportunity to bring Black British Christian artists to the fore - in their own right - rooted in the music of their heritage, which, up until then, had been deliberately absent. It was a great time, but we still tussled with tokenism. #ThisShipTurnsSlowly That absence of UK gospel artists was more so reflected in the roster of Christian music labels that were in existence from the 1980s onwards. Recognised as the ‘Golden Age of British Gospel’, there were very few UK Christian labels that signed and marketed our artists, namely ICC Records, Chapel Lane, Authentic

Sam Cooke

Media (formerly Word Music), Kingsway Music and Alliance Music. They built a way but only to distribute US Black gospel and other products.

Worse, there was nothing ploughed back into development for the UK Gospel scene. No one was taken on at A&R Executive level to train or garner experience within our field.

Space does not allow me to delve deeper, but the systems that exist around churchrelated events - that have taken decades to be inclusive - can only be alluded to. At the risk of sounding one-sided, the failures of our Christian music streams - and the opportunities denied in integration - must be properly balanced against what those of us and our Black church leaders have failed to do: building workable systems of our own, funded by finances raised from within the community.

Where is the evidence of the value of self-worth we have placed on ourselves as a united community? What have we done jointly and equally to transform our own fortunes? How have we created and strategised initiatives that the nation can identify, saying: ‘THIS WAS DONE BY THEM’?

THE WAR ENDS LIKE THIS

Kerr, Steve McGregor, Tyndall Thomas, Steve Thompson… All these (and more) have helped and are still helping the sound of UK Gospel.

I’m not including in this list current Caribbean and African artists; I’m relating to those with the strongest direct link to the music of Windrush churches, which give us our British gospel roots. We won’t and can’t negate the influence of African American practitioners of the form; we are inextricably linked to them and to our churches of the Caribbean. But let’s get more informed and comfortable with the richness of what we have. We don’t even know it all yet; we are young in our form and development. Remember my generation (and those born here) as the first set of children of our Windrush churches. Let’s recall those older than us, like Roy Francis of the Soul Seekers group and author of How To Make Gospel Music Work For You, and Carmen Jones of the Touring Evangelical Harmonizers group and founder of the Pentecostal Credit Union (PCU), namely those who came as young children, teenagers or in their early twenties. We’re only just getting into writing our factual life stories, so let’s be easy on ourselves and ENJOY our new-found confidence. Let’s also embrace the bigger picture of our Caribbean and African contribution to what is and is increasing as the sounds of UK Gospel. All that is missing are the SYSTEMS that we control, manage and determine, so that we can steer clear of the tricks of the systems that have previously held us back or created definitions that boxed us in. More importantly – and what is more pertinent - we will change our own ‘bad mindsets’ that have been at least self-debilitating and at worst self-destructive.

Noel Robinson, Bazil Meade MBE, Karen Gibson, Ken Burton, Audrey Lawrence-Mattis, Duke Noel Robinson

Karen Gibson

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

14 GOSPEL MUSIC

M

other, business owner, CEO and board member, Charisse Beaumont takes the things she is passionate about, and puts them into action. She is very successful in the music industry, and has taken that energy into new places. Here Marlene Cato, from Keep The Faith, asks Charisse some very insightful questions.

Keep The Faith (KTF): Please tell us about yourself and what you do.

Charisse Beaumont (CB): I am owner of Beaumont Media Worldwide; Chief Executive at Fight for the Dignity of African Women and Children (FDAWC), and I sit on the board of Help Musicians. I used to own Preacher Boy Entertainment, a record label and management company, where we handled artists, such as Jahaziel, S.O., E-Tizz and G.P., and were instrumental to the careers of Lecrae and Da TRUTH in the UK.

KTF: What is the organisation you represent, and their aims and key functions?

CB: At Help Musicians, our aim is to support musicians from the start of their careers through to retirement. We have a creative programme, providing grants to musicians to help build their career, and we run artist development, mentoring and business programmes to help accelerate the artist’s career.

We help musicians through our health and welfare programme, whether you are a musician facing a crisis, such as sudden illness or disability, or facing retirement. We run the Musicians’ Hearing Scheme, which helps musicians facing hearing loss, and provides hearing tests and subsidised hearing aids.

We also run the Music Minds Matter - our mental health scheme - providing 24/7 support for musicians dealing with mental health issues. Musicians such as Kanye West regularly speak out concerning their own issues. We are here to help all musicians.

FDAWC is an international charity based in the UK, France, Sierra Leone, Morocco, Ghana and the Ivory Coast. We work tirelessly to stop cultural traditions and gender-based violence (such as rape, domestic violence, child marriage, sexual cleansing, female genital mutilation, etc.) destroying thousands of African women’s lives.

There are six ways we work with victims to help rebuild their lives: • Providing aid, such as shelter, food, clothing and other essential items • Safe-houses for families fleeing violence • Counselling for the victims of African cultural atrocities • Education for children from low-income families

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

CHARISSE BEAUMONT • Education and training for families about culture • Income generation and training activities KTF: What are your roles in these organisations?

CB: At Help Musicians I sit on the board, and provide perspective and advice, especially when serving as an advocate for Black musicians and the music business as a whole.

I also serve as chief executive at FDAWC; I am at the helm of leading and growing the charity, as we continue to fight for women to walk towards cultural freedom.

KTF: What have your organisations been focusing on during COVID-19?

CB: I am very proud of Help Musicians’ response to the pandemic. Help Musicians pledged £5 million to the Musician Hardship Fund, where unemployed musicians can apply for a £500 grant to help them during this financial crisis. We had over 17,000 applicants in the first 48 hours.

At FDAWC, through our #DignityforAll campaign, we have been providing care packages to vulnerable families, which include food, nappies, essential items and cleaning products. We run errands for those who cannot leave the house. We provide emergency accommodation for women and their families fleeing domestic violence, and run a young people’s online programme to prevent vulnerable young people from being groomed into modern-day slavery. We host online events, video game competitions and teach formal subjects, such as maths, English and cultural studies. We are supporting over 70 families in the UK, Morocco and the Ivory Coast.

KTF: How has the death of George Floyd impacted you/your organisation?

CB: Personally, I am tired of systemic racism and our people being treated as less than nothing. Honestly, enough is enough. I believe this is a time of reckoning and a move of God amidst the chaos and distress. At Help Musicians, we’re examining how to help Black musicians. We are currently working on a Black Lives Matter project, and KTF will be the first to know when we are ready to launch!

KTF: What changes would you like to make going forward?

CB: At Help Musicians, we plan to examine our organisation and make changes to reflect the diversity of the music industry as a whole, to represent every genre of music, and be equipped to help all musicians.

At FDAWC, we have just opened our first refuge centre for vulnerable families in Morocco, eg. families fleeing cultural abuse refugees fleeing violent countries, etc.

KTF: What are you happy with and why?

CB: 2020 has been a difficult year for most people and I am happy to see the worldwide response in such a tragic time, and especially to hear the powerful, global voice of the young people fight against racial inequality. Local communities have stepped up to help the vulnerable and needy. In the midst of such challenge we have witnessed the resilience and love of humanity. I pray this unity will continue. Love always wins.

For more information, visit www.fdawc.org/ donate and www.helpmusicians.org.uk.

Marlene Cato

If you are aged 18-30 why not spend a year serving God through the Ministry Experience Scheme.

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Local schemes are based in many locations across the Church of England.

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Get the candidate pack and apply by 31 August 2020 www.clergysupport.org.uk/2020trustees www.keepthefaith.co.uk

16 GOSPEL MUSIC

DREAMING AGAIN WITH

JAMES

FORTUNE M

ega gospel singer, James Fortune, has released ‘Dream Again: Live from Rock City’ - a live version of his ‘Dream Again’ studio album. Fortune looks to bring listeners to a place of worship with his Broadway-style delivery.

As a Grammy Award-nominated singer, James Fortune has used his music to spread God’s love - a message that is echoed by every note, melody and beat. At an early age, a foundation birthed in the church would prepare him to use his talents to make a mark on the world. Fortune understood that he had an aptitude for serving, which translated into the inspiration of others.

Fortune was blessed with the ability to musically transform pain into peace. His music would remind us that joy would be the rainbow after the storm. Even in times of his own tribulations, Fortune refocused himself to the lifeline of his existence: God. With his testimony embedded into his music, Fortune aims to remind listeners that God can bring you through any situation.

Keep The Faith had an opportunity to speak with James Fortune on how God allowed him to dream again.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

BY BEN HARRELL WITH MILTON B. ALLEN

GOSPEL MUSIC 17

Your 2019 chart topping ‘Dream Again’ album touched many people. Here we are in 2020, and you have recently released ‘Dream Again: Live from Rock City’. What contributed to the decision to make a live version of your album?

The pandemic, you know, COVID-19. We recorded the live version of ‘Dream Again’ on August 23rd of 2019. We were preparing this year to tour for the ‘Dream Again’ album. I was on my way back from South Africa and COVID-19 had begun to spread, and everything started to lock down. At that point I was talking to my producer, and we realised we had this album release concert for ‘Dream Again’. We talked about getting it mixed and mastered, and releasing it digitally.

We did songs from ‘Dream Again’, as well as songs from other albums. Looking at where we were at the time, we thought it would be a great time to release it, as people would be blessed by it. So we got it mixed and mastered.

I talked to eOne, they were on board and excited about it. We had no plans of releasing ‘Dream Again’ live, but without having concerts and the ability to tour, it gave us time to figure out what was next. We thought that this was a great time to get this message out while people were quarantined at home.

Your ‘Dream Again’ albums give listeners a glimpse into your testimony. How does your music paint a picture of redemption?

My songs have always been a reflection of my life. I think that’s why I’ve always tried to encourage people through my songs from my own life experiences. When you look at the message of ‘Dream Again’, understanding all that I went through six years ago, I felt like my dreams had been shattered. I didn’t have any more opportunities to do what God was calling me to do. It felt like my dream was over. But going through the whole process of counselling therapy, and just seeing how God changed my life, gave me hope. It gave me the message that I could dream again. As I began to dream again, I wanted to encourage other people regardless of their setbacks that they could dream again.

You have the ability to deliver worship music with a passion that is relatable to a variety of generations. Both millennials and those in their twilight years gravitate to your music.

What contributes to your success in appealing to these groups?

I think it has a lot to do with me growing up in the church. With my dad being a pastor, I’ve always had a church background.

When I started in ministry, I started with a youth group. I was always ministering to the youth, as well as having an old school church

foundation. I think that’s really continued over the last 15 years with my music. When I release projects I try to make sure the message and music are relatable to both demographics.

When I write music, I try to think of something that my mum and niece would love. I may have an old school message, but will use the music to attract the younger generation.

Your ‘Dream Again’ albums underscore your strengths as a preacher, choir leader, master of ceremonies and worship manager. How did you incorporate these talents to breathe life into your ‘Dream Again’ albums?

It has always been my passion to use the gifts that God has given me. Whether it was songwriting or to encourage people, I just take what God has given me and use it for His glory.

A lot of times people are always trying to compare themselves to what other people are doing. They think that if they can’t do it as well as someone else, then there is no place for them. But people have to remember that God has a place for all of us. He has given all of us gifts. He has given all of us talents.

It is our job and responsibility to trust God. We need to pray and discern what His plan is for our life with the gifts that He has given to us. God has given us all gifts and anointing to reach people at different levels.

I thank God for the group of people that He has given me to minister to and edify for the Kingdom of God.

‘WHETHER IT WAS SONGWRITING OR TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE, I JUST TAKE WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME AND USE IT FOR HIS GLORY.’ 2020 has been a trying year. It is easy to feel overwhelmed with all the events that have taken lives, affected finances, or simply challenged our faith. What song can you recommend to listeners to remind them that God is still God, and that we are not alone?

I would point listeners to my newest single, ‘Nobody Like Jesus’. There is a Name that has been given to us that is above every name, it’s even above the name COVID-19. This song reminds us, as we run down God’s resumé, that He is our healer, joy, strength and Redeemer. Sometimes we have to be reminded of who He is. We get so focused on what is around that we forget about the One that lives on the inside of us. No matter what you are facing, God is more than the world that is against you.

Many people have spent the better part of 2020 trying to make sense of everything that has transpired. Whether it’s dissatisfaction with the government, surviving COVID-19, race relations, the economy in general, unemployment, healthcare, crime or our relationships, there are plenty of areas that keep us from sleep at night. James Fortune delivers an album intended to shift the focus from our problems to our God. His message is to stand tall in your faith, rely on God’s promises, and operate in His peace, so that you can dream again.

James Fortune’s new album, ‘Dream Again: Live from Rock City’, is available on all major digital retailers and streaming platforms. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

18 FEATURE

Akousa Dwomo-Fokuo (ADF): Good afternoon, Dame Cressida. Thank you so much for taking time out of your very busy schedule to have this conversation with us.

Dame Cressida Dick (DCD): I am really pleased to be talking to Keep The Faith. I believe it is an interesting and well-produced magazine. They are doing well.

Commissioner Dick, the Met Police, and encouraging a diverse workforce With London’s being the most diverse city in the UK, with an estimated 9m residents of which 40% are from BAME backgrounds, it makes sense that Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick DBE QPM, the Met’s first female commissioner, is keen to develop a more representative workforce, by encouraging people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to join the Met Police and monitoring groups.

Akousa Dwomo-Fokuo, from Keep The Faith, spoke with Commissioner Dick to find out more about the BAME recruitment drive undertaken in 2020 and what steps are being taken to encourage and support ethnic minorities to join the Met Police.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

ADF: Thank you for your kind words. Yes, we are happy with the impact the magazine is having. I would like to kick-start the conversation by talking about the recruitment drive to encourage Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people into the Met. How can you provide assurance that Black applicants can have rewarding careers, where they are developed, supported and trained, so they can reach the top of their careers within the Met? DCD: You are right, we are working hard to try and reach into all our communities, particularly our Black communities and, of course, the wider BAME communities, to get people to join us in a whole variety of roles - not just as police officers. We have many technical roles, for example forensics, special constables, and we have our volunteers. There’s a whole range of different things people can do, and we are being very successful at encouraging people to join.

We are growing, which is great. If you join the Met, you will find yourself part of a large organisation - with all kinds of opportunities that takes your development and potential very seriously. We now have over 5,000 BAME officers, which is a huge step up and I am delighted. We have people from those backgrounds across the whole organisation in every discipline, at every kind of level, and I believe that it’s a lovely place to work.

