From the Heart of Pastor Jacqueline A. Thompson
July 11, 2025
Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Yesterday, a video featuring a young barber cutting hair outside the gates of our church has circulated widely across social media platforms. The footage has generated significant attention and, in some cases, confusion and criticism directed at Allen Temple Baptist Church.
Let me be clear: social media never tells the whole story - not of a person, not of a church, and not of a community.
At Allen Temple, we have served Oakland for over a century with a deep commitment to justice, compassion, and restoration. We are a church that believes in grace, and we are a church that supports entrepreneurship, especially among our young people.
July 4, 2025
Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,
As we prepare for this Fourth of July, we do so mindful of the ironies woven into this day’s history. While this nation declared its freedom on July 4, 1776, our ancestors still bore chains for nearly a century longer — and as their descendants, we still find ourselves having to press for the full measure of liberty and justice promised on paper but too often denied in practice. With the passing of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” (HR1) — millions will be stripped of healthcare; low-income children and families will lose necessary benefits while the wealthiest among us receive permanent tax cuts. For many among us, this is about more than politics — this is about survival.
June 19, 2025
April 16, 2025
Good Evening Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Have you ever considered the power of your vantage point?
In 2008, a movie was released by Columbia Pictures called Vantage Point. The movie sought to unravel the truth of an attempted assassination of a U.S. President by re-enacting the events from the various perspectives of eyewitness. While the reviews were not stellar, it was enlightening to see the how the same event was perceived so differently. Your vantage point keenly impacts how you recounts and ascribe meaning to a particular event. The witnesses were in the same place, sharing the same experience and came to very different conclusions.