The Historic Ebenezer A.M.E. Church

Bishop Richard Franklin Norris - Chair, Commission on Publications

The Reverend Dr. Johnny Barbour, Jr., Publisher

The Reverend Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III, the 20th Editor, The Christian Recorder

1. EDITORIAL – I WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE, WHO DON’T READ OUR PERIODICALS, ALSO FAIL TO READ THE BIBLE:

Dr. Calvin H. Sydnor III

The 20th Editor of The Christian Recorder

I had an interesting, but disturbing experience in Columbia, South Carolina while attending The Great Gathering. The Great Gathering was a wonderful experience.

I was getting ready to return to Nashville and was sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a ride to the airport. I sat down next across from a young lady started small talk; it just seemed like the right thing to do since we were sitting in the same space. I said, “Good morning! My name is Calvin Sydnor and I am getting ready to fly back to Nashville.” She responded, “I am Reverend Mary Evans (not her real name, I can’t remember her name).

I asked, “Are you a pastor? Are you AME CME or AME Zion?” She responded that she was an AME, but she was not pastoring.

I asked if she enjoyed The Great Gathering and she responded that she had enjoyed the meeting.

I asked her if she were an itinerant deacon or elder and she responded that she was an itinerant elder and served on the staff of a church in South Carolina. I told her that I was the editor of The Christian Recorder, but that didn’t seem to strike a normal response like, ”Oh, yeah, I have seen your picture” or give a compliment or a criticism.

I asked her if she read The Christian Recorder and she responded that she hadn’t gotten a subscription to The Christian Recorder yet. I then asked if she read The Christian Recorder Online. She responded that she had not read The Christian Recorder Online.

By this time I am flabbergasted, ready to lose my cool. I asked her if she read The A.M.E. Church Review and again she answered in the negative. I asked about The Journal of Religious Education, The Missionary Magazine and the other AME periodicals and again the answer was that she didn’t read them. By that time, I wanted to get cynical and ask if she read the Bible, but I “didn’t go there” because I didn’t want her to lie.

I wonder how many other preachers we have who are not interested in keeping abreast of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I really wanted to ask that young lady which books and periodicals did she regularly read.

I was disturbed by that conversation and I guess that I don’t have to worry about the young lady reading this editorial. I was disturbed because she may be indicative of other AME clergy and laity; people who are not connected with the Church because they fail to read the periodicals of the AME Church.

A couple of weeks ago, I received the Gazette. I bet that young lady has no idea about the Gazette. I would bet at this point there are many of you reading this editorial, up to this point, have no idea about the Gazette. The YPD Gazette is the Young People’s Department periodical. It is absolutely a wonderful magazine, outstanding articles, engaging graphics, a lot of stories by and about young people, news from the various episcopal districts, a Questions and Answers’ column, and a lot of news for young people. I wonder how many young people are subscribed to it. I wonder how many pastors are subscribed to it.

The AME Church Periodicals

The Journal of Christian Education has outstanding articles that would assist pastors and religious educators in the local church. I wonder how many people read it.

The Voice of Missions is another outstanding AME periodical that has thought-provoking articles, news about Districts 14-20, and observations from the Executive Director and the Editor give clear statement about the AME Church’s mission ministry overseas. I wonder how many people read it.

The Women’s Missionary Magazine is a premier periodical with informative articles. It ranks, with the other AME periodicals, at the top of denominational periodicals. The AME Church periodicals can stand with the best. . I wonder how many people read it.

The Connectional Lay Organization Magazine is a must–read periodical for the AME laity and clergy should read it too. I wonder how many people read it.

The AME devotional periodical, The Secret Chamber with its inspirational vignettes brings joy to those who read it, but I wonder how many people read it.

I wonder how many of our clergy and laity read our periodicals. I know that we have a lot of subscribers, but I am also certain that we have a lot more clergy and laity who are not subscribed to our periodicals.

The Book of Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church 2008 on page 172, gives preachers and laity the option, and thus an excuse, beyond a mandatory subscription to The Christian Recorder, not to subscribe to all of the AME periodicals. The Discipline simply says, “All traveling preachers in the Connection are required to subscribe to The Christian Recorder, or The Voice of Missions or The A.M.E. Church Review or The Journal of Christian Education. Presiding elders, at their Quarterly Conferences, shall require all local preachers to subscribe to at least one of the Church periodical.”

The Discipline makes one thing clear. All “traveling preachers” are required to follow the rule set forth in The Discipline.” Traveling preachers are itinerant deacons and itinerant elders. I suspect that some people read “traveling preachers” to mean only pastors. All ordained itinerant deacons and elders are “traveling preachers,” even those clergy without pastoral appointments.

Putting the laity aside, we minimize the standards and expectations of our clergy.

If we valued the content of our AME periodicals, the expectation should be that every clergy person read and be knowledgeable about the information in all of the AME periodicals. When we extend minimum standards, as in subscribe to this periodical or to that periodical, people will almost always take the “road of least resistance” and do what is minimally required and, in the long run, the denomination suffers.

In the case of the subscription options on page 172, most preachers will opt for two subscriptions, except in the case where presiding bishops insists that all pastors subscribe to all AME periodicals. Bishops should not have to “tell” professionals that they have to subscribe to the organization’s periodicals. Professionals should want to know what’s going on in every segment of the organization.

As I have said before, every person coming into the AME ministry should want to subscribe to all of the AME periodicals. They should not have to be told to subscribe to the AME periodicals. Church officers who are serious about being officers in the AME Church should subscribe to all of the AME Church periodicals.

The young preacher I met in Columbia who precipitated this editorial is the classic example of an ordained AME clergy person who is not concerned with incorporating the full spectrum of African Methodism into the totality of ministry.

Sermons are more than Bible stories, more than what happened in biblical history. Effective sermons address contemporary issues and the African Methodist Episcopal Church is a connectional church, our ministries “touch each other” and the way we find out about what’s going on in the AME Church can be discovered by reading our periodicals.

It is in our periodicals that we learn about the past, the present and what we hope for in the future. It is in our periodical that we learn what others are doing and what has worked for others and hopefully capture ideas for ministry. Our periodicals allow us to share ideas and ministry initiatives. Our periodicals should inspire ministry and spark evangelism.

But how can these things be if we fail to read our periodicals. If the AME Church periodicals are not in your possession, you can’t read them.

If we love the African Methodist Episcopal Church we should want to be as knowledgeable as we can about our Church, and the most effective way that we can be knowledgeable about our Church is to subscribe to the African Methodist Episcopal church periodicals and read them.

I wonder how many people read our periodicals.

Did you know?

There are no parables in the Gospel of John.

There are only seven miracles in the Gospel of John.

I wonder how many people, who don’t read our periodicals, also fail to read the Bible.