CENTER FOR RELIGION AND CIVIC CULTURE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

PA S S I N G T H E M A N T L E

A New Generation of Leaders in the Black Church 2 PA S S I N G T H E M A N T L E A New Generation of Leaders in the Black Church

by Nick Street

Center for Religion and Civic Culture May 2011

1 The Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation.

This report was funded in part by the Liberty Hill Foundation.

© USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, 2011

2 Executive Summary The goal of the Passing the Mantle (PTM) Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute, now in its In many urban neighborhoods where African fifth year, is to help African American churches American churches have deep roots, obdurate reclaim the activist legacy of the 1960s and problems such as homelessness, drug addiction, become agents of positive social change in gang violence and educational underachieve- their communities. Specifically, PTM is designed ment have only grown more acute since the eco- to equip pastors, clergy, faith-based nonprofit nomic downturn that began in 2008. Local, state leaders and church board members for better and federal government programs that address mission conceptualization, civic engagement these issues have been among the first to feel modeling, strategic planning and partnership- the effects of belt-tightening measures. And building with the public and private sector. The over the past four decades, the black church— program creates a learning environment with which had developed successful strategies and leading practitioners, politicians and professors networks to support civic engagement during with expertise in areas related to civic engage- the civil rights era—has largely turned inward ment and community development. as successive waves of immigrants have altered the demographic landscape of their communi- A network of 200 PTM alumni now supports ties. Trends such as the “prosperity gospel” sustainable social change in the communities have also encouraged this insularity by allowing served by their congregations. PTM’s course pastors and parishioners to see redemption and architecture also provides a basic template for salvation as personal matters rather than social training programs that can be customized to ad- imperatives. dress the particular needs of faith-based organi- zations beyond the black church.

3 I. Introduction: History and Context

For Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard, the statistics that describe the plight of many urban African- American communities aren’t abstractions— they’re everyday realities. St. James AME Church, where Smith-Pollard serves as pastor, is at the heart of South Los Angeles. While problems like poverty and homelessness are acute, Smith-Pollard says that nowhere are her community’s troubles more apparent than in its high schools.

“Schools like [Alain Leroy] Locke and [Thomas] Jefferson have an overall 95 percent drop out rate,” she says. “And half the kids in these school districts are foster-children, which means there are no parents around. Add to that the number of fathers who are in prison or in jail and you see the community is broken down on so many different levels. That’s why we need to push for programs that deal with re-entry for parents coming out of prison and that address gang violence, because that has become the new family for a lot of our children.”

4 Black churches like St. James have historically Thus recovering its legacy of passionate social served as the primary reservoirs of social capital activism in response to the challenges that Rev. in African-American communities. But the Smith-Pollard and others like her are facing is tradition of advocacy and activism that reached arguably the greatest task the black church has its pinnacle during the civil rights era has gradu- faced in a generation. The primary goal of the ally faded with the graying of the generation Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership of leaders who came of age during the time of Institute is to provide a spark to help reignite Martin Luther King, Jr. and activists like James that flame. Lawson—a key architect of the civil rights move- ment’s strategy of non-violent confrontation. “As a pastor I preach and I run the church,” says Smith-Pollard, a graduate of the first PTM class “At one time, social activism and social justice in 2006 and the current president of the alumni was the main message of the black church,” association. “But I also have to be engaged in Smith-Pollard says. “I don’t think that is the what is going on in the community as well.” message of most African-American churches today. Social justice action concerns are no The skills and networking resources Smith- longer necessarily on the front lines.” Pollard acquired through “Passing the Mantle,” a program of the Center for Religion and Civic This shift away from civic engagement reflects Culture at the University of Southern California, an inward turn among some African-American have enabled her to begin to develop Project clergy and their congregations at a time when Destiny, a series of interventions aimed at many black communities urgently need the kind school-age girls, whose incarceration rates are “…she found of advocacy their religious leaders and institu- increasing even more rapidly than their male in the program tions once provided. In a recent piece titled “Too counterparts. But perhaps even more importantly, a kind of Long Ignored,” New York Times op-ed columnist she found in the program a kind of theologi- theologically Bob Herbert notes a number of grim statistics cally grounded activism that honored the social grounded related to black men in the United States: a justice legacy of the black church. activism that third will spend time in prison at some point honored the in their lives; those who die in their young-adult social justice years are most likely felled by homicide; and Finding a New Bottle for Old Wine legacy of the less than half will graduate from high school black church.” on time. If helping African-American clergy and lay lead- ers reclaim that legacy seemed like an obvious “The aspect of this crisis that is probably the way for the Center for Religion and Civic Culture most important and simultaneously the most to respond to the challenges facing black com- difficult to recognize is that the heroic efforts munities, the best strategy for shaping the PTM needed to alleviate it will not come from the curriculum was not immediately apparent. government or the wider American society,” Herbert writes. “This is a job that will require a “In year one, we were still wrestling with where campaign on the scale of the civil rights move- we were going,” says Rev. Mark Whitlock, ment, and it will have to be initiated by the director of the program and executive director black community.” of CRCC’s Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement.

