Newspaper Page Text
14
October 12, 1995
Black Catholics still deal with racism in church
By Shawn Donnan
Associated Press Writer
BALTIMORE
Dressed in his bright green robes
with African patterned trim, the
Rev. Ed Miller sways as the band
slips into a gospel groove.
Parishioners packed into the pews
start clapping. The choir shimmies
down the aisle and past a crucifix
with a kente cloth for a backdrop.
Sunday’s gospel service at St.
Bernadine’sßoman Catholic Church
has begun. God is in the house.
“God never strikes out. God never
makes an error,” Miller tells his
flock, sounding more like Baptist
tempest than Catholic priest. “God
never fails.”
In the last 30 years, the black
Catholic church has developed its
own forms of worship. While many
black churches still celebrate tradi
tional Masses on Sunday, others
have added gospel services and Afri
can decoration to try tobring a more
familiar form of worship to the con
gregation.
The basics of Catholic services are
still in place. During the Sunday
gospel service at St. Bernadine’s,
there are readings, responses,
hymns, hallelujahs and commun
ion wafers.
But there are subtle differences.
The hymnalsin the pews haveblack
spirituals in them as well as tradi
tional hymns. Images of a black
Jesus flank the altar.
And there is the music.
“The music is so stirring it calls us
to a closer relationship with God,”
said the Rev. MauricedJ. Nutt, priest
in charge of the St. Alphonsus Rock
Church in St. Louis, which cele
brates an extensive gospel Mass on
Sundays. “Itspeakstowhoweareas
a people.”
Black Catholics are a minority
within a minority.
About a quarter of blacks in the
United States are Catholic, accord
ing to a series of Gallup polls con
ducted last year. About 60 percent
said they are Protestant, with most
saying they were Baptists of some
form.
Of the more than 53 million Cath
olics in the United States, 3.2 mil
lion, or 6 percent, are black, accord
ing to the Secretariat for African
American Catholics of the national
bishop’s conference. Only 1,300 of
the 25,000 Catholic parishes in the
United States—less than 1 per
cent—are predominantly black.
Even in the Baltimore archdio
cese—home of the nation’s oldest
black parish, St. Francis Xavier,and
the first black order of nuns, the
Oblate Sisters of Providence—only
Bethel African Methodist
Fpiscopal Church -
623 Crawford Avenue
Augusta, Georgia 30904
Rev. Larry W. Hudson, Sr. Pastor
Office: (706) 736-4060
Sunday
9:30 Sunday School
11:00 Worship Service
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Rev. Alex R. King
1630 Fifteenth St. Augusta, GA 30901
(706) 733-9430
Sunday School 9:30 a.m. i
Worship Service 11:00 a.m. '
Ist Sunday Evening 6:30 p.m.
Praise Bible Study 7:00 p.m.
Senior Services 10:00 a.m.
6:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Sunday:
Wed:
Thurs:
Day Care
Center:
II BROADCAST HOUR (WRDW 1480 AM) "
6:00 p.m.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
16 of the 154 parishes are predomi
nantly black.
One of the barriers before the pas
sage of Vatican II was the foreign
natureofthechurchformanyblacks,
said Bishop John Ricard, urban vic
ar for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Vatican council which ended in
1965 resulted in an increased em
phasis on the use of native cultures
in the celebration of Mass and al
lowed for Masses to be read in En
glish rather than Latin.
That in turn allowed for the intro
duction of gospel Masses, Ricard
said.
“It’'s almost mainstream now in
predominantly African-American
parishes,” said Ricard, one of 13
black bishops in the U.S. Catholic
Church.
Still, the church is struggling to
attract black worshippers.
“The identity of the Catholic
Churchin the past was thatitwas a
predominantly white structure,”
Ricard said.
The church must work to reinforce
that “itis thoroughly African-Amer
ican as it is thoroughly European.
The church has to reflect its univer
sality,” Ricard said.
In addressing matters of race, the
CatholicChurchinthe United States
has been more reluctant follower
than leader, said Sister Jamie P.
Phelps, a theologian at the Catholic
Sunday
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Wednesday
7:00 Bible Study
Williams Memorial
C.M.E. Church
Spil‘it Church Newé
Theological Union in Chicago who
studies black Catholic history.
