Category Archives: Bible

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Hope Carpenter, former First Lady of Pastor John Gray’s Relentless Church, Threatens Greenville News With a Knife, Saying ‘I Cut People!’

Hello World,

Pastor Hope Carpenter aine no Beyoncé or Hillary Clinton for matter. There is no hot sauce in her bag. On Sunday, the former First Lady and co-founder (along her with her husband Pastor Ron Carpenter) of Redemption World Outreach Center in Greenville, South Carolina, returned to her church renamed Relentless Church under Pastor John Gray and told the congregation, “I cut people. I got a knife right there in that pocketbook. Greenville News, come on.”  That’s right Greenville News, pull up on the pastor if you want to…(I can only imagine the discussions taking place in the newsroom about this…)

If you don’t believe me, see for yourselves…Go to about :35…

Her sharp (LOL) words were part of an overall public show of support for Pastor John and his wife Aventer Gray, who took over the church after the Carpenters left. As you probably know, the Grays have been really going through some thangs in terms of the all of the media coverage they have garnered. She told the Grays, “I love you, Pastor John and Pastor Aventer. I believe in you. I’m praying for you. I’m rooting for you.”

As far as The Greenville News is concerned, the media outlet recently ran this story: John Gray asks Relentless Church members to give $250K to help pay for church roof. Daniel J. Gross reported that, “Redemption had accrued substantial debt that Relentless has had to assume responsibility for when Gray took over. ‘(Ron Carpenter) handed us keys. The keys were not to a paid off building, the keys were to an opportunity, an opportunity to continue the work,’ Gray said. “Nothing you see is paid off. It wasn’t paid off when we got here.'”

The article ended with this paragraph: “Gray and Relentless Church came back into the spotlight in January when The Greenville News reported that Gray was living in a $1.8 million home in Simpsonville that was funded by the church. Church leaders said the particular parsonage is what was needed to entice a pastor of Gray’s ‘caliber’ to Greenville.

As a journalist with a journalism degree and over 20 years of experience, I will say this: journalists don’t make the news, they simply report it. Sometimes, people will like how they are covered by the media and many times, they will not. (Thus the term “fake news.” Anything that you don’t like is fake…SMH…) That is price of being in the public eye. What you do will be reported and as a result, you will be praised and or criticized. That being said, there are many people (notice I didn’t say journalists) “reporting” on the news and various issues who seem to not want to present facts or even fairly presented opinions, they seem to want to tear people down. As a Christian first and as a journalist second, I will not do that. Yes, my critiques (and I have critiqued many on this blog) may not always be liked but no one can claim that I called them everything but a child of God or that I tried to send them to hell with my words.

As THE Word says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21) While this verse applies to spoken words, I think it can be applied to written words as well.

As far as Pastor Hope Carpenter’s words are concerned, a Relentless Church spokesman Holly Baird told this to The Greenville News the following day:

“While we believe Pastor Hope was joking, we completely understand how her comments could be received in today’s climate,” said spokeswoman Holly Baird, in a written statement. “Neither our pastors or anyone in our leadership would agree with any type of communication that would encourage or incite violence against another individual or entity.”

Ultimately, I believe Pastor Hope Carpenter was joking as well, but with the way the media is being attacked right now, this needed to be said…

So what do you think about Pastor Hope Carpenter at Relentless Church this past Sunday?

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

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Why Pastor Jamal Bryant Should Get Married Following Tweet’s Announcement That She is Done With Church…

Hello World,

Back in November, shortly after Dr. Jamal Bryant was named the new pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, I penned this post ‘Should Divorced Men Such as Dr. Jamal Bryant, Newly Named New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor, Be Allowed in the Pulpit?’ Many people had varied opinions and I understand why. But after all that New Birth Missionary Baptist Church has been through, at the end of the day, I wished and do wish Dr. Bryant well as he puts his stamp on this well-known but beleaguered church. And I’m taking notice of what he has done thus far. I wrote one complete post about one of his initiatives, ‘New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant & Members Give Approximately $300 Each to Members Affected By Government Shutdown…’ and I mentioned the FREE City Wide Wedding the church held in another post.

I enjoyed listening to his recent interview with Dr. Rashad Richey, a local radio show host, at Beulah Heights University!

I found him to be very transparent about himself and his ministry. (And he is too charismatic!) He mentioned that while he was a student at Morehouse College, education, in the traditional sense, wasn’t his primary goal. He said, “On paper, my major was political science, but in actuality, my major was Spelman.” Ha! He also revealed that being called to ministry does not mean you are not flawed. He said, “I’m anointed, but I hate sleeping alone.” He offered this as one example of being a flawed person in ministry. He didn’t say he was referring to himself when he made that statement, but given his past, you have to wonder. I mean this was the man who had to address a random paternity allegation just three years ago!

