On Saturday, May 21, 2011, 12:00 noon, at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church we will honor the Rev. Johanna Newberry Green at an Appreciation Luncheon.
Rev. Johanna Newberry Green, a native Washingtonian, has over 35 active years in ministry. She has been a Sunday School teacher and the vice president and director of promotion & education for the Sarah Allen Missionary Society here at Metropolitan. Rev. Green is well known for her service with the YPD. She was the YPD Director here at Metropolitan, then YPD Director for the conference, and later on the Episcopal and Connectional levels of the AME church. Additionally, Rev. Green served 15 years on the Board of Trustees for Metropolitan.
Rev. Green retired from the Federal Government where she held progressively responsible senior level management positions in personnel, status of women’s affairs & EEO. Upon retiring, she decided to continue her education by obtaining a BA in sociology and an MA in religious studies from Howard University. She started Green Pastures Ministry, concentrating on spiritual retreats. Rev. Green worked for 6 years as the Protestant Chaplain at Georgetown University in Washington DC and received numerous awards and certificates for her ministerial work, including a certificate from Shalem Institute in Bethesda, MD.
God has blessed Rev. Green with 59 years of marriage to David Green. They have two daughters, Francine & Jackie; 6 grandchildren; and 2 great grandchildren. Rev. Green’s greatest joy is the time that she spends with her loving family. One of the family traditions is enjoying the delicious birthday cakes that Rev. Green bakes for each individual birthday celebration.
We are grateful that GOD has blessed Metropolitan with Rev. Johanna Newberry Green.
Tickets go on sale: March 6, 2011 Price: $25.00 Date: May 21, 2011
Please see Ellen Fizer, Rev. Marie Braxton or Rev. Aisha Karimah
You are cordially invited to the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church School 2011 Black History Month Celebration
Friday, February 25, 2011 (snow date, Friday, March 4, 2011) from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
(dinner will be served from 6:00 to 6:45 pm)
Theme : “African Americans in the Civil War.” Special Guest Artists : Female RE-Enactors of Distinction: African American Ladies of the Civil War
Auxilliary Organization of the African American Civil War Museum
Recognizing our struggle for freedom and in keeping with our traditions as an African American people, dressed in period clothing to portray women of the Civil War Era who contributed to our history, it is our mission to educate the public and to promote the accomplishments of the African American Civil War Soldiers and the women who supported their fight for freedom. We engage in re-enactments, dramatic readings and various other educational programs in order to share the stories of these distinctive men and women.
New Location! Isle Of Patmos Baptist Church
1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza, N.E.
12th St. & Rhode Island Ave. N.E.
Steward Marie Johns’ story is featured as part of the White House Black History Month series which highlights African Americans from across the Administration whose work contributes to the President’s vision for winning the future.
Marie Johns’ Story: Supporting Small Businesses and Growing the Economy
I come from a family of small business owners and have seen firsthand how important they are to strengthening our communities and our economy. My grandfather owned a landscaping company in my hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. As one of the first African-American owned business in Indiana to win a statewide contract, his company maintained the land around state highways. After my uncle earned his degree in pharmaceutical science at Howard University, my grandfather helped him start his own pharmacy, which served the city’s African-American community. Their spirit of entrepreneurship has always inspired me. Following a 21 year career in the telecommunications industry, I founded my own small business: an organizational effectiveness and public policy consulting practice.
“Let justice roll down like a river and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:24)
Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
I give thanks to God for you and sincerely appreciate the faithfulness, resilience and love for the Lord Jesus Christ and Metropolitan that you have shown during this extended restoration endeavor and the more recent issues we unexpectedly faced at the Madison Hotel. Most of us have been uncomfortable crossing the picket line and many have voiced concerns and stated your position regarding the labor dispute.
Please know that over the past weeks, the officers and I have wrestled with and deliberated over the best course of action for the church that would balance both the founding principles of our faith and denomination around human and civil rights concerns and our need to worship in a warmer environment. Our faith gives us the courage, strength and wisdom to understand that we must be willing to make some sacrifices in difficult times.
You will recall that our decision to move in the first place was based on the temperature in the sanctuary and our desire to turn the church over to the contractors to complete the restoration project on schedule. When the pickets appeared, the decision to remain at the Madison Hotel was primarily because of the “pass” that was given to us by union representatives. From the feedback we were given, some of you approved of our decision and others did not. Most of us enjoyed the hotel’s warmth and hospitality. That said, however, we as African Americans and African American Methodists must never appear to be neutral when it comes to issues of social justice.
