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Should Beyoncé and Jay Z Have Bought a Converted Church Mansion?

Hello World, mansion

Word on the street is that BeyonZ other known as The Carters allegedly bought “La Casa de Castille, a hulking, 13,292-plus-square-foot Spanish Baroque-style converted church mansion in the heart of New Orleans’ Garden District,” for approximately $2. 6 million according to Variety magazine. The building was once known as Westminster Presbyterian Church and was constructed in the 1920s. “The altar is now the dining room, and the master suite, replete with sitting area, two-room bath and a dressing area, is located on the third level in what was once the choir loft.”

Am I the only one that sees this purchase as sacrilege?

tabernacleI remember when I first heard that Third Baptist Church in Atlanta would become the House of Blues for the 1996 Summer Olympics held in the A, I was aghast that what was once a house of prayer would now become a venue for the blues…Even James Brown had a problem with performing there according to this article on augustachronicle.com. In fact, a tent had to be erected in the venue’s parking lot in order for him to perform…”I’m having a little problem with the church,” Mr. Brown said Wednesday in an interview from his office in Augusta. “We’re going to play in the yard. I’m going to do my singing and dancing in a tent.”

Following the games, the House of Blues was renamed The Tabernacle although it continues to operate as a venue for a variety of musical acts. I remember discussing my feelings about this issue with a musical artist. I was also sharing about my faith with this artist and declared that I would never cross the threshold the Tabernacle because the house of God had been converted into a secular music showcase. (And to be clear, I do listen to more than Christian and or gospel music, but I don’t think every venue is for every artist.)

Well chile, I made a hypocrite of myself when a Christian friend offered me a free ticket to see Jill Scott at the Tabernacle. I’ve been a fan of Jilly from Philly since her first album and someone gave the opportunity to see her free too? I told my Christian friend about my apprehension, but she assured me that it would be alright with God although my spirit didn’t exactly agree…When I walked into the mammoth former church house, which used to have a membership of over 3,000, I could see how it used to be a church. The pews had been removed and the stage replaced the altar area, but other than that, the construction looked similar to what it must have been when it was a church. And wouldn’t you know it that as I was getting my groove on, I saw that very same musical artist that I had told that I would never go into the Tabernacle much less party up in there…It was a ministry failure…And that wasn’t the last time either, I went there for two more concerts: one for Erykah Badu and one for Lauryn Hill. I figured that since I had already been there once, what did it matter if I went there again and again? (By the way, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill are pretty much at the top of my list for my favorite artists of all time…)

So fast forward to 2012 as I was preparing for the launch party of my book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God.” I tried to have museummy party at the Museum Bar, another converted church building here in Atlanta, because I thought it would be cool to use the venue for its original purpose: to uplift God. But the venue wasn’t available which in hindsight was probably for the best since I don’t think I agree with church houses being converted to secular structures…

But don’t tempt me by offering me by free tickets to see one of my favorite artists there….The devil stays busy, don’t he?

Yes, y’all, I am continuing to work out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12)…Y’all pray for me, and I will pray for y’all….

So my question for the day is: Do you think that churches should be converted to concert halls or bars, etc? And why or why not?

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

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When Mothers Day Is Not Necessarily Happy…7 Women Share Their Experiences…

Hello World, tears

Happy Mother’s Day to my wonderful mother Mrs. Alice May Holness, whom I have written about in “Alice May, It’s Your Day (Happy Mother’s Day to All Mothers).” The older I get, the more I appreciate all that makes her uniquely her. Her no-nonsense Jamaican sensibilities tempered with her fierce love for her family and church family. Her interest in modern pop culture (she knows who Nicki Minaj is by watching “American Idol”) and commitment to seemingly old school values like cooking almost daily for family AND friends. Her commitment to femininity (one of her beliefs is that every woman must have a scent) and devotion to working out hard in the gym (her trainer has praised for her strength although she is one of the older ones in her group).

