December - People's AME Zion Church

The People’s Proclaimer

Let love be genuine. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Romans 12:9a, 15a NRSV December 2016

Lashana Brown made Honor Roll this marking period with a 90 average!

Amir Ramos presented the Sherman Parks Bulldogs Association with proceeds from a fundraiser he initiated and executed. He also received awards as an athlete for High Honors and Merit.

Baseball is considered America's pastime. And one of our own received a special honor for his work in the sport. Many of you know Brother Ronald Green as an usher in our church. Outside of People's he has been an umpire for many years. Recently, he was inducted into the Baseball Umpires Little League Hall of fame in Cooperstown. Next time you see him congratulate him on this special honor.

Congratulations to Reverend Paris Price! On October 8, 2016 she was ordained at the leadership conference in Tarrytown, NY. When asked about how it feels to finally be a reverend Price said, "It really doesn't feel any different, it's just drawing closer in a relationship with God." Her journey to this moment began four years ago when she did her trial sermon in October 2012.

We know Christopher Jaime as a talented musician. He is currently a senior at Bishop Grimes Junior/ Senior High School. He plays on the defensive line for the School's football team. He recently played in the Arcaro Senior Bowl. The bowl games feature high school seniors from all schools in Section III. He is being recruited by colleges and is waiting to make a decision. We look forward to seeing what else God has in store for him. Contributor Iris St. Meran

Hope ~ Faith in God keeping his promises to humanity. Preparation ~ get ready to receive God.

1st Reading ~ Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalms ~ Psalm 122 2nd Reading ~ Romans 13:11-14 Gospel ~ Matthew 24:36-44

1st Reading ~ Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalms ~ 72:1-7, 18-19 2nd Reading ~ Romans 15:4-13 Gospel ~ Matthew 3:1-12

Joy ~ recalls the angels joyfully singing about the birth of Christ.

Love ~ God loves you enough to send His only Son to Earth.

1st Reading ~ Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalms ~ 146:5-10 2nd Reading ~ James 5:7-10 Gospel ~ Matthew 11:2-11

1st Reading ~ Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalms ~ 80:1-7, 17-19 2nd Reading ~ Romans 1:1-7 Gospel ~ Matthew 1:18-25

Jesus Christ is purity.

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Youth Prison Prevention & Reentry Ministry Reverend Patricia A. Bufford

The Wake Up Call! Wake Up! Wake Up! The Alarm is Going Off! Are You Woke Yet? Stop pushing the Snooze Button. Get Up, Get Up! There is No time to waste... your future depends on it! So, WAKE UP! Stop letting life pass you by. Yes, the struggle is real, but our God is Real & Great! Wake Up stay in the Race! God has plans for you! God is Our Help!

The Wind Something is blowing in the wind, you may say its the answer my friend. Oh how I want to see JESUS again. I do believe when HE said that HE would be with me ‘til the end. I know that HE will never forsake me, so righteous and upright is HE. Something is blowing in the wind, I don't know what you have been told but we can go to the Throne of Grace and go bold. We never have to live in fear for our protector is truly here. Something is blowing in the wind, Yeah... just call it the answer....my friend.

"Scriptures to Encourage You" I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 KJV For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Psalms 46:1 NLT

Robin Brownlee

Follow Us on Facebook: Youth Prison Prevention & Reentry Ministry

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Ministry in Action

TRUNK OR TREAT Our church was a safe alternative for the community on Halloween. We held our Trunk Or Treat event and provided goodies for more than 400 children in Syracuse. Big thanks to the Christian Education Department and the MANY volunteers! Contributor Iris St. Meran