ADF: That’s great to hear, and I am certain our readers will be happy to read this. The National Black Police Association has been around for three decades, and they are still raising issues of institutional racism. As blatant forms of racism become extinguished, particularly in the current climate of political correctness, subtle forms of unconscious racial biases are appearing. What new approaches are you, Commissioner, adopting to combat the new pervasive virus of racism that exists within your own organisation, and how do you plan to build the confidence within the Black community to encourage applications?

DCD: Well, I wouldn’t agree with all your analysis to start with, but I don’t want to get

FEATURE 19

into an argument about the question. As Commissioner of the Met for the past three years, I have been very clear that raising confidence in our Black communities - for people to work with the police, and for them to feel confident in the police as a service and somewhere to work - has been one of my highest priorities. I have put in an enormous amount of personal investment into this. I have also invested a great deal of senior leadership and other time into a whole variety of different things. For example, I have been very clear from the beginning that I/we have zero tolerance of racism and racists, and if people are found to be acting in a racist manner they will be out, and that’s all there is to it.

I am aware that there may be unconscious bias, for example, and all our officers and staff have had training. All our new entrants continue to have training on unconscious bias.

We train on a variety of aspects of diversity, including how to be a more inclusive manager; how to deal with disputes; how to think about providing the best possible workplace for the people that you lead... We are always learning, we’re always adapting, we’re always changing, and we are soon to bring in a new method of entry for police officers that I hope will appeal to many of our young and not-so-young Black citizens, who may wish to join us under the apprenticeship scheme.

Whilst they are paid at a reasonably good salary, they will be able to get a degree and, within the degree, there will be a considerable amount of education. Amongst other things: history of police relationships with different communities; about London; about African and Caribbean experiences of racism, and so

forth. These things I take very seriously… but I will leave it there for now.

ADF: That is extremely reassuring, especially against the backdrop of recent heightened racial tensions. I would like us to touch on monitoring groups. Scrutiny of stop and search is performed by local Stop and Search Community Monitoring Groups, which are acting for their communities to hold officers to account and to raise complaints. Now that the rules have changed, it means that these Monitoring Groups are not able to support their communities in the same way. We know that many community members and young Black men, who are the most affected, fear reprisals if they complain directly. Does this not undermine the role of Monitoring Groups and their ability to speak up for the very community you say you are appealing to, particularly regarding community trust and confidence?

DCD: I’m afraid I don’t recognise exactly the problem you are talking about. What I can say is that, over the last 20 years since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report, we have made some massive changes in all sorts of areas to improve us as a police service, particularly in the way we provide a service and work with people from our Black communities.

One of the things that I have been determined that we will be, is ever more transparent and ever more accountable. For example, if somebody does have a concern, and it is dealt with either by the Met or by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, I take a huge interest in that being done properly, robustly and fairly. There is a very strong system there.

I take very seriously the role of members of the community in observing what we do, whether that’s on the streets or in our control room, or while a stop search is happening, and we have that all over London. We are completely open. In the coming weeks and months, I want to see us using the monitoring groups and similar organisations even more.

I believe we are the best police service in the world, but I do know that many people still have some fears and concerns about us.

I do believe that the community getting involved with the police, community volunteering in a variety of different ways with the police service - as well as, of course, joining us - is a very important method for us to improve. It’s vital that local people can support anybody who feels aggrieved in their dealings with the police, and equally that they can scrutinise us. I want to improve things. We can do more, and we will.

One of the things that I have been determined that we will be, is ever more transparent and ever more accountable ADF: You have asserted that policing has changed over the last 20 years, but you still desire to do more. Can you expound on how you believe policing has changed over the years, and share some of the plans for policing for the future?

DCD: Policing is very much more accountable, scrutinised and transparent than it ever was.

For example, we’ve all had the body-worn cameras in the last couple of years, whereby interactions with the public involving, for example the use of force, will now be filmed, and everybody can see what happened.

We don’t shrink from that, we like that. I would contrast it with many other organisations and professionals, and say my people are more scrutinised on the streets than probably any other professional. But we’ve also done an awful lot to try to reach out to London’s wonderfully diverse communities, to ensure that we have good contacts, good understanding and education for our officers, so that if we are planning an operation or, God forbid, if something has gone wrong, we know who to speak to to get advice to see how we can put things right, and to

Photos courtesy of the Met Police

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

20 FEATURE

approach the next stage of tactics.

I don’t have a single strategy, process or plan which isn’t looked at by members of the community to tell me what they think, so involving the community has been a big change. I’ve talked already about the large rise in people from the BAME community who have joined us over the last 20 years.

I think the Met looks and feels very different from the one I knew 20 years ago. People can be themselves and thrive with us. We’ve done huge changes in how well we respond to hate crime, and how we support people who are fearful of hate crimes. Our whole policing approach is very different from 20 years ago and I am very proud of the strides - but it’s quite clear there is more to do, not least in relation to the community relationship, where I recognise that some communities have lower levels of trust than others.

I don’t wish to stereotype, but all my data shows me that young Black men have less confidence than stereotypically older White women, and we are trying to reduce that gap.

It means things like the 600 officers I now have in schools; the investment we have made in neighbourhood officers; the youth engagement officers we have; our huge numbers of cadets (50% of which are BAME)… and we want to build on that further. We want to get the public more involved, to understand more, to be better educated if you like about what they should expect from the police, and what their

I WANT TO IMPROVE THINGS. WE CAN DO MORE, AND WE WILL.

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rights are. I think that’s a very important thing for young people growing up. When we get things wrong unwittingly, because sometimes we will, we have to be quick to apologise, to be clear about what happened, to try to learn any lessons. I do believe we are the best police service in the world, but we are human beings. We are not perfect, and we don’t always get everything right.

ADF: Well, that all sounds very positive.

Before I let you go, do you have any personal words for our readers?

DCD: Just to say I am delighted to be speaking to Keep The Faith magazine. I have often worked closely with churches over the last 20 years, and with Black churches in particular.

I think the people who will be reading your

magazine do so much good in our world, and can and do have so much influence. Now that we are coming out of the dreadful challenges of the COVID lockdown, when people are angry about the way in which it has affected some people and communities more than others, and when we have real challenges, still overall, during my commissionership, with knife crime and how it is affecting young people, there is such a wonderful positivity and sense of calmness that comes from so many people who attend the churches that I think you represent in your magazine.

So, I mainly want to say thank you and keep up the good work. Let me know what I can do differently to help you in your good work.

22 FEATURE

RACE, LEADERSHIP AND CONFLICT Author Roy Francis explores the historical roots of some of the UK’s foremost churches frequented by Black Christians, and the role of race in their development

ROY FRANCIS

is a music consultant/gospel music promoter/agent and author www.royfrancis.co.uk

T

he majority of Windrush people, who came to Britain in the 1950s and ’60s, were not Pentecostals, as many people suppose. The majority were Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics and members of the established church in the Caribbean.

What these newcomers did on Sundays in Britain is what they did every Sunday in the Caribbean: they went to church. What they were expecting in Britain was a welcome, but instead got a frosty, impolite and discourteous reaction. Some of the clergies even took many

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of them aside, and told them not to come back, as their presence was “upsetting the White congregation”. The consequence was a generation of Caribbeans lost to the Church, as many have left and never returned. But where did this reaction to Black people come from? What are the historical forces that led to this? The answer, in parts, is found in the historical relationship between the English and the people of the Caribbean, a history based on the capture and subjugation of a people, which the Church in England supported.

The Spaniards were the first to arrive in the Caribbean in 1492. They conquered the indigenous people; established their settlements; introduced Roman Catholicism, and Columbus the great explorer even came with his own priest! The French came next, followed by the English in 1665. They drove out

the Spaniards from Jamaica, and their slaves took to the hills. There in the mountains, the slaves formed a group known as the ‘Maroons’, who fought the English until the Treaty of 1739 gave them a measure of autonomy, which their descendants hold to this day.

Once in the Caribbean, the English turned the Islands into a massive sugar plantation colony, which made the settler class very rich.

It is estimated that between 1761 and 1807, traders based in British ports transported over three million African slaves to work on the plantations in the Caribbean, producing sugar.

Sugar made Britain rich and, during the 18th and 19th centuries, it was one of the driving forces of Britain’s industrial success. Sugar was important to Britain as oil is today, and it was sugar that made plantation owners rich.

The term, ‘as rich as a West Indian’, was an indication of how wealthy a person was, and it was the proceeds from sugar and the slave trade that made London, Liverpool and Bristol incredibly wealthy.

At first, the Church in England sent out clergies to the Caribbean, not so much to convert the slaves, but to act as chaplains to the White plantation settler class. It sanctioned, supported and justified slavery, and saw its connection with the people of the Caribbean more in terms of a master/servant relationship, than that of a church and its parishioners. In other words, the racism that stemmed from this relationship - the idea that a person’s racial characteristics determined their place in society - continued unfettered throughout British history, reaching its climax during the colonial period. It was only when the independence movements of the 1950s and ’60s began to throw off colonial rule, that this relationship began to change.

Internalising racial stereotypes is one of the ways this racism was perpetuated, producing a mindset, where all that is negative is black, black is evil, and black is the devil.

This is often expressed directly and indirectly, and at times actioned accordingly. It didn’t need a great leap of the imagination for White people, who had internalised many of these racial stereotypes, to link this with the Black people they saw coming into their churches for the first time in the 1950s and ’60s.

The established churches in England were not the only ones to respond to Black Caribbean Christians in this way. The Church of God of Prophecy’s behaviour in this area was far from exemplary. Historically, the church in Britain and America is a White-led church and when, in the early years, members of the church in the Caribbean started arriving in Britain, and heard that there was a Church of God of Prophecy in Bedford, they flocked there.

It wasn’t long before the complexion of

FEATURE 23

the church changed, and this led to a great deal of uneasiness among its White members.

Many of them left to start their own ‘White’ church, and at one time, Dr Joe Aldred, in his book Respect, states there were three White-majority Church of God of Prophecy in Bedford! However, as more and more people from the Caribbean arrived, they set up branches of the Church of God of Prophecy congregations in their areas, and today, Black members of the church vastly outstrip their White counterparts, and the church is now an overwhelmingly Black one.

The Seventh Day Adventists and their

record in this area fared no better. Historically they too were a White-led church, with a predominantly White membership in America, but not so in Britain.

When, in the 1960s, Caribbean Adventists began arriving in Britain, the profile of the church began to change. Many White members felt threatened by this and left, but as the number of Caribbeans continued to rise inexorably, this came to a head in the 1970s, with a threat of the church splitting along racial lines. A solution was found and agreed on, with provision made for an overhaul of the church structure, and a stipulation that where there was an African Caribbean majority, the church would appoint an African-Caribbean pastor.

This has undoubtedly eased the situation, and although the overall numbers of Black people in the church have risen markedly since the 1960s, there is still a steady exodus of White people from the church.

The New Testament Church of God is not without blame in this regard either, and although the church in Britain is Black, the headquarter church in America is White-led.

The church in Britain was started in 1953 by Oliver Lyseight, a Black Caribbean pastor. In the 1970s, young members from the church began visiting ‘the mother church’ in America.

They were surprised by what they found: a church with an almost exclusive White leadership and congregation. It took them a while to process this, for it was so different

from their church in Britain. Furthermore, the ‘mother church’ was based in the American South, and nobody had told them what this meant politically in American racial politics.

The psychological tension that this caused has reverberated in the church ever since, and today the implication of this reality is never far from the surface.

Today, both the George Floyd killing and the Black Lives Matter movement have led to many of the established churches looking at themselves and their structures to see how racist they are. Perhaps some of our traditional Pentecostal churches, including the Elim church, should be doing the same.

Taken from: Windrush and the Black Pentecostal Church in Britain www.royfrancis.co.uk - Out Soon!

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

24 FEATURE

BY krish raval obe Those who work at the intersection between faith and leadership have much to learn from the Black Lives Matter movement.

That the groundswell of support for BLM, triggered by the horrific and brutal death of George Floyd, has happened against the backdrop of a global pandemic is no coincidence. COVID-19 has highlighted our interconnectedness, yet mortality rates have shown that we are not all equally affected.

FAiTH, LEADERSHIP AND BLACK LIVES MATTER Tens of thousands of protestors up and down our country were prepared to march, in spite of fears for their own health - and that of their families and communities - because of the strength of their convictions on this burning issue. I share the view of doctors, who went from the frontlines of the pandemic to join protests, that racial injustice is itself a health problem. Will the pandemic awaken our collective sense of justice, or will it confirm prejudices and herald a right-wing surge?

The answer depends on the willingness of leaders everywhere, from all walks of life, to learn from the spirit of the BLM movement.

Photo by Julian Wan on Unsplash

This historic moment calls for deft and sustained leadership from the widest coalition of changemakers spanning the full breadth of our society, and especially those in power.

Faith leaders are natural allies in this endeavour, because their collective reach and influence on behaviours, emotions and motivations across our diverse society can be a formidable force for good. A campaign of such enormous importance bears a responsibility that goes beyond any one group. Get it right, and this movement for change is a blessing for us all.

Given the significance of the BLM movement in our culture, I hope its leadership will accept the extended hands and hearts of faith leaders wishing to learn from and with them.

Having been privileged to spend much of my adult life serving, teaching and being an honest broker between those at the helm of our country’s religious organisations, I’ve seen good (and bad) practice in community organising, and a common pursuit of truth and justice. I am continually inspired by the way that people with huge differences can build deep friendships that can form the basis for collective action. Rabbis, imams, sannyasins and priests all have faith-based responses to BLM, but also practical guidance and

leadership experience to share too.

In considering BLM in the context of other racist or prejudiced hate, we must avoid drawing a false equivalence between anti-Black racism and all other forms of prejudice. Doing so veers dangerously close to competitive victimhood - something I would urge everyone, be they from a faith group, a minority ethnic community, the LGBTQ+ community or another persecuted group, to avoid judiciously.

I shudder when I hear people who look like me claim a sort of righteous immunity from BLM’s message, because of the discrimination they’ve faced as people from the Indian subcontinent. I’m not saying that the racism we South Asians experience isn’t vicious, sickening or traumatic. I am saying that we must respect each of our inner frames of reference, and acknowledge that the experience of Black communities is not the same as others’, for the racism that BLM points to is not confined to racist attitudes and words. Rather, it is a system invented to exculpate slavery that comes with a pecking order that defines the value of lives to this day. This is why many share my dislike for the administrative term BAME, which ascribes a fictitious group identity to everyone whose skin isn’t White.

FEATURE 25

So why might those fighting racism wish to build relationships with faith leaders?

