Dear Friends,
I had the great pleasure of offering a prayer for our nation at last Sunday afternoon’s rescheduled service to honor The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The annual service, sponsored by the Ashland Area Ministerial Association and hosted by The Rev. Stanley McDonald at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, was well attended, and five AAMA member pastors participated, with others in attendance.
The Rev. Lovie L. Scott of New Kinsington, PA, founder and pastor of World Overcomers Ministry, preached on the topic “We Are Still One Nation under God,” supported by music from Faith Ministry Praise Team of Charleston, WV.
It was heartening to see a good representation in the pews from all over town. Ashland doesn’t make big headlines for acts of racism, the kinds we see in other areas of our country. We may think it doesn’t exist here. But it does exist, often in quiet ways we may not even recognize, and it is not limited to black/white relations. It is good to gather from time to time not only to be reminded of its tragic implications in our history and our present time, but also to reflect upon the ways it may exist in our personal lives. What better time than Lent to inspect ourselves for a failure to love our neighbor, and, if it is there, to repent.
Wishing you every blessing,
Mtr. TJ
(With thanks to our secretary, Melissa Owens, who collected the details of this service for her article for The Ashland Beacon.)