Tracy Charles Gibson
Dear Black Churches, I have attended one or more of your church services (except in the case of enon Tabernacle Baptist Church where I have seen and visited the main sanctuary, but I have not attended church there and don’t plan to).
**I am a real and actual member of Unity Fellowship CHRIST Church of Philadelphia; I am deeply concerned with the state of Philadelphia’s Black churches. What I mostly hear and see is a continuation of public proclamations about the Bible and Biblical text with added persecution about people’s personal behaviors instead of helping people overcome poverty, find jobs, establish good or great personal relationships with a partner and with GOD, and establish and maintain positive family relationships regardless of their sexual backgrounds. Our Black community is suffering financially, emotionally and physically. Some Black families and Black individuals don’t have enough nourishing food to eat and the Black churches are often giving food away that is not wholesome and healthy. I feel we need to be persecuting & judging a lot less and find more open and honest solutions a great deal more.
**I think Bible Way Baptist Church with a very young Pastor is really effective at bringing young Black people to church services. This is a good and great thing because GOD wants to be responsible for building good values in young Black people. In my opinion GOD works through people. It is up to us to bring about more ethical values in our Black families and better ways to bring new life to the Bible, but also discover that there are current texts such as ``Bottom of the Well,’’ by Derrick Bell and ``Ethical Ambition,’’ also by Derrick Bell that serve an important purpose in our Black young men and Black young women being raised with the kind of values that are not predominate in our North American culture any longer. Such good values as, being on time for jobs and appointments, dressing in a clean outfit that is not sexually suggestive, reading a variety of good books, not watching hours and hours of television, eating nutritious food, learning a salable skill, being respectful to Black elders and all members of the Black community, valuing education, never texting of talking on the telephone while driving, and being concerned about hygiene while staying neat and clean. These values are basic and can be taught while a child is young while sitting at the dining room table and having a home-cooked meal.
**By the Way, enon Tabernacle Baptist Church – as far as I know -- has a superior youth program and an active congregation of hundreds of people seeking and utilizing many programs that are already doing some of the things I can help you with. ( I still think they need my help, however ). So does Bright Hope Baptist Church (But I still think my help is needed there as well.).
** I have been a successful Black community advocate for over 25 years and am reaching out to Black churches to ask if they can use my help. I feel I am being sent by GOD and doing GOD’s work, but no more than any number of other such people who are motivated by GOD, justice, wanting to do good, wanting to see fairness, wanting to experience equality, wanting good jobs in out Black communities and finding effective Ways to achieve these goals and values in a timely manner.
**I must also mention that Church of the Advocate’s former pastor, Pastor Miller and Pastor Paul Washington and His wife were mentors of mine and that I recently worked in their soup kitchen which for me kicked off my whole interests in learning more about food, food safety and How to prepare and buy the best food properly.
**I Am open-minded, progressive and really want to help your church especially reach our Black youth & help Black churches provide better food. It is ironic how we have repasses for our deceased church members and serve food that will sure enough put the next five loyal parishioners right in the next five grave sites. Are we thinking about what we are doing as Black churches, as church leadership and Black church members? Do we question the use of lard, butter, salt, pork, oils, white potatoes, white rice, white breads, fried chicken and beef when these elements have been proven time and again to cause real health threats in our Black church members such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer? I don’t need to run down the scientific studies that are far too many to mention. My staff and I can show you How to make vegetables and fruits and healthy items like tofu, cauliflower rice, brown rice, 12-grain breads, Earth Balance buttery spread, naturally low sugar fruit drinks, buckwheat pancakes , and less fried items taste great even though they contain much less sodium and much less saturated fat.
**I’m not going to ask you for a thin dime, much less one of those cursed pennies for my work. I have no idea How I’m going to provide the services I want to provide to you for free, but all I know is I’m not standing by and letting my people continue to fee ourselves the kind of food we are – through our churches – without saying something about it.
**I know our Pastors mean well. I also know there is a great deal of money that goes around to stabilize Black churches financially, and I also know we can do better. One other thing I know for sure is that a side of beef now a days, unless you got some grass-fed beef, with no preservatives, is not the same side of beef your grandmother used to serve in the 1960’s and 1970’s. There are a lot of growth hormones, preservatives and chemicals there that were not there in grandmother’s day.
**Being honest is not an easy thing when we have not only a government that isn’t even fairly elected, but many hundreds of people who are out to make money by any means necessary, not matter who is in the way or who gets stepped on or hurt. We can do better. A resume is enclosed.
Editor’s Note: I finally attended enon Tabernacle Baptist Church a few weeks ago, but did NOT join since I am a member of Unity Fellowship Christ of Philadelphia, which meets in the Arch Street United Methodist Church’s Chapel at 1:45 P.M. on Sunday.
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