""It was about faith in action," Thompson, who is now the church's senior pastor, told The Oaklandside. "It wasn't just about belief, it wasn't just about church attendance, but that to be a Christian meant you ought to be doing something to make the world better.""
""His phrase that he would say all the time was, 'We were not called to sit in the rocking chair of lazy religion,'" Thompson said."
Reverend Jacqueline Thompson first heard James Alfred Smith Sr. preach at age 12 from Matthew 28:18-20, emphasizing discipleship as faith in action. Smith led Allen Temple Baptist Church from 1971 to 2009 and died Sept. 19 at age 94. He grew the congregation, welcomed leaders such as Desmond Tutu, authored more than a dozen books, testified before the United Nations, held public office, and led mission trips. He mentored generations, served as president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and American Baptist Churches of the West, supported women's leadership, marched against East Oakland violence, and campaigned against apartheid. Honors include an endowed theology chair and a renamed Oakland street.
Read at The Oaklandside
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]