I am always happy to celebrate my mother on Mother’s Day!…And yet for many others, Mother’s Day is not necessarily happy…Because I want to honor all experiences on Mother’s Day, I’m devoting today’s blog post to those who may be divided about celebrating today or who would skip this day altogether if they could…Below are seven stories about these types of experiences…

1. “An Open Letter to Pastors (A Non-Mom Speaks About Mother’s Day)” by Amy Young

Excerpt – A pastor asked all mothers to stand. On my immediate right, my mother stood and on my immediate left, a dear friend stood. I, a woman in her late 30s, sat. I don’t know how others saw me, but I felt dehumanized, gutted as a woman. Real women stood, empty shells sat. I do not normally feel this way. I do not like feeling this way. I want no woman to ever feel this way in church again. – See more at: timewarp.com.

2. “My Baby Was Never Born. But I Was a Mom, Too” by Blane Bachelor

Excerpt – I’ve never been a huge fan of Michelle Duggar, but when she made headlines last year by holding a memorial service for her stillborn daughter, complete with images of the baby, I felt a certain solidarity with her. I’m sure her motivation wasn’t to shock people or stir up controversy; instead, she was simply validating the existence of her daughter to the world. Isn’t that the least we owe our lost children? See more at: washingtonpost.com.

3. “How It Feels To Not Have A Mom On Mother’s Day” by Madison Tate

Excerpt -Before she passed, I hadn’t considered myself to be a heavily religious person. I was always driven by curiosity, and facts and science answered my questions. However, as soon as I lost her, I knew I had to have faith. See more at elitedaily.com.

4. “#ThisIsWhatBlackMotherhoodLooksLike: Why I Gave My Child Up for Adoption” by Aprille Franks-Hunt

Excerpt – The dark cloud of acceptance in the instances of unwarranted shame that comes with being called a, “birth mom.” Which by the way, something about that term, “birth mother/mom,” seems so dismissive to me. As if, we’re no longer mothers because we chose to allow another woman to become one. See more at ebony.com.

5. “Muslim daughter and Christian mother celebrate unity on Mother’s Day” by Colleen O’Connor

Excerpt – When Alana Raybon converted to Islam, her mother, Patricia, — a devout Christian — was devastated, feeling that she had failed her faith and family. She also felt very angry at her daughter for fragmenting their family. See more at: denverpost.com.

6. “Recovering From a Nightmare, One Mother’s Day at a Time” by Rick Hampson

Excerpt – On the first Mother’s Day after her husband killed their two young children and then himself, several questions faced Zoey Mendoza: How do you survive a mother’s worst nightmare? How do you be a mother to kids you can no longer hug or kiss? How do you endure a holiday that honors something so precious that was torn from you so suddenly? See more at usatoday.com.

7. “Black Women and Mother Loss: 5 Steps for Getting through Mother’s Day” by Liz Alexander

Excerpt – There isn’t adequate language to describe the pain of mother loss and the permanent void it leaves. In fact, Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters, reminds us that the pain and the void experienced differs depending on several different factors: the type of relationship the daughter and mother had while the mother was living; the age of the daughter when the loss occurred; and the actual cause of the loss (such as physical illness, suicide, abandonment, mental illness, etc.) Nonetheless, mother-loss has profound effects on a daughter’s identity, self-esteem, faith, and the overall quality of her life. See more at forharriet.com.

 Any thoughts?