Sustained leadership Winning the war against racism may take a lifetime, and requires thought now on how to build long-term, coordinated leadership and succession plans. Moral leadership is the area where faith leaders arguably have the most to offer the anti-racism movement. Unlike business leaders and CEOs, faith leaders are here for the long haul. And, like BLM, they refer to deep truths, issues of conscience that stir the soul and are framed in generational terms - not market or profit cycles.

Apart from some of our Christian friends, most of those leading faith communities in the UK aren’t part of the establishment. As the children and grandchildren of immigrants, many religious leaders (including Christians) have to work harder than others to be heard fairly in the public square. They have developed noble and astute strategies to help overcome their outsider status.

A broad church – so to speak Most faiths themselves are formed of a range of communities of different persuasions.

Intra-faith issues can be more tense than inter-faith ones and, at their worst, can undermine the achievement of shared goals. To navigate the ecosystem of our own movements, we need an acute awareness of group and dialogical dynamics, as too must BLM leaders who themselves speak for a diversity of Black people and communities.

Bridging rather than entrenching differences Notwithstanding the dangers of comparing different forms of hate, there are general lessons that can be applied to dealing with victimisation.

Chief among them is the need to pursue one’s just cause, without further alienating those that aren’t yet on board. In an era where seemingly every social or political issue is polarised into those that agree with you and those that don’t, some take a binary view of the BLM movement: police versus protestors; those complying with COVID versus those that aren’t; those that post about racism on social media versus those judged not to care. I’ve learnt from experience, however, that those desiring any form of social change should be careful about using “us versus them” rhetoric. The UK has plenty of room for improvement - particularly regarding institutional racism within our criminal justice system - but we must acknowledge that progress has been made in race relations, and that we should invite into this movement most British people who are decent, fair-minded and fundamentally democratic.

Yet, in spite of progress and the goodness of the majority of British public, racism persists.

So how do you deal with the pernicious problem of people who don’t recognise racism in UK society, or those that think racism is a woke conspiracy? These people are both a cause and effect of the problem. On ‘Faith in Leadership’ programmes, religious leaders learn to disagree well, and to tread a careful line that avoids fomenting hate. I have observed that it is the naysayers and those with rigid opinions who become the most powerful advocates for inter-communal cooperation once they’re won over.

Fixing racism within faith communities Of course, religious and Black leaders are not mutually exclusive groups. In fact, many clerics and worshippers from minority backgrounds, as well as their colleagues, feel the need to combat discrimination within their own institutions. I am witnessing lots of soul-searching within our faith communities about their own track records on racism, and a desire to learn from the BLM movement, whilst getting their own houses in order. One sterling example of this is the unprecedented admission by the Archbishop

of Canterbury that his Church is institutionally racist. This has been followed by a recent decision by the House of Bishops to back the creation of the Archbishop’s Racism Action Commission to implement ‘significant cultural and structural’ change within Anglicanism on race.

But religious leaders’ actions are not limited to their own communities. These are people with respected voices that can use their power to change society.

Don’t bowl alone Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam famous for ‘Bowling Alone’, his 2000 book on declining civic engagement - uncovered the inconvenient truth that the greater the diversity in a community, the worse it performs on almost every measure of civic health. As a society we have to work hard, therefore, to work to create the kind of inclusive communities that can benefit from our diversity. It doesn’t just happen automatically, but when it does happen, diverse communities, like diverse teams, outperform homogenous ones.

‘Together we are stronger; let’s lead together.’

The religious leaders that ‘Faith in Leadership’ brings together retain their own identities whilst respecting each other’s differences. Those at the vanguard of fighting racial equality will find kindred spirits among our wise faith leaders. There’s a rich and interlinked history of racial justice being advanced with the support of religious role models – from Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired both Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the legendary Badshah of the Pashtuns and Dr Martin Luther King Jr, to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who marched with Dr King at a pivotal moment for civil rights, to all the Muslims, African Traditionalists, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists, Bahais, Christians and Hindus whom Mandela himself credited for supporting the anti-apartheid movement. Together we are stronger; let’s lead together.

Krish Raval OBE is the founder and director of Faith in Leadership - Britain’s main leadership development organisation for lay and clerical faith personnel. He was the inaugural Director of The Churchill Leadership Fellows in partnership with the Moller Institute, and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio’s Pause for Thought. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Leadership Education and to Inter-faith Cohesion. www.faithinleadership.org krish@faithinleadership.org @KrishRaval www.keepthefaith.co.uk

26 FEATURE

Taking to the streets in support of BLM UK

Black Lives Matter protests were held across the world, following the killing of George Floyd by a policeman.

Here in the UK, Black Lives Matter UK took to the streets to express their support of the US movement.

Keep The Faith spoke asked a few BLM UK supporters why they attended the protests in London.

alton p bell Alton P Bell, 62, is Senior Pastor at Wembley Family Church in Middlesex. He has been a Christian for 38 years. He attended the Black Lives Matter protest in Parliament Square, London.

KEEP THE FAITH (KTF): What inspired you to attend a BLM protest?

ALTON BELL (AB): The violent murder of George Floyd, in full gaze of the entire world, was a clarion call to the peoples of the world to execute justice and change the narrative of White privilege and racism in the western world. I marched, because I believe that racism blights the entire world and runs counter current to what the God of the Hebrew Bible desires from all of His creation. That is, to live justly and to walk humbly before Him. It was important to show that the Church feels the pain of racial injustice.

Photo by James Eades on Unsplash

KTF: What role would you like to see the churches play in ending racism?

AB: The churches must be the prophetic voice where it is located in.

The church must be the ones who implement Jesus’ mandate: to be good news to the poor; set the captives free; bind up those who are broken-hearted; comfort those who mourn; proclaim the Lord’s favour, and be oaks of righteousness in their communities. Essentially, churches must be centres of healing, restoration and reconciliation, where people can encounter the love of God. KTF: Now that you’ve taken a stand against racism, what else will you be doing to campaign for racial equality?

AB: As the chair of MJR (Movement for Justice and Reconciliation), we will be raising awareness of the continuous impact of the enslavement of Africans, which spawned the current challenging White hegemony that exists throughout the west. We will be doing this by lobbying Parliamentarians and challenging Christian leaders to become the change they were called to be. We are also working with educators to de-colonise the national curriculum, to incorporate Black studies throughout all the subjects.

Shermara JJ Fletcher, 27, is Director of the William Seymour Project and Open Table Homeless Project. She attends two churches St George-in-the-East Church and Acocks Green Church of God of Prophecy.

KEEP THE FAITH (KTF): What inspired you to attend the protest for Justice for Shukri Abdi, a young Black Muslim schoolgirl and refugee who was murdered by her White classmates in 2017 in Greater Manchester, and the BLM protest?

Shermara Fletcher (SF): I was inspired to attend the BLM protests as a form of solidarity, to publicly uncover the underbelly of racism Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

FEATURE 27

and its destruction in society. George Floyd’s public execution and Breonna Taylor’s murder whilst in her sleep moved me to join the global protest. Remaining silent and politically polite in 2020 was no longer an option.

KTF: What role would you like to see the churches play in ending racism?

SF: I would like to see the church in the UK publicly denounce racial injustice, and be a prophetic agitational voice of change and challenge to power in the public square, through the strategy of community organising. I would like to see all churches confront any form of complicity, passivity, colonial theology or racial injustice in its own structures, as well as speaking against injustice in the public space.

I would also like to see a collective voice/powerbase/funding stream, with specific, clear and measurable asks about what we want in society in time for the 2024 general elections, and for the Church to be like Jesus, and be at the forefront of bringing a revolution where Kingdom culture dominates and dismantles empire.

KTF: Now that you’ve taken a stand against racism, what else will you be doing to campaign for racial equality?

SF: I believe that the Church is a key agent of change in the fight for racial justice, and consequently I’ve joined several Christian millennial networks/forums, where we discuss the importance of political theology in the Church and public life. I am involved in community groups, which galvanise political change through grassroots and national civic institutions. I am also opening pathways for millennials and young people from grassroots urban areas through the William Seymour Project, to work in the political spaces of influence and their grassroots institutions to understand the political landscape. I am actively fundraising to ensure capacity and opportunity is accessible for all, and I have also been invited to speak on several podcasts and broadcasts, including UCB and Sky News, to speak and educate about how community organising can help bring about systemic change.

Bazil Meade MBE, 69, is Director/Founder of the London Community Gospel Choir. He attends The Arc Church in Forest Gate, and was present at protests held at Parliament Square, London.

KEEP THE FAITH (KTF): What inspired you to attend a BLM protest?

BAZIL MEADE (BM): I went on the March with my daughter, Vernetta Lynch, because I was moved to my core, experiencing anger, frustration, feeling vulnerable and brutalised after watching George Floyd’s life

being squeezed out of him by a person dressed in a uniform, whose sworn responsibility is to protect the citizens of that country.

Having read regularly of killings of innocent Black people by police and citizens of various countries across the world, and seeing the execution of George Floyd on screen in such an inhumane manner was the last straw.

I couldn’t sit by and not get involved with all the thousand people of many nationalities demanding an end to this unjust slaying of Black men, in particular, in America.

bazil meade mbe KTF: What role would you like to see the churches play in ending racism?

BM: My Christian faith encourages me to be visible against injustice of all forms. I read of Jesus becoming angry to the point of becoming physical, when He could no longer tolerate hypocrisy by the people, who are meant to be leaders of the community, using the temple for their own agenda.

I am disturbed by the silence of some of our church leaders, especially those who are descendants of Africa. Truth be told, it could have been any one of us lying on the ground with a knee on our neck.

It is outrageous if any minister feels it is not a struggle he or she should engage with.

The absence of church leaders is a worrying indication of the lack of true leadership within our religious gatherings. The responsibility should not embrace only having church, but take front position when one’s congregation’s existence and quality of life is a problem to haters of Black people.

The racism and hate towards its Black and Brown people on screen and on social media coming out of America are very present in the UK. It is system based on and used to restrict the progress of the Black population on all levels, as various reports/reviews have shown year after year.

KTF: Now that you’ve taken a stand against racism, what else will you be doing to campaign for racial equality?

BM: I am determined to continue to speak against racism when I teach gospel music to all races - especially Europeans, as the source of this cancer is Europe. It is important for the enlightenment to happen through the means available to us, and music is a very powerful tool. I am committed to using my position to encourage the teaching of Black history and to reveal the real history of the UK, showing its involvement and the role it played in the enslavement of Africans four to five hundred years ago.

shermara jj fletcher

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

28 FEATURE

BLM: A youth perspective Pastor Ashley Gabriel shares his views on how young Christians should respond to racism and social justice, in light of the recent Black Lives Matter movement protests PASTOR ASHLEY GABRIEL

leads ARC Thurrock and is Principal of ARC Bible School. For details

I

email bibleschool@arc4u.org.uk

recall praising my way into 2020.

It’s been a tradition every year since I became a Christian in 2010 to attend the church building for the New Year’s Eve service. I remember looking around and seeing multitudes of people, from all different cultures, wearing 2020 Vision T-shirts as a declaration of the year ahead.

Who would have thought that 2020 would see our world shaken by COVID-19 and the barbaric killing of Mr George Floyd, which stirred the hearts of countless people across the globe?

For the last four years, I’ve made it a personal tradition to go for a walk on 1st January to spend time listening to God. This year, as I walked and talked with God, I saw the image of a baton and I heard the Holy Spirit say: “There is a baton being passed on from one generation to the next.” Immediately I perceived that the Lord is raising up the youth of today to invade this earth with the Kingdom of God. Towards the end of 2019, I went into full-time ministry but, prior to this, I was an RE teacher in a secondary school. I desired to inspire young people and spur them to achieve greatly.

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As I reflect upon my own secondary school experience, I was deprived of good teaching and a positive learning environment, as there were many inconsistencies: having ample supply teachers - a new on most days in fact - and teachers who were controlled by the class, rather than the other way around. The lack of sanctions allowed bad behaviour to thrive.

On top of this, the curriculum was insufficient for preparing me for life beyond school.

It is only the grace of God, heaps of self-learning, and incredible mentors later in my life that enabled me to press through many hardships in order to be where I am today, standing humbly as a husband, father, teacher and pastor. I say all of this to say we should prepare our youths from early on for life beyond education, to ensure they are well informed, educated, supported and encouraged.

The brutal, horrific killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was incredibly challenging to process, along with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Shortly before Mr Floyd’s death, I buried my uncle who died of the virus, and was being informed daily of numerous deaths, so close to home.

However, Mr Floyd’s death stressed the racism present in this world and in the UK, and brought to light systemic racism, and the inequality Black people have faced for many years.

I propose that the Christian response in light of the devastating pandemic and the current racial tensions is to proclaim the Gospel and seek social justice. The Gospel is for all people, all nations, EVERYONE! I am certainly not an advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement, but I am an advocate for social justice.

So, whilst as Christians our first response should be for every person to hear and respond to the Gospel, to have a changed heart and a transformed mind, we should also seek for justice. Awareness should be proclaimed regarding racism, particularly subtle, systemic racism, and action must be taken for there to be equal opportunities for all people. More so, should this not also be proclaimed and lived out in church?

Finally, Christians should be praying for the oppressors to encounter Jesus. In the Book of Acts, as a young man, the Apostle Paul persecuted and murdered Christians. However, he had an epic encounter with Jesus that completely transformed his life and became a Christian. What we learn is that we ought to be ready to see the Gospel transform people’s lives - even the worst of people.

So back to the word I received on 1st January this year: “There is a baton being passed on from one generation to the next.”

First and foremost, I pray for the youth of this generation that they will believe in the power of the Gospel and they will witness its effectual working much greater than the spread of coronavirus. I then pray for the youth to excel in every sphere of life, and that every barrier will be removed that holds back particular races from achieving and having equal opportunities. Finally, I pray for the love and influence of the Church, may we live in the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, and for our love to be a witness to the world.

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30 FEATURE

How to develop mental resilience and strength to overcome racism

BY CORNELIUS BROWN “Hear this! The days are coming - this is the declaration of the Lord GOD - when I will send a famine through the land: not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east, seeking the word of the LORD, but they will not find it” (Amos 8:11, Holman Standard Bible).

Has there been, perhaps, a famine of ‘hearing of the words of the Lord’ in the 21st century? How else do you explain the following scenario?

