Boston First Baptist Church and Mattapan's Saint Angela's Catholic Church choirs uplifted the service with songs. Rev. Father Charles Gabriel of Dorchester's St Matthew Catholic Church gave thanks to God for the country's blessings. Rev. Gary Theodat of Golgotha Seventh Day Adventist of Roslindale asked for deliverance for Haiti, while Reverend Nicholas Homicile of the Baptist Tabernacle of the Evangelical Voice prayed for unity. The President of the Association-of Haitian Pastors of New England, Rev. Pastor Paul Daniel of Evangelical Baptist Church of the North Coast, closed the worship with a prayer of consecration and the final blessings. The reflection part of the gathering ended with a series of short and precise messages.
Not rooted or identified as a Brazilian martial art, Capoiera Angola is the foundation of which African-Brazilians adapted the rhythmic form of self-defense and offense called Capoiera. The indigineous Capoiera Angola is the mother/father of Brazil's Capoeira, which was formed when Africans from Central Africa were brought to South America in bondage. Capoeira Angola goes further.
Just as dance forms originating from Saint-Domingue made their way into southern culture, religion also left its indelible marks. It is well documented that the Vodou religion in New Orleans began to blossom around 1800 with Sanite Dede, a free woman of color who arrived from Saint-Domingue. The Saint-Domingan Vodou priestess was replaced in 1820 by New Orleans's native Marie Laveau, who became legendary. Haitians were for the most part Catholic; their presence in the various U.S. cities where they settled gave rise to the establishment of a number of biracial congregations. In Baltimore, in 1829, four colored Saint-Domingan women--Elizabeth Lange, Marie Magdelene Baas, Marie Rose Boegue, and Marie Therese Duchemin--established the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the world's first Black religious community, and founded the School for Colored Girls.
The Jamaica Diaspora Day of Fasting and Prayer 2013 is presented by the Intercessory Prayer Ministry International www.goipmi.org the Regional Coordinator and members of Clergy of the Jamaican Diaspora (GTA Chapter) in association with the Consulate General of Jamaica in Toronto
Members of the Victory Tabernacle New Testament Church of God gathered by the seaside behind the Forum Hotel in Portmore following their three-hour worship service to witness children, a few males and many women urging them to give their lives to Christ. Photograph (Reverend Errol Duncans of the Victory Tabernacle New Testament Church of God in Portmore, St. Catherine.)
Haitian Catholic artists are as excited about this event as the rest of the community is. Some of them will attend the convention, and Jean Robert Themistocle, one of the pioneers of the organization of Haitian Catholic artists in the diaspora, composed a song based on the theme of the convention. The guests at the convention will be the first to hear and to sing this song with Jean Robert. It is a time of great grace for the Haitian community in the diaspora.
A special thanks goes out to evangelist Pat Robertson for illustrating the point of this series with his ignorant-@$$ed commentary on the Haiti earthquake. Notice that Pat is selective about which disasters just happen and which constitute the "judgment of God." Iowa and Florida faced terrible natural disasters with no such pronouncements. When bad things happen to people and areas that reflect Pat's values it's probably the devil. Haiti is supposedly guilty of 'making a pact with Satan' and using the Afrikan-based Voodun spiritual system to gain freedom from enslavement. Interestingly, Pat's god was not offended at all by the Christians who brutally oppressed these people. His god never is offended, especially when the victims are Black.
"`Faith in the Future' is a clarion call to these churches to look at the shape of faith in UK society - and the role they will play in it." A total of 60 speakers will appear in more than 50 sessions. Speakers will include Rev Arlington Trotman, Bishop Joe Aldred, Bev Thomas, Bishop Paul Jinado, Bishop John Sentamu, Les Isaacs and Bishop John Francis. "Over the last 50 years, the black majority churches have transformed the shape of churchmanship in the UK," he said, "as black churches represent many of the most vibrant and fastest growing congregations in the country.
"The Black church is the success story of the arrival of the Empire Windrush. Therefore the church should not be an appendix to the celebrations but at the heart of it." So says Angela Sarkis, chief executive of the Church Urban Fund and vice-president of the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA). Pauline Graham, the coordinator of the churches' Windrush celebration, is encouraging congregations, is encouraging congregations to write in for a Windrush Information Pack. * For further information, contact Ms Graham at ACEA, Whitefield House, 186 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4BT, or telephone 0171-735 7373.
