The General Conference Of The United Methodist Church

As a “cradle Methodist,” the standards and theological tasks mentioned in Part III of the Discipline are ingrained in how I understand and apply my faith. These aspects of the United Methodist tradition have been a foundation from which I have grown during my formative years. Although I have not always been able to articulate these beliefs, I have learned the power in living them in addition to teaching them. I believe that much of the affirming, teaching, and applying of our standards and theological task that I do in my ministry is out of this same foundation that was formative to my faith. It informs how I preach, the lead Bible studies I lead, how I lead youth group, and my interactions with congregants and the community.

Since the arrival of African Americans in this country blacks have always had differing experiences. Consequently, African-Americans have had to forge a self-identity out of what has been passed on to them as fact about their true selves. History has wrought oppression and subjugation to this particular race of people and as a result, certain institutions were formed in order aid African-Americans, culturally, spiritually and economically. The African-American Church has served of one such institution. From the time of slavery, though outlawed, many slaves found ways to congregate and form their own "churches", away from the one-sided and bias lessons about the bible that they were being taught in the white church. The white ministers and

Black religion was no longer regarded as exemplary or special. During a time of growing segregation and violence, some black leaders attempted to counter this perspective seen by whites by embracing the romantic racialist notions that “blacks possessed peculiar gifts.” These gifts being directly connected to the importance of black churches in a time of direct exclusion of blacks from other pieces of society.

"The Black church functioned as revolutionary unity during slavery." The African Methodist Episcopal Church, not formally organized until 1816 but dates back to 1787 refused to abide by the Jim Crow laws. In protest, they all left the church and established their own genre of worship. The founders of the African Methodist church were uneducated, illiterate ex-slaves. Despite that, they had a clear sense of their dignity and worth. They rejected the irrational treatment of their White counterparts, who considered them as a nuisance in the Church. Whites wanted to keep Africans within the church separate. They even created legal obstacles for separation. As a result, the African Methodist formed independent churches in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, etc. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was able to provide for its self, in its early stages, within twelve years (1841 to 1853) the Church built and remodeled two churches, which cost about $16,000. The A.M.E. Church has given African people an independent hierarchy that recognizes our individuality, it has empowered African-Americans. In celebration, Methodists sought to render services to their people, schools were built and charitable programs were developed, aiming to lift the spirits of the new freed men. Educating their people, young and old, were

Ridout also held key positions and played major roles in the communities he serviced. He served as president of Bridgeton, N.J. branch of the NAACP during the 1940s. He was involved in the merger of the White and Negro church conferences, which he described as "a great step forward for Methodism, and for the Christian church as a whole in America." He served and the Negro press representative for the Methodist church in 1944 and was a member of a committee that revised the Methodist hymnal in the

To understand the present and the future one must understand the past.  The book Civilities and Civil Rights by William Chafe provided a detailed look at North Carolina, specifically Greensboro between the years of the 1930s through the 1960’s. The state of events that occur can be linked to many of the events that one sees today due to the fact that the foundation and structure of the south was built on racism. No one came straight out and said they were racist, instead the problem was covered up with civilities. Few leaders wanted to rock the boat or change things that would allow African Americans rights. This report will show how the civilities during this time hindered the success of civil rights in Greensboro, and also how it was harder for activists in Greensboro to win support and accomplish their goals.

Church of the Brethren does not accept abortion. Participating in abortion is not support their beliefs. Church of the Brethren is a denomination that was formed to continue their practices their own way. They started as a small group and to this day still recruit new members. They solely use the New Testament as their source of guidance for the practice they preach. Rational Choice theory explains Church of the Brethren 's position in opposing abortion.

The topic of this paper is The Church Committee. When I first got the topic I was not sure what it was, but after I researched it I was very surprised. The Church Committee Report consists of 14 public reports. They were written in 1976 and 1975 when recommendations for reform were debated in congress and some cases were carried out. The reports contain information on the formation, operation, and the abuse of the US intelligence agencies. The six books covered committee writings on various topic investigated. There are seven volumes which contains public hearings and exhibits.

I found many interesting parts about African American Baptist churches and how it all started and what caught my eye was the very first African American baptist church was the oldest and it was constituted at Silver Bluff about a year or two before he revolutionary war and started early in 1775. The silver bluff was located on the South Carolina side of Savannah River in Aiken County and was only twelve miles in distance from Augusta, GA. In my findings it shows that the founders by the name of Andrew Bryan, George Liele and it was in the 1770s Savannah’s First Baptist Church and it was an independent during the slavery era. It also showed that there was a large number of black baptist secretly worshipped meetings on their own. The black baptist

As it neared one hundred years after the onset of the interstate conflict which centered around slavery’s place in the United States, black citizens were still deprived of the rights guaranteed to all Americans by the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment, prompting the premier civil rights organization, the NAACP, to seek equality through the most logical method, overruling the legal base of the institution. The Brown v. Board ruling in 1954 seemed to be the death knell of segregation wrought by the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. Unfortunately the movement of mass resistance proved to be able to out-maneuver law, particularly in the south, thanks to segregationist majorities holding legislative, executive, and law enforcing power. To force the judicially mandated desegregation on reluctant southern states the NAACP focused on universities, as they

The Making of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message. A. J. Smith Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church also known as the AME Church, represents a long history of people going from struggles to success, from embarrassment to pride, from slaves to free. It is my intention to prove that the name African Methodist Episcopal represents equality and freedom to worship God, no matter what color skin a person was blessed to be born with. The thesis is this: While both Whites and Africans believed in the worship of God, whites believed in the oppression of the Africans’ freedom to serve God in their own way, blacks defended their own right to worship by the development of their own church. According to Andrew White, a well- known author for the AME denomination, “The word African means that our church was

The Holy Bible authorities people to be evangelists for Jesus Christ, and they will impart their beliefs on others, therefore knowing the doctrine of Jesus Christ is important.

I jumped at the opportunity to complete the extra credit assignment because of the topic. I have always wanted to attend an African American Baptist Church. I was raised Catholic in a predominantly white community and for the chance to experience something different was appealing. I’ve seen the stereotypes in movies and on TV about what an African American Baptist church looks like but I wanted to experience it myself. I wasn’t sure on what to expect but kept an open mind about the situation.

The American Unitarian Association wanted them to travel to Czechoslovakia, where there was a large Unitarian community, to lead an emergency relief mission that church leaders described as “the first intervention against evil undertaken by the denomination.” This work included assessing the refugee crisis in Czechoslovakia, providing food, shelter, and support to refugees, and ultimately helping hundreds to flee the country. Everett Baker had approached 17 other couples prior to the Sharps, and all had refused this post.