5 The model for the PTM curriculum in 2006 was a practicum-focused curriculum that included the Harvard Divinity School’s nearly decade-old residential components, hands-on mentoring Summer Leadership Institute, which provided and an integrated approach to policy initiatives executive training for clergy and lay leaders and community development. A modest tuition involved in community development. Two years fee also encouraged participants to have a later, administrators at the divinity school sus- stronger sense of investment in their training. pended their program, but the PTM team had already begun to adapt the Harvard curriculum. “We take them right from the classroom into existing civic engagement work that’s going “Their model focused on more economic on,” says Rev. Eugene Williams, PTM’s development—job creation, constructing co-founder who also heads the faith-based buildings, developing programs—that you can Regional Congregations and Neighborhood measure immediately versus civic engagement, Organizations Training Center. “By year three, which would take longer,” Whitlock says. “It that became the standard we were using.” was you come to class. You complete your class. You receive your certificate, and it’s over. In the The four phases of the current iteration of the second year we revised the PTM program to in- PTM program are designed to equip leaders clude a primary focus on civic engagement and with the skills they need to manage partner- policy analysis.” ships in the public arena and to encourage the cultivation of networks that can help sustain In practical terms, this meant shifting from a socially engaged activism in the black church classroom-oriented strategy that entailed two and beyond. They are also geared to change classes a month for four months—as well as a theological mindsets that keep leaders from financial incentive to keep participants engaged moving beyond the walls of their congregations in a protracted, non-residential program—to and into the public square.

We have to return to the values that made the black church an agent of positive social change.

6 His association with the PTM program as a se- nior fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture has been essential to attracting partici- pants, many of whom cite the opportunity to work in a mentoring relationship with Murray as a key reason they decided to enroll. But a self- interested desire to emulate Murray’s success as a church-builder—particularly if that impulse is tinged with the materialism of the Prosperity Gospel—is a setup for disappointment.

“I would admonish those who preach prosper- ity to remember that the one who founded the II. Christian church had just one pair of sandals for his feet,” Murray says. Civic Engagement In Phase I of the program, which usually occurs in the Classroom over two days at the end of June, students have and the Community their visions of the social role of the church and faith leaders challenged and reformulated. The “Religion is personal but it isn’t private,” says two-fold purpose of this mindset reorienta- Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray in a typically tion is to counter the institutional paralysis that pithy summary of belief capturing a tension that often prevents African-American congregations shapes the lives of individual Christians as well from responding effectively to the urgent needs as the loosely confederated group of religious of their communities as well as the near-term movements collectively called the black church. focus on personal prosperity that PTM’s directors see as a betrayal of the spirit of their movement. Murray joined the faculty of USC in 2004 after retiring from his post as pastor of First African “We believe Christ came to set the captives Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME). During free,” says Mark Whitlock, “to bring sight to the his quarter-century at FAME, he transformed blind, to clothe the naked, to find shelter for a congregation of a few hundred into an those who are looking for housing. That’s the 18,000-member mega-church with multi-million work of the church. We have to return to the dollar community and economic development values that made the black church an agent of programs that brought jobs, housing and cor- positive social change.” porate investment into many South Los Angeles neighborhoods. Still, there is often a tension between that goal and the desire of some participants simply to bolster their own membership rosters. A handful of students have left the program at this early stage, though the PTM staff say they are careful to establish that while their purpose is not to

7 equip participants to build a personal pastoral “This part of the program gave me a clear empire, they are committed to helping students understanding that I can be a part of civic life do the hard work of spiritually rigorous civic without jeopardizing spiritual gifts,” says Rob- engagement. ert Rubin, an alumnus of the PTM program in 2007 and executive director of the Crenshaw “They can expect an experience that’s academic, Christian Center’s Vermont Village Community theological as well as political,” says Eugene Development Corporation, which works to seed Williams. “But not political in a partisan sense. affordable housing, business investment and We try to help people to think differently about home ownership in L.A.’s Vermont-Manchester the world and their faith and to use that new corridor. thinking as a way to expand the public square.” “It’s not a social service perspective versus a sal- vation perspective,” Rubin says. “People have to Mentoring be saved in order to be changed, but the church Change has also been an organization that is socially ori- ented to do the right thing in the community.” The clarification process that underlies Phase I of the PTM program includes presentations on the nuts-and-bolts of community development and Reigniting policy advocacy as well as the theological and Embers historical impulses that inform PTM’s mission. Equipped with this theoretical introduction to About a month after their introduction to the civic engagement, participants are then divided PTM program, fellows meet for Phase II, a six- into clusters and assigned mentors from the day residential intensive that deepens their rela- PTM staff. tionships with mentors and peers in their cluster, who become key resources for trouble-shooting As they begin to shape their ideas for the proj- and inspiration as each participant is pushed to ects that will be the focus of their written and develop her or his plans for civic engagement on-the-ground work during the next phases of more fully. PTM staff members expand on the the program, students are encouraged to see community development and policy-oriented both their mentors and the other members of components of Phase I, and guest speakers— their cluster as resources to help them assess from prominent scholars like Lawrence Mamiya and address the needs of the wider communities of Vassar College and public theologians like J. their congregations serve. In a practical sense, Alfred Smith to seasoned veterans of state and this emphasis on collaboration encourages local politics—further illuminate the close con- participants to cultivate the kinds of skills and nections between activism, history and applied relationships that will allow them to sustain and theology in the black church. build social capital over the long term. It also reinforces the premise that civic engagement is “The speaker that stuck out in my mind was Dr. integral to the history and vision of the black Aldon Morris,” says 2010 PTM alumnus Marcus church. Farrow, a lay leader at New Dawn Christian Village, where he co-founded a faith-based youth mentoring program to help keep ado-

8 lescent and teenage boys out of the criminal life of her community at the Greater Open Door justice system. Morris, a professor of sociology Church of God in Christ, where she serves as and African-American studies at Northwestern director of public affairs. The penny dropped University, outlined larger trends that Farrow for her during Phase III of the PTM program, a sees playing out in the lives of the young men three-month practicum during which students he works to shepherd through an often treach- hone their formal plans for future civic engage- erous cultural landscape. ment projects and continue to work with the members of their mentoring clusters to meet “There has been a tendency to say that there the day-to-day challenges of leadership. has been advancement in overall systemic at- titudes about race in America,” Farrow says. “I realized that what I was doing to try to shut “People like Oprah Winfrey or Michael Jordan down the pipeline to prison was the same as are used as examples of progress in a situation what was going on inside the church on Sun- that I don’t think has progressed that much. day,” says Hollie, who also studied as a fellow at And having a black president has started this CRCC’s Institute for Violence Prevention. “Com- post-racial discussion—like we’ve gotten past munity work is sanctuary work. That was the something that I don’t think is really behind us.” real ah-ha moment for me.”

