Pastor’s Pen Updates 3-5-22

PBC Family,

I pray you are well. I bring you greetings of peace and joy in challenging times in our land and across the globe. As we prepare for our first Sunday worship tomorrow. I have few things I would like to share.

Founder and Deacon Ware. Family, it is with sadness that I share that Deacon John Ware, one of Progressive’s founding members, died in his sleep yesterday. We are profoundly saddened for our loss of a marvelous founder, Deacon and man of God. And yet, we rejoice in that Deacon ran his race and kept the faith. He is where, when our time comes, where we want to be—absent from the body and present with the Lord. Keep his family and the Progressive family in your prayers.

Calendar. Please note our calendar remains the same with a few key updates:

No Adult Sunday School Today. There is no Adult Sunday/Saturday school today. We expect it to resume next week.
Churchwide Chat. Join us on Monday at 7 pm for Churchwide Chat. Beginning next week, we will be moving the Churchwide Chat back to Sunday. Next week, Churchwide Chat will be on Sunday March 13 at 7 pm.
Regular Schedule. Our regular schedule remains the same with:
- Daily prayer line at 5 am, 8 am and 8 pm
- Midweek Message on Wednesday at 12 noon
- Youth Sunday School on the 2nd and 4th Sundays

The Word. A reminder that our worship services can be seen live on our YouTube channel and they are saved their for future viewing. We have also begun saving the sermons by themselves. Here are links to the last two sermons in the Moses/Liberation/Black History Month Series:

“The Lord, The Leader and The Liberated:” https://youtu.be/iQcTUd-9pQU
“Living and Leading in Moses Moments:” https://youtu.be/ljrDnmhh00k

PBC in Public. Over the past year (and years), our members have been involved in a lot of public spaces with excellent work. Y’all know I stay out there (smile) but I also want to highlight a few others recently.

Imunique Triplett has made national news for participating in a program that allowed her to graduate high school and college at the same time! While most high school students juggle their coursework with extracurriculars and college applications, Rufus King International High School student Imunique Triplett had her eye on a different horizon. Imunique, granddaughter of Sis. Usher, Yvonne Mills, granddaughter, has been in the local and national news including Black Enterprise.
- https://www.blackenterprise.com/she-did-that-17-year-old-imunique-triplett-earns-nursing-degree-before-high-school-diploma/
- https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2021/12/21/milwaukee-senior-earns-nursing-diploma-while-still-high-school/8909474002/

Symphony Swan was recently featured in a Washington Post article entitled: “For Black parents with postpartum depression, help can be difficult to find:”. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/26/black-mothers-postpartum/

The “New Normal”. Sis. Carolyn Parker and Minister Byron Johnson have both been featured in this past year talking about the new normal and how churches (Progressive) have to pivot to be relevant in the times of pandemic.

Sis. Parker’s Article. https://www.abcofwi.org/2021/06/10/realities-of-our-new-normal/

Minister Byron Johnson. https://milwaukeenns.org/2021/09/22/opinion-on-the-spot-pivots-how-my-church-closed-its-doors-but-opened-a-new-digital-space-for-our-members/

Reshaping the Church. Reshaping the Church in the season of pandemic. For those who are interested, there is a PowerPoint attached. Some of the issues raised included what to do do in a “VUCA” environment (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous). It also identified the following 5 dynamics in congregations in this season as:

CLC Seminar 1, Feb 2022.pptx Download

Longing
Fear
Vitality
Grief, and
Adaptation

If you would like to join or to learn more, please reach out to me or anyone of the following participants: Donna Brown-Martin, Catherine Davis, Gerald Davis, CeCe Ferguson, Shirley Gladney, Joshua Liston, Jesse McSwain, Karen Robinson, Sharon Robinson, Roy Rogers, Tina Rogers, or Merrick Watkins.

African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee. I am thankful to have been named the new President and CEO of the African American Leadership Alliance Milwaukee. It will strengthen our city and our collective work. Here are a few news stories.