‘He has come to set the captive free’ is a phrase that often rolls off the tongues of many a preacher and laity alike. However, social issues are usually off the menu on Sundays, and the psychosocial impact of the daily micro-aggression, down to outright racial assault, has had subliminal lasting damage on the psyche of the average Black Christian.

This manifests in different ways.

A couple of years ago, a middle-class African Christian brother said to me: “When I meet the Lord, the first question I will ask Him is: ‘Why did you create me Black?’”

While some may cringe at the absurdity of this question, the frustration has resulted in someone of this young man’s calibre and intellectual ability coming to the conclusion that his struggles as a Black person are ‘God-made’. It’s important to mention my response to this question. I have no doubt that the ‘Black man’s burden’ is man-made, because the Bible says: ‘God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth’ (Acts 17:26).

IGNORED TRAUMA The sudden upsurge in the ability of our community to open up about past and

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present hurts is proof we are harvesting the fruits of ignored trauma.

Dr Candace Pert, author of ‘Molecules of Emotion’, says: “The emotions that you are able to experience can bring a recollection (memory) to the surface.

Feelings that are suppressed, however, can bury that same memory far below your awareness, where it can affect your perception, decision, behaviour and even health unconsciously.”

I am in no doubt that this phenomenon has caused lasting physical and psychological damage.

absolute trust.’ It goes on further to describe it as: ‘Confidence in His power, wisdom and goodness.’

• Now is the time to make this attribute (of leaning on Him) your Default Mode Network - a neuronal network that stops the fiery darts of the racial attack.

• Engage in a formal creative activity. “Art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life” (Pablo Picasso).

SUGGESTIONS FOR MANAGING THE IMPACT OF RACISM

Re-scripting and expressive writing are techniques taught at the Mind Café, and feature now and again in our weekly workshops. These are transferable skills, along with a myriad of other interventions that can be useful in ameliorating our trauma. It’s our time to be healed.

• Individually and collectively, we need to become self-aware, and create safe spaces to openly express our feelings.

Interestingly for Christians, our safe spaces should be in church.

• Understand that trauma is represented in the brain physically as real estate, and has coloured every aspect of your life negatively.

• Tell your story. Healing begins when you tell your story, which you can write in unedited poetry or prose.

• Reappraise the experience in an attempt to re-script it. This gives the brain the perspective that the event was in the past. (Unfortunately, for the average Black person, racial profiling, etc, is not a one-off experience.)

There are a number of ways to deal with this under professional guidance.

• Be proactive, because as soon as you finish with one intervention, you may be hit with a barrage of other abuses.

• We underestimate the ability that we have in Christ to counter these toxic assaults. The Amplified Bible describes faith in Christ as: ‘The leaning of your entire human personality on Him in

Cornelius Browne is the co-founder of The Mind Café.

Email info@mindcafeonline.com for more information.

FEATURE 31

Opportunities for change for the Black Church in light of Black Lives Matter 2020

BY KAREN CARBERRY

O

perating remotely, from my private practice, I have observed how the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement not only intensified relationships between family members and local communities, it has opened a global knowledge base on the impact of everyday racism (Essed, 1991). It has also re-opened generational wounds seeking transgenerational healing.

Tackling isolation and loneliness Through new skills learnt from the younger generation, elders are using FaceTime, WhatsApp and Zoom to keep connected, sharing stories of their early lived experiences of injustice, particularly within the UK church system. I recall a former pastor recounting a time when Black people arrived here in the fifties and sixties, and found that in some congregations, Black parishioners were unwelcome to fellowship at ‘White’ churches. At end of service, the minister would greet them with the words: “Thank you for coming. Please do not come again.”

Alarmed, and in order to maintain spiritual and emotional stability, a network of Black UK-based parishioners would inform others of churches that were amenable to fellowship, providing resilience to subsequently set up their own network of ‘Black’ churches. It is somewhat disappointing, therefore, that decades later, news that a Black vicar was recently rejected from taking up a position with a White Church of England congregation - due to his race - illustrates that institutional racism prevails (BBC, 2020). One can only speculate upon the systemic

sharing of pain within the Black Christian community of another Black man wronged.

Reaching out to single Black men - and providing kindness, individual/ group space to talk, fellowship through mutual interests and support during this time - will go a long way to enhancing stronger connections to racial identity, affinity, Black pride, belonging and Black love (Boyd-Franklin, 1989).

What can the Church do to help process the emerging tsunami of grief and tension outside of the normalcy of prayer and fasting?

I have had the privilege of being part of a collaborative group of churches over 10 years ago, which hosted a conference delivering seminars on ‘Strengthening Emotional, Physical and Financial Health’, at a time when there was much stigma attached to talking about mental health. With significant numbers of Black men and Black and Minority Ethnic employees either working frontline or affected by COVID-19, there is clear evidence and a connection between structural racism and health inequities (Gee and Ford, 2011).

Injustices such as bullying, negatively affect the ‘fight or flight’ response, together with a subsequent effect on the immune system through stressrelated symptoms, such as anxiety and high blood pressure (Morey et al, 2015).

Sharing strategies for self-care and utilising the church networks to support congregants with psycho-education will: a) examine the embodied response (headache, lethargy, anxiety) b) normalise it as a natural response to feeling emotionally distressed c) Initiate talking therapy, visit GP, stress management techniques, eg. breathing exercises, to maintain balance

How can churches provide further support for parents and couples through psycho-education?

Choose Life International (CLI), in Jamaica, quickly seized upon the opportunities presented by COVID-19 to develop a series of webinars to both support and strengthen individuals, couples, families and communities, whether in shielding or working from home, across the Caribbean and globally. CLI shared de-stigmatising resources, delivered by Christian leaders in their field of expertise (CLI, 2020). A range of weekly webinars addressed: • Parenting • Building Self-Esteem and Positive Racial Identity in Children and Young People • Dealing with Conflict in the Home • Strengthening and Preparing for Marriage • Being Single Webinars streamed into the privacy of homes, and revisited in church discussion groups, lessen isolation. Sharing strategies that work keeps parents - whether together or separated - consistent and on the same page, instilling into children to be racially integrated, and emotionally and mentally healthy (Katz, 1999).

Karen Carberry is a Consultant Family Therapist & Systemic Supervisor. She is also co-editor of The International Handbook of Black Community Mental Health (Publisher: Emerald Publishing Ltd).

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

32 FEATURE

WHEN THE STATUES FALL MARTINS AGBONLAHOR is a trained lawyer and author of Killing Them Softly: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Nigeria.

He lives in Manchester.

T

he recent gruesome murder of George Floyd - an African-American who died when a White police officer knelt on his neck in broad daylight in the streets of Minneapolis, USA - has ignited race consciousness across the globe, with various rights groups, including the renowned Black Lives Matter, making their voices heard.

The United States has indeed never witnessed anything of this magnitude, since the police-related deaths of Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Manuel Ellis and others. Not even the skirmishes resulting from the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King in 1968 could be compared with this. Mayhem, in capital letters, suddenly prowled the streets of America, with various homes, offices, governmental establishments and infrastructural facilities destroyed and razed to the ground, culminating in Donald Trump’s inefficacious, ill-timed piece of ‘advice’ related through his usual medium: ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’.

And now, it has spread to the United Kingdom. People are calling for racial equality and an end to what they regard as ‘police violence’. But, while this is valid, the modus operandi of the demonstrators is, to me, antithetical to common sense. Put succinctly, it has careered from being non-violent, peaceful protests into something more sinister, more diabolical - prompting the Prime Minister to assert that “a pocket of White supremacists has hijacked the movement.” Scores of police officers have been molested and brutalised, protesters injured, and the lawlessness goes unabated. Now, members of the Black Lives Matter and the Anti-Racist Movements are making another demand: monuments erected years gone by, to remind the country of its colonial past, should disappear from our streets. And hardly had the dust settled, when the bronze statue of slave merchant, Edward Colston, erected in Bristol since 1895, was

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pulled down and cast unceremoniously into the river. The statue of Robert Milligan, himself a slave merchant, was also removed from the London Dockyards by the Canal and River Trust, to “accommodate the wishes of the community.” Countless demonstrators are also arguing that the statues of Cecil Rhodes, the 19th century imperialist, and the Indian nationalist, Mohandas K. Gandhi, be made to “take a swim”, a reference to the treatment meted on Colston’s effigy. The Mayor of London, Mr Sadiq Khan, in giving the exercise his full support, hinted that the City of London has to “face the truth” concerning its links to the transatlantic slave trade.

Anytime I see these statues being defaced and pulled down, a part of me hurts – and before you lambast me of being ‘ignorant of history’, please hear me out: I am only reacting to my sacred belief that two wrongs do not make a right. Rather than vandalising these statues, there should be a more realistic approach to solving this apparent logjam, and making representations to the authorities as to having them relocated to the museums does not appear a bad idea. And I hope I have not irked those at the other end of the divide, who are presently arguing vociferously that these statues remain where they are – on our streets – because of their ‘historical value’. To those who hold this viewpoint, I would humbly ask that you also consider the multi-ethnic nature of the United Kingdom, and the somewhat deleterious effects of having these imposing images of ex-slave merchants bestriding our cities on glorified pedestals. Wouldn’t these symbols or the message they transmit, if any, be affronts to the collective psyches of BAME people, some of whose ancestors had been traded in the most dehumanising manner

across the coast? Shouldn’t their feelings matter at all? Should we just pretend and carry on as if nothing is wrong? Only those suffering from intellectual and moral confusion would wish that this piece of history be swept under the carpet rather than addressed head-on. Permit me again to reiterate my position: vandalising, defacing, desecrating or destroying these statues, statuettes and other monuments is not a pragmatic way of voicing out dissent, as the act itself translates to criminal damage, contrary to Section 1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971 - a punishable offence.

I honestly do not think that the location of a particular monument diminishes its historical value, in so far as that monument itself is not dismembered. In essence, to those who want these statues to remain in their towns or localities, the names of these towns could be inscribed on the base of these statues as they are being relocated safely to our museums. This should solve the problem and silence dissenting voices, whether coming from the Black Lives Matter Movement, the Anti-Racist Group or those the Prime Minister referred to as “far right thugs”.

I fear that if this ripple is not well contained, it could turn into a tidal wave, with more destruction, agonies and sorrows - not to mention state funds that would be frittered away unnecessarily. Let’s give peace a chance, and help the government in its genuine efforts at combating the spread of coronavirus, which may escalate as protesters are mixing up freely.

In the final analysis, we are all tied to the same umbilical cord, being children of the one Supreme Being. The present disturbances will not produce a victor or a loser, nor will any party be decorated with garlands.

Enough is enough.

FEATURE 33

Humane policing outlines groundbreaking approach to widespread police reform

T

oath and, in doing so, tarnished its character to the point that it is no longer recognisable.

The courage to do what is right has vanished, evaporating with the public trust which it swore to protect.

The mission of Humane Policing is to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the communities it serves.

This mission will be achieved through drastic police reform and education.

he days since George Floyd’s death have simultaneously united and divided communities all over the world. “I can’t breathe” has become a battle cry, and ‘8:46’ an unsettling reminder of how long Floyd struggled for air. Is there any way to rebuild a system that has collapsed under the weight of its own power?

Law enforcement around the world is now aware of a systemic wound that has been festering for generations. This wound will only be healed through drastic systemic change for the betterment of the community as a whole.

A band-aid treatment of minimal change will only spawn distrust and destroy what hope and peace that remain.

“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Former marine and one-time sheriff’s deputy, Darron Spencer, offers hope for police departments and the communities they serve.

His revolutionary approach to law enforcement, called ‘humane policing’, aims to help officers diffuse dangerous situations, induce cooperation, preserve lives and ultimately enjoy long and fulfilling careers, protecting and serving the public.

Spencer’s book, Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance, shares his insightful, experience-based techniques for those in law enforcement, while also enlightening the public about the complexities of the job and the balancing act that men and women in uniform undertake every day.

The book demonstrates - through real-life-inspired examples -how self-control and understanding can mitigate potentially dangerous situations and save lives.

Humane Policing explores the changes that law enforcement needs to make; chronicles the experiences that shaped Spencer’s personal perspective, and offers life-changing

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle… the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” - Martin Luther King Jr tools to help officers everywhere to better serve their communities.

Author Darron Spencer worked in a patrol division for just 20 months before a debilitating condition ended his career. As a deputy, he oversaw more than 250 cases that resulted in 40 felony and 74 misdemeanour arrests.

He assisted in four death investigations, and booked in more than 150 pieces of evidence.

He was awarded Deputy of the Year and received the Ribbon of Merit.

He achieved tremendous success gaining cooperation from individuals, suspects and even career criminals, while investigating cases.

In fact, 90% of those he arrested actually thanked him for his service. When Spencer’s police work was cut short, he sought a new avenue to public service.

Law enforcement needs to go beyond the call of duty; it needs to transform that duty’s very purpose – one that can be traced back to many of their own oaths they took as a Peace Officer: “On my honour, I will never betray my badge, my integrity, my character or the public trust. I will always have the courage to hold myself and others accountable for our actions.

I will always uphold the Constitution, my community and the agency I serve.”

Law enforcement today has forgotten its

There is hope in knowing that the struggles of today will provide a better tomorrow for future generations. This hope will be achieved by introducing complete reform to include laws and budgets and, most importantly, a change in approach that focuses law enforcement’s first priority: on public service for everyone.

This will entail gaining cooperation, instead of forcing compliance. It will involve complete transparency to restore trust, and will include holding law enforcement accountable for undesirable actions.

We need to keep the faith. In fact, it is always darkest before the dawn of a new day.

A new day is coming, however, and with it will arrive a clarity of hope of brighter days ahead. Education is the key investment for future generations, to enable them possess the tools needed to shape a better world.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

- Nelson Mandela Darron Spencer is the award-winning author/founder of Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance and founder of Humane Policing – Transforming Police Culture. For more information, please visit www.humanepolicing.com.

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34 COMMENT

FOOD 4

THOUGHT marciadixonpr.co.uk

marciadixonpr

BY

MARCIA DIXON

A leading PR specialist and journalist

Marcia-Dixon-Public-Relations

THE BLACK CHURCH – OUR FOURTH EMERGENCY SERVICE The Black Church is not given enough credit for the important role it plays in inadvertently providing a sanctuary from racism and affirming the value of Black life.

The recent Black Lives Matter protests have brought the issue of racism right to the forefront, as well as inspired discussion about how to address it.

Whilst it’s important for the Black community to push for equality, influence and justice, it’s necessary for us to also take note of the institutions we have, and do what we can to strengthen them and make them even more effective. Our churches are one of those institutions.

