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(CNN) — The Rev. Paul Earl Sheppard had recently become the senior pastor of a suburban church in California when a group of parishioners came to him with a disturbing personal question.
They were worried because the racial makeup of their small church was changing. They warned Sheppard that the church’s newest members would try to seize control because members of their race were inherently aggressive. What was he was going to do if more of “them” tried to join their church?
“One man asked me if I was prepared for a hostile takeover,” says Sheppard, pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, California.
The nervous parishioners were African-American, and the church’s newcomers were white. Sheppard says the experience demonstrated why racially integrated churches are difficult to create and even harder to sustain. Some blacks as well as whites prefer segregated Sundays, religious scholars and members of interracial churches say.
Americans may be poised to nominate a black man to run for president, but it’s segregation as usual in U.S. churches, according to the scholars. Only about 5 percent of the nation’s churches are racially integrated, and half of them are in the process of becoming all-black or all-white, says Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-author of “United by Faith,” a book that examines interracial churches in the United States.
DeYoung’s numbers are backed by other scholars who’ve done similar research. They say integrated churches are rare because attending one is like tiptoeing through a racial minefield. Just like in society, racial tensions in the church can erupt over everything from sharing power to interracial dating.
DeYoung, who is also an ordained minister, once led an interracial congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that eventually went all-black. He defines an interracial church as one in which at least 20 percent its membership belongs to a racial group other than that church’s largest racial group.
“I left after five years,” DeYoung says. “I was worn out from the battles.”
The men and women who remain and lead interracial churches often operate like presidential candidates. They say they live with the constant anxiety of knowing that an innocuous comment or gesture can easily mushroom into a crisis that threatens their support. [more...]
Are you kidding me? Keep reading the rest of the article and post your thoughts.
Well we have one more night at Lake Ann Camp in Lake Ann, MI. Terase and I brought a group of kids from our church up here this week. We were also accompanied by one of our church plants, Lakeside Fellowship from Polk City. This has been a different trip for us because last year, Terase and I brought the kids up by ourselves. This year, Abe and Jessie and the kids, and Chad and Nataley and their kids came. So it has been fun to have them with us.
We left Sunday at 8:00am for a 700 mile trip that actually had no problems. Last year we blew a transmission outside of Newton after being held up in traffic. So we didn’t get out of Iowa until 5 hours after we started our trip. But this year we drove the whole way and stayed overnight at the camp. I liked that better.
Monday we got up, ate breakfast and then handed the campers over to their counselors for the week. One difference between Lake Ann and our camp in Iowa is that Lake Ann has fulltime counselors and IRBC uses the counselors from the local churches. There are advantages to both but I like each one in their own way. After we dropped the kids off we ate lunch, got a tour of the camp, and then hung out and watched how things went.
Tuesday, all the adults and their kids went to Sleepy Bear Dunes outside of Empire, MI. The kids had a great time and I love going there because you get to see Jesus’ creative hand at work with billions of gallons of sand that make up those dunes. We came back to the camp and ate and then watched the Sr. High Fight Night. Basically this is the culmination of two days of competition with messy games and lots of cheering and screaming. Its a blast! That night Abe, Chad, and I went into Traverse City to watch the Dark Knight and the stinkin’ thing was sold out! On a TUESDAY NIGHT! AT 10:15! For as large of a town Traverse City is, they need another theater.
Wednesday was family day. Terase and I went into Traverse and did some shopping and then ate at The Great Traverse Pie Company. That place rocks!
Today we went to Empire Beach and swam in Lake Michigan. I got fried. Who would have thought my pastey white body would soak up the whole sun?! Anyway, tonight Terase and I went into Traverse and ate at BD’s. Like Hu-Hot’s but slightly different. Then we topped it off with Moomer’s, which in my oppinion and at least 50,000 other people’s oppinion, has the best ice cream in the whole world. If you’ve never had it, according to my college roommate, it’s worth an allnight roadtrip to Michigan to not even go there. I know it doesn’t make since but ask Todd and Randy! They will explain.
Tomorrow camp wraps up. Its sad to be done but we have to go back. Look for videos to be posted to youtube and pictures to flickr later. Night!
Iowa’s American Hockey League team will now be called the Iowa Chops, the team announced this afternoon.
The team’s new logo is a vicious boar’s head and the new colors are crimson, grey and black, designed to depict the tougher style of hockey coming to Iowa, according to a team release.
Iowa is now affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks, who are known for their physical style of play.
“We really feel this name perfectly represents our vision of the new team,” team owner Kirby Schlegel, CEO of Schlegel Sports, said in a statement. “It illustrates Iowa’s agricultural heritage while also playing into the definition of chops, having nerve, resilience and staying power.
“The word chops can mean continually defeating someone, and that is the reputation we expect Iowa’s new team to gain in the league.”
Iowa ended its three-year affiliation with the Dallas Stars in late April.
The team, formerly known as the Iowa Stars, started playing in the AHL with the 2005-06 season.
Team owners wanted to rebrand the team with a nickname and logo that had an Iowa connection.
“We wanted a name that would catch people’s attention and spark discussion, not just in Iowa but nationally as well,” team president Steve Nitzel said in a statement. “There is no doubt the name is unique. We’re confident that the team will continue to gain respect in this community and in the league for years to come.”
A secondary logo located on the shoulders of the players’ jerseys will be an outline of the state of Iowa with the letter “I” in the center.
Iowa and Anaheim plan to announce who will coach the Chops later this summer.
Bob Murray, Anaheim’s senior vice president of hockey operations, will serve as Iowa’s general manager and be based in Chicago. Former Des Moines Buccaneers coach Bob Ferguson was named Iowa’s assistant general manager Tuesday and will live in the Des Moines area.
The Chops’ regular-season home opener is scheduled for Oct. 10 at Wells Fargo Arena.
how bad things got in the 1st century. Jude 17-18 say:
“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”
I mean how bad did things get in the 1st century church that they where expecting Jesus to already be coming back? Was it that the church conditions had already deteriorated enough that the prophecies that Jesus had given in Matthew 24 seemed to be already coming true? And if that is the case, how much worse are we today. I am going to chew on that one today!
10. Steve Jobs owns 7% of Disney shares.
9. Slim and fit.
8. Can run at variable speeds and not overheat or shut down.
7. Constantly setting the trend for everyone.
6. Can record and playback through his in-screen camera and mic.
5. Even when is motherboard when down, he still kept running.
4. Battery only needs a little bit of time to recharge.
3. Reboots to a Mac tone.
2. Always makes others heads turn.
1. He always gets the girl! (cue the band!!!!)
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