Morris’s lecture impressed on Farrow not only Bolstered by her ongoing consultation with “…Real com- the importance of a clear-eyed view of the pres- mentors and peers, Hollie began to broaden her munity change ent but also the urgency of learning the skills relationships with key stakeholders in the Long starts by having needed to effect change. Beach neighborhoods where she saw young conversations people were at greatest risk. The confidence with the people “It was like embers being reignited,” says Far- that she had professional and spiritual resources who are in it.” row, who has spent two decades in the mort- to match the needs she wanted to address gage and banking industries. “It all goes back to prompted another revelation. interests”—personal and commercial as well as political—“and capital formation and access to “It’s all about knowing where to start,” she says. credit. That’s the connection I needed to make.” “We often think of community development as bricks and mortar, or policy work as building the legitimacy of an issue. That’s true, to an extent. Building But in my mind, especially through my experi- Human ence with PTM, both of those things begin with Infrastructure the development of human infrastructure. Real community change starts by having conversa- Before she enrolled as a PTM fellow in 2010, tions with the people who are in it.” lawyer and educator Lydia Hollie says that while she felt pulled to express her faith through the violence-prevention work she was doing with the Long Beach Human Relations Commission, she was at a loss for a conceptual framework that would allow her to integrate her on-the-ground activism with the spiritual

9 A recent report from the Public Influences of African-American Churches Project (PIAAC) at Morehouse College determined that black churches emerged from the decade with consid- erable political momentum both from their suc- cessful public policy activism and from enhanced electoral opportunities achieved as a result of that activism.

“But while there is ample evidence that African- Americans have built effectively upon that electoral momentum,” the report states, “there is very little evidence of large-scale public policy III. engagement by rank-and-file blacks over the last 40 years.” Who Takes Up the Mantle Now? The PIAAC research team reached a pair of Phase IV and Beyond conclusions: first, that the influence of black churches within their own communities has That imperative sounds far easier than it ac- been impaired by a lack of infrastructure devot- tually is. The people who live in many of the ed to policy advocacy and civic interaction. And, neighborhoods served by this city’s historically second, that the best remedy for this situation African-American churches are no longer pre- is civic capacity-building among church lead- dominantly African-American. In fact, parts of ers through intergenerational and inter-ethnic Crenshaw and Compton now have large His- dialogue about churches and public life. panic majorities. The census tract that is home to Najuma Smith-Pollard’s St. James AME Church Providing a model for building that needed is 82 percent Latino. infrastructure and coaxing the black church’s latent capacity for civic engagement back to “Immigration,” Chip Murray tells the 2010 PTM life were the primary goals of the PTM staff fellows at their graduation, “is the single big- at the outset of the program. The purpose of gest challenge our community has faced since Phase IV—encouraging the ongoing accumula- the civil rights era. We are becoming a nation of tion of social capital through an active alumni nations.” network—is to sustain that momentum into the future. One response of black churches to the loss of demographic cohesion in their communities has And, to accommodate new demographic reali- been to turn inward—a reversal of a legacy of ties, this process of activism and network-build- religiously-inflected civic engagement that is in ing must eventually extend past the comfort some ways indistinguishable from the history of zones within which many black churches have the 1960s. traditionally operated.

10 “We have to follow the Lord’s example,” says because we don’t have a quote-unquote ‘black’ Dr. Michelle Stewart-Thomas, a therapist community, our church isn’t race- or ethnicity- and PTM instructor. “That means we have to be driven. It is more community-driven.” willing to do a new thing—even if that means stepping outside our established religious and Wells’ identity as one component of a broader cultural boundaries.” mosaic points toward the two most important elements of Phase IV of the PTM program: first, In fact, a number of program participants are a network of 200 alumni in the Los Angeles area already beginning to adapt to this changing who will continue to serve as sources of knowl- landscape. “I live in suburbia,” says John Wells, edge for one another and, second, a culture of head pastor of Mountain View Community civic engagement that honors but also reaches Church in Temecula and a 2008 PTM fellow. “So beyond the particular concerns of African-Amer- even though I’m an African American pastor icans and the black church. In practical terms, and we’re predominantly African American, this ongoing collaboration ensures that alumni

“Immigration is the single biggest challenge our community has faced since the civil rights era. We are becoming a nation of nations.”

11 will begin to reflexively look for ways to effect Refining and then replicating the PTM formula positive change in the increasingly diverse com- will thus be the real measure of the program’s munities where they live and worship. success. In other words, the leadership network should ideally grow beyond the boundaries of Moreover, like sturdy scaffolding that can be ethnically or denominationally distinct com- used to construct a variety of buildings, the munities to serve as the matrix for broad-based essentials of the PTM program are designed to movements for social change. The center of be useful not just in the black church but in any gravity for any given iteration of the program community where religious commitment entails will vary—perhaps there will be a Muslim or a call to social engagement. In other words, the Latino gray eminence like Chip Murray, or a sup- broad outlines of PTM’s curriculum can serve as portive institutional home like Harvard Divinity a template for training programs in an array of School or USC—but the common result should faith-based organizations—from Latino advoca- be a diverse community of activists who can cy groups to Muslim civic leadership initiatives. speak the same language.

