The Power from the Pew: Developing Leaders for Advocacy

By Dr. M.W. Couch

This invaluable resource cover great techniques and teaching that will influence generations of community—and churches of any denomination and any size—and is sure to provide guidance to radicals on how to affect a constructive Christotelic viewpoint for social change in the community tow

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jan 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781640889903

Book preview

The Setting: Frankford

Frankford Demographics

Frankford History

The African American Church in Frankford History

The Frankford Economic System

The Frankford Decline

Chapter 2:

Social Engagement

Chapter 3:

Implementing the Plan

Sermon Series on the Book of Micah

Bible Study

Prayer Conference Call

Advocacy Leader Attributes

Workshop for Advocacy Leaders

Chapter 4:

Fieldwork

Housing

Education

Judicial Reform

VESSELS Training

Federal Debt Reduction Cuts

Health Care Reform

American Jobs Act (US Labor Department)

Pro-Corporate Court (Joint Center on Political and Economic Studies)

Top Ten Things Voters Should Know as They Go to the Polls

State Representative Jason Dawkins’s Office

Day of Advocacy

Chapter 5:

Ministerial Competencies

Conclusion

Appendix A: What A Leader Looks Like: Sociability Test: How Sociable Are You?

Appendix B: Curriculum

Appendix C: Survey

Bibliography

Table of Figures

Figure 1. Shootings in Philadelphia

Figure 2. Philadelphia Homicide Victims 2013

Figure 3. Major Crime in Philadelphia (2005–2014)

Figure 4. Violent Crime in Philadelphia

Figure 5. Turnout Rates among Eligible Voters

Figure 6. Demographic Divide

Figure 7: Obstacle to Voting

Figure 8. Marital Status in Frankford

Figure 9. Median Household Income in Frankford

Figure 10. Average Household Income

Introduction

On October 8, 1995, my wife Tonya, my son My’chal, and I joined Berachah Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, PA.¹ Reverend Robert P. Shine is the founder and pastor. Dr. Shine is an advocate for justice in the city of Philadelphia, PA. Surprisingly, I joined the fight of faith with Dr. Shine in 1995. As a young preacher learning how to organize and mobilize people from the community to register to vote and encourage them to take their souls to the polls, it was very exciting. Reverend Shine and I had many opportunities to speak up and speak out about several injustices in the city of Philadelphia, such as riverboat and casino gambling.

On March 2, 1999, Reverend Robert P. Shine, Vice President of Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity and I held a press conference at Constitutional Mall in Philadelphia with several Jewish leaders. Dr. Shine asked, What other means will they want to use that is corrupting and immoral to society? This will be a blight on our state.² Gambling has been an ongoing battle in the city of Philadelphia, but this round was won by a faithful few who took a stand against the Goliaths of Gambling. On October 11, 2003, a crowd gathered at Eighteenth and Walnut Street in Philadelphia, PA, in front of a retail store named Urban Outfitters. Urban Outfitters was promoting a new board game called Ghettopoly that mocked the blight of drugs, poverty, and violence in urban communities. The players were required to steal and sell drugs while building crack houses and public housing. Rev. Shine and I took to the streets holding up signs and picketing Urban Outfitters to remove the board game from their store or face a boycott. The president and CEO Richard A. Hayne said Urban Outfitters will no longer sell the board game called Ghettopoly.³

‘My word, what a victory. That’s great, said the Rev. Robert P. Shine Sr., President of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, who said the game, perpetuated negative stereotypes. They saw the light. I’m ecstatic.’⁴ Over the years, I continued to fight for social justice and civic engagement in the city of Philadelphia, but more so in my community of Frankford. I have fought for stronger gun control legislation, for reform in criminal sentencing, and against voter suppression laws. I strongly feel a passion toward civic engagement to galvanize people to get involved in the civic engagement process because the right to vote is always under attack in the African-American community from redistricting, to voter-ID laws, to voter suppression tactics.

On October 2, 2012, a voter-ID law, known as HB 934 was introduced to prevent voter fraud. However, there haven’t been any investigations or evidence regarding voter fraud in the city of Philadelphia or the state of Pennsylvania. On October 9, 2012, I gave a statement to the response of State Supreme Court, Judge Robert Simpson, who refused to grant a temporary injunction, partially blocked the enforcement of the restrictive ID requirement.⁵

On January 17, 2014, the Pennsylvania Voter ID law was struck down completely by Judge Bernard L. McGinley, who ruled that the law hampered the ability of hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians to cast their ballots; with the burden falling most heavily on elderly, disabled and low-income residents; and that the state’s reason for the law—that it was needed to combat voter fraud—was not supported by the facts.⁶ It was truly a great victory for Pennsylvanians. It was a great opportunity to mobilize two tour buses that left Philadelphia for Harrisburg, PA. It was also a pleasure partnering with John Jordan and Jerry Mondesire of the NAACP state and local branches. The Voter-ID law brought together groups such as unions, sororities, fraternities, and clergy to take a stand against this poll tax on the citizens of Pennsylvania. I feel strongly that if the church engaged more in social justice—speak truth to power—issues that try to diminish our communities and threaten citizens with the loss of their civil rights, the oppressor will think first before making a move.