And now his most recent girlfriend R&B Singer Charlene Keyes known as Tweet (that we know of anyway) is saying she is done with church! Remember when he called her his last lady! And that was just in 2016…

Well, chile, in a Instagram Live video from a few days ago, Tweet and her daughter Shenice discuss their dislike for the church. Without apology, Tweet said she will speak her “truth.”

“It’s coming out in the music, it’s coming out in interviews, It’s coming out. I’m saying what I want to say. I’m not shading nobody. I’m telling my truth. And church has been the worst, I will not do church anymore. I love God like you said, and I have a relationship with God, but you won’t see me in nobody’s church house, not giving nobody my tithe, not giving 10 percent to nobody, period.”

Tweet explained that people presented themselves one way in a public setting but acted in another way in private. She said it really shocked her because her pastor that she knew while she was growing up had integrity. She also mentioned another pastor in Atlanta that she feels has integrity.

“Bishop Weeks, who was an incredible man of God, integral, Bishop Weeks, if he still had his church in Atlanta, I would drive there and go to his church. He taught me integrity.”

That statement to me was very telling. Does Tweet live in the metro Atlanta area? Her former man’s church is in the metro Atlanta and she didn’t say anything about driving out there!

You have to wonder what went down in their relationship. It’s not a good look when your former boyfriend has been named the new pastor of a church in another city and now you’re done with church and talking about it! They reportedly broke up last year! And Tweet mentioned going out to have a cocktail twice in that video! She was once a heavy drinker by her own admission and now she’s joking about going to have a cocktail after going off about church…What’s really going on?

Smh…chile….I fear that a scandal is waiting to happen at New Birth…And if it’s one thing that New Birth does not need it’s a new scandal. That church is not over the old scandal yet…

I’m not saying that Pastor Bryant should just pick the first woman that he sees, but the Word says that it’s not good for any man to be alone (“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18) and this man in particular it seems…

So if Pastor Bryant meets a nice woman who has what it takes to be a First Lady (And it kind of messed up that Pastor Bryant and Tweet didn’t make it because she would have been a saaangin First Lady too) and after thorough premarital counseling (because pastors need counseling too), he should go ahead and get that done sooner rather than later. As the Word says, “Now to the unmarried  and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” 1 Corinthians 7:8-9

He’s a man of a particular age so he should know what he wants by now. And it shouldn’t be that difficult to find her with all of the suitable woman we have in Atlanta 🙂

So what y’all think?

Any thoughts?

 

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It’s First Lady Friday Featuring…Dr. Elaine Gattis, First Lady of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Stockbridge, Georgia!

Hello World,

Since it’s Women’s History Month, I’ve decided to launch a new feature I’ve been thinking about for a while now…In thinking about my mother who was the First Lady of Central Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia for 38 years before my father retired in 2017 and after reading Kimberla Lawson Roby’s final Rev. Curtis Black book “Better Late Than Never” which explored Charlotte’s desire to not be a typical First Lady, it dawned on me that I should feature First Ladies. Everyone is always talking about what the pastor of this church and that church is doing, but First Ladies are equally as important as the pastors to whom they are married! So once per month, on a Friday of course, I will be featuring a First Lady. So if you know of a First Lady who should be featured, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com because I’m looking for notable First Ladies to feature!

Now that my introduction is complete, let me present to some and introduce to others the First Lady of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Stockbridge, Georgia, Dr. Elaine Gattis…

Below is her biography followed by my interview with her. Read, enjoy and share!

Dr. Gattis, a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, is an educator, author, speaker and ordained minister of the Gospel who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the California State University, East Bay, a master of divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and a doctor of ministry degree from the Morehouse School of Religion at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. She is affiliate faculty of ministry at Ohio Christian University’s Morrow, Georgia campus. She also serves as the executive pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Stockbridge, Georgia, where her husband, Reverend Dr. Terrance Gattis serves as the senior pastor. The couple, who married in July 2009, are parents to a blended family of four grown children.

1. How do you feel about the term “First Lady” and is Mt. Olive Baptist Church the first church where you have served as First Lady?

I don’t have any strong feelings about the term “First Lady.” I recognize that it is nothing more than a term for a pastor’s wife that is culturally used in African-American churches more often than others.

Mt. Olive is actually the second church where I have served as First Lady.  My husband founded a church and had been a pastor for a few years when we met.  However, he was called to serve as senior pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church about five months after we were married.  Nevertheless, Mt. Olive is the first traditional church where I have served as First Lady.

