Sixteen years ago, Bishop Paul S.

Morton, a successful New Orleans-

based pastor, stepped out on a

limb to establish a vision he

called "The Full Gospel Baptist

Fellowship." Morton's vision was

to see Baptists embrace the

"fullness" of the Holy Spirit--

including speaking in tongues

and dancing in the Spirit.

Though he was pastor of a

Baptist church, Morton had roots in the

Church of God in Christ. After

traversing the country to invite other

Baptist pastors to join him in the

movement, the first conference was

held in the city of New Orleans.

This week, Morton will lead

the Full Gospel Baptist Church

Fellowship in it's 16th annual

conference. The group will meet in

Atlanta, GA for its annual conference.

The Full Gospel Baptist

Church Fellowship will once more offer

outstanding preaching, phenomenal2

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singing, and ecstatic praise to attendees. The line up for the

main sessions includes: Pastor Paula White, Pastor R. A.

Vernon, Dr. Carolyn Showell, Pastor Jerry Black and

Bishop Oscar Brown. Complimenting the main session

speakers will be exciting psalmists that include: William

Murphy, Marvin Sapp, Byron Cage, P. J. Morton and

Stephanie Dotson. Young people have a good deal to look

forward to with the likes of Overseer Terrance Johnson,

Overseer Christopher Harris, Tye Tribett, Canton Jones

and Johnathan Phillips.

The theme for the conference is, “More of the Glory.”

Pastor Paula White@ Full Gospel This Week!

�By Bishop Andy C. Lewter, D. Min.

Full Gospel Meets This Week!More of the Glory!

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On March 13, 2000, a Washington

Post headline screamed, “The Exodus

With An Unhappy Genesis; Amid

Discord in Shaw, Metropolitan Baptist

Is Pulling Up Stakes.”

The lead line of the story explained,

“The Rev. H. Beecher Hicks Jr. is outta

here. The 6-foot, 225-pound, gray-

bearded pastor of the District of

Columbia’s largest black church—and

one of its oldest—is uprooting

Metropolitan Baptist from its historic

site in the 1200 block of R Street NW

and moving its 6,500-member

congregation toward the suburbs. It’s

nothing immediately imminent. No site

for the new church has yet been found.

But the decision, approved by

Metropolitan’s members in December

after a dispiriting fight with the

church’s neighbors in Shaw, is

irreversible, Hicks says.”

Nearly a decade later, “irreversible”

is a matter of

semantics. Hicks,

who is undeniably

one of the nation’s

most brilliant

orators and

authors is in the

midst of a storm.

In 2006,

construction

began on the

congregation’s

dream complex in

Largo, Maryland—a $30 million

campus with a 3,000-seat church, an

education center and an 1,100-car

parking lot.

In 2008, the congregation sold its

church in Washington and made

preparation to move to what leaders

had taken to calling “God’s land in

Largo.” Everything seemed to be going

well and then the recession hit like a wrecking ball.

The fallout was catastrophic. Construction costs

soared while congregational giving plummeted.

Shortly before the end of the year, the financing for

the project was put on “hold.”

The church is caught between the proverbial,

“rock and a hard place.” Building efforts have been

stalled and the church’s historic home sold, now the

congregation has temporarily taken its weekly

cont. on p. 7

Dr. H. Beecher Hicks Weathers Another Storm

Faith and the Economic Fallout�By Bishop Andy C. Lewter, D. Min.

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by Bishop Andy C. Lewter, D. Min.

Retooling for the Future...

Most Pentecostal, Charismatic and Evangelistic

denominations trace their origins to the Azusa Street Revival

Movement that took place at the turn of the previous century

(1906) on the west coast in Los Angeles under the leadership of

William Joseph Seymour. However, history reveals that there

was a tongue-talking movement with an emphasis on “holy

living” that got its start almost ten years earlier on the east coast.

In 1897, in South Carolina, William Edward Fuller, Sr.

experienced the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, with the evidence

of speaking in tongues. The following year, he organized the

Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas.

“Bishop Fuller, Sr. was part of a group early holiness

personalties that included the likes of G. B. Cashwell, Benjamin

H. Hardin and A. S. King that brought the fire of the Holy Ghost

experience to the southeastern region of the United States

toward the close of the 19th century,” reports William Edward

Fuller, III, grandson of Bishop Fuller, Sr.

