Category Archives: Church

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Bishop Eddie Long’s Son Edward Long Carves Out Radio Career Following Dr. Jamal Bryant Becoming New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s Pastor…

Hello World,

It’s not easy being a preacher’s kid. That’s one thing among others I know for sure. I was one for 38 years so I know of which I write. The scrutiny by an entire congregation of folk.  The inability to make mistakes and be downright foolish as a young person in private. The expectation that you will grow up to be carbon copies of your parents. These situations are what I experienced as the pk of a small church pastor so I can only imagine that Edward Long experienced this on a MUCH larger scale as the son of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s Bishop Eddie L. Long. The megachurch was once helmed by his father.

And Edward Long has had some other crosses to bear as well. His father passed away suddenly in January 2017 and although he wasn’t immediately named as the new pastor after his father’s death, he thought he had a chance to finally fill his father’s shoes when the pastorate opened up again following the departure of Bishop Stephen A. Davis according to the AJC. He applied for the position and was among 138 candidates in a national search. Bravely, Edward Long shared his thoughts about the process and the ultimate decision in a recent sermon at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Below is what the AJC reported in the article “Edward Long Shares Feelings About Not Being Named to Lead New Birth.”

“I’m standing in a place now where publicly my character is being judged,” he said. “I can come out here and throw a pity party and cry like a baby because things didn’t go the way I anticipated them going.” Instead, he made the decision to “praise while I’m in the pit. I’m not going to have a pity party, I’m going to party in the pit.”

Long mentioned Bryant in his sermon. “I didn’t choose Dr. Jamal Bryant, but a choice was made so I’m not going to speak against him. I’m going to speak for him. I’m not going to talk trash about him. I’m going to love on him and pray for him.”

Read the entire article HERE.

Truthfully, if I were in his position, I would be hurt too. But there is no law that says that just because your parents did something, you have to do it too or to the degree that your parents did it. And I’m sure being named after a parent causes even more pressure to be like that parent for which you are named. Martin Luther King III has his father’s name but it is his sister Dr. Bernice King who has more closely followed in their father’s footsteps. This expectation doesn’t just happen in the field of religion. Willow Smith, who is named after her father actor Will Smith, rebelled when her father was trying to make her follow his path in entertainment. She mentioned having to forgive him for that on Red Table Talk, her show with her mother Jada Pinkett Smith and grandmother Adrienne Banfield-Jones. My mother has said that I’m just like my father except that I’m a female, but thank God she didn’t see fit to name me Denzilla. Willow after Will is cute. Denzilla after Denzil. Not so much 🙂 But I digress…

Thankfully, following the disappointment and rejection he felt after not being chosen as New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s new pastor, Edward Long is carving out a career on his own terms according to the AJC’s article “Eddie Long’s Son Returns To First Passion: Radio.”

On Jan. 31, during Super Bowl weekend, Long, the son of the late Bishop Eddie L. Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, launched “Lit Nights With Ed” on Praise 102.5. The late-night show airs from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Mondays-Fridays and 10 p.m. to midnight Saturdays.

“It feels purposeful. It feels divine. It feels like this is what time it is,” said Long, 36, about going back into radio, an interest he’s had since he was a student at Stephenson High School. “I want to continue to move forward with the vision the Lord gave to me really since I was in high school and college and through my professional career and now.”

Read the entire article HERE.

This is what Edward Long said about the AJC article on his Instagram account:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

POSITIVE PRESS 📰🗞 Extra, Extra, read all about it! Radio isn’t my only passion, but my first passion. I didn’t want to preach, but once I accepted the calling, I became very passionate about it too! To me, they are more similar than separate. Link in bio to read the full article by @shelia_poole & 📸 by @emilymhaney. @ajcnews https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/eddie-long-son-returns-first-passion-radio/VcrDbmJCycqgnQ92RwDw7M/ (Swipe right) Tune in to @litnightsshow LiT Nights w/ ED 🙌🏽 with @iamedwardlong and co-host @bre_singleton on Praise 102.5 fm in Atlanta. We’re bringing inspiration and the mainstream together to form what we call #UrbanInspiration. Download the MY PRAISE ATL app or listen only as we at www.MyPraiseATL.com.

A post shared by ED (Text EDwardLong to 71441) (@iamedwardlong) on

From one pk to another, I wish Edward Long much success in radio and wherever God leads him…

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?

