An Ecclesiastical Model for HIV/AIDS ministry

By C. Dennis Williams

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Rev. C. Dennis Williams, D. Min.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-5708-8

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..............................................................................vINTRODUCTION.................................................................................ixCHAPTER ONE: THE AUTHOR AND THE CHURCH.......................................................1CHAPTER TWO: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE..........................................................17CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS.......................................................23CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY....................................................................42CHAPTER FIVE: RESULTS OF THE PROJECT.........................................................46CHAPTER SIX: SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT WITH REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.....................54APPENDIX A: SERMON HEALING THROUGH COMPASSION TEXT: Mark 1:40-45.............................59APPENDIX B: SERMON THE HOUSE OF REFUGE TEXT: Matthew 11:28-30................................64APPENDIX C: SERMON THE SAY SO CHURCH TEXT: Psalm 107:2.......................................69GLOSSARY.....................................................................................75BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................77ABOUT THE AUTHOR.............................................................................83REVIEWS......................................................................................84

Chapter One

THE AUTHOR AND THE CHURCH

The Educational Importance and the Ecclesiastical Focus of the Author

I was born in the sixties during a very disturbing time in the history of our country because three prominent persons were assassinated. In 1963, John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States, was killed; in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated; and in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was killed. I can still remember as a child the day that Dr. King was killed; I can remember how dark and gloomy that day was. It was a day of dismay, especially for those who were part of the struggle for equality and justice. Even though I was too young to understand every detail of that day, I do remember the impact Dr. King's life had on me. As a young man entering the ministry I often read about Dr. King, and would study and read his sermons. Dr. King was certainly a role model in my life as it related to ministry and the spiritual vocation that the Lord has called me for. Even though I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. King, he was a great inspiration to me because the ministry was not my first inclination.

As a young man growing up in Santa Ana, California, I was raised with my twin sister who is six minutes older than I. I attended public school in Santa Ana, California, enjoyed elementary school and was fortunate to have had some very challenging and concerned teachers who took time not only with me, but with many students. One of the persons who played a crucial role in my life was my elementary principal, Mr. Lagano, who was a very nice man and treated all of the students as though they were his own children. He was perceived by the students as a father figure, and as such, he was a disciplinarian. Because of the presence of my elementary principal and my own father, I learned about accountability, responsibility, and consistency. I always liked school; I enjoyed the interaction and the daily fellowship among other students.

During junior high school and high school I ran track, played football, and wrestled. In addition to enjoying school, I also benefited from attending church on a regular basis. My parents were very active in church and were longstanding members of Johnson Chapel A. M. E. Church in Santa Ana, California. My twin sister and I were baptized at Johnson Chapel A.M.E. when we were six months old. From that time on, I began to matriculate through the church. I was active in several youth activities in the church, such as the choir, usher board, youth Bible Study and Sunday School. Even though I was active in church at this time, I did not contemplate ministry. I did feel a strong attraction to the medical field because of my strong affinity towards animals, especially dogs.

But one afternoon, during Bible study, in the privacy of my bedroom I heard the audible voice of God calling me to ministry. Confused by the voice but not alarmed, I proceeded to walk to the church for the youth Bible study that evening and as soon as I had approached the steps of the church the youth Pastor looked at me as though he had seen a glow on me and asked me if I was interested in going into the Ministry. I responded with a yes and that yes was the beginning of my training for Christian Ministry.

My pastor at the time was the Rev. Everett P. Williams who, even though I was just 15 years of age, spent countless days walking me through the scriptures and teaching me about the tenets of Christianity and the norms of African Methodism. I owe my ministry to Rev. E. P. Williams; he was a mentor, a father figure, and an extraordinarily articulate preacher and teacher. Rev. Williams taught me how a preacher should dress in the pulpit and the importance of being punctual each and every Sunday.

As I tried to progress in the ministry I had to contend with some adversity because I was so young. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was not preparing any youth for ministry; therefore, when young people felt inclined to enter the ministry, they were either discouraged, dissuaded, or ask to consider another vocation. Such was the case with me when I first went before the annual conference to be admitted on trial as an itinerant preacher; I was held back four times because it was believed that I was too young.