It wasn't until 1866, three years
after the Emancipation Proclama
tion took effect, that American bish
ops urged the “gradual emancipa
tion” of slaves, Sister Phelps said. It
wasn'tuntilthe 1960sthatthe Cath
olic Church declared racism a sin,
she said.
“The Catholic Church even to this
day is not on the cutting edge of
rights for African-Americans,” she
said.
Priests still complain of racism
within the church leadership and
blacks complain of the lack of black
men in leadership positions within
the U.S. church hierarchy.
Only 300 priests in the United
States are black and most predomi
nantly black parishes have white
priests.
To learn how to better address his
flock, Miller, who is white, had to
study black preachers from other
religions.
“Theydon’tteachyouhow topreach
inablackstylein a white seminary,”
he said.
Learning how to preach to a pre
dominantly black congregation was
just one of the steps Miller took to
save what was a dying church.
St. Bernadine’sthrivedinthe 1950 s
and 1960 s until the west Baltimore
neighborhood around it—likemany
Join us at
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Rev. Kenneth B. Martin, pastor
Corner of Augusta Avenue & Florence Street
1454 Florence Street - Augusta, Georgia
724-2809 Church Office
?55“} L P 3}l “&z I ]
SERVICES
Underwood Housing Community Services
Every first and third Sunday - 6:30 p.m.
We Invite You To
BAPTIST CHURCH
Dr. Sam Davis, pastor
1434 POPLAR STREET
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA 30901
TELEPHONE: (706) 724-1086
Sunday Services at 7:45 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 7:30 p.m.
Baptist Training Union (8.T.U.) at 6:00 p.m. Sunday
Sunday School at 9:30 Sunday morning
Bible Study 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, and 9:30 a.m. Saturday
Prayer Service at 11:00 Saturday morning
Thirty-five Christian Ministries
All Services Are Bible-based and Holy Spirit-led
Wednesday
INOON QBBVICE. ......oooioiiiiinsninnsiinsiniill SR,
Prayer Service & Bible 5tudy............7 p.m.
I[ cfilfl) (& ]l"]l’h&@]l@
Baptist Church
Dr. C.S. Hamilton, Minister
1223 Laney-Walker Blvd.
Augusta, Ga. 30901
Church School 9:30 A.M. * Morning Worship 11
A.M. Broadcast Hour (WTHB 1550) * Nursery,
Kindergarten Open - Bible Study-Tues. 6 P.M.
Prayer Mecting Tues. 7 P.M. Dais; Kindergarten
Services 7 A.M. to 5 P.M.
othersinthecity—fell victimtowhite
flight to the suburbs.
There were fewer than 200 parish
ioners when Miller was assigned to
the church in 1975. “First Sunday I
was here there might have been 70
people at Mass,” he said.
Something had to be done. So Mill
er began offering the gospel service.
“People could walk into the church
and say, ‘That’s us,” Miller said. “It
wasn’t Gregorian chant.”
Although Miller still celebrates a
more traditional Mass on Sundays,
the 11:30 a.m. gospel service at St.
Bernadine’s is the best-attended of
all the weekend services.
St. Bernadine’s now has almost
1,500 members—half of them con
verts to Catholicism, according to
Miller. And the church has become
a focal point in the Edmonson Vil
lage community, with parenting
classes, a shelter for battered wom
en and a basketball team that em
phasizesacademicsasmuchasjump
shots.
Before she moved to Baltimore
from New York in June, Sara Gam
ble attended “normal” Catholic ser
vices—“The priest gets up, says a
few words, you sing a few hymns
and you go home.”
“You feel good when you come
out,” Gamble said. “It’s just black
folks doingwhatthey dobest—prais
ing God.”
Special Events
n l!.'lim Baptist Church’s, 2359 Mt. Auburn Ave., Clothing
Ministry is in operation. Items will be available on Thursdays. For
information on donations of clothing or if you know of someone who
is in need, contact Mrs. Annie Walker at (706) 736-3209.