Fortunately the contractors have informed the church administration that we may now occupy the building on Sundays without causing any interruption or delay to the construction efforts. Both the Board of Stewards and I have come to the decision that it is best for us to move back into the church building starting this Sunday, February 20. at the 9 a.m. service.It is our expectation that the restoration work will be completed in the next six weeks. Please know that the sanctuary conditions are not perfect but are temporary.
I will extend to the Madison Hotel our appreciations for their gracious and neighborly help in our crisis. I will also thank the Union for their consideration and understanding by giving us the pass and showing us so much kindness as we entered the hotel each Sunday to worship. I am prayerful that the labor dispute will be resolved and that those who have lost jobs can soon go back to work under favorable conditions.
Rev. Dr. Ronald E Braxton, Senior Pastor
Metropolitan AME Church, Washington DC
Sunday, February 13, 2011 www.metropolitaname.org
Scripture Text: I Corinthians 2:1-16 (NIV Translation): And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit 6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— 10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?”But we have the mind of Christ.
In the scripture, Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth represents a stern reprimand to the Corinthian Christians. Paul got word that the church in Corinth was under duress and division. He wrote a letter noting that was intended to shift the focus from the infighting to the power of God undergirding everyone in the church, regardless of which faction they supported. “You are fighting among yourselves, picking sides, lining up along various sides .” The letter reminds the church that Paul came with his own personal limitations, but Paul’s faith and his relationship with God grew and spread, not because of Paul but because he was driven by the power of God. In verse 4, Paul notes that God’s power brought about the change in the people – not any fancy footwork on his part. Paul allowed a HIGHER POWER to move in him.
In the scripture, Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth represents a stern reprimand to the Corinthian Christians. Paul got word that the church in Corinth was under duress and division. He wrote a letter to the church that was intended to shift the focus from the infighting to the power of God undergirding everyone in the church, regardless of which faction they supported. “You are fighting among yourselves, picking sides, lining up along various sides .” The letter reminds the church that Paul came with his own personal limitations, but Paul’s faith and his relationship with God grew and spread, not because of Paul but because he was driven by the power of God. In verse 4, Paul notes that God’s power brought about the change in the people – not any fancy footwork on his part. Paul allowed a HIGHER POWER to move in him.
1. When we allow “self” to step aside and allow the spirit of God to direct us, significant things will happen in our lives, ministries and our churches. When Richard Allen and other” Coloreds” were pulled from their knees in prayer at St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, the Free African Society was born. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones had not intended to divide the church; they merely wanted to worship freely. But driven by a HIGHER POWER, they put their own desires aside and allowed the spirit of God to direct them. When you put “you” aside, and allow the spirit of God to drive and direct, something significant will happen in your life.
2. Be careful when you submit to a higher power; it will take you to places you had not planned to go. Verse 9 says: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard…the things God has prepared for those who love Him…” You can strategize all you want, but you don’t really know your tomorrow. Make the best of it, give life your all, one day at a time. Richard Allen had no idea where his simple decision would end up. Martin Luther King could not dream or imagine a president other than one of European descent. “Eyes have not seen…ears have not heard what God has prepared for you tomorrow”. Trust God, one day at a time.
3. When your faith is rooted, grounded, driven in the transformative power of God, there are no boundaries or limitations. Tell our young people: If you put your faith in a HIGHER POWER, there are no boundaries. If you put your trust in God, there are no limitations. Richard Allen admitted: “I was doubtful; I walked around with my head down for many days; I cried to the Lord day and night”.
When you are driven by a HIGHER POWER, God takes control, God opens doors for you than you tried to open; they will open for you the second time.
You can run from it; you can hide, but one day God will stop you in your tracks and call your name; and if you say “yes” to Him, He will lift you up higher than you ever imagined!
On Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 9:00 am, Harvard University Professor Charles Ogletree was our Black History Month guest speaker.
Thanks to Prof. Charles Ogletree for bringing a great Black History message: “There is Nothing False About Hope.” He not only talked about our history, but he reflected on his faith and uplifted the audience with his message of hope.
