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Event will emphasize meaning of freedom
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Rashad Adams rehearses with the Emancipation Choir, which will sing Negro spirituals at the Emancipation Proclamation and Installation Service at 10 a.m. Saturday at New Bethel Baptist Church in Youngstown.
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The Rev. Dr. David Thornton, pastor of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.
By LINDA M. LINONIS
YOUNGSTOWN
Freedom and what it means in the context of today’s world will be the gist of an address given by the Rev. Dr. David Thornton at the Emancipation Proclamation and Installation Service, 10 a.m. Saturday at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St.
In a telephone interview, the Rev. Dr. Thornton acknowledged his talk was “a work in progress” but that he was using the program theme, “Liberate the Soul by Freeing the Mind,” as his focus.
A passage from Scripture, Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” also is providing inspiration.
Mr. Thornton, pastor of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, said the service is based on Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The document, which went into effect Jan. 1, 1863, abolished slavery.
“For the slaves of that time, the document was freedom and liberation,” the pastor said. “What does it mean years later ... as we enter 2011?”
Dr. Thornton said people today are “faced with other forms of slavery.”
He used the recent Christmas celebration as an example, noting that “Christ is the reason for the season,” but that materialism and commercialism often overshadow that fact.
He pointed out that some people who can ill afford to go into debt do so in the name of Christmas and pay for it throughout the new year.
Dr. Thornton said using freedom wisely and productively is the key. “We need to be responsible and accountable ... and make contributions to our family, society and the nation,” he said.
He said the service should be a springboard for those positive activities made possible by our freedom.
Cynthia Wright-Palmer is chairperson of the event sponsored by the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Youngstown and Vicinity (IMA) led by Pastor Amariah McIntosh, president; and Baptist Pastors’ Council of Youngstown and Vicinity (BPC), headed by Pastor Henry McNeil, president.
Wright-Palmer, a member of the IMA and elder at Elizabeth Baptist Church, said 15 pastors, ministers and elders of the sponsoring organizations will participate by leading prayer, reading Scripture and presenting a skit on Harriet Tubman. a black abolitionist and humanitarian.
Wright-Palmer also said that Minister Eboni Vogan of St. Andrewes African Methodist Episcopal Church will present an African dance with accompaniment by Harambee Coalition drummers.
The Emancipation Choir, numbering about 50 participants, will sing Negro spirituals.
Wright-Palmer said the service is distinctive because of its “diversity of participants” reflective of the memberships of the IMA and BPC.
She also noted that the service includes installation of leaders of community and faith-based organizations that wish to participate.