Week 9: Sunday Service Announcements
sometimes the strongest soldiers have to become prayer warriors to weather the storm until they make it back home
It’s something special that Black grandmothers add to their prayers that makes God answer them faster than normal.
Growing up for me the secret sauce was going in the closet, kneeling on her knees, fingers locked in between one another, in her signature prayer warrior position. When ‘man’ couldn’t answer the call she would tell me “My God always answers when I call on Him" and she was right.
I know that we all can attest to how many times we have experienced pure miracles in our lives that left us stunned by the Mightiness of God.
That time you didn’t know where your next check would come from but somehow your bills still got paid. Or when you didn’t know how you would feed your family with what you had but that was a meal you’ll never forget. We are always protected and provided for, don’t allow the negativity of your mind (the devil as church folk labeled it) to keep you afraid of the dark when you embody the light.
As you continue to walk your light illuminates your path.
A Black Family testimonies from the American Suburbs
Good Morning, Sisters and Brothers
As we prepare to send our children back to school, I would like to bless them with a prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless our children across this nation and the world with your hands of protection.
May you watch over them in their classrooms, school hallways, on the schoolyard, and on their way to and from their learning endeavors, wherever they may be.
Father, we ask that you open their minds and hearts to learn what they need so they can become the change so greatly needed in our world.
Remind them that no matter what anyone says, they are made in your image, blessed with beautiful black skin, the hearts and minds of a mighty people, their ancestors without whom, we wouldn’t be here today.
Bless this church family as we come together today to honor you and each other with our words and deeds. We are thankful to come together to love and support one another in our creative endeavors. A special thank you to all the writers who nourish our bodies today.
Let the church say, Amen!
Amen
Without further ado, I tried my hand at a group of mini poems that paint the picture of the black family in Suburban America:
The mother’s skin the color of cocoa
Their three sons too
Their father, the color of caramel
His favorite color —blue
He wears baby blue collared shirts
Drives a Dark Blue fancy car
His cufflinks of sapphires
He isn’t just a father
He's an all-star
He never left his family’s side
through their struggles he remained
with his heart open wide
She fell in love with shades of blue
innumerable hues
the colors of the sea
azure, turquoise, aqua, teal
soothing, cooling, colors that heal
God's natural therapy
Natural colors soothe emotions
amidst the storms she goes through
her trauma feels undue
with her toes immersed in water
on the shore of the ocean
her troubles cease to matter
His brown face swims upstream in a sea of white
making his way through school hallways,
of children full of spite
his difference,
his beautiful mind
kids don't understand
They are used to vanilla, bland, colorless,
like grains of sand
blending into the hourglass
If he could choose his color
it might be red
hot, anger, of years with words unsaid
Maybe he would choose the color purple
red rage mixed with cool blue
the fluctuation of his changing mood
In a sea blue house
they lay their heads
sweet slumber in cherrywood beds
A garden of flowers in shades of red
dew-covered grass in shades of green
crisp, cool, morning air make the season serene
ruby red blooms burst on Crape Myrtle trees
assaultive sun beams
heaven's light morning scene
A black boy, a white school
becomes a football star
He runs far
He scores
The crowd screams
He wins the game,
The faces in the stands gleam
The next day he's placed under arrest
This incredible student,
The top of his class
Paraded through hallways
As classmates pass
in-between classes
feels like harassment
Policemen wear the color blue
with smug expressions
We got you
He can't come back school
Alternative school suspension
Teachers at this location
can not teach at his level of acceleration
Boys with high intellect
not your average student
guilty, until proven innocent
Suburban education
expensive integration
Black and brown skin ain't safe nowhere in this nation
Five thousand green dollars,
and months later, the charges are dropped
attorney fees five thousand a pop
Over time three out of three black sons arrested
Charges contested
Not prosecuted
Black trauma unadjudicated
An Appeal to the Singles & Couples Ministries
Hello all, I’m Dr. April coming to you today first on behalf of the Singles Ministry.
Fanning myself because I run hot, especially in church suits 🥵
For those of you who’ve been avoiding our Wednesday night potlucks because you’re too busy at home swiping right on Mr. Wrong (or Ms. Wrong), we see you. And there’s no judgment.
Much better to be swiping than bursting your red balloon in someone’s face.😅
Now, to the matter at hand.
I’m fairly new to Substack and taking a couple of polls to see what types of relationship issues you want to learn more about.
I’m an experienced Couples Therapist in the D.C. area and if you’re single within this WILD modern dating scene, I hope to provide you with some spiritual and intellectual nourishment as best I can through my writing. 🙏🏽
Please take a moment to complete the poll below. Thank you for your input!
Sadly, the polls are limited to only 5 options but feel free to write in your own topic suggestions in the comments.
