Fulfilling a purpose: Church works to use faith to foster self-empowerment

Editor's note: The following is the third part in an occasional series on faith, worship and beliefs in Cape Girardeau's black churches.

The message at Rhema Word Breakthrough International Ministries on Sundays is all about self-empowerment. And the pastor's sermons are the key ingredient.

"We want people to fulfill their purpose and reach their destiny," said the Rev. A.G. Green, pastor of the interdenominational church. "Jesus said, 'I came so that you might have life and live more abundantly.'"

At a recent Sunday service, a screen flashed passages of scripture on the screen behind Green as he told his congregation members to stand up and believe in themselves.

"I want you to turn to your neighbor right now and say 'Neighbor,'" Green shouted at the congregation.

"Neighbor," the crowd responded.

"'I'm not ashamed of who I am or where I'm going,'" Green said.

"I'm not ashamed of who I am or where I'm going," the audience roared back.

According to Green, his sermons focus on helping people develop a closer relationship with God and to understand God's word. From there, Green said he wants people to realize they are important in God's eyes.

"God has a plan for us all," he said. "A lot of people know God but are only scratching the surface of where they can go in life. There's an emotional and intellectual empowerment once you're connected to a theo-centric life."

At that same Sunday service, Green cited scripture as he told his congregation members they shared in God's power and that he has a purpose for them.

"Say, 'Neighbor, I am a partaker of God's power,'" Green said. "You may think you're nothing, but God says you're something. You're special. Put doubters out of your mind."

Green's sermons are not exclusively about faith and being closer to God. He said there is a lot of misinformation in society that causes problems for people's outlook.

"The media manipulates things to be gloomy or derogatory or stereotypes," he said. "You go to church with people, work with people with preconceived ideas. You're programmed to think" people always act a certain way.

To correct misconceptions and give church members motivation to strive higher, Green said he believes in using his sermons as the means to spread true information to his congregation members.

"I'm attempting to change the mindsets of people," he said. "Truth will make you free."

Spreading information

Green said one preconceived notion is that all blacks are violent. He said people believe that idea and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; blacks become violent because they think they are supposed to be that way.

"If you are an African-American and you hear this negative, doom-gloom, evil stuff, you start believing that," Green said. "You become that, and your thinking and behavior will match that. That's not a good thing."

Green went on to say that other false ideas are widely spread.

"The male African-Ameri- can is in crisis," he said, but there are a lot of false statistics related to that issue that are propagated.

Green said a lot of his congregation believe more blacks are in prison than in college, or most black men do not pay their child support. According to Green, more blacks are in college than in prison, and 67 percent of black men do pay their child support.

"Even black people are amazed," said Green about when he announced that information to his congregation.

Green said his view of using information as empowerment spreads beyond present misconceptions. He said he attempts to present a different view of the Bible to his congregation. Green said there is a commonly held conception that the Bible is about white people; he likes to readjust the image of the Bible as being about black people.

"It's very enlightening when they see themselves in it," said Green about his congregation.

Looking at history

Green said he also likes to use historical information as a means to change people's perceptions.

Green likes to use history to develop a sense of pride in his black congregation. He cited references from ancient writers, such as Pliny the Elder in first century Rome and Herodotus in fifth century B.C. Greece, as examples that blacks were influential in the development of civilization. Using these sources, he said, he has read about African involvement in the creation of mathematics and early medicine. As a result, congregation members take pride in their ancestry, Green said.

"Young people learn it is unacceptable to claim you cannot do well in school," Green said. "It is unacceptable to accept the status quo ... when so many have achieved against insurmountable odds."

Building community

Green also invites area politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, to speak at his church as elections draw near. He said he believes in giving people as much information as possible to make the best decision.

"I want people to see who they're voting for," Green said. "I want to resist the dumbing down of America. As Christians, they'll recognize who they're voting for."

Green said his message of self-empowerment is not unique to his church. Black churches have a history of supplying an uplifting message to their congregations. For over a century, particularly during slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement, the black churches have been the glue of the black community, Green said.

"I want all people to understand that the African-American church was been the centerpiece for the African-American community," Green said. "This is where people go for empowerment."

Green said black churches served as opportunities for blacks to come together and learn to be positive and overcome the odds.

"At the church, they learned how to read and write," Green said. "This was the place people came to discuss civil rights, politics and receive all that information. And it continues in the 21st century to be that."

History of Rhema Word

Green established Rhema Word International Breakthrough Ministries as an interdenominational church 10 years ago.

"I was led to Cape by God," Green said. "One of the things God said was he wanted established a ministry where everyone was welcome."

According to Green, the congregation started as six people in a basement. Over the last decade, the church has changed locations several times, including a one-year stay in an office complex; the church was able to buy its current residence two years ago. The congregation now numbers 200 registered members, according to Green.

Green said he expected to attract a predominantly black audience when he started the church 10 years ago. He said he had acquired a reputation as a civil rights activist and former president of the NAACP in Sikeston, Mo., and assumed his reputation would spread in the black community.

But Rhema Word does not restrict its membership based on race. While most of the congregation is black, a half-dozen whites attended service June 22. Green said he attracted more of a white congregation during February, Black History Month, and when students from Southeast Missouri State University are in town.

Asked if he thought his message, which focuses on empowering blacks to empower themselves, would have to change if he had drawn more whites into his congregation, Green did not think so.

"The same message can be delivered with some adjustments on both sides as it relates to racial issues," he said. "My preaching motive is to educate and empower — not to degrade."

tthomas@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 197

Does this affect you?

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com/today