More Church Folk

by Michele Andrea Bowen

  There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. And when the prayer was over, folks started shouting and praising God, without one note of music being played. Then somebody started singing, “My faith looks up to Thee / Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! / Now hear me while I pray / Take all my guilt away / O let me from this day be wholly Thine!”

  The entire congregation sang that verse twice before people went back to their seats praising God, joy flooding their hearts. The Holy Ghost was up in the gymnasium so strong until people who wanted to hide from Jesus had to get up and get out of that room fast. Marcel, Sonny, and a few others tried to make a beeline for the men’s room.

  When those devils left the room, Murcheson decided that it was the perfect time to introduce the next level of information the Lord had placed on his heart. He said, “Church, we can vote for three new bishops today. And we also have extra seats available for the districts in Ghana, Mozambique, and Nigeria. I am recommending that you write in these names for those extra seats. Rev. Theophilus Simmons, Senior Pastor of Freedom Temple Gospel United Church in St. Louis, Missouri, for one of the stateside districts. Of course, there is Rev. Eddie Tate out in Chicago. And I will leave it up to you to decide on the third person.

  “For the African districts, I am recommending, Rev. Cecil Witherspoon for Nigeria. Reverend Witherspoon’s mother is a native Nigerian, his father is a well-respected African-American businessman in Nigeria, who runs several enterprises with Rev. Witherspoon’s mother’s brothers. He was born and raised in Nigeria, holds dual citizenship in the US and Nigeria, and will be a tremendous blessing to that district.”

  What Murcheson didn’t add was that Cecil’s father and uncles were tough and couldn’t be bullied or frightened by Babatunde’s henchmen. If Ottah was crazy enough to roll up on those black folk, he would get his butt kicked for sure. Plus, two of Cecil’s uncles had high positions in the Nigerian government, and Ottah Babatunde couldn’t pull that royalty mess on them.

  “For Ghana, I recommend Rev. Walter Peoples, whose father Rev. Wilber Peoples served as a diplomat for the US government. Rev. Peoples was born and raised in Ghana, his wife is a native Ghanaian, and all of her people are members of the Gospel United Church.

  “Lastly, I ask that you strongly consider the Rev. Dr. Hezekiah Ambrose, Senior Pastor of Southeast D.C. Gospel United Church, to serve in Mozambique. Rev. Ambrose built that church up from twenty-three members to a thriving church of 3,500 members. Plus, Rev. Ambrose’s dissertation was titled ‘Christian Faith and Healing in Traditional Agrarian Communities in Mozambique.’ He spent many years there, has great connections, and is loved and respected by most of the pastors and ministers in Mozambique.”

  Percy was still smiling at the surprised looks on the faces of the ministers to whom Murcheson had just issued God’s calling for them to become members of the episcopacy. Unbeknownst to most folk, being a bishop was a calling, just like being a minister or a pastor. Many good preachers were called but it was hard to get them past all of what he always called “Pharisee mess,” or the politics of the position that had nothing to do with the calling or the Lord. They had lost a lot of good pastors truly called to serve in this capacity. But today the windows of Heaven had opened up to pour out a blessing on them with this election, and he hoped the people would follow the direction of the Lord.

  The speed with which those delegates voted for their new bishops was unprecedented. Percy, who had done everything possible to lessen the time, was amazed himself. Now, three hours later, the accounting firm was standing on the platform with the final results. The white accountant put the envelope in Percy Jennings’s hands.

  Percy was so nervous. He prayed, and then proceeded to open the envelope. He read the names of the new bishops with tears streaming down his cheeks. He’d seen some wonderful things in this church. But it had been a long time since he had seen it like this. He said, “Would Bishops Tate, Simmons, Witherspoon, Ambrose, and Peoples please come up to the platform?”

  Folks jumped up yelling and screaming and shouting out “Hallelujah” as loudly as they could. Eddie planted a big fat kiss on Johnnie’s mouth. Theophilus picked up Essie and swung her around. He had not even thought about being a bishop before now. And here he was elected without one campaign speech—it was enough to make his cool self run all over this building.

  Then came that moment when you felt the enemy was always there to try to steal the joy of the saints. But Percy was not going to let that happen because the Devil was a liar. And he knew that this last Episcopal seat had been purchased at a high price.