Last week, on the campus of the Fuller Normal

Industrial Institute in Greenville, SC, this 100-plus year old

pioneering holiness church

organization, now under the leadership

of Bishop Patrick Frazier, met for their

annual Leadership Retreat (inclusive of

sessions, classes and workshops for the

elders, pastors and denominational

leaders of the church). The group also

discussed how they might re-tool the

church for the future.

“We have to get ready for the

future by getting back to God and

teaching our members the importance

of living “Fire Baptized” said Bishop

Frazier, adding, “Over the next 5 to 7

years we are going to become a

teaching church with expanded

tenants to help people understand who

and what we are.”

Fire-BaptizedHoliness Church

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Hicks..conte. from p.4

worship services to the Dorothy I. Height campus

of Kent Amos Charter School in Northwest DC.

“All churches rely upon philanthropic funds

for their well being; and understandably the

church relates to finance with “faith language,”

explained Dr. Hicks. “There is an appeal to

members regarding tithes and offerings that is

Bible-centered and faith based.”

The recent events with the national

economy, however, have caused the normal

revenue stream that most churches depend upon

to be interrupted to some degree. The degree or

severity of interruption varies among churches; at

any case the impact upon ministry can be

devastating.

“When resources for the provision of daily

bread shrinks, the pew is forced to make a

conscious choice between the biblical mandate to

give and the need to provide food and shelter for

their families.” reports Dr. Hicks.

Hicks’ predicament isn’t an anomaly.

Churches have long been regarded as one of the

safest loan recipients, however, in the current

economic climate, many religious institutions are

seeing the attitudes of lending sources change.

“Many banks are turning down loan requests

from even their best customers; it is not just

churches that’s being affected.” explains Dr.

Hicks.

Metropolitan is currently engaged in

conversations with several lending institutions in

an attempt to secure new funding. Dr. Hicks says

that amidst the challenges, the church has

maintained its financial commitments.

“We are blessed by the consisting giving

patterns of the congregation,” he says. “While we

have physically moved into temporary worship

facilities, our congregation remains strong and

committed—which has strengthened my resolve

to continue in this great work for Christ.”

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This month, Gospel Today Magazine featured

President Barack Obama and his daughter on the

cover. In light of Father’s Day, which was

celebrated this past Sunday, the view of Barack

Obama as a dutiful father in addition to the

country’s chief executive, is an ideal basis for a

discussion about the importance of fatherhood

in our community.

Freelance writer, Rachel Vassel pointed out

in the cover story article, “Twenty-first century

dads understand the value of having an active

relationship with their children. This means not

only taking on the traditional male roles of

provider and disciplinarian, but also creating

and maintaining a level of intimacy with their

offspring that wasn’t expected or demanded

generations ago. These days, dads talk with

their children about their mistakes and life

lessons. They know their kids’ shoe sizes, and

attend school plays, recitals and sporting events

and, like the dad at my church, are not afraid

to take their children out without help.”

In a speech delivered last year, the

president spoke seriously about how fathers

should make a difference in the lives of their

children. “Of all the rocks we build in our lives,

we are most dependent upon the family. The

family is that most important foundation. We

are called upon to recognize how important

and critical every father is to that foundation”

said president Obama in a Father’s Day speech

delivered at the Apostolic Church of Christ on

Chicago’s south side last year.

Dad’s Make a Difference

Surely the image that President Obama has

offered the public goes along way in encouraging

fathers to assume their parental responsibility.

“The President makes attending his daughter’s

soccer game seem equally important to meeting

on the crisis in Iran” says Bishop Stephanie Green

of New York.

In a time when teenage pregnancy has become

commonplace, where 80% of African American

children can expect to spend part of their lives

away from their father and there are more Black

males in prison than in college, the role of

meaningful fathers in the lives of children is more

important than ever before.

President Obama Inspires Fathers

THE GATHERINGWITH DR. DEXTER EASLEY

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866.910.5433 (LIFE)OR VISIT US ON THE WEB ATWWW.NEWLIFEGCSC.ORG

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COMING TO YOUR CITYPRAYER GATHERING 2009In this, Gods’ Time the call hasgone forth for men and womenof God to rise upon theshoulders of those who havegone before us. Those mightymen and women of Prayer sawthe results of their labor.

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