By the time I turned 17 years old, I was a senior in High School, but my calling was still alive. I still felt a strong urgency to preach, and I was still prepared to go forth with my calling. After working two years, I went away to college. I decided to attend one of the colleges that is owned and operated by the African Methodist Episcopal Church-Paul Quinn College (which has relocated to Dallas) because of its rich tradition of diversity, culture, and history. After graduating from Paul Quinn College with a Bachelor of Science Degree, I matriculated to Bethany Theological Seminary in Dothan, Alabama, a small independent Baptist seminary. The pursuit of this degree was a major challenge for me, for I began the pursuit of this degree while serving my first church as a pastor in Yakima, Washington. I commuted for two years, worked independently, and completed the degree in two years. After I completed a master's degree from Bethany, I did further theological work at McCormick Theological Seminary Chicago Illinois, where I pursued a Doctor of Ministry degree. McCormick had a satellite program in St. Louis, which was convenient for me since I was serving a congregation there. The intriguing aspect of my education is that my educational aspirations have always occurred while I was serving as a pastor, or active in some aspect of ministry. I not only have a desire and need for educational accomplishments, but a duty to serve as an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Being a Methodist pastor requires that one move from church to church at the appointment of the bishop. We believe that Jesus was an itinerant preacher and the best way for us to serve the congregation is by incorporating in our local churches the model that Jesus used when preaching. Jesus moved from place to place healing the sick, mending the broken-hearted and preaching deliverance to the poor. Thus, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church pastors are appointed to churches and can be reassigned by the presiding bishop, moved to another church, or even another state. Some pastors have stayed at one church for as long as twenty-five years, and others have stayed for one or two years. The Methodist church as a whole has always been a church with an itinerant system and the African Methodist is a part of that great tradition.

As an African Methodist church, we are part of the teachings of John Wesley who is the founder of the Methodist Church. John Wesley would preach to thousands of people at once. He preached in open fields because no building could contain the crowd. His services were filled with the abundance of the Holy Spirit; however, as a minister, he was still an itinerant preacher who rode over a quarter of a million (250,000) miles on horseback preaching the gospel. Wesley preached approximately 92,000 sermons in his lifetime, wrote 233 books, and in 1739 organized the First Methodist Society in London. This approach to the ministry disturbed the traditional ways of preaching and service. At a time when the first Methodist Society was failing to meet the needs of the people, Wesley called for a religion that was felt and a Christian life that was morally disciplined. He was forbidden to preach in the parishes of the Church of England, but rather he was forced to preach in the fields. According to one writer, George Champion, Wesley had to preach in the open air. Champion states that:

John and Charles Wesley and George Whitfield made ... open air preaching famous and effective wherever they preached, and people were willing to become a part of the movement. Such persons were organized into societies; each society was broken down into smaller groups called classes. The idea was that Christians ought to be able to strengthen each other, to build up each other, the class meetings were experienced meetings in which members witnessed to each other of God and what God had done for them.

Because of Wesley, the African Methodist Episcopal is based on an itinerant system in which pastors are subject to be moved after a year; however, many pastors have established tenure in many of the churches. Tenure is a good thing because it represents care and concern for the church and the people have tendency to follow a pastor that they feel is going to be with them for a long time. It is often difficult to implement a program when there is a short tenure. I have learned many valuable things from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, such as accountability, organization, and heritage; these things contribute to my accomplishments as a pastor.

I am grateful for my parents who are responsible for raising me in the tradition of African Methodism; although I do believe that were I not in the African Methodist Episcopal Church I would still be a preacher in another denomination. However, this is the denomination that the Lord has placed me in during this season of ministry in my life.

The itinerant ministry has been a very rewarding ministry for me, it has blessed me with the opportunity to travel abroad and view many of God's wonderful creations. Because of the itinerant ministry, I have had the privilege of serving as the senior pastor to five congregations. My first appointment was in 1985 when I was assigned to Bethel A.M.E. Church in Yakima, Washington. I served that congregation for two years. Bethel Yakima was a congregation of about sixty people located 3 hours from Seattle, Washington. Yakima is a valley and at that time the population was about 2,000. I enjoyed my tenure there. It was in Yakima where I married my first wife and we had our first child, Desiree Nicole Williams. For that reason, Yakima will always have a special place in my heart.

Most of the residents in Yakima were of blue-collar industry, but hard working. Since Yakima was my first church I faced the normal challenges that any young, immature pastor would have to contend with, but for the most part the members were very patient with me and I learned a lot about the pastoral ministry.

