by Urban Faith Staff | Apr 16, 2013 | Entertainment, Headline News |
Chadwick Boseman portrays Jackie Robinson in Brian Hegeland’s new film about the baseball legend, 42. (Photo credit: ABCnews.com)
Athletics unifies Americans in a way that few activities do. With the exceptions of church attendance, shopping, and voting, it is perhaps the most visible thread of a shared culture within our country. At the same time, athletics is occasionally a forum that settles events whose origins arise elsewhere. Brian Helgeland’s 42 narrates the story of how Jackie and Rachel Robinson, Wendell Smith, and Branch Rickey – to name a few prominent characters in a larger story – confronted racism in the United States by addressing segregation within America’s favorite pastime, baseball. The biopic, which grossed $27.4 million during the weekend, opening in the number slot. Moreover, the cast delivers earnest performances: Chadwick Boseman portrays Jackie Robinson; Nicole Beharie, Rachel Robinson; and Harrison Ford, Branch Rickey. Given its emotional resonance and the intrinsic pull of its story, 42 delivers an adequate but underwhelming version of Robinson’s story.
The film’s primary territory extends from 1945 to 1947, covering Robinson’s stint with the Montreal Royals in 1946 and the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers season, which commenced with his Major League Baseball debut on April 15th, 1947. Of particular note, 42 highlights the story of Wendell Smith, the Pittsburgh Courier journalist who chronicles the pioneering Major League Baseball debut of Robinson. The film’s accent on the Robinson-Smith relationships highlights the fact that the emergence of Jackie Robinson is coterminous with the ascent of black sports journalists. The legend of Hank Aaron, for instance, is connected to the work of the black sports journalists. The movie, moreover, rightly implies that Robinson’s pioneering career cleared the pathway for future African-American players.
The film deserves credit for painting a relatively nuanced picture of racism in the 1940’s. The most effective scenes cover the polarities of racial anxiety and racial acceptance: one of the Robinson’s teammates refuses to continue his shower when Robinson enters the locker room; another teammate is initially afraid to be seen with Robinson, but eventually embraces the opportunity to play alongside him as a show of support for integration within baseball.
42 avoids exploring what Robinson’s legacy means for diversity within the MLB (particularly at the executive level) and the role of contemporary black athletes within our society. Additionally, by portraying wholly idealized versions of Robinson and Rickey, the film misses an opportunity to help audiences see how the aforementioned men are lauded for generally choosing virtue over vice – rather than being construed as transcendent racial heroes. Nevertheless, 42 is a feel good movie that performs the essential role of a biopic – its honors the life of its subject. It’s also family-friendly entertainment that displays an intact black marriage in a cinematic landscape that is largely devoid of those elements. Take your friends and loved ones to see the film and let us know what you think.
by Urban Faith Staff | Apr 2, 2013 | Headline News |
What We Know
Young adults are increasingly becoming disillusioned with Sunday School. Across the nation, churches are reporting a decline in Sunday School attendance among people ages 18-35. There is a need for new, improved techniques to reach this audience.
There are three things that are very important to this audience when it comes to Christian Education: Be Real; Be Relevant; Be Relatable.
Be Real.
The Christian life isn’t a perfect life. In fact, Jesus Himself said, “In this world, you will have trouble” (from John 16:33). And although He has overcome the world, young adults are constantly working to overcome the myriad of issues they deal with every day. Any Christian Education publication needs to address these issues faithfully and palpably. Otherwise, it comes off at inauthentic and fluffy.
Be Relevant.
One thing the Apostle Paul was great at doing was reaching audiences right where they were. He did this when he met with Athenians at Areopagus. He took something they were familiar with (i.e. a monument) and preached the Gospel using that familiar item (see Acts 17). Relevance among Young Adults means that your church has to be engaged where they are—in social media and on mobile devices.
Did you know that close to 48% of African Americans use Facebook regularly? Did you know that nearly 28% of African Americans have used Twitter and 13% use it daily? Specifically, over the past two years, daily usage of social networks has nearly doubled for African Americans between the ages of 18-35.
Be Relatable.
Jesus had the uncanny ability to relate to people. It didn’t matter how eccentric or quirky the person was, He always found a way to minister to them relationally. Shouldn’t the same be said of your church? The ability to relate is one of the most cited reasons for lack of Sunday School attendance for young adults.
Here’s the good news! Urban Ministries (UMI) has created a way to engage young adults in all the ways mentioned above. With these facts in mind, UMI has decided to revamp its entire Young Adult publication.