Black churches, or churches with a predominantly Black membership and leadership whether Pentecostal, the Seventh-Day Adventists or the Wesleyan Holiness Church – continue to be a mainstay of Black life. To some they are our fourth emergency service – often more reliable than official emergency services.

Black churches were started by people, who had immigrated to the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and ’60s. The services took place in people’s homes, before graduating to larger premises of rented halls, until church members were able to buy their own buildings.

Black churches, wherever in the country they are based, were built on the prayers, money and work of their faithful members.

Fast-forward to the present day, and Britain’s Black churches are the most influential, most resourced, most established institutions within the Black community. Some of those buildings, bought with members’ donations, are based in prime residential areas and are worth millions.

The members of our churches are amongst the most educated within the Black community, and occupy positions of influence across a variety of professions.

One of the greatest qualities about the Black Church is that it is an amazing vehicle for personal transformation. So many people in our community owe their lives, sanity and livelihood to the Church and the message it propagates.

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing many individuals whose Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

lives have been totally transformed after hearing the gospel message.

The Church has raised the self-esteem and confidence of so many people in so many ways: to leave bad relationships; to give up criminal behaviour and pursue education; to get a job; to set up a business, to forgive and turn their back on bitterness, and to launch out and set up charities and ministries to help others less fortunate than themselves. The Church also helps people to build resilience, inner strength and faith in a God who can help them do anything.

The self-confidence that the Church inadvertently propagates can help Black people to thrive in spite of racism, if it’s teaching to the heart.

Post-George Floyd, I’d like to see our churches be more active in promoting what they do, but more importantly, I’d like to see them embed themselves more into the community in more meaningful ways. Our churches are needed to not only preach the Gospel, but also to teach our good values, augment personal development, and help individuals build strength and resilience.

The Church has the answer to most of the problems our community faces, and it’s time for them to up the ante so that they reach even more people.

We need to talk about difficult issues

If there’s ever a time when Christians need to teach – not preach – teach God’s heart concerning human sexuality, it’s now.

When I was growing up in church, the major concerns of the older folk were (i) single Christians did not have sex outside of marriage; (ii) married Christians did not commit adultery, and (iii) they did not go out with or marry someone who was not a Christian.

Issues surrounding human sexuality have grown since then. Other issues that can be added to the list of concerns are: homosexuality, lesbianism, samesex marriage, transgenderism, adultery, polygamy, polyandry, incest, rape, gang rape… and everything in between.

These are issues that are discussed in offices, schools, colleges, universities, at social gatherings and in the media.

Black-majority/Pentecostal churches need to also be discussing these issues, because if the leadership don’t want to talk about it, their members definitely are - many have been impacted in some way by these same issues. Just because the Christian approach to human sexuality is counter-cultural doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it.

What it does mean is that we talk about it with care, compassion and sensitivity, always mindful of what the Bible says about this important aspect of life.

Power and passion of young Christians protesting One major revelation that came through loud and clear during the recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests is that young Christians have a passion for social justice.

Many attended the BLM protests in central London and gatherings of solidarity with the BLM movement in their local areas. Others are continuing the discussion about social and racial justice in online forums and conversations, and asking the question: ‘What can/should the Church do to push the justice agenda forward?’

Churches should be intentional about harnessing the passion of their young people for justice. It is an issue that is frequently mentioned in the writings of some of the Old Testament prophets. And when Jesus launched His ministry, He read from the Book of Isaiah, stating He had been sent to help the poor and oppressed.

We serve a God who is concerned about justice, and who is on the side of those who are oppressed. And if young Christians are stirred to fight for justice, they must be supported in their efforts, because their passion reflects the heart of God.

COMMENT 35

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Bishop Claion Grandison explores the role the Church can play in healing the racial divide exposed by the Black Lives Matter protests

BISHOP CLAION GRANDISON

is senior pastor of Chrisma Christian Centre in Woolwich, SE London

D

r Martin Luther King famously said: “12pm on a Sunday is the most segregated hour in America” - three hours if you’re Pentecostal. Fifty-two years later, this is still the case in many, if not most, mainstream churches.

The Black Lives Matter protests, in response to the killing of George Floyd, is a symptom of something endemic; a fault line that has opened up and revealed not just a rift, but a great divide that has existed between Black and White churches for decades.

As Black and Brown people, we see this so often, but fail or even fear calling it out because “we’re all getting along so nicely”. We’ve become so British we apologise for you standing on our foot, but now it’s our necks being knelt on, and we’re finding it hard to breathe.

There is a need for healing, but this isn’t a simple graze; this is an internal, chronic wound that is culturally ingrained in the ecclesiastical structure of many White churches. For instance, in the nearly 500-year existence of the Church of England, there have only ever been four Black bishops, and the Baptist Union in the UK has only ordained one Asian woman. It is impossible to be advocates of equality and agents of change with a leadership that is predominantly White and male. Established churches need to represent its community.

So how does the Church begin to stem this oozing? Unfortunately, eating humble pie or engaging in awkward gestures of White remorse is nothing more than a Band-Aid over what is a putrefying sore. ‘Your head is injured, and your heart is sick’ (Isaiah 1:5b NLT).

We are faced with a psychological and spiritual problem. For the established churches in the 50s and 60s to have justified turning away immigrant worshippers, they would have had to convince themselves that the blood of Jesus is somehow compartmentalised, offering differing levels of salvific acceptability. We would need to ignore the Holy Spirit’s prompting and inner convictions, screaming: “This just isn’t

right!” until our conscience was no longer pricked. 1 Timothy 4:2 suggests that such consciences have been seared with hot irons or deadened.

In order to heal the ever-widening divide, without alienating our brothers and sisters in this racial standoff, we must first find the courage to have honest conversations about the elephant in the prayer room, and be willing to confront our own actions. James Baldwin famously quoted: “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

That journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step of admitting that we were wrong. Secondly, we must take responsibility for our actions, and finally make reparations on behalf of the ones wronged. Zaccheus, in Luke 19:8, demonstrated this kind of restorative justice when he offered to share half of what he had earned because of his wily privilege, and to repay four times what he had pilfered from the underprivileged to make himself rich.

On a structural level, I would suggest the leadership in White congregations consider ongoing diversity training of some sort, and subsequently create a type of ministry affirmative action programme dedicated to developing and promoting young Black and

Brown people into senior leadership.

On a pastoral level, church leaders should not avoid the subject of racism, but seek to preach, redemptively, the power of the Cross to destroy the subtle demon of unconscious bias and the manipulative spirit of ‘White fragility’.

As for the ‘Black Church’, we must ask ourselves: “What should forgiveness look like?

Is there a place for anger or indignation?”

Ephesians 4:26 reminds us not to let the sun go down on our wrath, but unfortunately does not mention the sun setting on our pain over and over again. For us to deny the decades of hurt and humiliation we’ve experienced as Black people - particularly in the UK - would be simplistic and disingenuous. We cannot afford to turn a blind eye or deaf ear to the disgraceful treatment of our people in the Windrush and similar scandals; we must be at the forefront of vociferously calling out racism.

Galatians 6 reminds us that we must restore those overtaken in their sin in a spirit of humility, lest we become guilty of a similar sin. We must forgive from a place strength and not weakness, from deep spiritual resolve and not relief. When there is a meeting of remorse and respectability, then healing BEGINS. Visit www.ntcgchrisma.org. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

36 COMMENT

Beyond the #BLM hashtag DIONNE GRAVESANDE

Global Ecumenical Relations at Christian Aid

“Black Americans watch time and time again how the contract that they have signed with society is not being honoured by the society that has forced them to sign it…”

Taken from a recent podcast by Trevor Noah (The Daily Show), and during this current season of unrest, these words strike a chord with me. They remind me of a West African proverb, which says: “The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.” Such powerful words cause us to pause and reposition the lens of lived experience.

The banners and placards, silently pronouncing ‘No Justice, No Peace’, are carried by both young and old. In the midst we hear chants of “I can’t breathe”, and I am reminded of televised scenes from the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

It’s disturbing that 55 years later, Black communities are still marching to uncover and shine the light on racial injustice, discrimination and inequality. On this quest, we are still bound together by a common injustice. Those of you who regularly read my column will know

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

I am inspired by the work and vision of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. It is his political theology and analysis of the underlying structures and inequalities that speak to me, because, like Dr King and so many other people, I have a deep desire to see a transformational change.

The cry of ‘No Justice, No Peace’ can be viewed through the text of Jeremiah 6:14, where offers of superficial treatments are given for people’s mortal wounds. If we continue reading, we learn assurances of peace are given, but there was no peace. Similarly, today’s message seeks to expose the reality

that there is no peace concerning racial injustice, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. By marching together in solidarity, it is a visible disruption of that false peace. It doesn’t mean there should be violence - and I am not advocating or condoning it; I’d like to think that young people on the streets are standing up for what they believe in. Wearing my ecumenical hat, I listened to the stories of young people across London, and many of them grew up in our churches. Today, however, they’re overwhelmed, and for them the Church is silent, and Jesus is absent from the conversations about justice.

When George Floyd woke up on what was to be his last day on earth, he had no idea, as he uttered those terrible words “I can’t breathe” that he would trigger a tremor to shake the foundations of global society as we know it.

Criminal justice, health, housing, education, media, sport and culture - they are all under the floodlight now. But we must not take our eyes off the bigger picture; this is not about any one of those causes alone. It is about system change. It is about dismantling unjust systems and reconstructing new, diverse, participatory, green, sustainable and safe systems.

From my many Zoom conference calls and such like, it is clear that many in Church leadership are spending more time and energy examining the question of racial injustice, and in doing so, they have given permission to their congregations to speak out and start a new conversation about how we empower

people to become agents of change. This is a good thing, since I have spent much of my adult life engaged in a faith movement calling for a better and just world, re-imagining a future that replicates a Kingdom to come, of which its hallmarks are justice, equity and love.

Beyond the BLM hashtag means thinking about the ‘What next?’ move. Dr King gives some helpful signposts, by guiding our eyes to the big picture: together we must recognise that the problem will not end until there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power.

This means a revolution of political engagement and Christian values, amongst other things. We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism (ie. investment in warfare) are all tied together; you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others. Securing peace comes at a cost and, although for the believer Christ is the Prince of Peace, we need to find the words and actions to live that out.

What happens next in our nation is important, and the spiritual vision that we share with the world can be and has been a powerful historical force. Prayer has always been an important tool of our faith, but in addition we must continue our introspection and examination. The reason that the church has become as marginal as it is in the life of our communities, lies in part with the diminished and diminutive roles that we assign to the church, and the degree to which we have elided the church’s message with one kind of political message or another, or a lack of! We need to go beyond the basic questions to develop our own vision of what racial justice and reconciliation looks like. We should spend time looking at what our end goal is, and how can we ensure we inhabit our own story. Engaging this process now will help produce longer term strategies that connect activists and decision makers to produces meaningful and effective results in pursuit of peace and justice.

If we can embed a spiritual approach to the challenges we face, then we can reclaim a vision of the church and the work of Christ that not only speaks to this moment but transcends it.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

COMMENT 37

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38 COMMENT

GARY CLAYTON

is Copywriter and Editor at Mission Aviation Fellowship: www.maf-uk.org

I

don’t know if you’ve ever been on a motorway and got off at the wrong turning.

If you have, you’ll know that, despite your error, you’re still not that far from where you were meant to be.

But if, instead of trying to get back on track, you just keep on going, you’ll eventually end up somewhere completely different from the destination to which you were originally heading!

An example of this can be seen in the Roman Catholic Church, where respect for Jesus’ mother eventually led to the veneration of Mary, ‘Mother of God’ (the Council of Ephesus, 431); acceptance of Mary’s ‘Immaculate Conception’ (defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854), and the teaching of her ‘assumption’ or bodily ascension into heaven (pronounced doctrine by Pope Pius XII in 1950).

In time, like a car hurtling down the wrong highway, the speed with which erroneous teachings became accepted doctrine eventually accelerated – giving rise to the acceptance of priestly celibacy (1123 and 1139); transubstantiation and confession (1215); purgatory (introduced by Pope Gregory I in 593 and proclaimed dogma in 1439); ‘Tradition’ having equal authority with the Bible (1545), and Papal Infallibility, (defined by Vatican Council I in 1870).

Works replaced faith, ‘Tradition’ reinterpreted Scripture, and popes became ‘infallible’ – creating a system that kept its members subservient, the clergy all-powerful, and the Church itself rich.

But what, if you’ll pardon the pun, am I driving at?

Answer: That doctrine and the correct application of Scripture clearly matter and that, unless we’re careful, we can all too easily end up taking wrong turns and going down blind alleys.

This is why the Bible has so much to say about false teachers, preachers, prophets and apostles – from Deuteronomy, Ezekiel and Jeremiah to the Gospels and Epistles. As Matthew 7:15 warns: ‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.’

It’s why Scripture also cautions against falling for ‘destructive heresies’, ‘false words’ or ‘things taught by demons’ (1 Timothy 4:1).

In Acts 20:30, Paul warns the Ephesian elders that ‘Even from your own number, men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.’

I remember a letter from an American evangelist who claimed that, if you sent him a ‘seed faith gift’ of money, he’d pray you out of poverty. Later, when the same ministry overstretched itself financially and fell into debt, he sent a letter asking me for cash. I was tempted to write back, saying: “Send me your ‘seed faith gift’ of money and I’ll pray you out of poverty!”

I didn’t, but the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me.

Then, many years later, I noticed an ad in a newspaper which offered a free bottle of anointing oil. ‘I used the anointing oil at every given opportunity,’ said one grateful recipient, ‘and today, I own many properties, and I have various businesses.’ Another apparently satisfied customer used the oil on their house, ‘and got the exact asking price when I sold it.’

It may have been lucrative, but it’s certainly not biblical!

Like many, I was somewhat bemused when, on 18 August 2019, having completed his sermon from halfway up a 55ft helter-skelter in Norwich Cathedral, the Bishop of Lynn then slid down the temporarily installed structure.

Sadly, though not inappropriately, synonyms for the word helter-skelter include ‘chaotic’, ‘disorganised’, ‘confused’ and ‘haphazard’.

That same year, Southwark Cathedral allowed its nave to be used as a catwalk to sell clothes – a parade of indecently dressed models processing down the aisle like skimpily clad bridesmaids. In Rochester Cathedral, a nine-hole, bridge-themed crazy golf course prompted newspaper headlines along the lines of, ‘More tee, vicar?’

