Category Archives: Church

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors…

Hello World,

I must say that this was the saddest episode I’ve watched of OWN’s “Greenleaf” (which has been renewed for Season 4!)  thus far and I will tell you why if you continue reading this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors.

Per usual, I will incorporate the title of this week’s episode in the recap and hopefully in doing so, I can illuminate some of the themes explored. And I’m sure y’all will let me know if I have done that successfully or not!

So without further ado…

Knock Knock…

Behind the closed door of her Calvary office, Lady Mae peruses a brochure for Howard Divinity School. (Is she really going to our nation’s capital to study there? I can’t see that. Now, I can see her doing a correspondence course or something like that but that’s about it. She’s too prissy at this stage in her life to submit to classroom rules. What y’all think?) She is interrupted by a call from Ms. Clara who has decided to NOT give the $2 million to Calvary.

Lady Mae tells this unfortunate news to Bishop in his office. He had already heard the bad news and they discuss why this happened when Ms. Clara had originally agreed to bail them out. Apparently, first of all, she learned that their IRS debt was a personal not institutional debt and secondly, she learned that Bishop and Lady Mae are on the brink of divorce. Her family values would not allow her to financially support a church led by a divorced bishop. Then the blame game and bickering start! “Mac was your brother,” Bishop says. “You told me those offerings were not taxable,” Lady Mae says. “I believed what Mac told me,” Bishop says. Lady Mae has a solution. “You’ll step aside and I’ll take over.” She reminds me Bishop that she had a calling and dumped it in the dirt for him and what did she get for her trouble? Bishop says, “Chanel and Tiffany!” Amen! (That’s me not Lady Mae LOL) And Lady Mae’s solution is not a solution at all according to Bishop. “You are sorely mistaken. If we divorce, it will be you who will exit the building not me. That’s nature’s way.” SMH…These two…They are so alike it’s ridiculous…

So I think someone should take a Bible and knock Zora over the head with it, but instead Lady Mae, who is now at home, knocks on her granddaughter’s door to tell her that Bible study will be in 15 minutes. It is now morning, but barely, as it 5:45! Yikes!  Zora thought she would be luxuriating at the Greenleaf estate, but Zora is the one who was truly sorely mistaken. As a new day dawns, Lady Mae and Zora read from the Bible together. Lady Mae has Zora read Isaiah 54:7. “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back.” I know this message is for Zora but I cannot help but think that Lady Mae thinks this verse applies to her calling as well. In fact, below is the entire passage in a different version.

For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God.  “For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger, I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD your Redeemer.

As Lady Mae and Zora are reading together, Sophia stops by on her way out of the door for a morning run. Zora scowls.  They have such a good girl/bad girl competition going on.

In another part of the house, Charity seems like someone knocked her out. She is an angry stupor and stares at a bottle of oxycontin pills. When Grace comes into her sister’s room to check on her, Charity spews out her anger. “Are you okay?” Grace says. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Charity replies. She blames her sister for her arrest at the Four Seasons hotel.

It’s obvious that not only a new day but trouble is on the horizon when Sophia clutches her side in front of the Greenleaf home after she finishes her morning run.

Sitting By Heaven’s Door…

Now that Clara aine coming up with the cash, Bishop is scrounging around for another solution. He tells his assistant Karine, who is Clara’s granddaughter by the way, to call Percy Thompson. Remember he is the one who introduced Lady Mae and Bishop and was in last week’s episode. Karine says, “I’m sorry about Nana” to Bishop. Bishop replies with, “God will provide,” but Karine doesn’t know how as she has a bemused expression on her face. Man will always let you down in one way or another, but God in Heaven is always our help!

But Rochelle aine worrying about going to heaven’s door when she wants to create hell on earth for the Greenleafs. She meets with her sister-in-law and lawlessness to conspire about how they will take down Bishop and Jacob. Rochelle wants Tasha to get Jacob to sign some papers (to trick him into giving up the church? I’m not sure.) and she is elated that Bishop’s IRS troubles are splashed across the front page of the local newspaper.