  “Somebody go and get Bishop Washington and tell him to come forth.”

  The room was so quiet that Murcheson James felt kind of sorry for Sonny Washington as he walked up holding his wife Glodean Benson Washington’s hand. About the only thing that folks liked about seeing Sonny Washington get elected was being able to watch his wife do her famous walk in that hot pink brocade pantsuit she was wearing.

  “Where does that heifer find all of those pretty clothes in pink?” Saphronia whispered to Precious. The two of them had been sitting with the rest of their folk, feeling as if they had been on a roller-coaster ride. There had been more excitement in the room than when Saphronia had sneaked into that brothel her ex-fiancé, Marcel Brown, had helped to run in Richmond.

  All Precious did was shrug. She said, “I wonder how much pink Pepto-Bismol Sonny Washington has taken over the course of the years because he is sick of all of that pink.”

  “That boy don’t get sick of that pank,” an old preacher who used to go with Glodean back in the day whispered to his friend. “That there gal can put some pank on me any day… laaawwwd ha’ mercy.” He started hyperventilating just thinking about that girl. What did those little stuck-up heifers know about “pank.” They needed to go somewhere and just shut their mouths.

  The new bishops stood on the platform in amazement. They had been going to Triennial Conferences most of their lives and had witnessed many runs for Episcopal seats. But they’d never seen or experienced anything like this. Even Sonny Washington, who knew he had not earned this position, was in awe of what had just happened. The thought that church folk would vote right when given the chance was overwhelming and kind of scary. It let Bishop Washington know that these people were not stupid, they were watching them and paying attention to what was going on, and when given the chance they would err on the side of righteousness. Sonny had big plans for what he wanted to do as a bishop. But he wasn’t so sure that he would be able to do much, as long as the men standing on this stage with him were members of the episcopacy.

  The other new bishops knew that God had put them in those positions. And they knew that even though Sonny Washington had bought his seat, God had still allowed for him to slip through the ranks. And since they all trusted the Lord, they knew everything would be all right. They shook hands, glad to come into the ranks of the episcopacy with some real men who truly loved the Lord standing by their sides. And it didn’t hurt that these were some of the toughest and baddest brothers in the denomination. It felt good to win like this and in such a big way.

  Murcheson was grinning from ear to ear. This new class of bishops had the kind of men who should have always been elected to the sacred episcopacy. He looked up and said, “Thank You, Lord,” before telling the congregation, “Please stand for the new bishops of the Gospel United Church!”

  Folks jumped up yelling and laughing. They could barely believe that right had won. What a wonderful God they served. And to think, they truly got beauty for their ashes and double for their trouble. What a blessed thing it was to see the Word of God in action. What a good God they served!

  EPILOGUE

  The new bishops, now affectionately called “the class of ’86,” draped their purple silk robes over their arms. They had been very solemn during the consecration ceremony. Now they could enjoy being bishops before the very hard work of running Episcopal districts hit them square in the face.
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br />   Theophilus grinned as if he were nine years old and had just won the title for a Little League baseball tournament.

  “Negro, why are you grinning so?” Eddie asked him. “You didn’t even want to run for this office.”

  “Me neither,” Bishop Ambrose said. “The last thing on my mind was being a bishop. Because I knew that I would have hurt somebody if I had to run that race. Shoot, running for bishop in a black denomination is about as bad as running for president of the United States of America.”

  “I heard that,” Bishop Witherspoon said in his rich and beautiful Nigerian accent. He was a good-looking man, made even better-looking by the light of the Lord glowing in his eyes.

  Essie studied Bishop Witherspoon for a moment and thought that he was going to make a wonderful bishop for the Nigerian district. Those people had been under a cloud of bondage for so long, they were going to be simply awed at how God had answered the prayers she just knew they had been sending up to Heaven under Ottah Babatunde’s regime. It was a shame that there were bishops who could get in a position of power that rivaled anything any despot could hold.

  “Well, we are definitely bishops,” Theophilus said, laughing. He put his arm around Essie and said, “What’s my name, girl?”

  “Bishop Simmons,” she said in a sassy voice that held so many promises in it.

  “Ohhhh… yeah… that’s how you say, ‘Bishop,’” Theophilus said.

  “Well, you know,” Essie told him, “anything for my bishop.”