This summer, the cathedral at Norwich is planning on hosting ‘Dippy the Diplodocus’ – an 85-foot long dinosaur on loan from the Natural History Museum.

Could it be that well-meaning attempts to entice the unchurched into church by offering funfairs, dinosaurs or golf indicate the slippery slope of a far deeper spiritual malaise – with misguided ministers apparently having lost their way and taken a wrong turning?

The circuses enjoyed by Roman emperors, with their wild animals, gladiatorial combat and violent martyrdom of Christians, would appear to have been replaced with an entirely different kind of circus!

The problem, as I said earlier, is that once you accept as right something that’s wrong – and continue travelling down that path – you’ll eventually lose your sense of direction, and traverse roads that’ll only take you further and further from God’s ways and His Word.

Instead, we should be like the Bereans, who examined the Scriptures to see if what they’d been told was true.

My prayer is that with the Bible as our map and the Holy Spirit as our Guide and satnav, we’ll avoid going down roads that only lead to a dead-end.

Gary Clayton is married to Julie, the father of Christopher (16) and Emma (13) and works for Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). To learn how MAF aids Bible translators and missionaries serving some of the world’s most isolated people, visit www.maf-uk.org

E V I R D Y L L U F E R A C Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

COMMENT 39

Entrepreneurship and the Church Claudine Reid MBE writes how the Church can play a role in societal transformation by building an entrepreneurial culture

CLAUDINE REID MBE is an Entrepreneur, Leadership Coach and former Cabinet Office Social Enterpreise Ambassador.

‘Wisdom is for shelter, as money is a shelter’ (Ecclesiastes 7:12, NIV).

‘Small firms are the backbone of the British economy’, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (November 2019 press release).

In 2019, there were an estimated 5.9 million UK private sector businesses, and of these, 1.4 million had employees; 4.5 million had no employees, and 2.6 million were registered for VAT or PAYE. It is my deep conviction that businesses that function in alignment with the core values of the Kingdom of God are playing an important role in holistic transformation of individuals, communities and societies. It is against this backdrop that I believe the vehicle of entrepreneurship should be promoted as being a viable option for economic sustainability.

Michael R Baer, author of ‘Business as Mission’, suggests we are living in a business age. This could be interpreted to mean that companies, not countries, will have the greatest impact in our world in the future, and I believe Christian business owners should be well placed to

play a role in societal transformation.

In 2018, the Pentecostal Credit Union ran a pilot business development programme, designed to support budding entrepreneurs on their journey towards building sustainable businesses. The programme modelled good practice, and culminated in a showcase ‘Solomon’s Room’ event, where successful and well-established entrepreneurs were able to give sound credible advice to budding entrepreneurs in front of a packed room – just to add to the pressure.

A study conducted by Nwankwo et al*, concluded that African Pentecostal churches have become a ‘significant force in nurturing business start-ups and encouraging entrepreneurship’. Social capital generated within the church has a ‘catalytic effect on entrepreneurial propensities’.

The challenge given by the CEO of the Pentecostal Credit Union, with which I concur, is to encourage church leaders to: 1) educate, support, nurture and encourage an entrepreneurial spirit across membership, by showcasing models of good practice, and using this to demonstrate the importance of business on both a macro and micro level.

2) act strategically. Declare their intentions and develop a plan by working with new and existing entrepreneurs to embed the culture of entrepreneurship in the church DNA, in order that supporting job creation and economic

sustainability becomes just as important as the auxiliary departments within the church.

3) publicise details of the plan, and involve and bring the church along with you. This will demonstrate a deep commitment to raising the entrepreneurial spirit within the congregation.

4) develop structures and groups that are outward-facing and have minimal ecclesiastical requirement, but ones that nurture community leadership and influence.

5) support people to overcome the challenges that the business-as-mission conversation may present.

In his closing speech, the CEO said raising the spirit of entrepreneurship will not only increase the economic health of your church, but it will reinvigorate and re-energise your ministries.

As an entrepreneur with over 25 years’ experience of running a business, I have seen first hand the impact of the entrepreneurial nature in my approach to ministry and Kingdom business. I would encourage church leaders to explore the same.

For more information visit

www.claudinereid.com (* ‘Religion, Spirituality and Entrepreneurship’, Society and Business Review, Jan 2012) www.keepthefaith.co.uk

40 LIFESTYLE

KENO OGBO

is a Digital Consultant, Writer and Entrepreneur www.iamkeno.co.uk

ESSENTIALS FOR ENTREPRENEURS

THE DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR BLACK BUSINESSES Entrepreneurs in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic and Black Lives Matter

I

like to remind people that it’s still only July of 2020. We have five more months before the end of what is turning out to be an eventful year, with the pandemic caused by coronavirus, and the Black Lives Matter arising on the back of the murder of George Floyd at the beginning of the lockdown period.

In the very early days, when there was so much uncertainty about the future, I wrote a poem: The gift of clear vision Where I thought the birds sang louder, it was me.

I heard better.

Where I thought the world moved slower, it was me.

I stopped.

Where I thought people were kinder, it was me.

I no longer judged.

Where I thought lockdown freed the world from a virus, it was me.

I had been set free.

Keno Ogbo (c) 2020

The sentiment behind the poem was simple.

For me and perhaps many other people, 2020 is the year of clarity, the year of 20:20 vision.

I believe the world has a better vision of how life should be lived. In particular, Black businesses Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

across the world and Black consumers are rethinking how we see ourselves. There has been a spotlight of the Black-owned economy, with massive groups on social media promoting Black-owned businesses, and a related increase in Black people intentionally searching for Black-owned products and services. Is this a trend that will continue? I speak to four businesses in London to find out what they think.

First, I speak with Antonia Ogunsola, the Co-founder of Okiki Skincare.

Antonia and her mum had been operating solely from market stalls at Alexander Palace and Rare Farmers Markets for four years before the COVID-19 lockdown. They had a steady flow of customers who loved their handmade skincare products, but lockdown meant they could no longer attend markets, and immediately Antonia built an ecommerce website, transferring their business online by the end of April. Sales came in, but still only a trickle. Following the launch of their website they hired a Black PR agent, who understood their business and their vision. On the back of Black Lives Matter, they saw a push to highlight Black-owned brands, resulting in an significant increase in hits to their website - so much that they sold out of most products. Okiki Skincare was featured in magazines such as The Stylist and on the national media giant, ITV.

Here are some sound bytes from Antonia.

“I worry that the trend and interest in Black-owned businesses may drop off, so I am focusing on our long-term sustainability.”

“I am thinking carefully of our inventory.

We are currently sold out, and our products take four weeks to make. What decisions should we be making now?’

“We will be looking at our supplier chain.

Our decision to contract a Black PR was the right decision, and we need to consider that diversity in our decisions going forward.”

“We want to represent our culture more in our branding, so we will highlight our Nigerian and Ghanaian names further, and pay homage to African culture as we write our brand stories.”

Next is Nnamdi Uche, a former fashion model, who now runs Nnamdi Custom Made and Nnamdi The Jeweller. Lockdown was an opportunity to add more structure to the business process and to reorganise the team.

They also made their products available online.

With increased visibility from the Black Lives Matters movements, he saw an increased number of friends promoting his business on social media, and this increased awareness resulted in the growth of his social media channels. Nnamdi says: “I wish I had invested more time in the PR process earlier than I did.”

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with her. Ava says: “I think it will give us more visibility, and open more space on shelves for brands like ours - even if it is tokenism.” She continues and asserts: “I am now not afraid of the ‘Ask.’ I am pushing and knocking on doors that I would have been hesitant to knock on before.”

Lastly, Audreia Josephs is an author and life coach, and has been self-employed for three years. She works with young people, ex drug users and ex offenders, teaching self-confidence, and the art of letting go. Audreia is known as the Forgiveness Godmother and offers one-to-one coaching. Due to lockdown, Audreia moved her business online and started her own podcast, as well as networking with other podcasters to increase her visibility and attract more business.

Unfortunately, as a sole trader Audreia was not entitled to any government grants. She thinks the BLM movement will give people a chance to see the value in Black-owned businesses.

She observed that most speaking platforms are led by White people, and the increased awareness may lead to more speaking invitations and increased business.

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included in mainstream media, publications and platforms. The pandemic in particular has highlighted the need for Black businesses to embrace digital transformation. Marian Ogundairo, a digital strategist and business podcaster at the Marian O show, says: “To make an impact and level the playing field, we need to be an active part of the digital landscape now.” There is a need for people - regardless of colour - to see the value in Black-run services and products, and personally, I think this has started happening.

FEATURED BUSINESSES You can find out about the businesses above on Instagram: @okikiskincare @nnamdicustommade @marian1707 Coaching and business audreiajosephs.com marianogundiaro.com Skincare okikiskincare.co.uk themangogirl.com Men’s Tailoring nnamdicustommade.com

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42 LIFESTYLE

VANESSA GROSSETT

www.theauthorscare.co.uk

ANTI-RACISM CAMPAIGNS:

WHAT DOES THIS NOW MEAN FOR BLACK AUTHORS? “Enough is enough” is the cry of the Black community around the world, following years of oppression and racism that have been experienced.

Photo by Thomas de Luze on Unsplash

The tragic death of George Floyd and many other African Americans at the hands of certain police officers was the trigger point. Fed up of being treated like we have no right to exist, when we are all fearfully and wonderfully made by God, we have just as much right to be on this planet as everyone else.

Due to these incidents, many Black celebrity figures started to speak up about the racism they have experienced in their industry - this included well-known Black authors.

One bestselling international author, named Dorothy Koomson,

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stated on her Instagram post: “Publishing is a hostile environment for Black authors. I’m not talking about the inclusive indies, the ones who’ve been forging their way ahead, I’m talking about the major players in publishing. Yours is an environment that the world thinks is welcoming, liberal, ‘right on’ and intellectual, but in reality can be extremely damaging for Black authors.”

She then went on to say: “Let me also be clear: Black writers do not want special consideration; we do not want special treatment. We want a level playing field and equality of opportunity, the chance to write books and explore as many subjects and genres as our White counterparts.”

Now it’s public knowledge what Black writers have experienced, will there be a change in the publishing industry? I do believe publishers have taken note, and are now looking at more ways to improve diversity, and yes, I do believe they will now start to take on a lot of what they call under-represented writers, which includes Black authors, and give more Black voices a chance to be heard.

I believe that Black authors should make the most of this opportunity, and pitch their manuscripts to publishers. Please also keep in mind that when you are pitching, publishers have their guidelines in how they would like a manuscript to be presented, and what they are looking for in a manuscript, so if you get turned down, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is to do with your race; it’s just a manuscript they are not seeking at this present moment.

Sadly, it has taken many unfortunate incidents and an outcry for the rest of society to realise the injustices the BAME communities face. Let’s now make a positive impact in peace, love and harmony. Writers, this is your opportunity to shine, to make your creative writing go on display, and to be the voice that others need.

LIFESTYLE 43

SHANA DAWN LEWIS

a qualified chef for over 25 years, and winner of the Wise Women Award 2020 in the Life Turnaround category

I

f my memory serves me correctly, I was five years old when I first ‘played mas’ (short for Masquerade). I took part each year in dressing up, and being part of a band that wore some of the most flamboyant, ornate, colourful and sometimes very skimpy but huge ‘n’ heavy costumes you’ll ever set your eyes on.

All for a two-day street party that went by in the blink of an eye after months of preparation.

I absolutely loved everything about it as a kid: drinking iced cold diluted orange juice from a bottle that had been in the freezer all night, so it remained cold for as long as possible, and eating cold fried chicken and mushed up egg sandwiches my mum had made for the long day ahead.

I would dance to soca music and the steel pans with my painted face in my often itchy, uncomfortable outfit, making new friends every year and being stopped by strangers so they could have their picture taken with me for the umpteenth time. The highlight of the day for me, however, was when we got to ‘Judging point’, when no matter how late it was or how tired we were, everybody came alive to show off their dance moves but, more importantly, their costumes, in the hope of winning one of the coveted titles of Carnival King or Queen, Junior King or Queen and Band of the Year.

Both my parents were very much involved in the Notting Hill Carnival for many years, and with them both being born in Trinidad, it was in their blood... After all, Sweet T ‘n’ T is the birthplace of the Carnival!

I’ve been to the carnival in Trinidad and WOW... it is spectacular!!! It’s on a whole different level to the Notting Hill Carnival. You definitely have to look between your fingers at some of the costumes worn there. Gulp!!!

My dad was in the Mangrove Mas Camp, and my Mum (and later I) played with Ebony Mas Camp. Although they weren’t a couple at the time, they did get on well but, when it came to talking about whose Camp was better..., let’s just say they didn’t get on quite so well at those times. LOL! A combination that works very well together at all times - whether in a drink, a scented candle and of course in a cake - is pineapple and coconut! So, for this issue, my recipe is Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake.

Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake INGREDIENTS • 225g self raising flour (sifted) • 225g golden caster sugar • 225g margarine • 4 eggs • 1 435g tin of sliced pineapple (drained, but keep the juice and set aside for later) • 4 tbsp of desiccated coconut • glace cherries • golden syrup • cinnamon

Mix margarine and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the four eggs slowly to the above mixture, while the mixer is on.

When the eggs are incorporated fully, add the flour and cinnamon, and mix in thoroughly.

Add the set aside juice (from the sliced pineapple), along with the 4 tbsp of desiccated coconut, and mix in thoroughly. Then pour the mixture over the pineapple, cherries and golden syrup you arranged earlier in the cake tin.

Place the cake into your preheated oven, and cook for 45 minutes.

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Using one half of a 10”-deep Victoria sandwich cake tin, arrange the pineapple slices, put one cherry in the holes of each of the pineapple rings, then spoon over some golden syrup and cinnamon and set aside until needed.

Your cake is ready when firm to touch and golden brown in colour.

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate.

Cut into portions and serve with hot custard.

Can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

44 LIFESTYLE

Parenting remix...

It’s never too late to teach love

BY MARNITA COLEMAN GLOBAL MUSIC LINK EDITORIAL TEAM

A

s I look back over my childhood, I can remember things my parents taught my siblings and me, and certain behaviour they expected from us. At the time, it didn’t seem super important to retain things like “Don’t walk on the neighbour’s grass”, “Don’t play too close to their cars” or “Don’t drop rubbish on the ground.” But now, as an adult, I can clearly see those behaviours taught us to respect our neighbours and their property. We were being trained in the way we should go (Proverbs 22:6).

My parents taught us to honour adults, too.