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Tongues, Tears & Tina: Mary Mary Season 4 Finale Recap…

marymary

Hello World,

It’s time for your weekly recap of the Mary Mary reality show, but I’m sad to say that as of tonight, this will be my last recap as this episode was the FINALE of Season 4…And what a finale it was y’all…Last week was all about Erica and her 1,2,3, 4 Dove Award nominations (see last week’s recap for the explanation of 1,2,3,4 instead of four or 4) and ended with Tina basically ignoring all of Erica’s accolades and asking her sister to sing background on HER solo project…

Erica’s Awards…

Well, if 1,2,3,4 Dove Award nominations wasn’t enough (she won one of the 1,2,3,4), this week’s episode begins with Erica finding out she is also up for a two Grammy Awards!!! I’ve got to admit that securing 1,2,3,4 Dove Award nominations and two Grammy Award nominations for a debut album is awesome!!! But before we find out if she won anything, we discover that Tina has to take care of some business…

Snitching On Mitch…

Now that Tina’s sisters have snitched on Mitch about his shenanigans at Tina’s wedding, she confronts Mitch during a lunch meeting at a restaurant…Mitch doesn’t lie about nor downplay his actions…”It was not one of my prouder moments,” he explains. He admits that he “spun around and lost it like a crazy man.” Tina shares that she, too, used to be controlled by her emotions, but she finally learned that doing the same things and expecting different results is the ultimate in crazy…Those are some of the wisest words ever said…Please believe them…We don’t get to see the end of the conversation so there is no telling what else transpired…Will Mitch manage Tina’s solo career? From the snippet we saw from the lunch meeting, I could not make any conclusions…

Grammy Awards…

At first Erica tries to be just happy that she was even nominated but a short while later, she starts begging Jesus again to win an award…And she does! She wins Best Gospel Album for her album “Help.” “To have your music acknowledged this way is priceless,” Erica says…

One-Woman Show…

Teddy and Tina discuss what Tina is going to do next in her solo career. Tina explains her vision to her husband….”I don’t want to do a regular concert. I don’t want it to be all about music or storytelling.” She proposes an “Evening With Tina Campbell” to be held at their church In His Presence Church (pretty name) in Woodland Hills, California. “It will be the most ‘truest,’ honest version of me the world is going to get.”

But as we found out in last’s week episode’s Tina’s vision for her one-woman show includes her sister’s background vocals. So Tina goes over to sister’s house to convince her sister to sing for the show…When she shows up at Erica’s house, she finds Erica in the kitchen shining her Grammy Award…Tina shares her joy, at least initially. When she found out that her sister won a Grammy, Tina says she “screamed for five minutes straight.” After she congratulates her sister again, Tina tells her sister about her one-woman show idea which will incorporate her music as well as excerpts of her book.

However, Erica, especially now that she is a Dove Award and Grammy Award -winning solo artist, says that her schedule is full and doesn’t know if she can fit in her sister’s show. She concludes by saying that she will do the best she can to make time to be her sister’s background singer…Tina may be a less fiery version of her former self, but she aine trying to keep her feelings to herself. ” Why don’t you stop the spit-shining and come sing?” Tina says to Erica.

Meanwhile at My Block…

So Warryn is feeling pretty good about his award-winning wife until he gets a call from Sony….He has been summoned to meet at its location but the reason for the meeting is not revealed…He concludes that it can’t be good. “Why does this feel like I’m going to principal’s office?” Warryn says…

However, in the next scene, we see that some potentially bad news is tempered by some good news…He calls his wife to tell her what’s going on…He briefly tells her about the Sony call, but then he shares the good news…Erica has been asked to perform at Lakewood Church….”They want you for the whole weekend,” Warryn says…It is the SAME DAY as Tina’s one-woman show…Sister or not, she decides this is too good of an opportunity to let slip by…

In the next scene Erica is at My Block studios with her husband…I’m no fashionista by anyone’s definition, but the first thing I notice is an old school Gucci purse…The one with black “G”s and the red stripe down the middle…Also, Erica is wearing black cat-eye framed glasses and has a top knot…The whole look is fabulous…While she is at the studio, she won’t be there for long as she prepares to leave to fly to Texas…Tina and more of the Atkins’ sisters are expected to arrive at the studio shortly, but Erica asks her husband to explain what had happened was…

All My Sisters Except Me…

But before she gets away without having to explain to Tina face to face, she runs into her sisters in the parking lot…Erica has to explain about her performance at Lakewood and the fact that she is getting ready to fly out of town…Tina tries to convince her sister to stay…”I aine asking you to cancel. I’m asking you to delay.” But when Erica is not convinced to stay or delay, Tina raises her hand in the air and states, “Daddy, this is the kind of child you raised.” Deep. Now, that’s a guilt trip to from Heaven to hell… “Me and the rest of my sisters gon get the job done,” Tina concludes. Erica is a little upset too. “I’ve got 172 sisters and ain’t none of them can be on my side?”