Back at Calvary, Lady Mae goes to Deaconness Connie to tell that she need not worry about the IRS scandal. “Bishop will step aside and I am ready to step up and take over.” But Connie is not compliant regarding Lady Mae’s solution. “Mae, it’s my feeling and the deacon board shares my feelings that our best hope for the future is a disinterested third party.” “Who is disinterested?” Lady Mae says. “Why Grace,” Connie says as if it’s obvious. And maybe this is part of the reason that Lady Mae is jealous of her daughter and or gives her such a hard time. Everyone can see that she is called to be a minister and Lady Mae put her calling on the back burner to support her husband’s call.

Also at Calvary, Sophia teaches the little children about faith by blindfolding them and asking them to move around the classroom. Roberto, her boyfriend, comes in and tells her that she is good with children. She says, “I think they’re good with me.” So sweet. He apologizes to her for attempting to push her beyond her sexual boundaries.

And yet in another part of Calvary, in Bishop’s office, Percy has shown up. Bishop inquires about how he got out of his IRS mess. He tells him his lawyer helped him rob Peter to pay Paul. Bishop says that he needs to speak with Percy’s lawyer, but Percy says he already has a ace in the hole. “That pretty little bunny that was prancing about at your party.” He’s been to Rochelle’s website and has discovered that she is involved in crytocurrency. “It’s growing faster than bad grass,” Percy says. He asks Percy for Rochelle’s number and Bishop asks for Percy’s lawyer’s number.

Close The Door…

In the most heartwarming moment of the show, Jacob is spending some quality time with his son behind the closed doors of his office. They are playing chess and his son beats him! This is the first time I’ve seen him and his son alone. Tasha comes into his office, prepared to push these mysterious documents in his face for him to sign. But she is so touched by what she witnesses that she makes up a reason to be there (the ac is too cold) and closes the door behind her. She has a heart after all…

Lady Mae has a heart too but somehow when it comes to Grace, her heart is cold. “So I spoke to Connie and I know about this coup of yours,” she says to her daughter at Calvary. Grace informs her that she is truly disinterested in the job. “I wish the two of you would forgive each other and move on…I don’t know where pride ends and weakness begins. I don’t want the church.” “Good because you will never get it,” Lady Mae tells her daughter. And with that mean-spirited comment, Lady Mae may have sealed her fate. Grace may not have wanted the church before, but now that her mother tells her she will never get it, those just may be fighting words!

After Lady Mae speaks with Grace, Connie has another conversation with Grace about who will take over Calvary if Bishop and Lady Mae divorce. Connie says Lady Mae must be on another planet if she thinks she is the change that Calvary needs at this time. In fact, that change of leadership will lead to a “big for sale sign” on the church. “That will be a change.” Grace continues to resist Connie’s suggestion that she be the one Greenleaf who will change the direction of Calvary. She reminds Connie that the offering went down when she preached last summer and that she will be preaching about Jesus’ unconditional love.

At the Greenleaf estate, Charity is forced to give her son to his father Kevin. She attempts to be stoic as she does so, but when she closes the door of her bedroom, she slides down the door awash in tears. She is coming apart for sure…

Rochelle’s plan is coming apart too because Tasha is having a change of heart about getting Jacob to sign the papers. She tells Rochelle that she hasn’t found the right time to present the papers to him. “Do you want to see Basie again?” Rochelle says. “Then make it the right time.” I’m not exactly sure how these papers are related to Basie’s return, but I miss Bootleg Basie! LOL

After meeting with Percy, Bishop decides that he needs Rochelle’s planning skills as it relates to money to help them pay off their IRS debt. He goes to her office to speak to her in person, but Rochelle Cross is now cross when it comes to Bishop. After he tells her that he feels the Lord led him to her door, she says, “You prayed and it brought you back to this Jezebel? Now why would I want to help you? You can’t throw me out and come back begging for favors.” That door of opportunity was closed.

Tasha gets back on track with the plan as she figures out a way to get Jacob to sign the papers, but I don’t know if she will give them to Rochelle though. During their conversation, Jacob tells Tasha how much she appreciates her help at Triumph. In fact, he considers her a member of the family!

Back at the Greenleaf estate, Zora is listening to music from rapper Ice-T before his “Law & Order” days. Apparently, she didn’t know that he was a rapper before he was an actor. (I guess these Millennials don’t realize that Will Smith was also a rapper before he was an actor! ) Sophia asks her if she wants to go to Zaxby’s and then she gets that mysterious pain in her side again.