It did not matter whether you knew them or not; adults were to be respected, and that was that. Of course, the first adults to be respected were our parents. Don’t get it twisted, Dad and Mum required the utmost respect as we honoured and obeyed them, which is the first commandment with a promise: “Honour your father and mother,” which is the first Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:2-3, NKJV).

In our home, we were permitted to respond to our parents by saying “Yes, sir” or “Yes, ma’am.” A simple “Yes” was not sufficient.

That teaching was conveyed and carried outside the home, into the neighbourhood, school, marketplace, wherever there were adults, and there was no exception to the rule.

Adults reached a level that qualified them to receive respect from those underage, younger, smaller, less experienced and perhaps even less important.

During that era, children were seen and not heard. When adults were present, the unwritten law was they ruled. This was how we were governed. You only spoke when you were spoken to, and kept the bulk of your opinions to yourself. No backchat. Ever!

When our families gathered for fellowship, activities would be segmented. The adults did their thing: played cards, listened to music, sipped on wine and conversed. The kids were separated into another room with activities and snacks. The only time we left the designated area was to use the toilet; check with our mums, to see if it was time to go, or when one of the kids was out of control and someone had to snitch so as not to get all of us in trouble.

In private quarters, my parents allowed us the freedom to speak our minds. But, even in that, there were guidelines. You were free to express yourself, however it was tempered with awareness to whom you were speaking. Once, I was telling my mum about an incident that happened in our community.

One of our neighbours was cursing and carrying on outside. I had to forewarn her that profanity was involved, get permission to continue with what was being said, and assure her it was a direct quote and not my interpretation.

Today’s people don’t follow a straight path.

This is true in the UK, but perhaps more so in the USA. I guess they consider that ‘old

LIFESTYLE 45

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school’. Instead of respecting others, value is placed on self-righteousness and protecting one’s personal feelings. The level of honour that was mandatory in my day, is a vanishing line, not seen in many kids.

Young people are unfiltered in the presence of adults. They are unconcerned whether their language or behaviour is acceptable or not. I was at the bus stop when a 17-year-old came along and fired up a joint. I was shocked and offended. So, I asked him whether his mother knew he smoked. He responded, “Yes” and said he was stressed and weed relaxed him. What?

Nowadays, kids go to school and curse out teachers. They are rude to merchants in their establishment. They stand on corners and defy the authorities. Then, they go home and rebel against the parents who feed and shelter them.

How did this happen? How could such well-mannered parents beget such ill-mannered children? Simply put, parents forgot to teach the simple things, like saying “Thank you”, “May I?” and “Please” and, in some situations, how to keep your mouths closed. Hebrews 2:1 warns us to give the more earnest heed to the things, which we have heard [and learned], lest at any time we should let them slip. “We must pay the most careful attention,

therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (NIVUK).

I urge parents to do a remix, to remember the simple things, and emphasise their importance to your children. It is similar to what club DJs do. They take an old hot song, mix in new beats, fresh lyrics, change the tempo, scratch it a bit and bam, house music.

My advice is to take old-school parenting

principles, mix in current vernacular, drop some humour, express relevancy, and put a demand on its application.

Let’s show our kids the beauty of loving our neighbours as ourselves by remembering the simple things. It is never too late to teach love. It might seem simplistic, but it is true.

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

46 LIFESTYLE

BY TINA BOYLE-WHYTE

Global Music Link Editorial Team

A

s I reflect on this year, I realise it was only a few months ago, on 31st December 2019, when my husband Wayne Whyte and I saw in the New Year at the NTA Tooting in London, England, with Bishop Delroy Powell and family. As we celebrated and shouted the New Year in, there were many promises for 1st January 2020 and beyond. Times of laughter, joy, hopes and anticipation of many unfulfilled dreams.

Assistant Pastor Wayne Whyte, my husband, was inspired to share a word about our journeys through TRANSITIONS as a New Year message. Little did we know that word would be instructive on how to transition in uncertain times to faith. Suddenly, out of nowhere, everything that could have been shaken had been shaken. We realised the world was about to go through a major transition with COVID-19. People lost their jobs, stock markets crashed, and economies came to a standstill. In retrospect, beliefs, habits, mindsets, dependencies and trust in all things comfortable had been shaken. What was normal was no longer normal.

Worldwide, we are facing yet another major CRISIS. We are faced with global social unrest around historical injustices and systemic racism. Protestors, collectively, have pledged to march up to 200 days in the Black Lives Matter movement.

When I saw the video of George Floyd, I was in disbelief. I had an array of emotions: sadness, madness, frustration, disappointment and near depression. I found myself in a state that I could not shake. I reached out to my mentor, Dr Bob Pavlik, a loving retired Community Development Specialist and Professor from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. Combined with the encouragement from my mentor, my husband and prayer, I was able to get back on track and in my purpose, teaching people so that they can transition out of their places of despair.

What I want you to know is that I understand if you may have experienced a range of emotions - from hurt, disgust, frustration, sadness, hopelessness and helplessness.

I would say you are normal. I even understand it if you have felt anger. The word tells us in Ephesians 4:26 - ‘Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath’ (KJV).

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

THE BRIDGE

UNCERTAINTY TRANSITIONED TO FAITH If you are my brother and sister, who are not in the Brown and Black community, you may be looking for words to find comfort in these uncertain times. Many people are looking for how to interact across ethnic lines with empathy. My answer is to simply listen to understand. The late Stephen Covey, an American author of the book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, said to “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” White privilege in America seems to have been the leading edge of insensitivity to what happens systemically. I write with frustration from an American perspective, but I see a similar sentiment of Black people in communities of colour in our global community.

You may be at the point of wondering, Where is God in ALL OF THIS!? As children of God, we must remember that God has an expected end for us in these times of uncertainties. While we walk on this earth, we must always remember this is a temporal journey, in preparation for our eternal home.

We can’t lose sight of the end goal. Our fight is a fight of faith in these uncertain times.

I want to share a few more thoughts for you to remember, as we sojourn on this earth.

First, we must do as Micah 6 commands us: to act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 KJV).

Second, we must be the expressed image of love. As the body of Christ, we are reminded of two of the greatest commandments as mentioned in Mark 12:30-31 (KJV), namely “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Third, I encourage maturity in faith. The Book of Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian, both in faith and in practice, regardless of any particular problem in the community. In Ephesians 4:7-16, Paul encouraged the church at Ephesus to grow in maturity into the fullness of Christ. The text shows us in verses 12 and 13 (Amplified Version) that he wants to equip and edify the church for the work of the ministry:

LIFESTYLE 47 “His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church), [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and the comprehension of the [[b]full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.” Just as the church of Ephesus, today we must remember that God wants to mature us in the faith daily.

Fourth, I encourage you to remember that God is calling us higher to the place of intercession and prayer. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says: “If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” We must remember to do the following: humble ourselves, pray, seek, and turn from anything that takes us away from God. Fifth, I encourage you to not faint amidst affliction. I encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 4:8-18. The Book of Corinthians provides

doctrinal instruction for Christian behaviour.

We must remember verses 16 to 18 (KJV): “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

Finally, we must remember that we have heavenly support that encourages us to move forward in this fight while we are yet here on earth. Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV) states: “Wherefore,

seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” No matter the uncertainty - uncertain economies, discord, uprising and fear - the body of Christ must always remember to walk by faith, not by sight. As the author of The Bridge, I must give you a transformational word of encouragement to transition in these uncertain times.

I invite you to consider me as your Bridge coach over your journey. If you want to hear and learn more, please find me at https://www.wytv7.org/the-bridge.

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www.keepthefaith.co.uk

48 LIFESTYLE

The power and potential of kindness What has it to do with mental health?

DR T. AYODELE AJAYI is a Consultant Psychiatrist, a radio host, author and is on the pastoral team of his church

T

he theme of the recently concluded UK Mental Health Awareness week was kindness. It was so apt, given all that our global community has experienced in the past few months. There has been no better time to revisit kindness, with a recent Mental Health Foundation survey showing that one in ten adults in UK have felt loneliness.

DOING GOOD IS GOOD

So, does doing good actually do you any good? Research says Yes! Evidence shows that kindness is good for the giver’s mental health. A 2014 study confirms that a loving and helpful life is more likely to be a happier, healthier, longer one.1 Selfless giving has been demonstrated to cause increased activity in brain zones associated with euphoria, and also with reward and satisfaction. Not that I approve by any means, but for context, it is on the same brain areas that class A drugs exert their euphoric effects.

There are several other mental health benefits of kindness - both to the giver and receiver. A sense of connectedness, enhanced satisfaction with daily life, optimism, reduced anxiety and stress have been identified as additional perks. What is in fact even more exciting about the benefits of kindness is its ability to snowball and encourage receivers to pay it forward in random acts of kindness to others.

EMPTY CUPS? Good as the mental health benefits of kindness may be, we must remember it is difficult to pour out of an empty cup. Kindness to self is crucial in becoming a conduit of kindness to others.

Overcritical voices of caregivers from childhood be it a parent, teacher or important adult - can stand in the way of being kind to oneself. These negative experiences can shape a person’s view of themselves in relation to the others and the world. When the inflicted emotional harm becomes internalised, the resulting self-image is one that is undeserving of any good or help.

By implication, the receiver becomes unkind too, only this time to themselves first! My encouragement to one with whom this account Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

resonates is to seek help from a qualified mental health professional; preferably one with an understanding of your social background.

A feeling of guilt or being undeserving of personal relaxation and rest time after pouring out to others is a warning sign that help is needed in self-kindness. This is an area that church minsters, health professionals and others who work in the caring professions need to be alert to. Another giveaway sign would be if one is comfortable only to give, but never to receive any form of kindness. How comfortable are you at accepting and receiving compliments?

Are you your own worst critic, even in the face of well-earned raving reviews?

Another sign that kindness to self is required is when individuals will rather lavish time, talent and treasures on others than on self. It is good to consider others, but always putting others before self is not a virtue, and can quickly become a vice.

KINDNESS MATTERS Some who wish to be kind to those with mental health distress or illness, worry they will do it wrong. Indeed, an inappropriate gesture can be detrimental. What then can you do to show kindness to one undergoing mental distress or illness in the COVID-19 pandemic?

Little acts of kindness are important to remind others that they matter, though they may be vulnerable and socially excluded. A

timely phone call, bunch of flowers and an errand to pick up prescriptions or fetch shopping can go much further than imagined.

Depression is associated with self-loathing and self-blame. At such times, helping friends or family members recognise their cherished qualities and how much they are loved can be profound acts of kindness.

Gratitude has proven benefits for mental well-being. Supporting the distressed to review a momentary all-bleak outlook and see the silver linings on the cloud can engender hope. This can be life-saving. We know that hopelessness is a worrying sign that sometimes heralds suicide.

Depression and anxiety both result in a distortion of thinking that makes problems appear insurmountable. Another hope booster from the kindness toolkit is reminding others of the challenges they have overcome in the past. Such reminders of the triumphs under their belt can be crucial at periods of emotional crisis.

Social isolation and loneliness are common experiences that can both result from and lead to mental distress. The act of being a non-judgemental, attentive and sensitive listener can be a profound act of kindness. It does not have to cost the earth to be kind.

1. Post S., It’s Good To Be Good: 2014 Biennial Scientific Report on Health, Happiness, Longevity, and Helping Others. Int J Pers Cent Med. 2014; 2:1–53.

LIFESTYLE 49

New Charity launched to address health inequalities amongst BAME communities

T

he BAME Health Collaborative (BHC) has recently been set up as a charity to address the disproportionate health inequalities amongst BAME communities with a view to positively impacting the health outcomes. BHC was founded by Michaelene Holder-March to advocate on access to and quality of treatments; clinical guidelines; risk factors; causes of morbidity and mortality, by actively engaging with the institutions in the healthcare eco-system responsible for designing pathways and writing clinical guidelines. BHC Trustees, Ambassadors, Special Advisers, Community Leads and Community Champions are a diverse group of leaders representing different sectors.

In the UK, shortcomings in healthcare offered to BAME staff and patients are well documented. It is also an established fact that systemic causes of suboptimal care require interventions at the institutional level for real change. Data trends in BAME health indicators, alongside community health promotion programmes, economic investment in community health, active participation of BAME community in policy and decision-making are all essential to push the boundaries of healthcare provisions. Using data and predictive modelling, BHC has been diligently working to agree to a small number of achievable initiatives that in combination have the power to improve healthcare and reduce poor health outcomes for BAME staff and individuals.

Speaking on the launch of the initiative, BHC Founder Michaelene Holder-March said: “BHC aspires to serve as the ‘backbone health review organisation’, which will demand to be at the table where decisions are made regarding healthcare provisions.

Success will depend upon meaningful collaborations and partnership efforts of BAME and non-BAME communities to drive change for all, including future generations.

Health Technology Usage, Interoperability and Informatics: BHC will actively encourage BAME communities to participate in healthcare technology design and rollout programmes that support population health management.

This change in behaviour will facilitate data sharing, which in turn will ensure that BAME patients receive the right care, at the right time.

health and well-being. As a community, we must help tackle the health disparities that exist in our day-to-day care, places of employment and in our families. We have not forgotten our neighbours and religious communities; each one of us is a link in our BHC chain to create change, be informed and remain healthy.

Quality Improvement: BHC is one of the first organisations in the UK that aims to bring together government policies, hospitals, post-acute providers, nursing homes and care homes to transform the health and care of BAME staff and individuals as they move through the care system. Our upcoming report on BAME Care Transitions Collaborative strives to reduce readmissions and appropriate discharge & transfers. The report will also address encouraging advance care planning, empowering patients to better manage medications, increasing patient safety, and reducing disparities in care. We have engaged more than 121 healthcare and non-healthcare professionals to help them attain and achieve BAME Health Collaborative goals, therefore allowing the opportunity for transformation into healthcare practices in sustainable ways.

Do you have a story to share? Are you interested in our journey? We would love to hear from you.

Visit www.bamehealthcollaborative.org.uk Page BAME Health Collaborative Group BAME Health Collaborative

@BameBhc

Or click here to donate. For further information email info@bamehealthcollaborative.org.uk Tricia Z George

Together We Can: The BAME community is obliged to come together to discover and contribute to what is necessary to develop key elements to keep a status of optimum

How: Data Transparency: BHC believes that better BAME data = informed decisions about our health and healthcare. BHC will gather clinical data, conduct surveys and studies on health and healthcare to push for qualitative improvement, facilitate shared learning, and provide valuable information for future planning of healthcare delivery. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

50 LIFESTYLE

m o r f r i a h y h t l Hea the inside out!