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Church for Black Men Founder Jomo Johnson Assaulted, Experiences Homelessness & More But Perseveres…

Hello World,

A year ago, former Pastor Jomo Kenyatta Johnson moved from Georgia to our nation’s capital to launch a dream he had been given by God — Church for Black Men. He had no idea that in creating Church for Black Men that he would be assaulted, lose his home and get sick. But that is what happened. Still, Johnson and Church for Black Men which is now Church for Black Men & Families are still here.

Johnson, a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, created Church for Black Men as he “discovered that only about 9% of Black males between the ages of 20-40 were connected with a Christian Church. Wanting to see this trend reversed he did a survey of Black men to discover the reasons they felt disconnected from both the mainline and African-American Church.” Through prayer he discerned that a “smaller informal model as found in the book of Acts would answer the problem of disconnect.” Church for Black Men & Families is hosted in Johnson’s home in Washington D.C. Prayerfully, Johnson, who works under the  leadership of non-profit ministries Luke 10 and D.C. For Jesus, hopes to launch a movement of 1000 house churches in the Black community this year. Below is my interview with Johnson.

1. Why did you decide to change the name of Church for Black Men into Church for Black Men & Families? 

If the man is broken, I have found that the family is broken so I wanted to incorporate the man and the family as well. We’ve had white people attend our church too and they are welcomed, but our mission is to focus on black men and families.

2. How were you assaulted as you founded Church for Black Men & Families?

I was staying with a friend, a fellow Christian,  in D.C. who was going to help me start the church, but I learned he had other beliefs. He ended up physically attacking me and stealing my cell phone, but he was arrested and went to jail. I had a few cuts and a broken toe. My sister suggested that I come home, but the cause of Christ is greater than being assaulted.  So I decided to stay…Since I didn’t have a job at that time and no place to stay in D.C., I ended up being homeless for a while and stayed in a homeless shelter.  I also had a mini-stroke sometime later, but I saw it as a means of testing to not give up. I give praise to Jesus for setting an example of not giving up for the work of God.

3. What does a typical Sunday service look like? 

We average about five people every Sunday, and we can max out at 15. Once we get past 15, we will create another house church. We meet at 9 a.m. for breakfast. Then we pray and read a Scripture. Everyone is then encouraged to share how they are really doing and to be transparent. It’s a spiritual check-in. And we don’t give any feedback. In regular church, when people share what they are going through, people are quick to blast them with encouragement. We want to make sure that people feel that they have been heard. I’ve experienced men being transparent and sharing their heart in tears as we were vulnerable before God. The house church round table model allows Jesus to be the head of the meeting. We don’t preach sermons, study the Bible, sing praise songs, but we seek to hear from God and hear from one another.

We also meet at nearby library every Wednesday and also on Friday at a homeless shelter.

4. You refer yourself as a former pastor. Why?

I am not a pastor of a traditional church. I don’t receive a salary, nor ask for offerings, nor do I focus on titles. I host men and families in my home and I disciple them. This is something everyone should be doing.

5. You told me that Church for Black Men & Families wants to launch 1000 churches in the black community this year. How do you plan to accomplish that goal?

We are offering free mental health services, employment assistance, and male mentorship to any person willing to allow us to host a weekly meeting in their home. Starting in March, we will reach 500 homes a week in D.C. with this offer. We also are praying that God will move on the hearts of Black Christians to free themselves from legalism by thinking they can only serve God by going to a Sunday service because some people will never go to a building for church. We are encouraging Black Christians to step out on faith and be wiling to open up their homes once a week for true intimacy, transparency, and communion with the risen Lord.

6. Considering what you went through when you first moved to D.C., how can home hosts ensure their safety?

Being saved is not safe. The Good Samaritan took a risk. We as black Christians have often failed when it comes to hospitality. The very thing that we think is our’s, our home, actually belongs to God. If we are to experience God’s grace, we have to take risks. We complain about drug dealers in our community but have you ever invited a drug dealer into your home?

But we do have safety procedures that are a part of our training. We provide free six-week training and will come to your city to help you launch a home church.

7. As you were assaulted, were homeless and suffered a mini-stroke, was it all worth it to launch this home church network?

It’s all for Jesus. Every tear, every pain, and every suffering for His sake is a blessing. I nor anyone else is worthy to suffer for so great a cause. I would do it 1000 times again.

For more information, go to blackmen.church.

Any thoughts?