In 1987, I was appointed to the pastoral charge of Walker Chapel A.M.E. Church in Seattle, Washington, where I served until 1990. I enjoyed my ministry in Seattle. We were able to implement many programs, teach evangelism, make improvements on the church and increase the membership from 200 to 270. Seattle is a very attractive city, it receives a lot of rain and because of that the air is always clean and the city is always clean. Seattle is a major metropolitan city; therefore, the opportunities were much broader for me and my ministry. I was exposed to so much more than I was exposed to in Yakima due to the fact that the city was larger and more influential, I had the opportunity to preach in a larger venue, meet many seasoned pastors, and serve on different boards, such as the Mental Health Board for the city of Seattle.

In 1990, I was assigned to the pastoral charge of St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis, Missouri. I served that congregation from 1990 until 1996. It was one of my best charges. The membership when I arrived was 450. The church was very progressive, the membership was extremely homogenous and had a reputation for being a pastors' church. The membership was active in making my job as a pastor easier, and therefore it was not as difficult as some of my previous charges because they had a strong affinity for the pastor and his family.

It was at St. John where I learned the importance of hospital visitations, accountability, ministering during times of bereavement, and many other essentials of ministry. St. John is where I was first elected by my peers to serve as a delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and it was there I learned the salience of having a broader and wider presence in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and not just in the local congregation. I traveled more then, making important connectional meetings and getting my name and church known. Although I had a very successful tenure as pastor of St. John A.M.E. Church, it was also a very difficult time in my life and ministry because I suffered a divorce from my first wife. This was traumatic because I experienced strong emotional feelings of failure, embarrassment, and stress. My daughter, Desiree, was three years old and suffered personal setbacks at school. I can remember my meeting with the Steward Board, informing them of what had happened to me and how after attempting to work our differences I was left to no avail and told them that their pastor was indeed getting a divorce. I knew it would be difficult for the church and me. I will never forget that meeting because the Steward Board that I had pastored for three years suddenly became a pastor to me. They encouraged me and told me that I was not the only pastor who had experienced a divorce and that the best thing I could do was get through it. The Steward Board and church were waiting to see how I was going to get through this impasse in my life; waiting to see if I would become a manic depressive, quit the ministry, or if I would request to be moved to another parish to get a fresh start. They wanted me to continue to preach the word and be their shepherd. After much prayer and speaking with clergy support groups, I pulled myself together and continued as the pastor for three more years. Although I was single, I continued to minister to that congregation, to be a good father to my daughter, and to preach the word in season and out of season. I learned that there is life after divorce and with a loving, understanding, and compassionate congregation; it is possible to get through it and to start over, never taking one's eyes off of Jesus.

I learned a valuable lesson as a pastor that the best sermons pastors could ever preach is not the one that we preach on Sunday morning when things are fine, but it is the one that we preach when Sunday is over and we find ourselves contending with an issue that can threaten the very fiber of our faith. There will always be someone somewhere watching to see how we are going to make it through. I am convinced that at some time in the lives of pastors and Christians, we must live and depend on the faith, the sermons, and the God that we have preached to others about, at some time in the life of every believer we must practice what we preach. Sometimes God will not remove us from the situation but He will remove the situation from us, and this is what the Lord did for me. He allowed me to stay at St. John and continue to serve that congregation. The longer I remained in the church, the sooner I discovered that what Satan intended as a curse actually turned out to be a blessing, for it was while I was serving as pastor at St. John that I met and later married my current wife, Yvette Renee Simms. When I was officiating at a private wedding in St. Louis at the Botanical Gardens, I noticed her and inquired. I was told she was a friend of the groom. The groom made the introduction and Yvette called me and we met for dinner. We were the perfect match and had a lot in common. Her grandfather served as a pastor in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, so she was familiar with the workings of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. We dated and five months later we were engaged to be married. Yvette had never been married and had no children. We decided that we would go through premarital counseling with an objective Christian counselor. This was very important for me, because I did not want to enter a second marriage with the same baggage and issues from a previous relationship, it would not be fair to Yvette or to me. Counseling helped me navigate through those issues, and it helped Yvette prepare for the challenge of becoming a stepmother to my daughter, Desiree. Yvette and I were married in August, 1996 at St. John A.M.E. Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Even though Yvette was not a member of St. John, she was not in opposition to getting married at the church where I had served for the past six years. Yvette knew that she would endure scrutiny, criticism, and jealousy, but she never allowed that to weaken her faith. She made a beautiful bride, and she has gone on to make a beautiful wife, and very loving companion.

(Continues...)

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