President-Elect Obama – Are You Listening?

by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 18, 2008 | Current Affairs, Leadership, Politics, President-Elect Obama

Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Community Church was selected to give the invocation for President-Elect Obama's Inauguration.  Personally, I know & like Rick Warren and our church grew using the Purpose Driven Church Model.  I even taught African American pastors at their Purpose Driven Church Conference. 

I know that whomever President-elect Obama chooses to give the invocation will come under scrutiny, but, there are a few pastors who are just as influential as Rick Warren who could masterfully handle giving the invocation.  President-Elect Obama (David Axelrod), in case you're searching, here are a few to put on your short-list next time (no particular order).

Bishop Charles E. Blake

Bishop Blake serves as Presiding Bishop of the 6 million member Church of God in Christ, one of our nation's largest denominations. He also serves as the Jurisdictional Prelate of the First Jurisdiction of Southern California comprised of more than 250 churches.

He is the pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ with a membership of over 24,000. West Angeles is deeply involved in providing not only for the spiritual life of its people, but also it provides more than 80 programs for the psychological, social, and economic enhancement of the community.

Bishop TD Jakes

A beloved pastor, a successful entrepreneur, a global advocate and philanthropist, shepherd to millions around the globe, Bishop Thomas Dexter (T. D.) Jakes Sr., founded Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith, his first pastorate, in 1979. It was a small beginning, in a small West Virginia church, pastoring a small congregation 10-members strong.

More than 25 years later, he pastors what Christianity Today calls "one of America's fastest growing mega-churches." The Potter's House, a multiracial, nondenominational church with 50-plus active outreach ministries, has dominated church growth records since its inception in 1996. In its almost 10-year existence, the church has grown from the 50 families that relocated with the Jakes family from West Virginia to Dallas to more than 30,000 members to-date. Rivaling many corporations, the ministry employs nearly 400 staff members, including full-time finance, human resources, information technology, materials distribution, public relations, publications and television production departments. The Potter's House is fiscally sound, retiring within four years the financial debt incurred by the 191,000 square foot, $45 million sanctuary construction.

Pastor Kirbyjohn Caldwell

In July 1982, Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell was appointed Senior Pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church.  At the time, the congregation numbered 25.  

Today, Windsor is the largest United Methodist Church in the nation. One of the principal factors contributing to Windsor Village’s evolution is Pastor Caldwell’s belief that the church must embrace theology, identify societal problems, and deliver solutions holistically.  In other words, the church must take the “sanctuary” to the streets.

He is the best-selling author of  ENTREPRENEURIAL FAITH AND THE GOSPEL OF  GOOD SUCCESS .   His book provides a road map to spiritual and emotional wholeness and he delivers a powerful message of wholistic salvation.  He serves on several national and local boards.

 Pastor A.R. Bernard

A. R. Bernard is the President of the Council of Churches of the City of New York representing 1.5 million Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians.  He is also the Founding Pastor and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center (CCC), a 29,000 member Church that sits on an 11-acre campus in Brooklyn, New York.

Bernard sits on the New York City Economic Development Corporation Board; New York City School Chancellor’s Advisory Cabinet and serves as an advisor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, initially as a member of his 2001 Transition Team.

Bernard has been recognized as the most influential New York clergyman (NY Daily News, February 6, 2008), one of the most influential African American New Yorkers (NY Post, February 19, 2008), and voted one of New York’s most influential (NY Magazine, 2006). He was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Consulate General of Israel in New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish National Fund.

Pastor Floyd H. Flake

Flake Former U.S. Congressman, the Reverend Dr. Floyd H. Flake is the senior pastor of the more than 20,000 member Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica, Queens, and President of Wilberforce University in Ohio.  During his 31-year pastorate, Allen has become one of the nation’s foremost Christian churches and development corporations. The church and its subsidiary corporations operate with an annual budget of over $34 million. 

The church also owns expansive commercial and residential developments; a 750-student private school founded by Flake and his wife Elaine, and various commercial and social service enterprises, which has placed it among the nation’s most productive religious and urban development institutions.  The corporations, church administrative offices, school, and ministries comprise one of the Borough of Queens’ largest private sector employers.

Dr. Flake earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree (D.Min.) from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH and holds a B.A. from Wilberforce University with additional studies at Payne Theological Seminary and Northeastern University School of Business.  He also has numerous honorary degrees including: Boston University, Fisk University, Lincoln University (PA), and Cheney State (PA).

Before assuming the pastorate of Allen Church, Reverend Flake served in various capacities at Boston University; Director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center, Interim Dean of the Chapel, and Dean of Students.  This followed successful stints as Associate Dean of Students at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Marketing Analyst for the Xerox Corporation.

 Flake serves as a member of the following boards:  The President’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education; The Fannie Mae Foundation; The Princeton Review; The New York City Investment Fund Civic Capital Corporation; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Advisory Committee on Banking Policy and the Bank of America National Advisory Board.  Flake is also a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Social and Economic Policy, an Adjunct Fellow on the Advisory Board of The Brookings Institute Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, and a member of The NYC 2012 Olympic Committee.   He is also a former columnist for the New York Post.

Election Issues Important To Me President-Elect Obama

by Clarence E. Stowers | Nov 7, 2008 | Current Affairs, Leadership, Politics, President-Elect Obama

Mr. President-Elect Obama,

Now that the election is over, I thought it would be a good exercise for me to write out
which issues are most important to me. So, more for my sake than yours,
here they are…(no particular order)

Education:  A parent
should be able to choose where they send their child, and if a school
is failing, be able to move their child (with the federal funding
dollars) to another school.  Teachers should be rewarded for outcomes
and effectiveness, not tenure.

Protecting the Helpless:  There are people who can't help themselves.  The elderly; disabled
veterans; the unborn; children in poverty; those with special needs. Please support the many grass-roots
organizations who exist to help the helpless.

Energy:
For more than 20 years we've been hearing politicians tell us what we
can't do because it will take too long. Well, if they'd started 20
years ago, we wouldn't be in this predicament.  It is important to me
that the government keeps this front and center, and that all forms of
energy are explored. God expects us to care for this planet, but He
also gave it to us to have dominion over…to live off the land.  So if
there are natural resources available from God, and he has given us the
brains to figure out how to harvest those resources–we should do it!

Spending – I'm tired of an
out-of-control spending congress.  President Bush never saw a spending
bill he didn't like, and the congress for years has spent more money
than they have without care for the future.  The American people follow
their lead and spend more than they make.

I'm
sure I left one of your hot-button issues off this list. But, this list
comprises what will be on my mind for the next four years.

Best regards,

Pastor CE Stowers, Jr.