Category Archives: Church

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Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, T.I. & Scrapp Deleon Bail Out 23 Non-Violent Offenders From Jail in Time for Easter Sunday!

Hello World,

How was your Easter Sunday?! Mine was lovely. After a wonderful Easter service at my church, my husband and I were blessed to spend time with family and friends. Since my parents live pretty close to my in-laws, it was easy to see a good number of people that I don’t get to see every day in one day. In addition to having a soul-saving relationship with God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, I’m so thankful that God has blessed me to have a close-knit family and great friends.

Apparently, I was not the only one who was able to reunite with family and friends on Easter Sunday. Through New Birth Missionary Baptist Church’s Bail Out Program, $120,000 was raised with the help of rapper T.I. and VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop” personality Scrapp Deleon to bail out 23 non-violent offenders from metro Atlanta jails (DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Rockdale County Jails) on Saturday, April 20 in time to celebrate Easter Sunday with family and friends, according to Fox 5.

On the bus ride home from jail, one man said, “I aine never had nobody help me or do nothin’ for me. I’ve been on my own since I was 13. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done by myself so for y’all people to just come out and bless me like this. I really feel, like, very grateful, very thankful for everything. I’m trying to be, whatever y’all need me to do, whatever y’all need me to help with, I’m there. Just say the word. I’m just very blessed. I’m very thankful.”

Also, church volunteers greeted the men and women with a Welcome Home Party. Barbers, beauticians and celebrity makeup artists  in addition to clothing were on site to get the men and women looking right before they were reunited with their families and loved ones. One man at the party said 30 minutes after he prayed about getting out of jail, he was told about the Bail Out Program at midnight! “12 o’clock at night, the guard knocked on my door and handed me the Bail Out Program. Like it was just crazy.” How many of y’all know that when no one else is up at the midnight hour, you can call up Jesus who hears and answers prayers! That reminds me of what happened with Paul and Silas when they were jail. They were freed at midnight as well!

At the party, Pastor Bryant announced that ALL of the children of the men and women who were released from jail will have college fund accounts at Citizens Trust Bank courtesy of the church. “We want to make sure that we disrupt a culture of recidivism so they do not go back into the system as in previous generations.” Additionally, mentors will work with the men and women.

See for yourselves what happened in the video below:

That is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about – resurrecting new lives.

Any thoughts?

 

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It’s First Lady Friday Featuring…Kirstyn Mayden, First Lady of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Upperco, Maryland!

Hello World,

Last month, Women’s History Month, I’ve launched a new feature featuring First Ladies! 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 am 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!

So with that being said, let me present to some and introduce to others the First Lady of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Upperco, Maryland, Kirstyn Mayden…

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

Kirstyn Mayden lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband the Rev. John Mayden. A graduate of Spelman College, Mrs. Mayden also has a master of divinity degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. For the last 15 years, she has served in a number of ministry capacities with children, youth, and women. She has a passion to serve with women empowering them to grow and live out their God-given purpose. Currently, she serves alongside her husband in ministry at Mt. Zion UMC church in Upperco, Maryland. They are brand new parents to a baby girl. In addition, she is the founder of Worthy Girls, Worthy Lives, an empowerment program for pre-adolescent girls in Baltimore and blogs at kirstynspeakshope.com.

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

Yes, Mt. Zion is the first church where I have served as First Lady. We’ve been there about five years. In reference to the term “First Lady,” I understand the cultural significance of it, but I’m not really for it or against it. My heart is about serving within the ministry so it kind of comes with the territory. For me, it’s kind of limiting in some ways because it boxes you in because there is a certain way a “First Lady” must act or be, but I feel like God is bigger than any title. I guess I don’t care for the term per se but I understand why it’s there.

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

A First Lady serves God first of all, but she also serves as a support to the ministry and to her husband. Each church is different so for me, I’m part of the worship liturgy.  I serve in administrative functions. But overall, just serving as a supportive presence for my husband.

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

I really enjoy serving as a part of a team with my husband. There is something powerful about that. I have my masters of divinity degree and so we’re able to serve in ministry together. And also being a presence for the congregation and being able to walk with them with their triumphs and challenges and empowering them to use their gifts and talents. That’s one of the best parts about being a First Lady.

I wouldn’t say there is a worst part, but one of the challenging parts is the ongoing ministry and family balance. Serving in ministry means you can be on call so it can be difficult to set boundaries between your family life and your congregational life. Also, I’ve had to realize that even as a First Lady, I can’t be all things to all people. And I have to work to keep my own identity. I’m not just my husband’s wife. I have my own ministries and my own goals. Those are challenges.

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

I think there is a misconception that she is seen but not heard. Every week, I’m there to support the ministry, but I don’t want to be boxed in as just his wife as I said before. The perception that you’re just kind of sitting on the sidelines doing everything for the church or for your husband and you don’t have your own identity.