Girl Next Door…

When Grace realizes that her mother is calling her as she is spending some time with Darius, she almost ignores the call. They are discussing him potentially being the First Gentleman of a church! But thankfully, she answers because her mother tells her that Sophia is in the hospital!

At the hospital, Grace learns that Sophia is suffering from an ovarian torsion and surgery is needed to see what is causing the issue. After Grace assures her daughter that she will be nearby when she wakes up, she joins her family in the waiting room. Charity’s behavior is odd to say the least. She yells out, “Being sliced open is not fun” and mumbles about losing her daughter. Her family thinks she is drunk and advises her to drink some water. So now we’re starting to see what is at the root of Charity’s pain. She definitely hasn’t had the chance to grieve the death of her daughter AND the death of her marriage in my opinion.

By the time Grace returns to see Sophia, the anesthesia has kicked in and Sophia is nearly giddy as she tells her mother that Roberto wants to marry her and respects the fact that she is saving herself for marriage. She dreams of having a home filled with children and puppies with him and Grace is excited that her daughter is in love (and feeling at ease in preparation for the surgery).

At the vending machine, Jacob has a quick discussion with Zora about staying with her grandparents. Unlike Sophia, she is perpetually moody and complains about gaining weight, not having access to TV and a computer, early morning Bible study, etc. (Y’all know that child is pregnant, right?) Charity comes over then and says to Kerissa, who replaces Jacob after he walks away, “Y’all really messed her up bad.” She attempts to get a candy bar but the candy bar refuses to come out. Like a woman who is out of her mind, she punches through the glass to get the candy bar. And although her hand is bloody, she uses her other hand to eat the chocolate! “I’m going to need stitches,” she says. Her family is stunned silent.

After Charity is examined and stitched up, the family learns that she is on Oxycontin which she was given after her Cesarean. In the midst of all of this chaos, Bishop pleads with Lady Mae once more. “These kids need their parents. They need us. Please let’s put all of this behind us.” But Lady Mae is no longer the girl next door ready to fit into Bishop’s plan. “I’ve reached a point in my heart where going back would be disrespect to God himself. They need their mother and father but they won’t have their parents again.”

Still, as a family, the Greenleafs, with Jacob pushing Charity in a wheelchair, make their way to the hospital chapel and recite the Lord’s Prayer together. And Bishop receives a text from Rochelle while there…More will be revealed later I’m sure…

Once the surgery is over, Grace receives some heartbreaking news…Sophia had ovarian cysts which were causing organ displacement I think. Her ovaries had to be removed thereby making it impossible for her to have children. Y’all, I’m almost started crying especially since we now know that having children with Roberto is a dream of hers and the fact that she is obviously great with children! Sophia wept in her mother’s arms. “I can’t have children,” she says as her mother holds her.  Grace says, “God has got you. You can lean on Him.” That’s kind of hard for her to believe at the moment. All of her dreams of being the girl next door with the white picket fence, handsome husband, babies and puppies seem to be in jeopardy with this horrible news! (It would be so unfair if Zora ends up being pregnant by a boy that she ultimately won’t marry and Sophia won’t be able to get pregnant by the boy she intends to marry 🙁  )

Speaking of horrible news, Bishop finally seems to be coming to terms with Lady Mae’s decision to move ahead with the divorce. He gives her a draft of what they will say to the church the next Sunday about their pending divorce. After he hands the draft to her, he says, “I’m sorry.” She simply says, “Please close the door behind you.” Wow…

Well, that’s it and that’s all…And it looks like there won’t be an episode next week. Apparently, it will return on Wednesday, Oct. 3.

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 5: Closing Doors and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

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White Greenville Oaks Church of Christ Lead Minister Collin Packer Shares Support of Black Slain Worship Leader Botham Shem Jean…

Hello World,

I’m so disheartened and yet not surprised that Dallas, Texas police officers are reporting what was allegedly found in the apartment where 26-year-old Botham Jean, who is black, lived and was killed by Dallas police officer Amber Guyger on Sept. 6. The office-duty police officer, who is white, shot and killed him after thinking he was a burglar in her apartment when she mistakenly went into Jean’s apartment. CNN is reporting the items included “two fired cartridge casings, a metal marijuana grinder and 10.4 grams of marijuana. The search warrant indicates that officers went inside the apartment looking for drugs the night of Jean’s death, his mother, Allison Jean, said during a news conference Friday with her attorneys. She accused authorities of defaming her son.”