Starting in September 2013, the publication formerly known as Young Adult Today (Student and Teacher) will be relaunched as Urban Faith. The new Urban Faith will soon provide teachers and students with content that is relevant, real, and relatable.
Each Issue will include:
- Feature articles on hot topics
- Interviews with young ministry leaders
- Weekly lessons that address applicable, real-life situations
- A full redesign of our previous Young Adult Today publication
- Supporting tablet and smartphone app (both iOS and Android devices)
- Audio, video, and other interactive features (including regular social media engagement)
And don’t forget to take our digital initiative survey to keep us informed on ways in which we can best meet your needs.
by Urban Faith Staff | Mar 25, 2013 | Headline News |
Chinua Achebe, 1930 – 2013. Achebe’s 1958 novel Things Fall Apart has sold more than 10 million copies in 50 languages. (Photo Credit: Beowulf Sheehan/Newscom)
Last Thursday, Chinua Achebe, a trenchant social critic of colonialism and the author of Things Fall Apart, died in Boston at the age of 82. The title of Achebe’s masterpiece is an allusion to William Butler Yeats’ poem The Second Coming:”things fall apart; the Centre cannot hold”. The title also symbolizes the unraveling of modernity – the collapse of grand secular visions of peace, prosperity, and parity among all nations.
Achebe’s works have had an indelible impact on post-colonialist thought and the African literary imagination. Moreover, the Nigerian author’s debut novel has become a canonical presence in world literature. In addition to his magnum opus, Achebe wrote essays, novels, memoirs, and poems. In the New York Times obituary, Johnathan Kandall recounts Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer’s apt description of Achebe: “a novelist who makes you laugh and then catch your breath in horror — a writer who has no illusions but is not disillusioned.”
Whether we account for his imaginative corpus in terms of God’s common grace or an unintentional effort that nonetheless bears witness to the majestic creativity of God, two things seem clear: Achebe’s compendium of writings deserve the global audience the have reached and will continue to positively impact readers for generations to come.
Despite the transcendence-free promises of our post-Enlightenment age, Achebe’s life and legacy can remind Christians that the “center cannot hold”, that things ultimately fall apart for colonial paradigms and social conditions that are not consonant with the Beloved Community of justice inaugurated by Christ.
by Urban Faith Staff | Feb 18, 2013 | Headline News |
Mary Lou Williams (Photo courtesy of William P. Gotlieb/Library of Congress)
In recognition of Black History Month, we are highlighting the liturgical work and faith journey of Mary Lou Williams, a pioneering jazz pianist and composer. Williams, who died in 1981 at age 71, was a prolific artist, writing and arranging hundreds of compositions and released dozens of recordings, including A Keyboard History and the Mass for Peace. Along the way, she worked with jazz giants such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and served as a mentor to other seminal figures, including Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk.
This Wednesday, Deanna Witkowski, an UrbanFaith contributor, will lead a quartet and 12-voice choir of professional jazz vocalists in a performance of works by the trailblazing artist at The Park Avenue Christian Church, 1010 Park Avenue at 85th Street in Manhattan. Witkowski will also facilitate a pre-concert talk starting at 7:15 pm on the importance and influence of Williams on current jazz musicians.
The featured work on the program is Williams’ 1967 “Music for Peace,” a monumental work of sacred jazz informed by the Civil Rights movement and the liturgical reforms of the Roman Catholic Church’s Vatican II Council, as well as Williams’ own deep personal faith. Her remarkably original settings of traditional liturgical texts embrace a compendium of jazz styles, from blues to bossa nova. Music for Peace, received with great acclaim, was later choreographed and performed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater as “Mary Lou’s Mass.”
For those of you who live or work in the greater New York City area, we hope that you will be able to attend this faith-filled encomium to Williams’ work.
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For additional information on Mary Lou Williams, check out Deanna Witkowski’s UrbanFaith article, Mary Lou’s Sacred Jazz.
by Urban Faith Staff | Jan 22, 2013 | Headline News |
Roughly 12,000 people participate of the inauguration ceremony of the Christian Fraternity of Guatemala evangelical church in San Cristobal, municipality of Mixco, south of Guatemala City. (Photo: Orlando Sierra -AFP/Getty Images)
The million dollar question: Should I attend a megachurch? Christians fall on both sides of the debate. Let’s begin with a definition. Most define a megachurch as a congregation with more than 2,000 members. Based on this definition, there are over 1,300 megachurches in America. Megachurch proponents cite the size of the church as a “practice run”, as we are sure to worship with millions of folks in heaven. One cannot overlook the impact of aggregate finances (when used properly) for missions work. On the flip side of the coin, smaller congregations offer intimacy that many believe makes for authentic, real relationships. On top of that, many believe that smaller churches are less political than larger congregations. As a catalyst for reflection, consider the following four reasons that many Christians offer for refusing to step into a megachurch.