  “Yesss… laawwwd,” Theophilus said.

  “Y’all need to stop that, Bishop,” Obadiah told them, smiling all over himself. He could barely believe it. He and Lena were still rejoicing over what had happened in their church, and it made him determined to be the best pastor he could be.

  “This is such a powerful testimony,” Denzelle Flowers told them. “From now on, these preachers out here doing all of that dirt for personal gain will think twice about what they’re doing.”

  “Naahhh… they won’t do that.”

  “Why do you say that, Bishop Tate?” Denzelle asked his boss and mentor.

  “Because folks like that are in so much bondage to sin, they lose all sight of right and wrong. The Devil is their pimp and they will do his bidding come hell or high water. The testimony is that the people of God can discern this and walk right over the Devil’s head. That is the blessing.”

  “You ain’t telling nothing but the truth, Bishop,” Murcheson James told them, as Percy Jennings nodded his head in complete agreement.

  “Well,” Percy said, “what do we do now?”

  “I think I’m up for a little celebration,” Theophilus answered, as he grabbed Essie’s hand and hurried off as if he had to put out a fire.

  “He is so mannish,” Susie James told them.

  “And on point,” Eddie said, winking at Johnnie.

  “Okay… before y’all keep going off on this tangent,” Murcheson said, “let’s meet for dinner at the Angus Barn in, say, four or five hours. That should give some folks enough time to celebrate and then come and eat.”

  “Solid,” Eddie said, and then added, “Do you think it feels this good to be president of the United States?”

  “Ummm… hmmm,” Johnnie said. “And I’ll bet it’ll feel even better if you a brother who is president of the United States.”

  “You think that will ever happen?” Obadiah asked in earnest.

  “In our lifetime,” Lena said, knowing deep in her heart that the Lord had just dropped a prophetic word on her.

  “You think Prez will run off like Bishop Simmons to go to a special post-election ‘celebration’?” Denzelle was saying, laughing.

  “Fo sho’… cause he a bro…” Obadiah said amid laughter.

  “What a day that will be,” was all that Susie James could say.

  “What a day this has been,” Murcheson said.

  “What a good God we serve,” Percy added.

  “Amen, amen, and amen,” was all anybody could say to that gospel truth.

  READING GROUP GUIDE

  1.) God and Mammon. The Word clearly states that you can’t serve both. But we know that there were some folk in More Church Folk who really tried to make that work. Who were they? How did they try to work this craziness? And how did righteousness prevail in spite of their efforts?

  2.) What preachers were truly called to serve in the Gospel United Church? Who had been called and then lost their way? Who do you think were never called? And why do you think some folk enter the ministry knowing good and well that they have never been called? Is there a way to stop this from happening?

  3.) Why was WP21, or Watermelon Powder 21, a problem and, even worse, a threat to the well-being of the Gospel United Church?

  4.) At first glance, it appears as if the battle between the good and bad preachers is simply about power, dominance, and control. But if you scratch beneath the surface, there is a more ominous battle raging in the church. What is it? And how did they (meaning the good guys) fight it? Plus, do you think that they were successful when they waged war against the bad guys?

  5.) Why did Theophilus Simmons, Eddie Tate, Murcheson James, and Percy Jennings need the help of Denzelle Flowers and Obadiah Quincey?

  6.) Do you think they could have made things work without the two younger pastors?

  7.) Why did Marcel Brown, Sonny Washington, Larsen Giles, and Ernest Brown need Rico Sneed and Kordell Bivens?

  8.) In Church Folk, the women played a key role in the battle between the good and bad preachers. But it seemed as if more men were needed to fight the battle in More Church Folk. Why do you think that was so?

  9.) Why did Theophilus Simmons and Eddie Tate have to be forced out of their comfort zones?

  10.) Who were your favorite characters?

  11.) Who were your least favorite characters?

  12.) When you think about these questions, what scriptures come to mind, and how do they apply to what the good preachers were faced with?

  13.) What scriptures come to mind when you think about what the bad preachers were doing?

  * Bishops who are upright, trustworthy, and live by the Word of God.

  ** Bishops who are questionable or double-minded, and follow the lead of the crooked bishops because of their personal wants, fears, and greed.

  *** Bishops who have lost their way and keep a mess going in the denomination.