5. You created Worthy Girls, Worthy Lives in 2012  to “improve the confidence, self esteem, and life skills of pre-adolescent girls.” What inspired you to create this organization?

I’ve been serving with children and youth for over 15 years. What prompted me to start the organization is that I received a grant with the United Methodist Church. It’s called the Spark12 grant so we were funded to start Worthy Girls, Worthy Lives in 2012. Ever since then we’ve been in existence.

It’s a six-to-eight-week program, and we meet on Saturdays. During each session, we work on activities that relate to etiquette, service, building leadership skills. And there’s also an arts component. For example, sometimes, we have someone come in and teach the girls dance to get ready for our closing ceremony. We also do outings as well. We’re starting our next session in two weeks for our spring session.

One of our first participants is a junior in high school now and she’s doing really well with singing. She’s in a statewide competition. She is also getting ready for college. I do know that Worthy Girls, Worthy Lives has been formative with many of the girls that have gone through the organization over the years. We’ve had about 50 girls since we started.

6. You write weekly devotions for women at your blog Kirstyn Speaks Hope. Why did you create this website and what inspires you to write these devotions? 

I was an English major in college. And since I work with women and enjoy being in community with women,  I wanted to write devotionals to encourage women. I said I was going to start a blog for a long time, but I finally did in January of this year. And I think it’s important to have someone to encourage us in the Word in quick and simple ways. Last year, I also became an online devotional contributor for Beloved Women and that inspired me to write my own as well.

7. You are a new mother to a seven-month old daughter. How do you balance your role as as a new mother and First Lady? 

It takes a lot of coordination and scheduling. It does take a village. I’m actually a new stay-at-home mom but I haven’t always been one. I worked in adult education for about 10 years, but I decided to stay at home because I want more time with my daughter. I wasn’t ready to go back immediately after she was born. And I also want more time to write and do a few more things for myself. I won’t be staying at home forever, but right now, I am.

When we’re at church on Sundays, some of the congregants will have her during service so that frees me up to do my responsibilities during service. Being okay with allowing others to support me is really important and leaning on the village because I can’t do it by myself.  Since we have a small church of about 40 congregants, I facilitate the first half of the service and my husband does the rest of the service.

Anything else you would like to add?

Being a First Lady is definitely a calling. In general, I enjoy it because I enjoy being in ministry. And also I think it’s important to nurture the gifts that God has given to me individually. At the end of the day, as long as we’re ministering to the heart of God’s people, that is more important than any title.

If you missed the first post of First Lady Friday, please click on It’s First Lady Friday Featuring…Dr. Elaine Gattis, First Lady of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Stockbridge, Georgia!

And if you enjoyed this feature, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

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Kanye West & Montell Jordan to lead Easter Sunday Services…

Hello World,

Two weeks from today, Christians all over the world will be celebrating the triumphant resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday! And even those Christians who may not make every single Sunday service will find themselves gathering among the saints on that special day! And there are two more options to choose from as of now!

I’ve been hearing about Kanye West’s Sunday service and recently the Kardashian sisters – Kim, Khloé  & Kourtney – described the Sunday Service, which is essentially a gospel concert for celebrities from what I can tell, in their recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel. This is what the sisters said about it:

“A healing experience,” said Kim.

“We have so many friends that maybe feel a little too judgmental when they go to church or something like that, but when they come here, they feel so free and safe is what everybody says,” Khoe said.

“It’s Christian,” said Kourtney.

And below is a video of one of Kanye’s Sunday Services.

And now Kanye will be taking his Sunday Service to Coachella on Easter Sunday, April 21! It will happen at sunrise! I’ve always felt that Kanye had a relationship with God from the time he made “Jesus Walks” and maybe as his celebrity status increased, he somehow lost that connection. But God uses everything to draw us back to Him because nothing separates from the love of God even when we walk away. Although it’s not a traditional church service, they can still praise and worship God, and God will honor their praise and worship by showing up! And many black men are burned out on traditional services. That’s the reason that Jomo Johnson founded Church for Black Men through which he encourages people to have church services at home which is what Kanye West is doing! So good for him…

But Kanye West is not the only celebrity who realizes we all need Jesus and will honor him on Easter Sunday. On the  East Coast, here in the A, Montell Jordan will deliver a sermon on Easter Sunday outside on top of Stone Mountain, the AJC is reporting. Montell used to be an R&B singer and now he is executive pastor at Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia.

It’s funny how God works because Montell Jordan once told TMZ that Kanye needs to reconnect with God in his life after Kanye had a mental breakdown back in 2016…

Do you think that Kanye somehow saw this interview and heeded Montell’s advice? Maybe so…

Wherever you find yourself two weeks from today, whether in a home service or a traditional service or on top of a mountain, I hope you will praise God for the resurrection of His son Jesus!

Any thoughts?