From the Heart of Pastor Jacqueline A. Thompson
By the sweat of your brow
you shall eat bread,
Until you return to the ground,
from which you were taken;
For you are dust,
and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)
June 2, 2019
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ praying that each of you are well and celebrating God’s faithfulness daily.
On this first Sunday, I am excited to be back with you. I am also thrilled about all that God is doing and will do in us and through us as a congregation. I want to encourage you to join us this week for our Unity Revival with Dr. Leslie Braxton of New Beginnings Christian Fellowship of Kent, Washington. He is a prolific preacher who I know God will use to speak to us during this season in the life of our church.
In addition to your presence, I also solicit your prayers. James 5:16b says “When a believing person prays, great things happen.” (NCV) This week I have scheduled seperate meetings with our Mayor, the Oakland Police Department and a Community Economic Development Advisor. The goal is to begin much needed discussions around solutions to the challenging issues impacting our community. Like Nehemiah was called to rebuild the walls of the city, Allen Temple is being called to take the lead in initiating economic revitalization and community transformation.
God is calling us. We have heard. May we answer and act in faith knowing that the God who has kept us 99 years is able to do above all we could ever ask, think or imagine.
Blessings to You!
Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson
Senior Pastor Elect
June 9, 2019
Today is Scholarship Sunday, where Allen Temple Baptist Church celebrates the educational accomplishments of our members. Psalm 75 teaches that promotion comes from God. So we thank God for God’s faithfulness in enabling them to reach this educational milestone. We also announce our 2019 Scholarship Award recipients.
We extend a gracious welcome to Dr. Jamillah Moore, President of Canada College. We believe she will share an inspiring word of faith and encouragement with our graduates.
Special Thanks to Deacons Vangeria Harvey and the Scholarship Committee for their dedication and commitment. We also thank the Business and Professional Women for their consistent fundraising efforts that help make this day possible.
In closing, may we all remember the words of the great educational advocate Marian Wright Edelman: “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving the community and the world better than you found it’.
Blessings to You!
Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson
Senior Pastor Elect
I was 12 years old when I shared with my mother that I was sick of going to church all day and that I didn’t understand why we had to do it. As an African American single mother who hailed from Louisiana and who had raised her three older children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, I am certain the declaration of her late-in-life precocious daughter was one that caused alarm.
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Deaconess Easter Mae Green was known for reminding all of us that “as for her and her house, we WILL serve the Lord.” It was then that we began visiting various Oakland churches and found ourselves in the balcony of a church to which she had previously belonged. The pastor, small in stature but giant in presence, mounted the pulpit that almost touched the ceiling and began preaching slowly and powerfully on verses found in Matthew 28:18-20. He spoke of the church’s mission and the Christian’s responsibility to go out and make disciples. He spoke of helping people who were less fortunate and standing up for those who could not defend themselves.
For the first time, in my 12-year-old mind church had a reason, a divine reason. Our gatherings were not to be just about singing and having a good time in the Lord. But rather there was a purpose and a mandate with a measurable objective.
The doors of the church were opened that Sunday and before I realized it I was walking from the balcony and then down the aisle.
My mother followed, never questioning or chastising my decision. That day we both became members of Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland under the leadership of Rev. Dr. J. Alfred Smith Sr.
April 15, 2019
Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,
Our Lenten Series continues this week with the theme of Reconciliation with Reverend Phil Bowling-Dyer.
Blessings to you!
Reverend Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson
Senior Pastor Elect
In the summer of 2004, I attended a seminar on reconciliation in a town in the Midwest. On a Thursday afternoon, the twenty-five of us watched a documentary that addressed the current economic discrepancies between American Whites and Blacks, ascribing a significant share of it to the racist use of the American G.I. Bill. After WWII, while 60%+ of White solders were aided by the US government to purchase 
homes, less than 5% of Black soldiers were given the same opportunity. One of our White participants had a shocked look on his face – HIS father had purchased their family home with funds from the GI Bill. He expressed how embarrassed and ashamed he was that so many others were disqualified from this opportunity solely based on their ethnicity. “How can there be reconciliation when so many of our systems are racist to the core? Why would Black people want to be reconciled to this?” With tears in his eyes, he turned to me and asked, “Phil what am I to do?”
I don’t remember how I answered him, but I do know that Isaiah 58 has something to say about the issue. According to this passage, our “seeking the Lord” and “delighting in his ways” cannot be divorced from our “unloosing the bonds of injustice,” “sharing our bread with the hungry,” and “serving the afflicted.” There is no real line between the earthly and the heavenly, the secular and the sacred - our reconciled relationship with our Creator is intricately tied to our reconciled relationships with one another. If we separate these spheres of the realities, we are tagged as “rebellious”, and are neither “seen” nor “noticed” by God.
Based on Isaiah 58, if I were back in the basement conference room of that Midwest hotel in 2004, I would tell my friend to both receive God’s grace and consolation AND to dedicate himself to fighting for just laws and practices that serve the historically disenfranchised—those in his local community and those across the nation.
In this Holy Week, as we bridge Palm Sunday and continue to prepare for Easter, let us remember to both ground our spirituality with right activity AND to elevate our activity with Christ-honoring spirituality. The New Testament scriptures make no distinction between “righteousness” and “justice;” the Greek work “dikaiosune” contains both concepts hand-in-hand. And as we seek God’s face, let us seek a wholistic and all-encompassing faith that truly reconciles us to God and us to one another.
For further reading:
- Matthew 5:23-26; 18:15-17
- Acts 3:19
- 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
- Ephesians 2:15-18; 4:32
- Romans 5:10; 11:15
- Hebrews 12:14
Reverend Phil Bowling-Dyer serves as a diversity trainer and a chaplain for college and university students and faculty. He and his family have been part of Allen Temple for more than twenty years.