2. What is the “job description” of a First Lady?

Depending on the context of the church, the job of a First Lady may vary. Traditionally, she is perceived as a woman of authority and respect as she is sometimes considered a spiritual leader or spiritual mother (depending on age and tenure) of the church. She may lead the women’s ministry, host women’s events, teach Sunday School and more.  But sometimes First Ladies are viewed superficially as the pastor’s wife who sits on the third row, dressed to the nines with the biggest and best hat in the church.  To some, the role of a First Lady is seemingly a position of glamour and prestige.

Today, the role of the pastor’s wife is more varied.  Many of us are co-pastors, associate pastors, or have prosperous ministries of our own.  We are not simply symbols of the position and status of our husbands.  Rather, we are building our own ministries, we are business women, ministerial entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, theology professors, thinkers and problem solvers, and we are gifted and called to do great things for God’s kingdom.

Ultimately, there is no biblical mandate for a pastor’s wife that is any different than that of any other wife.  There is, however, a mandate for those of us who are called according to the purposes of God, and that is to make our calling and election sure, as instructed in 1 Peter 1:10.  Before marrying a pastor, I was clear that I had purpose in God and a calling from God.  My goal is, and has always been, to stay true to that purpose and calling regardless of who I am married to.  Therefore, rather than allow the term or position to define me or box me into superficial roles, at the end of the day I have sought to shape perspectives of what it means to be a current-day woman in ministry, irrespective of whether or not your husband happens to be clergy.

3. What is the best part and what is the worst part about being a First Lady?

The best part about being a First Lady is the opportunity to serve in ministry with my husband.  Ministry is challenging and difficult enough when you are in it alone but to share the same passion for God and ministry with my husband is a true blessing.

On the other hand, while the First Lady is often the most popular woman in the church, it is ironically a very lonely position.  It is difficult to maintain a social life in addition to juggling family, work, and ministry.  Furthermore, a pastor’s job never ends, which makes quality time together, outside of ministry very challenging.  While I am not employed by the church as my husband is, we are both bi-vocational, in the sense that we have full-time jobs in addition to the work of the ministry, and it is often a challenge to find quality time for each other.

4. What are some misconceptions that people have about being a First Lady?

Some misconceptions about First Ladies is that we are simply figure heads who are not strategically involved in the advancement of the church. Because of these misconceptions, her contributions to the ministry are sometimes underappreciated and un-affirmed which can lead to burn-out and resentment toward the church.

5. You are also executive pastor at Mt. Olive Baptist Church. Do you feel that a First Lady should be a co-pastor at her husband’s church? Please explain your answer.

I don’t feel that a First Lady has to be a co-pastor at her husband’s church.  I think that she needs to be who God has called her to be whether that is an usher, a praise team leader, an associate pastor or a mission’s coordinator.  Some wives will have no interest in serving in the pulpit and that is quite fine. However, a problem that I recognize with traditional churches is that they don’t provide a platform for wives called to ordained ministry to be fully and effectively employed in ministry alongside their husbands.

In churches founded by a husband and wife (also known as planted churches) there is freedom to determine your roles and to both be fully compensated accordingly.  However, traditional churches are not typically structured in a manner that accommodates husband and wife ministry teams.  They simply hire one senior pastor to fill the position and all other clergy are volunteers unless the church has the resources to employ a ministerial staff.  Still, there is no guarantee that there would be an available staff position for the pastor’s wife.

6. You are from California. What is it like to live across the country from where you were born and raised? What do you miss about California and what do you enjoy about Georgia?

I moved to Georgia in 2006 because I received a word from God to “go to a place that I will show you.”  When I moved here, I had no concept of how long I would be here.  Thirteen years later, I am still here, and living apart from my family has been the most challenging aspect of living in Georgia.  Needless to say, my family is what I miss most about California.

Georgia has been good to me. It has served as my Promised Land.  It is where I met my husband, the love of my life, and where much of my growth and success in ministry has been realized.  Living here has been like an adventure that never ends.

7. You are a contributing author in the best-selling anthology “Women Who Soar.” What did you write about in your submission? 

In “Women Who Soar,” I wrote about my faith-filled journey of packing up everything I owned and moving over 2,000 miles away from home and all that I knew and loved to a place where I faced many obstacles and challenges.  However, by standing on the Word that God planted in my spirit, I found the strength and courage that I needed to realize my God-given purpose and to grab hold of the promises of God.  Ultimately, by taking a leap of faith, I was able to soar into my destiny!

​Is there anything else you would like to add?

My prayer for women in ministry and for wives of clergy, is that you discern the ministry that God has for you and follow hard after your God given purpose.  Know and be confident in who you are in Christ. Know that there is purpose for your life and remember that the “joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10c)!

Amen…Again, if you know of a First Lady who should be featured, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com because I’m looking for notable First Ladies to feature!

Any thoughts?