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Trust Falls Joshua Michael King Growing up, as the weather turned warmer and school was nearing a close, summer camp was right around the corner. Not always was it a fond experience, especially the first summer or two. When the fear of being away from home and not knowing or trusting anyone had overtaken me, consistent letters or calls home, countless tears and bed-wetting had ensued. Over time I was able to work through it and suddenly the annual 6 night stay became the highlight of every adolescent year thereafter! One thing that has always stood out was the sense of comrade, family, unity and faith. However at the time, I had no idea the seeds that were planted within me and many are continuing to blossom today as a newer Christians. Along with the campfires, arts & crafts, singing, boating, swimming, nature hikes and archery; I vividly recall one particular camp activity, trust falls. Widely practiced among campers at any given moment, it required a small or large group surrounding one individual, who with eyes closed would countdown and fall backward into the group. Now this could end in one of two fairly obvious ways; but almost always was nobody clowning around enough to not catch the person falling. For some reason, I preferred never to actually be the person being caught while falling, because in such case I would have to submit to trusting those people behind me. Even at that young age, life had already begun to provide numerous examples of how trusting in or depending on others was just not something I was supposed to be really ever be familiar with. I suppose in a way I was scared that they would drop me...like my father did when he walked out on us or when my mom worked 2 jobs while in school or when my big brother outgrew our tiny apartment and my sister followed suit with my mother. Trust was never given away from me very easily; even though I had always had a tender and sweet heart, I tended to lean closer to extreme caution of others. But when there is a summer love crush involved, there really is no avoiding it and there I was about to plummet backwards off a picnic table with my eyes closed. When I opened my eyes and the adrenalin slowed, I felt the security of the cradle of arms and looked up to see the beaming smile of satisfaction from the summer love crush, too.

So in that moment and throughout this journey with Christ, I have recognized the necessity of trusting in others, and moreover having faith and trust in God. Trust produces results through the application of passion, process and purpose. For that summer and within other moments in life, I delighted in temporary places with temporary people. It wasn't until I began to trust in God and submit myself to fall according to His will; that I realized that there is no greater satisfaction than knowing that He will never let me fall and if I manage to, He will forever be there to lift me back up. Trusting God requires courage and conviction, among so many other things. The strength to overcome our fears about being satisfied, comforted, protected and caught will determine just how much we can trust Him, so we can truly trust others.

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Ministry in Action

On Sunday, October 30 our ushers celebrated their 71st anniversary!

Annual Global Missions Sunday

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We’ll start with politics on a national level. Our county is in total turmoil. But let me bring something to your attention. All politics are local and I say that to say this. We have to pay close attention locally. For starters there are millions of dollars that have floated through the City of Syracuse, more so through our communities to be followed by billions. Guess what folks we have not and are not being included. We’re in an uproar over the Presidential election when we really need to pay close attention to the upcoming Mayoral election. We should be galvanizing ourselves now to ensure that we have the best candidate that will represent us in that seat.

Let’s talk about Lead poisoning. We have been found to have the highest number of lead poisoning amongst our children than anyone in the US but the Federal government has denied funding to the City of Syracuse. We have been deemed to have the highest concentrated levels of poverty amongst blacks and Latinos than any other city in the US. This seems to be a resonating theme more so for the black and Hispanic communities in our city and as it resonates. Don’t believe for one minute that most of this is not intentional. The systems that are set in place continue to push black and brown communities further into despair. So I say all of this to say. We have an opportunity to pull ourselves together as a community and use the rights and freedoms that all of the people before us fought so hard for and that is the right to VOTE. We have wards and districts in our community that are empty and when you have empty wards and districts you are not using your political power. Hold all of your elected officials accountable from Federal, State, County and local elected.

When there is uproar is when they start talking about I-81. Taking it down, leaving it up, whatever the course of action our communities will truly be affected just as we were affected from the first I-81 venture. Pioneer Homes and everything along the 81 corridor will no longer be as we know it now. The talk that’s taking place is to mix Pioneer Homes with retail, market rate housing as well as low income. I for one hope that will be the case but I will not hold out a lot of Get involved in the political process, let your voice hope. Just my opinion but I see it as prime real estate count, be heard and lets work together to change the and a way to move poor people out of the way. landscape of our communities so that folks can’t just Let’s talk about the flood zone again. The Federal walk in and change it for us. Government has come in and evaluated the poorest parts of our city and designated them as a flood zone. I am not a rocket scientist but it’s interesting to me that we would fall into the same category as Long Island and Buffalo because we have a creek that has never overflowed but then again the most vulnerable of our community will be hit with this expense that they will not be able to afford which again you get more dislocated folks from our community.

