My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. — John 15:12-13
The annual Family, Friends and Community Day is designed to have a sort of spiritual coming together. Special emphasis is placed on the worth and value of each person as a human being. It is a time we celebrate our commonalities rather than our differences. We invite individuals who are not members of All Nations Church to share their gifts with the broader collection of people. Singers, poets, liturgical dancers, instrumentalists, panelists etc. are all welcomed to add their talents and gifts in the shaping of the worship experience. We invite the churched and unchurched to bring their family members, friends, co-workers and neighbors to join us for a time of unity and Christian fellowship.
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, is the annual Family, Friends and Community Day at All Nations Baptist Church, beginning at 10 a.m. This is a special service that churches across the country, look forward to each year. This is the time when churches open the doors of the church even wider, by special invitation, and welcome those who may be in need of prayer, or may just need a friend to talk to about some things in their life. If this sounds like you, then join the All Nations Baptist Church, located at 2 Rhode Island Avenue NE, Washington, D.C., where our pastor is the Rev. Dr. James Coleman.
This year, our main event is a panel discussion. This is a panel which will address concerns of the family and it is for the community. The panel will includes a psychiatrist, psychologist, minister, school teacher and community advocate, breast cancer survivor.
Let me share just a brief introduction of each panelist:
– Dr. Reginald Biggs, psychiatrist and Howard University graduate, will be there to talk about depression and how neurology could connect the dots.
– Dr. Lia Rohlehr is a forensic psychologist, and her job is to apply psychological theory to criminal investigations to help understand problems associated with criminal behavior and the treatment needed for those who have broken laws.
– Minister Sammaria Hopkins, a recent graduate of the Howard University Divinity School.
– Victorianne Russell Walton, a breast-cancer survivor and community advocate, speaks across the country, hosting pinky parties.
– Michael Wyche, an experienced schoolteacher in Montgomery County Public Schools who has made it his life goal to help young people to get on the right track.
This is going to be an interesting panel discussion, and our pastor, Rev. Dr. James Coleman, who is also a psychologist, will moderate the panel.
We hope to see you there Sunday at The All Nations Baptist Church, North Capitol and Rhode Island Avenue NE. If you have been have had problems with your child or your children, and your need a word, this is an excellent opportunity to come on out and bring the family. You never know what answers the Lord God may give to you, with your name on it.
Following the panel, there will be some outstanding singing by the All Nations Baptist Church’s praise and worship team, after which you will hear from our pastor for the sermon. Philippians 4:8 (KJV) says: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” I’m asking you to think on this worship service as your opportunity for a blessing.
This is a special invitation extended to you, the church is asking you to join us for the Family, Friends and Community Day. Start your new year off in a different way this year. Remember that old saying — doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Try a new way to get new results! We will see you there.
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.