Further down in the story, it is noted that  “A CNN team visited Jean’s apartment Friday, where a small memorial of flowers and a photo with his mother adorn the front door. Several books were scattered around the unit, including C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” which was on Jean’s bedside table. Some dishes were left in the kitchen sink, and a bowl filled with ID badges, keys and notes covered the counter.”

Honestly, I don’t care what they found “good” or “bad.” What may have been found does not explain why this police officer shot this man who was in his own apartment and minding his own business.

All of that aside, I was encouraged when I saw a Facebook post by a white Texas minister Collin Packer who acknowledged the startling racial dynamics at play in this tragedy. Jean had visited his church a few times.

And if you cannot see the entire post, here are his words below:

Yesterday, I attended the funeral of Botham Shem Jean. It was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. Botham was a man of God, a graduate of HardingUniversity, a worship leader, and a brother in Christ. We shared the same city and the same small religious tribe. He attended our church a few times.

8 days ago, Botham was murdered in his home. The shooter was not taken into custody until 3 days later. And yesterday, while I was sitting at his memorial service, those in power prepared to release the results of what often happens when African-American men are murdered: a thorough investigation into the life of a victim to criminalize him and somehow help others come to the conclusion that he, because of some flaw, “deserved” the bullet that took his life in his own home.

We don’t just murder African-American men. We murder their character. And we continue to justify systems that have continually devalued black bodies from the moment they arrived on our shores on slave ships.

I am a white minister in Dallas. My family has lived here for generations. I have benefited from so much that this city has offered me. But my experience is not the experience of everyone in Dallas.

And I refuse to be silent and complicit any longer. Botham’s Memorial Service, along with many other events over the past few years, have unstopped my ears and cleared my eyes.

In his “Letter From a Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke words that still ring true in our day:

“I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice…”

I want to challenge my white brothers and sisters in Christ to be willing to speak up for justice. May we be willing to stand in solidarity. May we be willing to listen without being defensive.

The voice of our brother’s blood cries out to us from the ground. May justice roll down like a river. Let us do what we must to tear down any dam constructed to block the flow of that river.

Also, in support of the Jean family, below is a positive image of Jean leading worship at Dallas West Church of Christ Church the Sunday before he was shot and killed:

May God be with the Jean family as they grieve the senseless loss of their loved oneBotham Shem Jean. Below is a Dallas News video snippet from Jean’s homegoing service last week. And here is an article about the entire homegoing service “Botham Jean ‘was the light in the dark room,’ Dallas minister says at funeral.”

Any thoughts?

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4: The Underdog…

Hello World,

Since the title of tonight’s Greenleaf episode was named “The Underdog,” this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4 will explore that theme through the titles of some famous movies that featured underdogs!

Facing the Giants…

As indicated by last week’s episode, Lady Mae travels to Atlanta to see her old friend Maxine Patterson, who is now a preacher with a giant following. Her expansive office with gigantic portraits of Maxine along with the soundtrack of her sermons playing on the PA system speaks to the success of her ministry. And as she walks into Maxine’s office, Patti LaBelle’s song “When You’ve Been Blessed” begins to play. That was a perfect use of her song! When Lady Mae’s name is announced as she comes in, Patti I mean Maxine says, “Ms. Greenleaf who? Mae McCready.” That’s the thing about old friends. They knew you before you had your new name and titles! She promptly tells her friend to “sit down before you fall down” and to put away that “first lady facade.” And old friends can see past the masks that we wear too. Knowing that she can trust her friend, Mae tells her why she traveled all that way. “You were right.” She should have gotten her master of divinity instead of her Mrs. degree and that she is divorcing her husband. Now, Mae wants to go back to school, get that degree and start her own church. Maxine says, “Why? You already got a good one.” She says that Mae should not leave her church to start a new one. “Take OVER Mae. It’s yours.”

Since Bishop is Goliath in this scenario and Lady Mae is David, Lady Mae, affirmed by her friend’s counsel, comes back to Memphis and her home where is determined to gain control of Calvary somehow and someway. But first things first. Bishop and Lady Mae are hosting a Bishop’s Round Table party where they are honoring the movers and the shakers of the church. Of course, Clara, their $2 million-dollar benefactor whom they are counting on to bail them out of the IRS situation, is an honored guest.