“Refining and “Every major faith tradition speaks to justice,” “If the questions are asked by the leaders of our then replicat- says Jared Rivera, former executive director of faith communities,” Murray says, “the solutions ing the PTM L.A. Voice PICO, part of a national organizing will ultimately present themselves in a way that formula will network that works with religious congrega- includes all of us.” thus be the tions to increase community activism and civic real measure of engagement. “What that means in modern-day That sentiment may sound naïve. But at a time the program’s America or a modern-day Los Angeles when when the constituencies served by many con- success. you have to have decisions about how to create gregations are suffering and no other source of more affordable housing or how to improve succor is apparent, the leadership and advocacy schools—it’s very difficult to navigate. So what of people of faith is not simply desirable. As Bob we try to do is try to translate those collective Herbert reminds us in “Too Long Ignored,” it’s religious values into the creation of just public essential. policy.”

12 APPENDIX response rate for the survey was 43 percent, which exceeds the average survey response PTM survey results rate of 33 percent. In addition to the survey, we have included data gathered from our records In Fall 2010, CRCC conducted an online survey of of PTM alumni, so that we can see the makeup all PTM alumni to get a better understanding of of the entire group of graduates. their participation in the program, from recruit- ment to what they learned during the program, Who are the to determining the areas that they believed PTM Alumni? they still needed to develop. The majority of the survey items were discrete response items, but Overall, more men (60%) than women (40%) we also included several open-ended questions have participated in the PTM program. How- that required the respondent to articulate an ever, graduates of the PTM program are almost answer. The survey was administered through evenly divided in terms of the roles they have an online methodology, alumni were initially in their churches. Lead pastors make up 26% contacted through an email message, and then of the graduates, associate pastors 25% and were reminded (through email) twice. The congregational lay leaders comprise 30% of

13 Themes from PTM Alumni

Several themes emerge from the survey data regarding what PTM graduates gained from the program and the areas that they wanted to develop further. The top two areas that graduates identified as being the most benefi- cial to their work were training in community development (18%), and the expansion of their network and developing new relationships with others doing similar work (15%). PTM alumni also ranked as priorities several areas that they wanted to continue developing: strategic plan- ning (22%), grant making (18%), foundation relations (14%), capacity building (18%), and community assessment tools (9%).

graduates. The remaining 19% include partici- Graduates were also asked to rank what were pants who are part of para-church ministries in their view, the most significant issues facing in their communities. The majority of these their communities and congregations. Economic church leaders have either taken academic development was ranked as the first or second work at the graduate level, or have a graduate most significant issue by 21% of PTM graduates, degree (65%). Yet, despite this relatively even followed by education (20%), gang violence distribution of roles among the PTM graduates, (12%), health issues (13%), drugs (12%) and and their education levels, the majority (66%) immigration (5%). Finally, the PTM respondents receive no financial support from their church, were asked whether their congregations would with only 18% receiving full financial support. be interested in participating in a variety of programs or trainings. Overall, the responses PTM graduates are from 134 distinct churches suggest that the churches represented by the or organizations, with several being from the PTM graduates were very interested in partici- same churches. These congregations are from pating in a variety of such programs, as follows: the five Los Angeles area counties (Los Angeles, economic development programs (85%), leader- Ventura, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside) ship training (80%), disaster relief/preparedness in addition to four more (San Diego, Kern, training (70%), prison reform (70%), marketing/ Alameda and Santa Barbara). advertising development for their different programs (66%), and inter-religious dialogue (49%).

14 Education Financial Support from Church graduate coursework 16% full support 18%

partial support 16% graduate degree 49%

other no support 67%

Description of PTM Participants PTM Alumni survey responses:

Source of financial support PERCENT 100% of Support from Church 18 Partial Support from Church 16 No Financial Support from Church 66 Gender

male 60% Organizations represented by PTM alumni COUNT Number of Different Congregations/ Organizations 134 female 40% Zip Codes Represented 75 California Counties 9

Most beneficial skills learned PERCENT Training in Community Development 18 Expansion of Network and Relationships 15 Role in Church

Other 19% Lay Leadership 30% Top two skills PTM alumni hope to develop further PERCENT Strategic Planning 22 Capacity Building 18 Grant Making 18 Associate Pastor 25% Foundation Relations 14 Lead Pastor 26% Community Assessment 9

Education Significant issuesFinancial facing Support from Church graduate coursework 16% community or congregation PERCENT Education full support 2018% Economic Development 21 Gang Violence 12 Immigration 5 partial support 16% graduate degree 49% Drugs 12 Health Issues 13 other no support 67%

Percent saying their church members would be interested in: PERCENT Economic Development Programs 85 Leadershp Training 80 Disaster Relief/Preparedness Training 70 Prison Reform 70 Training in Marketing/Advertising Development 66 Inter-religious Dialogue 49

