Fireside Chat with Pastor Brawley

Nike® is known the world over as an innovator in athletic apparel, an elite recession- proof company. Why? Many of us wear basketball shoes but don’t play basketball; or track shoes and don’t run anywhere even on a good day. To what does Nike® owe its success? Nike® broke away from their competitors through an aggressive and imaginative marketing campaign giving birth to one of the most noted and quoted slogans of all time, “Just Do it.” There is an important take away for all who would heed these words. This poignant, pithy but powerful statement strikes at the core of a “disease” that many of us contract from time to time called procrastination. I want to be your acting life coach, “Just Do It!” No more excuses, 2010 is still new and you can still make it happen. There is just one caveat to this injunction; you must do whatever God tells you to do, anything less is not only procrastination, but spiritual frustration. What has God entrusted you with? Is there a new book in you? A new idea God wants you to develop? Is it time to go back to school to hone a new skill? My brother, my sister the clock is ticking, make good on the precious commodity called time. 

 

 

Pastor B.   

Many have inquired about our new logo and web design. Let me begin by thanking Monica Britton (SPCBC Director of Communications & Special Projects), for taking the lead and bringing this vision to pass. Our ministry theme: Honoring Our Legacy…Imagining Something New, evolved from a staff retreat last Fall. As a group, we set out to develop a theme that could describe where we are as a ministry and where we perceive God to be taking us. With a historic pastoral transition in full gear, we wanted our logo and web presence to say something about where we have been but also, where we could go. We agreed that we had to honor our rich and bountiful legacy. With a pastoral lineage of six Pastors, including my iconic predecessor in the person of Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood, and our over eighty years of service, our once dead community is now resurrected and revived through the diligence of our ministry. 

Our new logo is designed to encourage you to ponder and find a meaning. Let me share some of the reactions and insights members of our congregation have discovered.
* Some see the Cross at the center. I admit that was intentional;
* Someone else astutely identified the open tomb at the center of the Cross; 
* Others saw the objects around the Cross as people coming in to be empowered and going out to change the world.  

These are major themes at the St. Paul Community. We are a people redeemed by Christ, growing in the power of the resurrected Christ, empowered to change the world.

In your quiet devotional time with God, why not think on these themes that define our discipleship and bring meaning to our faith involvement. I also invite you to share your thoughts about our logo, and the other new & exciting things unfolding throughout our ministry.   It is with your feedback, participation and stewardship that we will continue to honor our legacy and imagine something new.

As I share my thoughts with you I am working on an application for the Imagine Me Leadership Charter School, a new school we plan to open in September 2010 for boys grades K-2nd.  Someone asked me why our education team (Christians for Quality Education, CQE) chose such a name for our proposed school and why all boys?  Our response is that traditional education has been unsuccessful at educating African American males and we must take a stand to right this runaway train of destruction.  

Noted scholar Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu has said that somewhere between the third and fourth grades our young sons begin to decline academically with little hope of recovery.  I believe that our children, especially our young men, are capable of learning.  Nationally, the conversation around education has focused on closing achievement gaps.  I believe that we must be careful not to blame the victims (our children).  The issue is not achievement gaps but access gaps.  For too long our children have been trapped in educational dead zones. Clusters of failing schools with little hope, and even less in resources are growing in number. Darkened, uninventive and unimaginative schools have cloaked our children in an overcoat of minimalism.  

Recently CQE visited Excellence Charter School, an institution educating boys kindergarten through 8th grade in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.  During our visit we learned that the Excellence students scored 100% on all New York State required exams.  If I had to say what core values and ideals they have embraced to be successful, it would have to be their belief that children can learn when in the right focused and motivating environment, coupled with a “no nonsense, no excuses” attitude that has closed the access gap.  All it takes is one visit to Excellence Charter School and you feel the intention of the leadership is to provide every opportunity for the boys, the school has truly earned its name and reputation.  At Excellence, each student is addressed as scholar and classes are modeled after nationally recognized colleges.  The expectation is that every student can and will learn.  Matriculation in college is not a dream, but the goal.  

It is time to imagine new and creative ways of educating our boys with teachers who are full of energy, enthusiasm and passion, partnering with parents who are involved with schools administrators to collectively achieve academic excellence through the next generation of children.