1. Scandals
Nobody likes a hypocrite. It rubs people the wrong way when someone talks out of both sides of the mouth. Over the past several decades, we’ve seen numerous scandals unfold in the media (including social media). In most instances, the scandals are attributed to pastors of large megachurches. The truth is, media outlets are really not as interested in small-town scandals. When they get wind of a larger, more prominent pastor’s moral failures, they generally prefer these stories (and usually run them into the ground).
Here’s the problem with this approach. We tend to attribute the actions of one person to an entire group. That God entrusted His Church to men and women can be both a blessing and a curse. We are blessed to be vessels of God’s grace, but sometimes those vessels are jacked up, flawed, and fall short of his plan for our lives. Truth be told, for every scandal in a megachurch, there are countless others who operate in integrity and hold themselves accountable. Don’t let the vices of a few cause you to place all others in the same category.
2. Biblically “Un”Sound Teaching
There’s a fine line here. It’s important to affirm revelatory words spoken through God’s Spirit. However, it’s almost always a red flag when passages are out of context. Again, traditional media and social media has (in some instances) caused many to doubt the teachings of many megachurch pastors. I remember clearly a 20/20 story that ran several years back on Fred Price. It purported that one of Price’s sermons bragged about his lavish lifestyle, when in fact it did not. You can see the rebuttal report (which includes the entire sermon) here.
Lamentably, there are pastors who teach wrong doctrine. But it’s unfair to put pastors into a certain category based on a few sermons they preach. If someone preaches on stewardship four weeks a year, does that make him or her a prosperity pastor? Certainly not. One may justly wonder about “Dr.’s” who have not completed required coursework to attain a Doctorate level degree, but it’s a sign of charity to withhold judgment of their preaching/teaching until hearing an entire message or more than one or two sermons.
3. Financial Irresponsibility
Some years ago, the Senate launched an investigation requesting financial information from several prominent televangelists. Last year, the investigation concluded with no definitive findings of wrongdoing and no penalties imposed as a result of the inquiry. It’s not surprising that the results of the investigation didn’t get as much air time as the investigation itself. True enough, financially irresponsibility is reprehensible – especially when it comes to men and women of God. Yet the ultimate question is whether ministers of the Gospel should live lifestyles comparable to Hollywood celebrities? There are at least two sides of the coin here. One side: children have someone other than athletes and musicians to look up to. Other side: Prosperity and ministry are like oil and water. Jesus wasn’t prosperous, so pastors shouldn’t be.
How much is too much in the context of ministry? We reward others based on their talents and abilities. Shouldn’t we compensate men and women of God for faithful work as well? Perhaps we can employ a slightly different approach regarding earning capacity in ministry. Let’s call it the “Paul tentmaker” model. A full discussion of this approach is beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that Paul’s occupation (as a tentmaker) sustained him, so he didn’t run into “salary” issues with the various churches he ministered to. Let’s pray that God opens the same door for future leaders in the Church.
4. Sheep herding vs. Shepherding
Numbers matter. Especially when it comes to Church. Some pastors ask each other: “How many you running on Sundays, doc?” The sheep herding mentality. Get ’em in. Get ’em out. This is one of the perceived flaws of the megachurch model. It is not uncommon to hear megachurch members lament about their respective experiences of being “herded in and out to graze”. On the other hand, many megachurches are intentional about shepherding. This might not occur on Sunday mornings, but it does happen in the context of small groups/cell groups. In fact, some of the most enriching relationships in the megachurch context often occur in the small group setting. Every megachurch should remember pastors are called to be shepherds and not sheep herders. There is a difference.
So, to megachurch or not to megachurch? Ultimately the decision is yours. A note of caution: beware of misapplying the aforementioned reasons for refusing to visit a large congregation. Myths and rumors, unfortunately, are pervasive in the body of Christ. Third-party misinformation: “You know _______ has an ATM machine in the lobby for church members.” Sermon titles misapplied: “_______ said you should fall in love with a stripper.” A pastor’s heart misinterpreted: “You know ______ preaches a happy, happy, joy, joy message.” Churches, large and small, are not without flaw. And we are to hold each of them to account for their shortcomings. However, that doesn’t mean we should downright dismiss their effectiveness merely based on size. There’s only one Person who can make that determination. The Chief Cornerstone: Jesus Christ.
Question: Do you attend a megachurch? Why or why not?