Lady Mae isn’t the only one with an alternative agenda. Bishop, however, is bringing out his big guns at the Bishop’s Round Table party. He invites the man who introduced Lady Mae and Bishop to one another: Percy Lee Thompson, a local funeral home owner.

Rocky…

Lady Mae suspects that Bishop is up to something, but she tells him that whatever he has in the works will not stop the unraveling of their rocky marriage. In fact, even though Bishop is pleading for Lady Mae to recommit to their marriage (although he is the one who filed for divorce…smh…), Lady Mae just aine tryin’ to hear that yang-yang no mo. “We’re done James so whatever is going on tonight, we’re done.”

Speaking of being done, Kevin is done trying to reach Charity by just calling her, Kevin with Aaron in tow busts into the Greenleaf house and is about to disrupt the festivities. Luckily, Grace heads him off before too much commotion commences. “I’m looking for Charity,” he says. “She is ignoring my phone calls.” Before I get into what happens after that, I must say this: Kevin has some glorified nerve trying to track down Charity like he is a bounty hunter when he disappeared shortly after his son was born. Charity may be a mess but her ex-husband is a hypocrite. Anyhow, Grace offers to call Charity and is able to reach her. Charity is sitting poolside God knows where and has just ordered a Georgia Peach cocktail. (Oh, she’s in Atlanta! LOL) I’ve lived in Georgia nearly all of my life and I didn’t know that was such a thing, but I guess I should have guessed that was a drink. When Grace tells her little sister that Kevin is looking for her, she tells Grace to let him know that she is “taking care of business” although it’s clear she’s not on anyone’s tour. She goes on to say, “Kevin did what he what he wanted and I can do the same.” Charity is cray for running off with Nate like that, but she does have a point. Grace pleads with Aaron to persuade Kevin not to call the cops on Charity.

Bishop and Grace are not the only ones pleading with someone at the party. Kerissa pleads with Jacob to send Zora to Oregon for a behavior modification program for troubled teens, but Jacob doesn’t like the idea. Lady Mae tells Jacob she has another idea. “You all should bring her to me for a while.”

Before that conversation comes to completion, Bishop asks for everyone in the party to gather around for a speech he wants to make. He thanks everyone for coming to the annual Bishop’s Round Table Party, but he also speaks uses the platform to speak publicly about his devotion to Lady Mae. He begins by quoting from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Saying phrases like “Two are better than one” and “How can one keep warm alone?” he praises Lady Mae by sticking by him for their 40-year marriage. He tells the audience that when he was young, he thought he was destined to be a “lonely creature” because he had had “never met a woman who took her faith as seriously as I took mine.” But that all changed when he met Lady Mae. Since the Lord sent her to Bishop, he says he has never felt “cold, forsaken or unsure.” He goes on to say, “This church, this family, let no man pull asunder.” He wants at least another 40 years with her by his side. He kisses her to seal his words. Despite herself, Lady Mae smiles and seems to soften her stance just a bit. But just like in the Garden of Eden, the snake knows when to show up. Rochelle Cross, shiny in black sequins, steals the air in the room when she appears. For a moment, the sea encompassing Lady Mae’s heart had stilled but the sight of Rochelle set her heart adrift again in rocky waters.  “What is she doing here?” Lady Mae sputters.

The Karate Kid…

Like Daniel, the underdog in “The Karate Kid,” Bishop has to spring into action and protect his turf from the certain destruction that Rochelle Cross will cause if allowed to stay at this party. “Ms. Cross, may I have a word with you?” Bishop says with all of the gentility that he can muster given the urgency of the situation. After he pulls her aside, he says, “I’m trying to repair my relationship with my wife. You shouldn’t be here.” Rochelle declares that “she is still a member of Calvary. I’m not going to slink off into the night like I’m a shameful secret.” At this point, she sounds as dumb as she looks. What does she think she has to offer that Bishop doesn’t already have? I know she is a younger woman, but aside from her relative youth (because she aine all that young) she is not the type of woman who can hold down a shepherd of a flock. How do I know? I was raised by a woman who has stood by a shepherd of a flock. It’s not easy and erebody aine able. Maybe Bishop has that in mind when he says, “If I’ve given you some reason to hope, I’m sorry.” I think his words should have been stronger, but she gets the message…finally. But not soon enough for Lady Mae. When Bishop goes back over to his wife, she says, “Why are you talking to me? Your business is clearly with her and not with me. ” She leaves him alone as he ponders their conversation under a portrait of them in happier times.

