Greater Allen Chapel Remembers and Celebrates
By Glenda J. Minor, 8thEpiscopal District
Greater Allen Chapel AME Church is pastored by the Rev. Dr. Demetrese D. Phillips and is located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We recently celebrated the shortest, but very important, month of the year. As we moved through the month of February, we reflected on and celebrated three significant events. At Greater Allen Chapel, February was set aside for the recognition of Black history, acknowledgement of love for one another, and remembrance of our Church’s founder.
Black history is a time when we often hear about the great accomplishments and contributions of African Americans to improve our society. Many of the facts we learn are eye-opening and bring about a sense of tremendous pride once we gain knowledge of them. It promotes “I can” and “I am somebody” attitudes. We thank God for our predecessors and look to carry the torch they lit. Yet, in addition to remembering the giants and the shoulders on which we stand, the church celebrated our living legends in the Baton Rouge-New Orleans areas.
Adrien O. Wilson, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Baton Rouge’s Governor John Bel Edwards recognized the living legends. Sharon Weston Broome was the first black woman mayor of Baton Rouge. Gail Etienne, Tessie Provost, and Leona Tate who, at the age of six, entered the civil rights movement when they integrated McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School in New Orleans—six years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Board of Educationthat racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Aaron Johnson, one of the first black police officers in Baton Rouge recalled the uproar when he was the first African American officer in Baton Rouge to arrest a white man. Claude Jeff LeDuff was the first black police chief in East Baton Rouge Parish. Charlotte Placide was unanimously selected by the School Board to serve as the first black superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. Under Placide’s leadership, the School District ended the 51-year desegregation litigation while, among other things, showing continued academic gains on state assessments.
In recognition of Valentine’s Day, a significant cultural and commercial celebration of love, Greater Allen Chapel held the first-ever Red Carpet Gala. It was a wonderful event that brought people together in Christian fun, fellowship, and love as we celebrated the holiday in high fashion in Southern University’s Cotillion Ballroom), a Historically Black College and University.
Finally, as African Methodists, we celebrated Founder’s Day. It was important that we remember and celebrate the principled values passed on by our founding father, Richard Allen. He represented liberation, justice, self-determination, education, and economic empowerment.
Upon reflection of the celebrations that we embraced upon in February, ultimately three questions emerged. First, are we letting our light shine in order to keep the torch burning about our African American heritage and legacy? Second, what are we doing, as AMEs, to keep the name of Richard Allen alive? Third, how can we express love for one another in a more tangible and physical way?
Christians are compelled to be the light of the world, which is supported in Matthew 5:14. The church should be a mirror of God’s generous radiance. We reflect His inherent and brilliant nature, and by extension, we transfer this light to others. Ultimately, we, in essence, continue to light and pass the torch of our faith.
Second, recognition of our founder is not demonstrated superficially but sacrificially. Therefore, we have the greatest example of the sacrifice in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Father. God gave His son and His son gave His life. Subsequently, we can experience the celebrations of February when we understand and appreciate 1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.”
