The story is on the Tribune's Chicago Breaking News blog.
They have a photo, and the brief story:
Was anyone there? Please comment....Rev. Louis Farrakhan of The Nation of Islam attended services today at the Greater Institutional Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago prior to his speech on stopping neighborhood violence.
Farrakhan spoke today about the violence that has taken the lives of several youths in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. He said if young people would see each other as brothers and sisters, they would not feel the need to use a gun against each other.
The minister also called on all communities to work together to end the spike in
violence.
I attended Sunday's service and found it be very enjoyable. Min. Farrakhan gave a guest sermon at the invitation of Dr. Johnson the new Pastor. The service was a regular Sunday morning service with lots of prayer, music and praise. The difference being the guest Preacher was a Muslim. The sermon had two themes, the violence in our schools and streets and the fact that we are more alike than different. Preaching from the Bible, he spoke of his early childhood experiences being raised in an Episcopal Church and what Christianity is supposed to mean. He talked about raising children to be respectful, disciplining them without abusing them. The sermon could have come from any Black Baptist minister with a few exceptions when he spoke of the media's perception and portrayal of he and other Muslims.
ReplyDeleteAfter the service there was a Press Conference where he encouraged the City to allow Ministers to go into the schools and help stem the violence. He believes the 'street cred' of the Nation of Islam and the Fruit of Islam could allow them to connect with our young men in a way others can not. In attendance at the service were representatives of anti-gun organizations, the Chicago Police Dept., Ron Huberman (CPS), Vance Henry (CAPS), Sen. Mattie Hunter,myself, Rev. B. Herbert Martin, Rev. Roosevelt Watkins, Rev. Willie Barrow, 30 or more women and men from the Nation and many GIAME church members and guests.
Having heard Min. Farrakhan on numerous occasions, I found him to be his usually entertaining, intelligent, articulate self. He appeared to have regained his strength after a long illness. His sermon was long but he held the attention of my 14 year old nephew which seems to lend some credence to what he believes about the respect the Nation commands from our young men. Most people are so troubled by the violence that our community is experiencing that no one there could deny that it's worth a try. Follow up action from the group of ministers is pending.