Op-Eds

One Black Christian reflects on the stark choices facing Americans in the U.S. election

By John Thomas III (as seen in Broadview Magazine) November 4, 2024 On Sunday, two days before the 2024 U.S. general election, I attended my local church, Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston, S.C., a church in a “red state” and one of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first campaign stops in January. Mother Emanuel is also the church where nine people were killed by a white nationalist during a Bible study in 2015. Holy Communion was observed, and freshly pressed white paraments adorned the pulpit and the altar. Rev. Eric Manning reminded the congregation that the office would be closed on Tuesday and that…

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Biden, the Black Church and Mother Emanuel

“At Church, Biden denounces poison of Supremacy” “Gaza Protest Erupted During Biden Speech at Mother Emanuel” “Biden’s Appeal to Black Voters Needs an Overhaul” One could be forgiven for wondering exactly what happened at Mother Emanuel on Monday when US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. visited in his first campaign swing of the 2024 Presidential cycle. As an affiliate member of Mother Emanuel, a journalist, and a collegiate Political Science professor, I confess that I needed a few days to sit with the variety of emotions and perspectives that I felt after Monday’s program. We know that the Black Church…

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It’s the Ethics for Me

By Dr. John Thomas III, Editor The Black Church as an institution has been such a pivotal part of the African American community because of the respect and trust accorded to its leaders. One AME pastor who is also a lawyer commented in an interview , “Being a pastor has benefited me in the law for several reasons. [One way is that it] has heightened my sense of integrity.” This response is not surprising because those who are set apart and charged to serve God’s flock take on additional responsibility for the spiritual and temporal well-being of those in their…

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Will the AME Church be Healed? Reflections on the 2021 General Conference

By John Thomas III, Editor, The Christian Recorder When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” John 5: 6 From July 6-10, the family of the African Methodist Episcopal Church gathered in Orlando, Florida and through Zoom conferencing to conduct the business of the denomination in the best way we knew how. It seemed as if Murphy’s Law was in full effect: a global pandemic, a looming hurricane, poorly functioning sound, international connectivity issues and to top it all off a…

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On this Good Friday, let us reflect on the 7 last words of George Floyd

(RNS) — The commemoration of Good Friday is a solemn and holy event for Christians. We cannot get to the resurrection of Jesus Christ without traversing through the crucifixion, death and burial of God’s only begotten son. One of the dividing lines among Christian traditions is the context of Jesus’ Passion and death. When we separate Jesus from his worldly environment and circumstances — being persecuted as a Jewish teacher by a foreign empire and betrayed by compatriots who were threatened by his message and witness — we lose sight that Jesus, both fully God and man, was gruesomely murdered.…

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