Gender

15 male 60%

female 40%

Role in Church

Other 19% Lay Leadership 30%

Associate Pastor 25% Lead Pastor 26% PTM ALUMNI 2006-2010 Lowell Charles Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker Bible Revival Church Ward Economic Development Robin Allen-Hamilton Corporation Louis Chase Charles Allen-Anderson Hamilton United Methodist Church Michael Eagle Sr. Regional Congregations and Saint Mark African Methodist Jamila Chavis Neighborhood Organizations Episcopal Church The Coleman Walk in Faith Tony A. Ashley Foundation Adam Edgerly New Mt. Pleasant Missionary NewSong LA Convenant Church Willie Cockroft Baptist Church Zion House of Praise Ministries Trevon Evans Vera Alice Bagneris Faithful Central Bible Church Candace Cole-Kelly New Philadelphia AME Church ACTS Bible Church Marcus Bruce Farrow Camille Banks The Manformation Project Rochelle Collins Economics Research Associates Cannon House Kenya Francis Barbara Barker Grant African Methodist Doris Cope CTW Faith-based Re-entry Initiative Episcopal Church Ward AME Church Winford E. Bell Jane Galloway Ruby Cottle New Heights Inc. Immanuel-A Center for God’s Faithful Disciple Conscious Living Everett Bell Jr. of Jesus Christ Mt. Olive 2nd Missionary Duane Ganther Karen Crozier Baptist Church Harvest Christian Center New Hope MBC Donald Blake Joe Gates Sr. Ebony Cunningham Prayer Tower Community Macy Gray Music Academy Yvonne Gibson-Johnson Development Corp. West Angeles Church of God Wendell J. Sr. Davis Benjamin F. Briggs,II New Jericho Christian Church Juliet Annette Gipson Greater Light Community Church Christ Our Redeemer AME Alison Shawn Davis Rosalynn Brookins Walker Chapel AME Church Darrell Stephen Glover First African Methodist Episcopal Church Gayle Davis-Culp Keith Goodman

Alishia Brown Holy Trinity AME Church North Philadelphia SDA Church Refuge Christian Church Veronica Dawson Gerald Green

Terry Brown Sr. New Mount Harvest Christian Center Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Liberty Baptist Church Kenneth L. Green Sr. Sonja Dawson Oliver Buie Messiah Full Gospel Bible Fellowship Sisters in Ministry Joseph Hamilton Leslie Burke Rosalynd Divinity One in Christ Bible Church Unity Fellowship of Christ Church Covenant Worship Center Ministries Tonya Harris John Cager III Geremy Dixon Lynwood United Methodist Church Bethel Community Outreach Corp. First Church of God/Center of Hope Cavalain Hawkins Larry Campbell Charles Dorsey Hollypark United Methodist Church St. Paul AME Church Christ Our Redeemer AME Church Marc Anthony II Henderson Samuel J. Casey Bernard Dory II HOPE House Christian Ministries Imani Temple Christian Fellowship/ Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches Imani Economic Community and Jawane Hilton Development Corporation Jacqueline Driscoll City On the Hill Church

16 L. Fisher Hines Keith Johnson Vanessa M. Mackenzie Walker Temple African Methodist So. Cal. Falcons Youth and Family Episcopal Church of the Advent Episcopal Church Services Dorothy R. Mallery Harold Hines Sr. Charles Ronald Johnson II First African Methodist Episcopal Straightway M.B.C Church Lydia Hollie Greater Open Door Church of God Patricia Ann Jones Deborah Manns in Christ New Greater Circle Mission Virtuous Woman Ministries Church Inc. Clovis Honore Jonathan Maxey Regional Congregations and Bryan Jones Grace of Temecula Valley Neighborhood Organizations New Mt. Pleasant MBC Michael McBride Delman Howard Charles Jones The Way Christian Center Primm Tabernacle AME Church St. Reed MBC Moses McCutcheon Jr. Frederick E. Howard Jacqueline Justice Bethel LA Community Development Southside Bethel Baptist Church Justice Teen Parenting Center Corporation Inc. Anthony L. Hughes Edwin A. Mendoza St. Paul AMEChurch Kwesi Kamau HOOP Foundation Amos Memorial CME Church Marcus Jackson Donnell Miles Apostolic Faith Assembly Joyce R. Kitchen Price Chapel AME Church Emmanuel-H.M. Turner AME Ollie Jackson Church Vincente Miles Mt. Tabor Missionary Baptist Church Victory Institutional Baptist Church Charles Knight Frank Jackson Mt. Rubidoux SDA Church Albert W. Miller New Mt. Pleasant MBC Hollypark United Methodist Church Wesley Knight Eric L. Jackson Mt. Rubidoux SDA Church Gloria Mitchell Power of Love Christian Fellowship JOY Youth Ministries of Antelope Valley Darryl K. LaBat Greater Metropolitan Church Eudora Mitchell Marian Kirk Quinn Community Outreach Corp. Jackson Vermont Village Community Bernestine Lee Development Corp Lee’s Learning Center Inc. Curtis Monroe Jr. Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church Chester L. Jackson Sr. Vickie Michelle Lee BOLD Discipleship Ministries Saints of Value Ministries Devin M. Nimmers Nimmers Family Youth Outreach Stephen “Cue” Jn-Marie Rochelle M. Lewis Inc. New Song LA Covenant City Of Praise Community Church Sharon Olson Tracey Johnson Jason T. Lewis Immanuel Center for Conscious Living Corona Community AME Church Redeemer Missionary Baptist Church Peter A. Ortiz Maurice Johnson Dwight D. Lewis Sr. Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship Christ Commissioned Int. Church Jim Ortiz William “Bill” Johnson Baron Jay Littleton Jr. My Friend’s House Manna Ministries Baron Jay Foundation Dorothy Patrick Crissina Johnson Clarence Luckey St. Paul AME Church National Alliance of Parents for the Bethel AMEChurch Advancement of All Students Barstow Carolyn S. Patton Life COGIC Keesha Johnson Mark S. Luckie Sr. RCNO Training Center The Rhema Church Inc.

