Editor’s Note: As a part of Black History Month, the Rev. Matthew M. Lubin Sr., pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church, comments on a recent survey by the Barna Group about the relationship between Black Americans and the Black church, both historically and currently. Click here to read the entire survey. By Rev. MATTHEW M. LUBIN SR. The Black Church in
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Jemar Tisby, president of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective, will be guest speaker for the 2021 Don Williams and Royce Money Distinguished Lecture Series at Abilene Christian University Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 10-11. The series, hosted by ACU’s Carl Spain Center on Race Studies and Spiritual Action, will be presented in person and virtually. Both are free and open to
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By LORETTA FULTON In April 2020, local historian Jay Moore put together a self-guided tour of historic churches in Abilene, all but one of them serving predominantly Black congregations, as an answer to the question everyone had–What can we do during this COVID-19 shutdown? Unfortunately, almost a year later that’s still a good question. And Moore’s tour is still a
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By LORETTA FULTON The Rev. Andrew Penns, pastor at Valley View Missionary Baptist Church, grew up in Abilene and was in the last graduating class at Woodson High School. After graduating from Woodson, Penns served in the Army, including time in Vietnam. When he returned to Abilene, he didn’t like the racial environment he saw. So he moved to Austin
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By LORETTA FULTON The only thing missing from the Feb. 27 meeting of the Abilene Association of Congregations was an altar call. Otherwise, it would have been “church,” not a “meeting.” The presentation by Dr. Kelvin J. Kelley, who was a church pastor before he was a professor, was that powerful. Kelley, associate professor of theology in Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon
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By LORETTA FULTON Even if Stephanie Hamm didn’t want to be a social activist, she would have little choice. “I have social justice in my veins,” she said. Hamm, an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Abilene Christian University, was guest speaker Feb. 6 for the weekly program at First Central Presbyterian Church. Stephanie Hamm, left, visits
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Spirit Of Abilene 