Many members lined up after service to purchase copies of Prof. Ogletree’s latest book, Presumption of Guilt.
Charles Ogletree, the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Clinical Programs, is a prominent legal theorist who has made an international reputation by taking a hard look at complex issues of law and by working to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution for everyone equally under the law. Professor Ogletree has examined these issues not only in the classroom, on the Internet and in the pages of prestigious law journals, but also in the everyday world of the public defender in the courtroom and in public television forums where these issues can be dramatically revealed. Armed with an arsenal of facts, Charles Ogletree presents and discusses the challenges that face our justice system and its attempt to deliver equal treatment to all our citizens. He furthers dialogue by insisting that the justice system protect rights guaranteed to those citizens by law.
In 1998, Professor Ogletree was awarded the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law chair at Harvard Law School. He holds honorary doctorates of law from North Carolina Central University, New England School of Law, Tougaloo College, Amherst College, Wilberforce University, and the University of Miami School of Law.
Professor Ogletree earned an M.A. and B.A. (with distinction) in Political Science from Stanford University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School where he served as Special Projects Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review.
Charles Ogletree began his illustrious career as a staff attorney in the District of Columbia Public Defender Service. He quickly rose through the ranks serving as Training Director, Trial Chief, and Deputy Director of the Service before entering private practice in 1985 in the law firm of Jessamy, Fort & Ogletree. Professor Ogletree is formerly “of Counsel” to the Washington, D.C. firm of Jordan, Keys & Jessamy. Read more. . .
Perhaps you’ve seen the refined African textiles that grace our church each year during Black History Month. Perhaps you have wondered who this person is who has graced our sanctuary with such rich and colorful décor. For this we give gratitude to Rufus T. Stevenson.
Mr. Stevenson’s illustrious history with African art started in l962 when he joined the Peace Corps and set out for his assigned destination — Sierra Leone. As one of the second set of Peace Corps volunteers, it was love at first sight –love for the people, for the art, culture and the land. “The spirit of the ancestors harnessed the moment and I was seduced by the richness of the culture,” is the way Mr. Stevenson described his early ties to the Motherland. In the nearly fifty years since he first placed foot on the Continent, he has traveled to every country in Africa except three.
Don’t think that Metropolitan A.M.E is the only edifice that has been dressed with Mr. Stevenson’s collection. For more than a decade, he has dressed the stage at the Kennedy Center for the Washington Dance Institute‘s annual Spirit on Kwanzaa celebration. The Greater New Hope Baptist Church, the Lincoln Theatre, Union Temple Baptist Church and 19th Street Baptist Church have also been graced with Stevenson’s African textiles that evoke the beauty of the continent.
Stevenson has also been asked to share his textiles and talents at historic events in the Nation’s Capital. Over 15 years ago, Louis Farrakham asked him to drape the platform at the historic Million-Man March. Mrs. Coretta Scott King also asked Stevenson to display his African fabrics for the fortieth anniversary of the March on Washington at the Lincoln Memorial in 2003.
Mr. Stevenson is so drawn to the Motherland that he takes tour groups to Africa nearly every year. Each time he returns to Washington with additional pieces to share his African experiences with others. When asked which his favorite country is, he responds with deep excitement in his voice, “Mali – its history is so rich, deep and dynamic.”
His collection, called the Tiefing (pronounced like chafing) Collection, is named in honor of the Bambara People of Mali. The textiles, masks and other objects in his collection surround one with jaw-dropping awe. It displays his devout dedication to a remarkable people in a land that still beckons many of us with outstretched arms. It is a collection all should see.
For persons who consider themselves history buffs, Stevenson’s story of African history will grab your curiosity and keep you hooked like an exciting movie. While Stevenson is considered a curator, he is equally a historian and a true storyteller. Through his artifacts, mud cloths, Kente cloth and cultural roots, he weaves remarkable events of a fascinating land filled with even more fascinating people and places that make one long to see the Continent. For those who have never made the journey, your bags may be packed and you may be on your way before you can say Tiefing.
There’s a saying, “We don’t know where we going unless we know from whence we come.” Rufus Stevenson has done a great service in elegantly preserving a part of our past. By his wisdom of preservation, he guides us on the path to remember and respect the history of our forefathers, foremothers and motherland.