VERONA WHITE

is a celebrity hair stylist, professional wig technician, hair coach and CEO of Afro Hair Growth Challenge.

O

ver the span of your lifetime, your hair changes with age and health. If your body is suffering from an imbalance - whether it be your hormones, high blood pressure or iron deficiency - you could be prone to hair loss. It is important to understand the right vitamins and nutrition to offset potential hair loss, and promote healthy, luscious hair!

Learn to connect with your hair with the right advice, and watch your hair blossom. Afro hair in particular is unique; no other race is able to teach you about your hair from personal experience.

PRODUCTS We all lean towards the latest products recommended on YouTube or our peers. There are very important things to consider before using products, as everything works differently for everybody.

We can spend hundreds trying out recommended products and not using them, because they end up breaking our hair or not doing what we expect them to do. To avoid this, connect with your hair with these steps.

CONNECT WITH YOUR HAIR The first step is to identify your hair type and porosity level. The next step is to identify your scalp condition. Our scalp mood can change depending on what’s going on inside our body, or what how you have been treating it with products. A healthy scalp is the foundation to healthy hair.

Your hair goes through three stages when it is growing: 1. The Anagen (Growing) stage. Your age, hormones and overall well-being depend on this stage. On average, your hair should grow 1cm a month.

Moisturising the hair with the right products is absolutely important for afro hair in particular to keep its length.

2. Catagen (Intermediate) stage. During the growth stage, your cells are very busy making sure your hair keeps growing. When the hair shaft breaks down, the cells are getting ready to produce new hair.

3. Telogen (Resting) Stage. During this period, your hair does not grow very quickly at all, and you will see your hair coming out more. Your hair has to complete this stage before new hair announces: “I am coming through.”

A fourth stage that some may experience: 4. Exogen (Shedding) Stage. We lose hair at different rates each day, but unusual amounts of hair shedding should have the advice from your trichologist or your doctor. There can be a lot of factors for shedding, including areata alopecia and cicatricial (scarring).

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

LIFESTYLE 51

CHECK ON YOUR SCALP! There are a few things that can happen to your scalp. Flaky scalp, for example, consists of large white flakes that come away from the scalp. This will affect the growth of the hair, and you could disturb the follicles if you are constantly itching your scalp, because it is overtly dry. Having an oily scalp in many cases is not bad if your hair is natural, but if you have relaxed hair, then you may experience issues with your roots sticking to your scalp.

The scalp can be damaged in many ways, such as misusing styles, which are too tight, harsh chemicals, and toxic products with ingredients that draw moisture from the scalp. If we aim for our scalp to be as healthy as possible, then we have a very good chance ours can be healthy.

Just like a plant, our hair can get accustomed to being treated a certain way. Pay attention to your hair and scalp routinely, to allow it to grow to its full potential. When we develop a regime with our hair, and do the same things to our hair on the same days or months, our hair will get used to how we treat it.

It will then grow in the Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash desired state.

The most important thing to consider is to maintain a healthy body. After all, your hair is your body. Eating foods that are high in lycopene, such as tomatoes, watermelon, grapefruit and prunes, are all great for the hair because they give the natural source of antioxidants, which are very essential for healthy hair.

Drinking two to three litres of water a day particularly helps with the hydration of your hair, because it will help flush out toxins that are left in your body.

Light to medium exercise is excellent for hair growth, because it opens up the follicles, so the hair can oxygenate and then start to grow.

It is important to detox your hair and scalp once every three months. This clears all the debris, so new and fresh products can penetrate your hair.

If your hair has too many products, and you are continuing to wash and moisturise, you will have a product overload. To the naked eye you might not be able to see it, but the hair is a very thin strand. It will only take so much and will reject any excess, which will sit around the cuticle of the hair and hinder growth.

Foster with Islington.

You may have more to offer than you think.

Foster carers play a vital role in looking after children and can change lives with their love and support. Being a foster carer can be challenging but brings great rewards. Your care and support really makes a difference and helps young people achieve their best.

Don’t be put off by myths. People hold back from enquiring, thinking they need to own their home, must have a partner, or that their faith may hold them back, which are all incorrect. There is no ‘standard foster carer’ and, just like the young people in their care, Islington carers come from a range of ethnicities, backgrounds and beliefs.

If you’ve had children or have worked with young people, you will have life skills you can use. You don’t need formal qualifications but must be good with children and be able to keep them healthy and safe. You will also need to have a spare bedroom.

In mainstream fostering children may stay for a short or long time but there are also other types of care. Family-based short breaks are overnight stays for children with disabilities, while supportive lodgings help 16 to 21 year olds prepare for independent living.

Respite care is for shorter stays overnight or of a few weeks, and may suit those who are not currently able to foster full-time.

Whatever scheme suits you best, your care and support will help young people achieve their best, whether through education, sports or special interests, or by preparing them for independent living and future relationships. Some things will be big, some will be small, but all count.

Fostering is increasingly considered a career choice, with generous allowances and a wide selection of training available to help build your skills. Islington carers receive 24-hour support from the service and benefit from strong peer support from the Islington Foster Carers Association.

The main things our hair needs are: • a healthy scalp • to be treated and conditioned very well with the right products • to be hydrated and moisturised • quality products that do not contain harmful ingredients, like parabens and sulphate The great thing about your beautiful crown is that it is very unique to you - whether it is straight, wavy kinky or curly. Only YOU can give your hair the TLC it needs to get the best out of it.

Love your hair, and it will love you back.

Love Verona For more information follow afrohairgrowthchallenge on Facebook and Instagram

If you are interested in making the difference, please call us on 020 7527 7933; email fostering@islington.gov.uk, or have a look at our website fostering.islington.gov.uk. www.keepthefaith.co.uk

54 LIFESTYLE 52

TIME TO LEVEL UP B Y J E A N E T T E YO U N G FA S H I O N F E AT U R E / E D I TO R

Lockdown is slowly being lifted - an experience we will never ever forget! The pandemic caused the world to come to a standstill; everything totally slowed down, and we had to learn to adjust to our ‘new’ normal.

Jeanette Young London womenswear online boutique came to a halt, as my service is made to order, and all my UK manufacturers came to a close due to the lockdown. The same happened for many other fashion retailers and businesses. However, all was not at a lost, because although my online boutique came to a halt, my styling services and YouTube channel enjoyed a growth spurt.

Though very scary and sad, in terms of the number of lives and family loved ones lost due to COVID-19, lockdown has also had a positive effect on humanity, because it allowed us to slow down.

Now that term, ‘slow-down’, has become a buzzword in the fashion industry in recent months....

What has this meant for my clients?

Lockdown has caused many people to slow down, reflect and think about their dreams, business ventures, goals, health, wellbeing, next move or level.

For some, the next level has meant revamping their style or image to ensure that they now reflect 1) who they are, and 2) their brand. And some just wanted to revamp their image for personal reasons – “Just to feel and look good.” That’s OK, too!

What has stood out for many people is the effect staying at home for the past four months has had on them: not having to get dressed; wearing pyjamas or house clothes all day, and feeling demotivated.

One of the reasons why we may feel demotivated when wearing our pyjamas or house clothes is because our clothes have an impact on the way we feel. If we want to have a proactive day and be motivated, we should wear clothes that tell our brain that it’s time to work, not time to relax!

My clients would contact me, stating that they felt demotivated, depressed and sluggish. After talking for a while, we soon found the root cause! One of the reasons why they felt this way was because they did not make an effort to ‘get dressed’, which had an impact on the way they felt.

• Not getting dressed (in everyday clothes) • Not doing your hair • Not wearing make-up or looking after your skin • Not exercising • Not eating healthily

All have an impact on the way we feel.

Find us on Twitter and Facebook: @KeepTheFaithmag

LIFESTYLE 53

Photo Credit: Cameron Young - Top and Trousers: H&M - Bag: Primark

At Diverse Media Group, we specialise in advertising to the Black and minority ethnic (BME) community by working alongside Britain’s leading BME publications.

REACH - We can help you reach the BME demographic by placing your advert within the community’s leading print and digital media outlets TARGET - BME readers are more likely to notice your adverts in our publications compared to alternative media outlets. This is because they know your company is targeting them specifically, making them more likely to respond GROW - We can help you to expand your client base, stand out from your competitors, and grow your business through well-targeted advertising

Selected client’s magazines: Let Jesus calm the storm

Ah, the joy of Christmas

PURSUING PURPOSE BEYOND THE PAIN

CELEBRATING

30 YEARS

IN MEDIA

What’s in your hair products?

For more info on defining your style, please watch my Youtube video entitled ‘How to create a 50-piece capsule wardrobe’

CeCe Winans Something’s Happening

Interview:

JEANETTE YOUNG

£4.95 £2.95

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

ISSUE 110

UK’s first MA African Christianity

GIVING BACK

Become a magistrate

Dealing with depression

Pastor Agu Irukwu Partnering with God

Donnie McClurkin

Debt-free and faith-filled

‘Live in London’ anniversary

£4.95 where sold

NICOLE HENRY SINGS ARETHA FRANKLIN KTF 110 empty.indd 1

For further info on styling and image, please email info@jeanette-Young.com or follow me on social media: Instagram: @jeanetteyounglondon @jeanetteyoungstylist Facebook: @jeanetteyoung.consultancy I hope you enjoyed my fashion feature! x

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

ISSUE 110

One love and unity!

The impact and influence of Christian men

Windrush Compensation Scheme

RUDOLPH WALKER OBE

S E K’ D IC IN E U K AN N AZ TH AC I-ETHMAG BL LT N U M STIA RI CH

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ISSUE 107

S E K’ D IC IN E U K AN N AZ TH AC I-ETHMAG BL LT N U M STIA RI CH

Questions: What does your image say about you?

Does your image reflect who you are and your brand?

Do you want to reach new customers?

S D K’ SE INE E U CU AZ TH K-FO AG AC H M BL IT FA

Come on, ladies and gentlemen! You know how we feel when we know we are looking all cute.

This realisation really had a positive impact on my clients, because they had lived the experience and realised that clothes, style and image actually do make a difference.

What we wear has an impact on the way we feel and think.

Lee Chambers, an environmental psychologist and well-being consultant, states: “What we wear affects our behaviour, our attitude and our personality. It’s known as ‘enclothed cognition’.”

Enclothed cognition is a term coined by Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky in their experiment from 2012. It relates to the effect which clothing has upon a person’s mental process and the way they think, feel and function. The clothes we wear affect our behaviour, attitudes, personality, mood, confidence, and even the way we interact with others.

I was inundated with virtual styling bookings, as women began to see the importance of style and image. My clients wanted to boost their confidence and “look and feel good”.

When we ‘feel good’, we release a hormone called dopamine, which makes us feel good, happy and energised.

I always say everything in life has meaning! God makes no mistakes.

Fashion, styling and image have meaning too, but sometimes we might not realise it.

Ephesians 2:10 states: ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’

The word ‘image’ means ‘a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art’. Your image is the external expression of your inner self.

£4.95

18/08/2019 13:27

Keep The Faith magazine

To take advantage of this great opportunity, or to find out how else we can help you, call 0203 868 0664 or visit www.diversemediagroup.co.uk

www.keepthefaith.co.uk

www.mercyships.org.uk/donate

For such a time as this Covid-19 in Africa

“I’ve just returned from Senegal where I met a woman who’d suffered from Noma - a disease that those of us in developed counties have never seen before. The last real stretch happened in concentration camps in World War II. Noma exists because of poverty” explains Dr Mark Shrime.

Dr Shrime is a head and neck surgeon and a professor at Harvard University who spends two months a year volunteering for Mercy Ships. When asked what motivates him, Dr Mark explains he is inspired by the 2,000-year-old model of Jesus, where “the blind receive sight, the lame walk... and the good news is proclaimed to the poor... treating a patient in a low-income country, who wouldn’t necessarily get care otherwise, is why I became a doctor.”

A Christian charity, Mercy Ships works alongside Africa’s poorest nations to strengthen healthcare systems. They transform lives by providing over 2,000 free surgeries a year, helping to improve the shocking statistic that 9 out of 10 people living in sub-Saharan Africa can’t access safe and affordable healthcare when they need it. As a trusted partner of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the growing focus of Mercy Ships energies over the last decade has been to train African healthcare professionals for such a time as this.

We have all seen how healthcare systems in the richest countries can be overwhelmed. Now the global pandemic is striking Africa’s most fragile health systems: COVID-19 has been confirmed in all 54 nations on the continent.

One of the biggest challenges in Africa is the limited availability of supplies. This is why Mercy Ships has

committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with 11 countries during the crisis, donating life-saving medical equipment, such as PPE, ventilator machines and infrared thermometers. They are also providing critical training for doctors and nurses working with COVID-19 patients and running mental health courses to support intensive care workers and reduce the risk of burnout across Africa.

Since the start of the pandemic, Mercy Ships has donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Benin, Congo, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo - totalling 80,800 items - and they are also donating PPE to Cameroon, DRC and Guinea.

Dr Pierre M’Pele is Mercy Ships Africa Bureau Director and a former WHO representative in the region. As an epidemiologist, and disease specialist, Dr M’Pele knows what it takes to defeat an epidemic, “We should apply the lessons learned from the Ebola outbreak in 2014 in West Africa - making sure that the people play a key role.”

For more than 30 years, Mercy Ships has supported their African partners to address the global surgery crisis. At this critical time, Mercy Ships remains hopeful that nations will get ahead of the curve and hold back the relentless effects that this pandemic could have across the continent of Africa.

Mercy Ships CEO Tom Stogner said, “Mercy Ships was active in Africa before COVID-19, we are active during COVID-19 and we will continue once COVID-19 is long forgotten!”

To stand with Mercy Ships and help save lives in the poorest African nations right now, visit www.mercyships.org.uk/donate

Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) was founded during the final days of World War II with a vision to spread the peace of Christ rather than the conflict of man. It’s a calling to the ends of the earth — to see the poorest, most remote and isolated people physically and spiritually transformed in Jesus’ name.

Today, MAF is the world’s largest humanitarian airline, and has been transforming lives for 75 years! Flying into 1,400 remote destinations, MAF transports medical care, emergency relief, long-term development and Christian hope to thousands of people for whom flying is a lifeline, not a luxury. MAF is flying for life.

To find out more about MAF’s history and how we are celebrating, visit

www.maf-uk.org/75th

Registered charity in England and Wales (1064598) and in Scotland (SC039107) ® Registered trademark 3026860, 3026908, 3026915

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