Tag Archives: Jamaica

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Check Out My Article in Christian Standard! (I Interviewed My Dad!)

Me and my family….

Hello World,

Since Black History Month, the shortest month of the year, is not over yet, check out an article I wrote about my personal Black History LOL for Christian Standard this month. I was blessed to be able to write about the ministry of my father Dr. Denzil D. Holness, who recently retired after 38 years serving as pastor of Central Christian Church in Southwest Atlanta. Although I lived with my father as I grew up and again for a few years after I graduated from college, I still discovered some things about him that I didn’t know. In fact, I think everyone should interview their parents beyond the day-to-day interactions because I’m sure you will gain a new perspective on the people whose genes you share…

Pastor Denzil Holness Spreads a Message of Racial Reconcilation…

Had Denzil D. Holness been hired as a pastor in Coward, South Carolina, or Peculiar, Missouri, or any other out-of-the-way American town or city, he may not have been led to take on racial reconciliation in the Christian church. However, since Holness was hired as the first black pastor at Central Christian Church in Atlanta, Georgia, “The City Too Busy to Hate,” it would seem tackling racial reconciliation was God’s plan for him all along.

Committed to Christian Church Principles

Holness became CCC’s pastor in September 1979 and in December 2017, he retired from ministry after 38 years serving that church. Holness began his journey with the Christian church when he was a teenager in his homeland of Jamaica, which boasts the motto, “Out of Many, One People.” Originally a member of the Anglican church, Holness was persuaded by a friend to join the Christian church because of its principles.

“The more I learned about the Christian church, the more I became committed,” Holness said. “For example, we believe that all Christians should be one. We don’t use denominational labels or names. If the world is to be won to Christ, then believers should bear witness to a visible unity in accordance with the Lord’s prayer in John 17.”

Just before Holness graduated from high school, Fred Kratt, a missionary from the United States, visited Jamaica one summer and was instrumental in arranging for the young man to receive a full scholarship to attend Minnesota Bible College, Kratt’s alma mater.

“Prior to receiving that scholarship, I had been under the conviction that the Lord was calling me to the ministry,” Holness said. Although he received a catalog about the school before he started there, he did not realize Minnesota was much colder than sunny Jamaica. “That first winter, it was so cold, I almost cried,” Holness said with a smile.

Fast forward from the 1960s to April 1979. By then, Holness was married to fellow Jamaican Alice May Holness, and they had a daughter, me, and a son, Delvall.

Read the rest of the story at christianstandard.com.

Any thoughts?

 

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Church of England’s First Female Bishop May Be Black & Jamaican…

Hello World, rev rose

Yesterday, all 50 states (yes, including the Aloha State) experienced freezing temperatures, and this morning, I’m still cold…not good for a girl with Jamaican blood…I was too cold 20 degrees ago…but then again, it is November…anywho, on to today’s post…

Big things are happening across the pond…On Monday, according to The New York Times, the Church of England solidified its decision to appoint female bishops with a final vote after initially agreeing to this change in July. This decision marks the first time that female bishops will be appointed!!! And the first female bishop may be appointed by Christmas!!! There are seven women that are being considered for the first appointment, according to itv.com.

One of those women is the Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who is already the first black female chaplain to the House of Commons and was the first black female chaplain to the Queen! She was born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica before coming to the UK in 1985.

Below is a video of Rev. Hudson-Wilkin speaking with The Telegraph about the miracle of the appointments of female bishops in the Church of England…

Below is her bio from the Church of England website:

The Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin was appointed to the role of Speaker’s Chaplain in June 2010 by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Rt Hon John Bercow MP. She is the Vicar of the United Benefice of Holy Trinity with St Philip, Dalston, and All Saints, Haggerston, in the London diocese. Rose combines this parish role with the position of Speaker’s Chaplain and as Priest Vicar at Westminster Abbey.

Rose was born and grew up in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Commissioned as a Church Army Officer in 1982, her theological training took place at the West Midlands Ministerial Training Course at Queens Theological College.

She was ordained Deacon in 1991, and Priest in 1994. In 2007 she was appointed a chaplain to the Queen, making her one of only a few who are occasionally invited to officiate and preach at the 400-year-old Queen’s Chapel beside St. James’ Palace.

She is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and has served as one of the Panel of chairs. During her time on the Synod she was one of the CofE’s delegates to the World Council of Churches meeting in Zimbabwe & Porto Allegre.

She has served as Chair of the National Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and of the Worldwide Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK). She has also been a member of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC).

According to Wikipedia, she is married Ken Wilkin, a chaplain to Holloway Prison, and they have two daughters and a son.

Any thoughts?

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Feeling Unpretty…

Hello World,

I am hesitating about writing this blog post because it is so deeply personal, but part of the reason that I love blogs is because it is a way to connect with others through shared revelations…So from time to time, I must reveal…So I’m jumping in the deep water today…Come save me if I go out too far…LOL…

Me at about 10 years old when the teasing started…

Since I was about 10 years old or so, I struggled with insecurities about my looks. My parents always made me feel loved and adored inside the cocoon of our nurturing home, but outside of those walls, I discovered it was a cold world. I don’t remember what boy or girl called me ugly first, but whoever said it first is of no consequence. Those words did what they were intended to do: make me question the beauty that I saw in the mirror.

A year or so later when I started to wear glasses, put on a few pounds and entered middle school, I retreated in the world of books where my favorite authors of the day like Judy Blume, Alice Walker and Brenda Wilkinson affirmed that while I may have been an ugly duckling then, one day the world would see the swan that I was on the inside. I remember trying to explain to my parents that people made fun of my looks at school to no avail. My mother and father believe I’m beautiful, and they just couldn’t fathom that others didn’t see what they saw. Plus, their Jamaican sensibilities didn’t permit a lot of whining and crying so I had to make sense of what was happening on my own.

I remember when I saw the ABC story “Teens Post ‘Am I Pretty or Ugly?’ Videos on YouTube” earlier this year. If YouTube had been in existence then, I would have probably uploaded one of these disturbing videos I was so hungry for outside positive affirmation. While I didn’t have YouTube, I did have Molly Ringwald, and  I identified with her characters in nearly all of her movies although I was a little black girl. I hoped desperately that high school would be different.

In some ways, high school was different. At the white middle school that I attended in Sandy Springs, I was thought to be on the chubby side, but at a black high school in College Park, I was Coke bottle fine. Still, there were a few people that managed to poke holes in my newfound but fragile confidence…As Vivian said in “Pretty Woman,” “The bad things are easier to believe. Haven’t you noticed that?!” And on some days, I could blame no one else than myself…I picked apart my looks feature by feature…

Me in the “Miss Jamaica Atlanta” pageant…

In college, after gaining and losing the Freshman 20 instead of Freshman 15 in my case and investing in contact lenses, I gathered enough confidence to enter the “Miss Jamaica Atlanta” competition. I didn’t win one of the top three spots, but I considered it a victory that I even put myself out there…I even wore a bathing suit…on stage…in front of people…Yikes…

Me fighting adult acne, but fearfully and wonderfully made…

I would like to say that now that I’m in my ’30s (one year from 40 to be exact…Wow,) I am no longer self-conscious and in complete mastery of my self-esteem, but on my worst days when my hair isn’t quite right or another gray hair shows up or I’m fighting adult acne(Wasn’t teen acne enough God?), I’m still that 10-year-old girl…Nevertheless, on my best days, I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made; I’m learning to know that full well (Psalm 139:14)…

Any thoughts?

P.S. One of my fave TLC songs for obvious reasons-