Second, let me address the Couples Ministry because we all know the real work isn’t just finding a relationship but keeping one!
If you’re married or living in sin partnered in a modern, loving long-term relationship (LTR), I need your input on what topics you want to hear about.
To the couples (or thruples) thank y’all in advance for voting. See you at the first Friday faithful couples game night!
The polls are limited to only 5 options but feel free to write in your own topic suggestions in the comments.
Saint first, sinner immediately after.
I wanted to start this entry off by saying that I came out of the womb going to church, but I don’t think that’s entirely true. I wasn’t named after Prince, but I do have purple relations. So much so, that I’m positive “I Would Die 4 U” was playing softly at the time of my afternoon ascendance (more on that later). Immediately after that, though, I was in church.
I’m a PK. And yes, the stereotypes are true.
I enjoy church, I always have and I still do. I don’t enjoy waking up early for anyone or anything—not even Jesus (can I be honest here?), but that’s where my qualms start and end with church.
I don’t have any religious horror stories of my own because I was raised in a church that embodies the “come as you are” manifesto through and through. Three-piece suits weren’t required, showers either; as we often were a refuge to the unhoused. Queer folk and their children were a part of our congregation, too. Everyone was welcome.
I’m saying all this to say that until I moved away for college, my dwelling place reflected a world made for everyone—a reality I thought everyone was living. And then I grew up.
Life has happened to me, and to those around me, and knocked a few of us out of our faith—me specifically. I’ve listened to and read about the traumatic religious experiences of those who were brave enough to share. I’ve matured, come into my own understanding, and brought my lived experiences back to “The Book”. I’ve sat down with my community, asked the hard questions, and insisted on critical thinking over indoctrination.
I’ve questioned God, too. “If I am your child, why is this happening to me?”, “If you’re supposed to be the embodiment of love, why are your people spewing hatred and then using your name as a reference?”
Me and God, we’re still in communication, but the relationship has been fickle over the last few years. And during this time, I’ve found my own, new version of God in interesting and unsuspected people and places. But no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I find myself coming back to the same cornerstone: Worship.
I’m definitely not a Kim Burrell saint, but more of a Kirk Franklin sinner. IYKYK.
We’re dual people. We worship and we sin, sometimes at the same time. We drink and then find our place of deference. We cuss and then call on the name of Jesus. And then we find our way forward—whatever that looks like. And that’s okay. All of who we are is okay.
I feel led to share a few songs in regular rotation for me. Maybe they’ll spark something inside of you, too.
When I wanna feel something:
Open My Heart - Yolanda Adams
I Told The Storm - Greg O. Quin ‘n Joyful Noyse
My Testimony/Let Go - Kelontae Gavin
When I wanna do my little dance:
Show Up! - John P. Kee & NLCC
They That Wait - Fred Hammond
Kingdom - Maverick City Music & Kirk Franklin
If you lean more spiritual than religious, Sounds of Blackness is an ancestral balm that will get you right every time.
I’ll leave you with this: The race isn’t given to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure to the end.
And if no one has told you today, I love you.
Prayer Hotline
Each week for nine weeks, Black writers have been writing from their hearts and every Sunday I speak for us all when I say we are blown away. Both the readers and writers, our Black experiences pump through our veins as they represent the bloodline of our Black culture, the church being the temple.
I pray you learn to accept your family as they are.
I pray you give your family space to heal and grow.
I pray your family recognizes your growth and welcomes your reintroductions.
I pray you define family in your words.
I pray you experience love even when you feel unworthy of it.
I pray you find peace in your childhood.
I pray you love yourself extra today because you know now what you didn’t then, so give yourself grace.
I pray you experience love from a lifelong partner who will never leave.
I pray you can experience peace in knowing you found your person.
I pray you have a family of your own, the way it’s designed for you because your family might not be who you thought they would be, that partner might check the physical boxes but make sure you add more of those emotions you want to feel in your relationship on that checklist for God.
I pray you heal your relationship with money. Whether you recognize it now or not the way your family views money is your subconscious belief system and that might be why you haven’t been able to live financially free yet.
I pray you find your purpose and allow your light to shine bright.
I pray you find your authentic voice and speak your truth from a place of ‘healed’, healing or accepting your truth. Each stage is necessary for your growth.
I pray you let go of control and focus on yourself.
Amen.
Black Reads: Issue 006
If you missed the chat thread conversation this week here are some highlights to get us started with Black Reads: Issue 006…
Week 8: Sunday Service Announcements
Faith without works is dead. Have you ever heard that said in church before?
If you would like to pay your tithes and offerings for this week’s Sunday Service Announcements the ushers will be coming down each row to pass the collection plate.
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At the end. Perfection. You are doing God’s work!
Jacquie! How you pulled that together! The pictures. The prayer at