Chapter 1

The Setting: Frankford

New Beginning Church of Philadelphia (NBC) was planted on April 1, 2007, in our family house. Present that day were my wife Tonya, my two sons, My’chal and Malachi, my friend Eugene Woods, and me. The little house church started to grow in the section of Frankford, zip code 19124, in the city of Philadelphia. Our mission was to seek the lost and share the gospel, and our purpose was to give to the kingdom of God and make disciples in our zip code 19124. The mission statement and the purpose statement were collapsed into three categories Outreach, Upreach, and Inreach. This became a healthy balance for the church to follow. As a result, it led to NBC’s core values such as Faith, Family, Fitness, and Finance; these core values are geared toward each member individually to be empowered. NBC was very persistent and consistent with the mission and the purpose of the church. After one year in the house, we were able to move to our new location at the Days Inn Hotel in the lower auditorium that seats sixty people. The hotel was located in the same area of Frankford, thus we were able to maintain members from the community.

Currently, we are in the same location, but have grown into two services on Sunday morning. During these last seven years, the three categories outreach, up reach, and in reach at NBC has produced some quality ministries such as: Men of Issachar, Daughters of Eve, Just Kicken It (youth ministry), conference prayer call, RightNow Media (video library), financial clinic, legal clinic, lad kitchen (food ministry), evangelism team (We Have A Testimony, WHAT?), and Sunday morning worship.

Frankford Demographics

The New Beginning Church of Philadelphia sits in the zip code of 19124. Currently, there are 67,540 persons residing in our area. The 19124 population is projected to increase by 1,140 new persons by 2017.⁷ This particular area’s largest group is represented by the millennial generation (age 11–30) that comprises 21,599 residents.⁸ African Americans are the largest ethnic group in the area, accounting for 40.3% of the total population. The family structure has a high percentage of single-parent households and fewer two-parent families. Some of the concerns for the area are affordable housing, adequate food, racial/ethnic prejudice, employment opportunities, day-to-day financial worries and neighborhood crime and safety. It was found that the overall education level in the area is extremely low. While 72.0% of the population, twenty-five years of age and older have graduated from high school, only 10.3% have graduated from college.⁹

Frankford History

Frankford was a starting point and gateway to the Northeast Philadelphia region. The First Nations band government, Lenni-Lenape Indians (Lenni-Lenape means genuine Indian or original man) dwelled in the area during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Lenape were also called Delaware Indians because their territory was along the Delaware River watershed. The name came from an English colonist that named the Delaware River for the first governor of Virginia, Thomas West, Third Baron De La Warr. The Lenape had a government polity system in place when it came to their land and business trading. Unfortunately, during the eighteenth century the Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland by European colonies. William Penn Sr. was part of this injustice toward the Lenape. The community of the Lenape was weakened by new diseases, mainly smallpox that was carried by Europeans, and by violence.¹⁰

In April 1638, Swedes settled around the watershed of Frankford. The commander, Pete Minuit, purchased land from the Lenni-Lenape Indians. The Swedes specialized in trading, farming, and artisanal crafts. The Swedes’ enterprise grew by manufacturing brickyards, flour and gristmills. The Swedes called it a grist mill because everything could be made useful to make a profit. Grist is a grain that is separated from the chaff ready for grinding. Grist can be ground into flour and meal, depending on the hardness of the grain being ground. Surprisingly, grist is called grits or a coarse meal.¹¹ William Penn sold twenty thousand acres of Frankford to the Society of Free Traders (Quakers) a group of London businessmen. Penn also purchased the Swedish grist mill of two hundred acres for the Society of Free Traders. This purchase was called the Manor of Frank from which Frankford obtained it name.¹²

Frankford had an Indian trail that was heavily traveled back and forth to the north (Trenton, New York, and Boston). On March 10, 1683, the General Assembly called the trail the King’s Highway and, later, Frankford Ave. In addition, during this period there was a popular place on the King’s Highway called the Jolly Post Inn. Members of the Continental Congress would stay at the Jolly Post, and hosted several meetings about the Declaration of Independence and debates. General George Washington and his soldiers would travel along the King’s Highway, and stop at the Jolly Post Inn to refresh.¹³

The African American Church in Frankford History

There is always a particular ethnic group on opposite sides of the track in Frankford. The racial dividing line was, as such, African American on the east side of