17 Reginald C. Payne Najuma Smith Carolyn Wilkins Full Gospel Baptist Church St. James AME Church Immanuel Center for Conscious Living

Keith Peete Andrew (A.R.) Stanch Melinda Williams First New Christian Fellowship Word Empowerment Ministries The Williams and Wellington Church Foundation John Stevens Judson Roy S. Petitt Baptist Church Prison Ministry Michael Wilson Miracle Center Apostolic Grace Community Bible Church Community Church Edward J. Thomas Christ Our Redeemer AME Church Robert Wright Desmond Pringle Christ Our Redeemer AME Church Neighborhood Community Church Cassie Thomas Restored Destiny Intl. Ministries Cheryl I. Young Tynisha Randolph South Los Angeles Baptist Church Prelude Aspiration Women & Russell Thornill Children Foundation Unity Fellowship of Christ Church Aneisa Young Bolton H’art Works/Immanuel Community Priscilla Reed Rhonda Thornton Church MAJINS Armor of Faith The Bread The Levitical Network Crumb Journey Johnny Jernell Helena M. Titus Youngblood Zion Cathedral Sebastian Ridley-Thomas Powergirl Ministries

First New Christian Fellowship MBC Cheryl K. Tucker * Please note that this list does not Christ United AMEChurch Brian S. Riley include graduates of the 2011

New Song Community Church Dina L. Walker PTM program. Ed Robinson Rodney Walker Friendly Temple MBC Hope Community Development Ronald Robinson Taylor Walton Imani Economic and Community Christ our Redeemer AME Church Development Corporation Joseph M. Ward Jr. Tyron Delbert Robinson Unity One Foundation Inc. Kingdom Builders Christian Fellowship Dorothy Wardlaw Mt. Hebron Baptist Church Beth Gartrell Ross First AME Church Los Angeles/ Alexander L. Warthen The Biddy Mason Foundation First New Christian Fellowship MBC

Robert Rubin Richard Washington Sr. Vermont Village CDC Etta Weathersby Clayton D. Russell New Greater Circle Mission Inc. The Church of Divine Guidance Debra P. Wells Sabrina Saunders Perfecting Ministries San Francisco Christian Center John W. Wells Jr. La Donna M. Sebastian Perfecting Ministries/ Mountain View Crenshaw United Methodist Church Community Church

Hermia Shegog Whitlock Christilene Whalen Christ Our Redeemer AME Church Walker Chapel AME Church

Joseph Jr Simpson Carl Wiggins II Statcheka.com Foundation Eagles Wings Christian Church

18 PAST SPEAKERS Ms. Mary Lee Mr. Arnie Sowell PolicyLink Office of California Assembly Speaker The Passing the Mantle Clergy and Karen Bass Lay Leadership Institute has included Dr. LaVonna Lewis the following distinguished speakers. USC School of Policy, Planning, and Dr. Michelle Stewart-Thomas Development Mt. San Antonio College Dr. Raphael Bostic USC School of Policy, Planning, and Mr. Alfred Lomas Dr. Harold Dean Trulear Development Dream Center Howard University and President, GLOBE Community Ministries Ms. Cheryl Ann Branch Dr. Lawrence Mamiya Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches Vassar College Dr. Ralph Watkins Fuller Theological Seminary Rev. Jeff Carr Dr. Juan Martinez Los Angeles Office of Gang Reduction Fuller Theological Seminary Ms. Carolyn Webb de Macias and Youth Development University of Southern California The Right Rev. Dr. Vashti Rev. Dr. Monica A. Coleman Murphy McKenzie Dr. Linda Wharton-Boyd Claremont School of Theology Bishop of the 13th Episcopal District The Wharton Group of the African Methodist Episcopal Dr. George C. L. Cummings Church Dr. Leslie R. White Imani Community Church Grant AME Church in Los Angeles Ms. Noreen McClendon Min. Lonnie Dawson Concerned Citizens of South Central Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church of Los Angeles Trinity United Church of Christ, Los Angeles Chicago Dr. Aldon Morris Ms. Alicia Dixon Northwestern University The California Endowment Rev. Clyde Oden, Jr. Bishop Yvette Flunder Bryant Temple AME Church Refuge Ministries and The Fellowship Rev. George Regas Mr. Robert Gnaizda All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena Greenlining Institute Ms. Constance L. Rice Rev. Dr. James Lawson Co-Director, Advancement Project Holman United Methodist Church The Hon. Dr. Mark Ridley-Thomas Rev. Leonard Jackson Los Angeles County Board of Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Supervisors

Rev. James Jones, Jr. Dr. Robert K. Ross Gangsters for Christ The California Endowment

Ms. Edina Lekovic Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith Muslim Public Affairs Council American Baptist Seminary of the West

Dr. R. Drew Smith The Leadership Center at Morehouse College

19 Passing the Mantle PHASE I PHASE II DAY 3 Clergy and Lay (Non-Residential) (Residential) 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Fundraising Leadership Institute Rev. Mark Whitlock DAY 1 DAY 1 2010 PROGRAM Welcome, Overview, and Welcome and Orientation 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Orientation Dedicatory Devotion 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. Purpose 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Building Community Brie Loskota Mentorship (Small group Ms. Brie Loskota, Managing meetings with mentors) Director, Center for Religion 1:15– 2:00 p.m. and Civic Culture Speaking Truth to Power 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Rev. Cecil L. Murray Is the Black Church Dead: 1:15– 2:00 p.m. An Examination of the 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Speaking Truth to Power Black Church in a Post Civil Rev. Cecil L. Murray What is Civic Engagement Rev. Eugene Williams Rights Era Dr. Larry Mamiya 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. What is Civic Engagement 10:45 – 12:00 p.m. Rev. Eugene Williams The Warning Rev. Eugene Williams Is the Black Church Dead (continued) 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Dr. Larry Mamiya The Warning Rev. Eugene Williams DAY 2 1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Dedicatory Devotion, Prophecy or Prosperity: Overview, and The Challenge of Soothing DAY 2 Reconnection Itching Ears Check-in and Recap Dr. George Cummings 10:30 – 12:00 p.m. 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Speaking Truth to Black 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Melian Debate Leadership Prophecy or Prosperity Rev. Eugene Williams Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr. (continued) Dr. George Cummings 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. 1:15 – 3:15 p.m. Power The Role of The African 3:45 – 5:00 p.m. Rev. Eugene Williams American Church in the Fireside Chat Age of Obama: Should Rev. Cecil L. Murray, 1:15– 2:15 p.m. the Black Church raise its Dr. George Cummings, The Nuts and Bolts prophetic voice to improve Dr. Larry Mamiya Rev. Eugene Williams conditions Black America Dr. Aldon Morris 2:30 – 3:45 p.m. DAY 4 PTM Vision to Reality 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. (Alumni Testimonials) Grassroots to Treetops: 7:30 – 8:30 a.m.