Rochelle makes her way to Grace and Darius although she is supposed to be on her way out. She ogles Grace’s man right in front of her. She is like the evil spirit who lives among tombs in the book of Matthew. Restless. And to make matters much worse, she chats up Ms. Clara on her way out as well. “Do you mind if I have a word with you?” When Ms. Clara obliges, she asks, “What does the church have you tied up in?” Ms. Clara, thankfully, doesn’t tell her anything, but Rochelle continues anyway. As a money manager, Rochelle advises that if it has anything to do with money, she should have her money manager vet any decision she makes.

Deaconness Connie is mixing and mingling as well and asks Grace about Kevin, who I guess she saw at the party earlier. She asks why Kevin has stopped coming to church. Grace, ever putting folks on the spot, says that their church should join the open and inclusive coalition which is a coalition of churches that welcome gay, lesbian and transgender church members apparently. Grace tells her Kevin would have to hide who he is at Calvary. In the line of the episode, Connie says she still the “same old Grace… When you are going to outgrow that old habit of agitating for every underdog except Jesus?” Grace retorts with, “Every underdog is Jesus.”

But the drama is ratcheted up when Zora’s issues are center stage. Sophia goes outside to spend some time with her boyfriend Roberto, but when his kisses become more intense, she suggests that they go back inside. Roberto, however, is hot under the collar and doesn’t want to go back inside with Sophia. When Sophia returns, she tells her cousin what happened. “I think he wants to have sex with me.” Zora responds with sarcasm and questions Sophia’s stance on waiting until marriage for sex. When Sophia notices that her cousin was using her computer to communicate with Isaiah, Christian Breezy, their interaction quickly escalates. Zora is tired of Sophia’s Miss Christian way of conducting herself. “It’s Christian this or Bible that.” “Every time I talk to you, you suck the life out of me.” She calls her “God’s little b****!” How disrespectful. Sophia comes back with calling her boyfriend a “pile of trash.” When Zora threatens to hit her, Sophia says she can can “see what he taught you.” And the girls get to scrappin’. Luckily, Kerissa is able to separate them! (As one of my readers suggested, a public awareness announcement about domestic violence between teenagers should be included at the end of the episode. I don’t remember one being showed before, but I could be wrong.)

Cool Runnings…

Although the Greenleaf grandkids were cooled down at least for the moment, there are still more fires to put out at the party. On her way out of the party with her granddaughter Karine, Clara tells Lady Mae that she wants to Bishop and Lady Mae to sit down with her money manager before the $2 million transaction is complete. Lady Mae keeps her cool and says, “Bishop and I would be happy to sit down with your money people.”

After the festivities are over, Deaconness Connie goes to Grace’s office. Concerned that the church may be losing their leaders with Bishop and Lady Mae’s marriage in tatters and news of the IRS scandal spreading on the Internet, she realizes that a Greenleaf still needs to be at the helm of the church. “You may be need to step up and take over as head pastor.” Of course, Lady Mae would lose her cool if that were to happen. Lady Mae needs to watch her back but she has watch Zora’s back for right now at least as Jacob and Kerissa drop off Zora with her. Kerissa isn’t thrilled about the proposition given that what happened with Faith Greenleaf wasn’t exactly a testament to Lady Mae’s parenting skills. But now that Mac is dead, things will be different. Some people think that Zora’s out-of-control behavior is evidence that Mac may have abused Zora too. I don’t know but I thought he preferred young, light-skinned girls. But that is a theory worth exploring. And if that is the case, maybe Lady Mae can reach her since she was abused by her father. Remember?

The episode closes with Charity singing her best rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” accompanied by a pianist in a hotel lounge it seems. (I guess if gospel music aine working for her, secular music may be her next option…I disagree with that option for her though…)I thought it was Atlanta, but maybe it’s Miami since you can see the ocean or a body of water along the skyline of the city. It was a cool vibe until the police showed up!

Well, that’s all I got…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4: The Underdog and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?