Metropolitan Steward Ernest Green addressed the Washington Hebrew Congregation’s Martin Luther King Shabbat Service on Friday, January 14. Prior to the service, members of the WHC congregation, Metropolitan and other local churches, and invited guests gathered for a festive dinner to honor Steward Green and remember Dr. King.’s fight for civil rights.
Below is the way Steward Green was introduced that evening.
“It was on September 23, 1957 that Ernest Green and eight other teenagers walked into their high school. For most, this act would have been unremarkable — just another part of a daily routine. But for these Black youth, who became known as the ‘‘Little Rock Nine,’’ entering Little Rock, Arkansas’ Central High School was an act of courage and a defining moment in our nation’s civil rights movement
“Racial tensions were high in the 1950s South, and despite the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that declared segregation illegal, many schools remained closed to Black students. Although protected by the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army, these nine students endured harassment, threats and abuse throughout the school year. Against odds, Green graduated from Central High that following June, the first African-American to do so. He then went on to receive his BA and MA degrees from Michigan State University as well as honorary Doctorate degrees from Michigan State, Tougaloo College and Central State University.
At the age of 17, Green was the youngest recipient of the NAACP’s Spingard Medal; and in 1999 President Clinton presented Green, along with the rest of the Little Rock Nine, with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor that can be given to a civilian for their outstanding bravery during the integration of Central High in 1957.”
Daniel Alexander Payne Reclamation Program (DAPRP) Moves On from Court Services Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) by Greg Johnson
The Daniel Alexander Payne Reclamation Program (DAPRP), an outgrowth of Men’s Day 2005, entered into a contractual partnership with the Court Services Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA) in November 2007 through the successful award of a Faith Based Initiative (FBI) contract. Over the past three years, the DAPRP-CSOSA partnership has given DAPRP much insight into the challenges, difficulties, triumphs and successes of strengthening the network of faith based institutions and service providers in Cluster C of the Washington DC metropolitan area. Since administering the CSOSA effort within Cluster C, DAPRP increased the number of faith based institutions more than three-fold from a total of twelve (12) to forty-one (41) with a cadre of mentors at 145. Additionally, the number of active Service Providers within the CSOSA network for Cluster C (not fully documented at contract inception in 2007), is currently documented at twenty (20) offering a range of services from clothes bank to transitional housing.
In December 2010, CSOSA determined, not to award a follow-on contract to the DAPRP. This CSOSA decision was not totally unexpected by the DAPRP Core Planning Committee (CPC) due to the fact that the proposal submission by the DAPRP CPC fully accounted for cost and resource requirements, based on lessons learned over the last three years, that were over and beyond the cost and resource baseline of the past three years. Additionally, DAPRP’s proposal to CSOSA also captured the incurred costs of the DAPRP infrastructure of cost accounting/finance, human resources, information technology and program planning which continuously ensured DAPRP full contract execution accountability and unquestionable fiduciary accountability throughout contract life.
Over the past three years, the DAPRP CPC was continuously challenged with establishing the correct personnel mix to obtain peak contract performance. The individuals who have assisted us via employment in lead and/or support positions have provided a myriad of lessons-learned; and the DAPRP CPC is grateful for the experiences. The DAPRP CPC remains fully committed to its mission of service to those men, women and families in need within the Washington metropolitan community. The relationship with CSOSA has in fact strengthened DAPRP’s mission over and beyond government driven metrics. The DAPRP continuously thanks the Metropolitan family and all ministries of the church who have unselfishly given of their time, talents and treasures to serve our clients and their families. We have assured our clients and their families of our commitment and support as they move towards becoming productive members of the Washington metropolitan community.
Over the past three years, the DAPRP-CSOSA partnership has strengthened the network of faith institutions and service providers available to clients returning to Cluster C. In addition to a strong readily available support system, DAPRP has also identified the following as major value focus elements (MVFEs) for our client population: (1) health, (2) literacy, (3) housing and (4) employment. The network established via the DAPRP-CSOSA partnership must continue to grow and strengthen to sufficiently address the needs of our client population. With an increased emphasis on demand driven employment requiring increased skills sets, it’s imperative that our clients possess literacy skills (currently our major focus area for development and implementation) sufficient for meaningful entry into today’s job market as well as career development and growth in a 21st century global community.
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On Saturday, May 21, 2011, 12:00 noon, at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church we will honor the Rev. Johanna Newberry Green at an Appreciation Luncheon.