@ The Second Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 1404 Brown St.,
will hold their Annual Women'’s Day Celebration on Sunday, Octo
ber 15, at 3:00 p.m. Speaker will be Dr. Yvonne Shaw, Director of
Education at Paine College. Pastor is Rev. Andy Thornton.
B Moses Baptist Church will celebrate their 10th Anniversary
on Sunday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m. Guests will be Rev. A.C. Settles
and the St. Peter Baptist Church. The publicisinvited to attend. For
more information, please call Sister Dorothy Williams at 790-1964
or the church at 724-9502.
B The Deacons’ Ministry of the Harmony Baptist Church, 930
Hopkins Street, will present 100 Men in Black on Sunday, October
15, 1995 at 8:00 p.m. The Rev. R. E. Donaldson and the Mt. Vernon
Baptistirphurch will be in charge of services. The public is invited to
attend. Rev. Antonio L. Smith is pastor.
B The Olive Grove Baptist Church, 6227 Columbia Rd.,
Appling, GA will celebrate their 90th church anniversary on Sun
day, October 15 at 2:30 p.m. The Rev. Robert L. Ramsey and the
Gospel Water Branch Baptist Church will be special guest in charge
of services. The public is invited to attend. Rev. R. F. Leverett is
pastor.
B Historic Springfield Baptist Church, 114 Twelfth St., will
have pew fellowship worship on Sunday, October 15, at 3:00 p.m.
Rev. Eddie Walker, pastor of Popular Springs Baptist Church, will
bring the message. Everyoneis welcome. Rev. E. T. Martin s pastor.
B The MIA Mission of the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
will sponsor a Saturday night musical entitled Lifting Up the Name
of Jesus, with various choirs, soloists, and instrumentalists from the
CSRA such as the One In Christ Community Choir, Rev. Tony
Booker, and Mr. Charles Burton. The musical will be held on
October 14 at 6:00 p.m. The Ten Commandments will be presented
Sunday, October 15, at 5:00 p.m. Rev. Thomas Walker is pastor.
B Greater Young Zion Baptist Church, 516 Forsythe Street in
Augusta, will have a First Annual Celebration Day of its Family
Enrichment Ministries on Sunday, October 22, at 4:00 p.m. Special
guest will be Rev. Ronald Toney and the Lizzie Chapel Baptist
Church of Macon, GA. Dinner will be served.
B First Baptist Church of Stapleton, GA will hold revival
services from Monday through Thursday, October 16 - 19, beginning
at 7:30 p.m. nightly. The Rev. Willie C. Norwood of Mealing Grove
and Canadn of Galilee will be the guest minister. The public is
invited to attend. Rev. Frank Seabrook, Sr. is pastor.
B Thankful Baptist Church, 302 Walker St., will celebrate its
Annual Deacons Day on Sunday, October 15,at 11:00 a.m. The guest
speaker will be Interim Pastor, Rev. Gregory A. Young. The Senior
Choir will have its Annual Fellowship Tea at 3:00 p.m. on the 15th.
The public is cordially invited to attend both events.
B The Hammond Grove Baptist Church Youth Ministry will
sponsorits annual Walk-a-Thon on Saturday, October 14, beginning
at 9:00 am. This Walk-A-Thon will benefit the Augusta Care
Pregnancy Center. For further information on how you may partic
ipate, please contact Sis. Delores Hankerson at 793-2342. Rev.
Bobby G. Hankerson is pastor.
FOCUS your religious news or
special announcements in the
Amen Corner. Call 724-7855
e or fax 724-6969.
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I Would Like To Welcome You To
~ Faith Christian
Church
...Where our main purpose is to educate the believ
ers of the CSRA in the principles of faith, in their
authority as a believer, and who they are in Christ.
Come to experience the life-changing power of
-the Word of God and learn how to live victoriously
in Christ.
Pastor Curtis A. Merriweather
E *“:
Sunday Worship Service 11 a.m.
BAHA'I FAITH
Uniting Mankind
One Heart at a Time
Watch Baha'i TV programs on
social and contemporary issues:
“SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION"
WAGT TV-26 (NBC)
Sundays at 10:30 a.m.
For more information, call
863-9498.
Faith Christian Church
1880 Alabama Road :
Augusta, Georgia
722-8665