A Panel Discussion on the Fundraising Rev. Mark Whitlock role of Blacks in Holding Black Elected Officials 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Accountable Dedicatory Devotion Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr., Dr. Aldon Morris, 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Rev. Cecil L. Murray Mentorship

20 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. 2:45 – 4:00 p.m. PHASE III 1:00 – 2:45 p.m. Case Study Panel Discussion with Gang Suppression Rev. Eugene Williams Presenters Assistant Chief Earl C. SESSION 1 Paysinger, Director of the (September) 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. 4:15 – 5:30 p.m. Office of Operations, From Problem to Public Fireside Chat Dedicatory Devotion Lieutenant Fred Booker, Policy: Key Elements of Rev. Cecil L. Murray and Reconnection Special Assistant to Chief Public Policy Develop.m.ent Rev. Jim Lawson Beck, LAPD Rev. Eugene Williams 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Public Policy Breakdown 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. DAY 6 Ms. Mary Lee, Associate Gang Prevention From Problem to 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Director, Policy Link Rev. Dr. Clyde Oden, Public Policy: Fundraising Bryant Temple AME Church An Inside Perspective Rev. Mark Whitlock 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. Rev. Eugene Williams Policy Review 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Rev. Eugene Williams Next Steps 2:45 – 4:00 p.m. Dedicatory Devotion The Impact of Strategic 1:15 – 3:30 p.m. Policy Develop.m.ent 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Policy and Paper Review SESSION III Rev. Eugene Williams Mentorship Rev. Eugene Williams (November)

4:00 – 5:00 p.m. 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Dedicatory Devotion Panel Discussion Strategies for Dealing Mentorship Session and Reconnection with Intercommunity Conflict/Mediation 5:00 – 5:30 p.m. Next Steps 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. DAY 5 Dr. Michelle Stewart-Thomas Clergy Self-Care 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Dr. Michelle Stewart Thomas Fundraising 11:15 – 12:15 p.m. Rev. Mark Whitlock Civic Engagement Leading SESSION II 10:45 – 12:00 p.m. to Immigration Reform (October, Final Papers Due) Next Steps 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Dr. Juan Martinez Dedicatory Devotion Dedicatory Devotion 12:45 – 2:00 p.m. 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. Rev. Cecil L. Murray Graduation 8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Civic Engagement Leading Mentorship to Immigration Reform 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Dr. Juan Martinez Mentorship Reception 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Rev. Cecil L. Murray, Difficult Conversations 2:45 – 4:00 p.m. Rev. Mark Whitlock and Dr. Michelle Stewart-Thomas Implications Rev. Eugene Williams

11:15 – 12:15 p.m. 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. 10:00 – 11:45 a.m. Empowering the Village: Introduction to Phase III Gang Intervention and The Role of Women in Recidivism Civic Engagement Rev. Eugene Williams Rev. Najuma Smith-Pollard and Ms. Noreen McClendon, Executive Director of 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. Concerned Citizens of From Three Fifths to South Central Los Angeles Full Partner: Identifying and Removing Barriers 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. to Full Participation in Lunch and Mentorship Civic Engagement Rev. Najuma Pollard-Smith Dr. Monica Coleman and Rev. Frank Jackson