Showdown at Sony…

The student aka Warryn arrives at the Principal’s Office aka Sony…And just as Warryn thought, it’s not good. The last Mary Mary album came out in 2012 and Sony wants another one…yesterday…Warryn tries to explain how the sisters are pursing solo projects, but Sony is not having it…In fact, he is told that if there is no Mary Mary album, then Tina can forget about a solo album….”I spent weeks breaking them up and now I’ve got to get them back together again,” Warryn says….

tina teddyFrom Test to Testimony…

It’s the day of Tina’s one-woman show “An Evening With Tina Campbell,” and Tina is coughing in spasms it seems…”I’m losing my voice of the worst possible time,” Tina shares…She prays…”God, you’ve got to heal me tonight because I need my voice tonight.” But it’s not just Tina’s voice that is wavering…Her faith is wavering…She feels emotionally drained…She doesn’t want to be a hypocrite…She is unsure about her songs because they are a departure from her Mary Mary music…She alternates between crying and praying…

She finally begins speaking in tongues…Even though she feels she may look weird, she explains, “When you are struggling in your faith, you pray in your Heavenly language.” Teddy also tries to comfort his wife…”God responds to faith,” he declares. “Look what you birthed out of being in pain.” As all of this was happening, I thought of two things…Maybe God was allowing Tina to go through all of those emotions so she could sing out of a place of total reliance on God and that was what she was supposed to be ministering about in the first place…The second thought I had came a result of Teddy’s statement about birth…Maybe was what was going on backstage was like the labor process because she was about to literally share new life…

Babeee, in spite of Tina’s nerves, her hoarseness, lack of faith, etc., her voice combined with her testimony of feeling schizophrenic and homicidal and turning to the Bible for comfort ministered to the audience…Teddy says, “She’s shining and I can’t believe she’s mine.” Sweet…Shoot, he has more of a testimony that Tina in my opinion…The two of them even performed together….

Tina is euphoric after her performance and thanks her sister who called to encourage her. “Thank you for pushing me out,” Tina says to Erica…More pregnancy imagery…Erica’s performance at Lakewood, by the way, seemed to go well from the little bit of the performance that was included in the episode…

Mitch, however, was there to see Tina’s performance…”Maybe the fact that I’m here and Erica is not speaks volumes.” I don’t know how good of a manager he is, but Mitch always comes through with the drama…

Sony or Solo?

Although Erica & Tina were high after their respective solo performances, a crash had to come…Warryn meets with his wife and sister-in-law aka Mary Mary to tell them about Sony’s ultimatum….But neither one of them bows down to Sony’s demands…Warryn finally realizes that his original plan worked too well…”Dear Jesus, I’ve created a two-headed solo monster.” And he can’t be mad about it because he did it…

So that concludes Season 4…No Mary Mary album on the horizon, but there is more solo praynews to share…Yesterday, on the National Day of Prayer, Tina released her new book I Need A Day To Pray and her album “It’s Personal.” Another “Evening With Tina Campbell” will be held at her church In His Presence in California on May 30. Go to eventbrite.com for ticket information.

In addition, according to Billboard Magazine, Erica has started a 20-city national tour entitled “Help 2.0,” which is the name of her latest album…She has also created “More Than Pretty,” which is a “female empowerment movement” that will begin at Los Angeles’ Faithful Central Bible Church on May 23.

So there you have it…For now, at least Mary Mary is now Erica & Tina…

Any thoughts?