Contact Information Helen Hudson Syracuse Common Councilor At-Large President Pro-Tempore Office: Room 314 City Hall Syracuse, NY 13202 Phone: (315) 448-8466 Fax: (315) 448-8423 Email: [email protected]

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Employment Opportunities www.cnyworks.com www.jobs.ny.gov

Future Newsletter Issue March 12

Deadline for Submissions February 17

The Penny Brigade receives an offering every 4th Sunday to assist ministry in New York, the United States and Internationally (the Connectional). Please continue to add your coins to the offering to make an impact in the world.

Submit to: [email protected]

Sick and Shut In Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:14

Tracey Amos ▪ Eddie Brooks Jr. Eloise Curry ▪ Joyce Dixon Charles Dunn Jr.▪ Gloria Dykes Margaret Glenn ▪ Joann Green Muriel Henderson ▪ Gwendolyn Johnson Stacey Johnson Jane Miller ▪ Jeanette Moody Reola Robinson ▪ Virginia Robinson Mary Stephens ▪ Harry Thompson Harvelia Sullivan-Hammons Ronald Walton ▪ Hattie Williams

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From Pew to Pulpit: Understanding Church Members’ Perspectives through Focus Groups

As Pastor Daren Jaime enters his 10th year of pastorship at People’s AME Zion church, he continuously looks for ways to better serve the parishioners. Conducting focus groups is one way to better understand church members’ concerns and something Pastor instituted as part of his Re "In" Visioning Church campaign. “As pastor every week I have the experience of looking out and seeing things from the perspective of pulpit to pew. Our focus group create a different vantage point allowing our church leadership and myself to see from pew to pulpit. Through this, our membership helps us by giving both insight and foresight,” Pastor Jaime said. Focus groups are small-group discussions among people who share a set of common characteristics (e.g., church membership, marital status, age, etc.) where participants discuss their attitudes about a specific topic, led by a moderator.

“I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the focus groups, as I was able to express my thoughts without being judged,” said one singles’ focus group participant. Christal Johnson, Ph.D., served as the moderator for each discussion. Johnson is a trained moderator who has over five years’ experience facilitating focus groups. Additionally, Sis. Christina Sellers and Bro. Leroy Sams were instrumental in coordinating the logistics and refreshments for each focus group.

“Conducting focus groups at People’s was a new venture for all of us. However, Sis. Christina and Bro. Sams helped make this a smooth and seamless process. I appreciate their willingness to assist me, along with the church members who participated in the group discussions,” Johnson said. The focus groups will culminate in a report that will provide an mix of participants’ opinions, attitudes and concerns, and provide insights into current strengths and areas of improvement from their point of view. The report will anonymously share the participants’ feedback.

Six focus groups were conducted between October 4 November 29, among the following groups of church members: common core leaders, senior saints, married couples, new members, singles, and youth. The discussions focused on church members’ views of what is going well and what needs improvement at People’s AME Zion. The results will help Pastor Jaime and church leadership make strategic and tactical decisions in implementing changes at People’s AME Zion, and will also help them re “in” vision church improvements as People’s continues to change for the best. Christal Johnson, Ph.D

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Sunday December 11 ~ 4pm Check-Up Meeting - People’s (cancelled - forecasted inclement weather) Sunday December 18 ~ 9:30am CED Christmas Program - People’s December 27-30 CED Winter Meeting, - Washington DC

Contact us: [email protected] or Phone 315-472-1198 or Like us on Facebook

People’s African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 2306 South Salina Street Syracuse, New York 13205

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