21 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of in Los Angeles and completed her the Post-Boomer Generation, with B.A. in history and religion from the Nick Street is the journalist in resi- Richard Flory, (Rutgers University University of Southern California. dence at the USC Center for Religion Press, 2008) and Global Pentecostal- and Civic Culture. He studied religious ism: The New Face of Christian Social Sumaya Abubaker ethics at Oberlin College and the Engagement (University of California Program Manager Candler School of Theology at Emory Press, 2007) Sumaya Abubaker serves as project University. After a decade working manager for the USC Center for as an editor in the world of scholarly Mark Whitlock Religion and Civic Culture. Prior to publishing, he returned to graduate Director and Co-Founder joining CRCC, she worked for Wells school at USC Annenberg, where he Rev. Mark Whitlock is the executive Fargo Bank, the Council for Islamic received an M.A. in print journalism. director of the USC Cecil Murray Education and The Minaret Maga- His writing on religion, science, sexu- Center for Community Engagement zine. She attended the University of ality, media and culture has appeared at the USC Center for Religion and California, Los Angeles, where she in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Civic Culture. He also serves as the studied International Development the Jewish Journal, Search, Religion pastor of Christ Our Redeemer AME with a specialization in the Middle Dispatches, Patheos and the Revealer. Church in Irvine. Before his full-time East/North Africa and sub-Saharan In addition to his role at CRCC, he is call to the ministry, he served as the Africa. the managing editor of TransMissions, founder and executive director of the web site of the Knight Chair in FAME Renaissance, the economic de- Media and Religion at USC. He is also velopment arm of First AME Church, RESEARCH TEAM a resident priest at that Hazy Moon which raised over $400 million in Zen Center in Los Angeles. grants, loans, and contracted service Richard Flory initiatives that created over four thou- Richard Flory is director of research sand jobs in South Los Angeles. Rev. in the USC Center for Religion and STAFF BIOGRAPHIES Whitlock completed his undergradu- Civic Culture and associate research ate studies in religion at the Univer- professor of sociology at the Univer- Cecil L. Murray sity of La Verne and is completing a sity of Southern California. His Ph.D. Co-Principal Investigator master of divinity at Fuller Theological is in sociology from the University of Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray joined Seminary. Chicago, and his primary research the faculty of USC. After retiring from and teaching interests are in the inter- his post as pastor of First African Eugene Williams section of religion, culture, and urban Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME), Co-Founder life. He is the author of Growing up he was appointed as the John R. Rev. Eugene Williams is CEO and in America: The Power of Race in the Tansey Chair of Christian Ethics in the National Director of Regional Congre- Lives of Teens (Stanford University School of Religion at the University of gations and Neighborhood Orga- Press, 2010). He is the author of Southern California. In addition, Rev. nizations Training Center. He is an Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of Murray was named a Senior Fellow associate pastor at Mt. Olive Second the Post-Boomer Generation (Rutgers of the Center for Religion and Civic Missionary Baptist Church in Watts University Press, 2008) and GenX Culture. Murray holds a doctorate and a nationally recognized leader in Religion (Routledge, 2000). from Claremont School of Theology faith-based organizing. and has many years of experience Hebah Farrag as a senior statesman in the African Brie Loskota Hebah Farrag is project manager for American community and in the city Managing Director CRCC’s Pentecostal and Charismatic of Los Angeles as a whole. Brie Loskota is the managing director Research Initiative and other research of the USC Center for Religion and projects. She is a graduate from the Donald E. Miller Civic Culture. In this capacity, she American University in Cairo (AUC) Co-Principal Investigator oversees the strategic planning and receiving an M.A. in Middle East Donald E. Miller is Firestone Professor daily operations of an interdisciplinary Studies. She also holds a BA in politi- of Religion at the University of South- research center that conducts 25 re- cal science and international relations ern California and executive director search and community-based projects from USC and a graduate diploma in of the Center for Religion and Civic each year. She has contributed to Forced Migration and Refugee Stud- Culture. He received the Ph.D. degree raising and managing CRCC’s annual ies from the AUC. Hebah is interested in Religion (Social Ethics) from USC budget of $5 million. She received in issues concerning religion, the in 1975. He is the author, co-author her M.A. degree from Hebrew Union politics of identity, nationalism, and or editor of nine books, including College-Jewish Institute of Religion migration.

22 Cecil Murray Center The Murray Center will operate in these four ar- for Community Engagement eas and will serve as a bridge between the acad- emy and the broader community. It will function http://crcc.usc.edu/murraycenter under the organizational umbrella of the Center Rev. Mark Whitlock, Executive Director for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, which was created shortly after the 1992 civil unrest with Through our leadership development work funding from the James Irvine Foundation to with the Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay create, translate, and disseminate scholarship on Leadership Institute, the Center for Religion the civic role of religion in a globalizing world. and Civic Culture has identified the need for CRCC engages scholars and builds communi- a systematic training and capacity building ties in Los Angeles and around the globe. Its initiative for the faith community. In spring innovative partnerships link academics and the 2011, CRCC launched the Cecil L. Murray Center faith community to empower emerging leaders for Community Engagement. through programs like the Institute for Violence Prevention, which is focused on Latino and The Cecil Murray Center for Community African-American gang-reduction efforts, and Engagement, sponsored by the University of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute. Southern California, will draw on the social, spiritual, and leadership capital of churches and the broader faith community to promote economic development and civic engagement in low-income neighborhoods. Specifically, the Center will honor Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray’s three-decade-long legacy of working for the betterment of Los Angeles by addressing the following areas:

> Engaging businesses and nonprofit organizations to promote economic opportunities, community development, financial literacy, and jobs > Building leadership skills, particularly for those in the faith community > Strengthening the capacity of faith-based organizations > Capturing solutions and creating a data-bank of research on best practices for promoting the civic health and economic development of underserved areas nation-wide.

23 About the Center for Religion and Civic Culture

The Center for Religion and Civic Culture at Center for Religion and Civic Culture USC was founded in 1996 to create, translate, USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and disseminate scholarship on the civic role of 825 Bloom Walk, Suite 439 religion in a globalizing world. CRCC engages Los Angeles, California 90089-1483 scholars and builds communities in Los Angeles (213) 740-8562 and around the globe. Its innovative partner- fax (213) 740-5810 ships link academics and the faith community to e-mail: [email protected] empower emerging leaders through programs www.usc.edu/crcc like the Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute, for African American church leaders, and the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute. Since its inception, the Center has managed over $25 million in grant- funded research from corporations, founda- tions, and government agencies. In 2002, CRCC was recognized as a Pew Center of Excellence, one of ten university-based research centers. Currently, the Center houses more than 20 research initiatives on topics such as Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, the transmission of religious values across generations, faith- based non-governmental organizations, and the connection between spirituality and social transformation. CRCC is also involved in the creation of scholarly resources, including the Internet Mission Photography Archive, the larg- est online repository of missionary photographs that document social change in non-Western cultures. The Center for Religion and Civic Culture is a research unit of the USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences.

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