The-Ave.US

TIME FOR A NEW START AT MT. ZION BAPTIST CHURCH

Silence is consent whether it’s about small things or large. Your silence in the face of those things that are destructive to you or your family is a way of accepting tragedy without risking the scorn or anger of others by speaking up.
I say that as I watch the slow destruction of one of the most venerable institutions in our community, who at 126 years old is the second oldest church and the oldest Black Baptist Church in the Pacific NW , Mt. Zion Baptist Church.

I am not a member nor have I ever been a member but as a 50 year organizer in the Black community I fully understand the importance of this institution to everything I have done or will attempt to do. I need it and the Black community of Seattle needs it. With the growing popularity of digital donating sites however, there is hope. It is crucial to our community to begin learn more about these donating options, to ensure regular contributions are being given to save our safe place.
So it is time to separate egos from what is in the best interest of this church and the community I so love. The only way the rift at this church can be healed is that Reverend Williams ( whose only previous experience was as a youth minister) resigns, accept a financial package and put some time into how to truly run a major institution like Mt Zion.
The circumstances that brought him here were terrible at best and the church had already split in half with 1,000 members moving to a new institution after a nasty split that ended when Reverend Braxton decided to create his own church. Williams has had eight years to make his mark and all he has to show for it is a church more splintered than it was when he arrived.

This letter is to him directly and not to the people who may support him. What will your legacy as a minister IS my Brother if the destruction of this nationally known institution is part of your resume?

As an outsider looking in I can tell you that you will have very few friends and allies in this town if the price of you keeping your job is the destruction or near destruction of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. The public cannot see the hidden hands of friends and allies, so you will carry the burden of whatever happens to this church on your shoulders. No sensible man, especially a pastor, should ever want to become a social outcast in his adopted home.
The only way to save this church is for you to resign and the church hires a pastor who knows the church and town, like your former associate pastor Rev. Carl Livingston who served under Rev. McKinney and Braxton.. Give him a one year contract to put this church back on sound financial footing and then decide whether he is the man for the long run.
I have not talked to Carl and this may upset him that I am throwing his name out but sometimes relationships must be encouraged if two natural suitors don’t see each other.
I love this institution and all that it means to this Black community. I have no bones to pick with individuals within the church but I am adamant that this institution is not allowed to fall apart because of the egos of individuals.

Silence is acceptance and I will never silently watch an institution like Mt. Zion crumble in front of my face and I am willing to accept whatever heat that comes from speaking my mind. Hopefully, you won’t stay silent either choosing mobile giving to aid community churches in need. If I am not silent, I am at the very least, at peace with myself.