The Rev. Dr. Henry P. Davis III and members of First Baptist Church of Highland Park will begin Easter weekend by hosting a Good Friday service where seven pastors will preach the seven last words Jesus spoke from the cross.
While Good Friday services are an annual tradition in many churches, locally and around the globe, Davis said he and other participating pastors are also focused on issues that remain pressing during the Lenten season, Easter and beyond.
“You have the issue of rising crime, immigration in America. You have a lot of divides,” Davis said. “I try my best to help people understand the bigger issues.”
Davis, who noted that “Jesus was always involved in the lives of people,” started faith-based courses to assist people with various challenges.
“Economically, we have programs to help people with their finances as well as programs for business owners that we are trying to empower them through knowledge,” Davis said. ”We are trying to teach a younger group how to utilize the tools we gave them for the rest of their lives.”
The Rev. Tony Lee, pastor of Community of Hope African Methodist Episcopal Church in Temple Hills, Maryland will preach from the words, “It is Finished,” during the Good Friday service. Like Davis, Lee plans to emphasize the important work that still needs to be done to address issues in the community, nation and world.
“What is important for us now is to share the value of shared humanity and how we are all God’s children,” Lee said. “The situation in Gaza and the Congo is when our humanity and Christianity cause us to have an impact whenever we can. Jesus died for us all, and we allow people to be killed like cattle.”
The Rev. Matthew Watley, pastor of Kingdom Fellowship in Beltsville, Maryland said his church is full of changemakers, guided by God.
“Our mission is that we are kingdom disciples trying to make the kingdom different,” Watley told The Informer. “ We just can’t go to church. We were saved to serve and to make a difference where God has sent us.”
The church recently celebrated the fourth anniversary of Kingdom Care Outreach Ministry, which Watley said feeds “people at seven locations in two different counties.”
A Time for Resurrection in Black America
As Easter nears, religious leaders and civil rights advocates have been inspired by the reason for the season — resurrection — to promote progress and equity.
“Palestine has over 30,000 of their loved ones who are deceased,” said Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. “I pray that resurrection will look different for the people of Haiti, which is in complete chaos… I hope that resurrection will look different in America in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The second pandemic is hopelessness.”
The Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., a civil rights veteran and president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), was also influenced by the Easter season in his emphasis to get people to the polls.
“Easter is about resurrection, and we need to have an economic resurrection in Black America, and that will only happen if we have a massive voter turnout in 2024,” Chavis told The Informer.
“I don’t want to see Black America crucified in 2025 because they don’t vote,” Chavis continued. “If we get out and vote, we will have a resurrection. Black leadership has to be increasingly vocal to go out and vote.”