Thanking God for the past, praising Him for the present, trusting Him for the future

By Vaniecia Williams

History and the safeguarding of it is America’s greatest treasure. Think about how many times you have visited national, local or regional landmarks and are in awe at the quality of their preservation. There is nothing better than exploring a building’s architectural history and the remnants it holds, or landmarks that highlight a spot in this country where something occurred.

On Sunday September 20, 2009, as the finale to its year-long 100th Anniversary Celebration, Trinity East United Methodist Church became a landmark in the State of Texas when the Harris County Historical Commission dedicated and unveiled a Historical Marker for the church at its 2418 McGowen St location in the northeast section of Third Ward in Houston.

The ceremony included some of the biggest names in Texas along with some pretty big names from the United Methodist Church including keynote speaker, the Texas Annual Conference’s Central South District Superintendent, Rev. Lawrence Young. Clergy making an appearance included Rev. Dr. Darnell Walker, Retired; Rev. DeFarris Gooden, Retired; Rev. Dr. Joseph F. Cox, former South District Superintendent, Retired; Rev. Constance Gold and Rev. Dr. Robert McGee, the current Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, the Mother Church of Trinity East, who read the Historical Marker inscription during the program upon its unveiling; and of course Trinity East’s own Senior Pastor, the Rev. Bryan Keith Dalco who served as the spiritual leader throughout the program.

Members present from the Harris County Historical Commission included Mrs. Willie Lee Gay, who presented the Church with its Historical Marker, Mrs. Debra Sloan, Mrs. Susan Armstrong, Ms. Patricia Prather, Mr. Darrell Beck, and Mrs. Bernice Mistroit. Also on hand for this grand occasion was former City of Houston Mayor Dr. Lee P. Brown and former First Lady Francis Young Brown. Not to mention the church was packed with its own set of very special people, as its sick and shut-in members decided that on this Sunday they would make an effort and have their caretakers bring them to church. The Buffalo Soldiers served as the Color Guard for the event with Colonel Cameron Wells, Jr., Retired serving as the Sergeant at Arms. The chairs for this event were Mrs. Alpha Henderson and Mrs. Juanita Jackson.

Trinity East United Methodist Church is an offspring of Trinity United Methodist Church, the oldest African American Methodist Church in Houston, whose origin begins from the first Houston Methodist Church, organized in 1841 for Caucasian members. The original 68 members of Trinity Methodist Church included 32 African Americans, both free and enslaved. The church at that time was located above a store on Capital Ave between Milam and Louisiana streets in Downtown Houston. Today, a monument to the origin of the Methodist Church in Houston is erected at 801 Texas Ave in front of the Houston Chronicle building. In 1908, Trinity Methodist Church members who migrated to Third Ward found it inconvenient to get Downtown. It was then that William Young, together with other parishioners organized a new church on the corner of Dowling and McGowen streets nicknaming it “Little Trinity”, thus the beginning of Trinity East Methodist Church, which is now Trinity East United Methodist Church, with the United being inserted after the creation of The United Methodist Church upon the merger of The Evangelical United Brethren Church and The Methodist Church, April 23, 1968.

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Are you really ready?

By Vaniecia Williams


When Maya Angelou was on the Tom Joyner Morning Show recently, she talked about how gracious President and Mrs. Bush were, so much so that President and Mrs. Obama praised their graciousness and leadership in making their White House transition a smooth one; where they really felt a genuineness and sincerity for success. Tom Joyner then remarked how people booed when President Obama praised President Bush for his years of service.

Maya’s response was that we must learn to have humility and respect.  She reminded the listening audience that this is the tone President Obama has set forth for us, and we all need to adhere to his lead.  Ms. Angelou went on to say that people need to learn to have grace, and to not respond to everything they hear in an adversarial way. She reminded us that we need to stop being critical of one another, and when someone says something we may not agree with, just pause, take note and not react in a negative way, as there is a time when petty differences need to be set aside.

Ms. Angelou’s comments came at the right moment, because just the night before having been engaged in a conversation where it was cynically questioned why Jesse Jackson was crying, I was completely astonished as I asked my colleagues were they serious about that question? They proceeded to explain that their rage was due to a comment Rev. Jackson made during a campaign speech given by then Senator Obama. Still I looked at them with bewilderment because I couldn’t believe the hatred towards this Civil Rights legend, just because he made a momentary blunder. Haven’t we all said things in the moment that we wish had not come out of our mouths, and haven’t we all said them in a nasty, derogative or perhaps racist tone?

Isn’t this what President Obama was addressing in his speech? Hasn’t he shown in his appointments that although we have differences we must learn to respect and work with one another? Now if he is leading by example who are we to hold grudges, anger, jealousy or resentment?  If he can let it go, why can’t we?

Respect given is respect earned, respect earned is respect given. President Obama had to earn our respect – he knows that, so in consequence he now is giving that respect back. You could see the genuine affection between the out going and incoming first families. After all they are now members of the same elite circle.

When are we going to learn this? That’s what our President is trying to teach and inspire by modeling it for us. Even President Bush in the end showed his graciousness, his humor, and his good ole southern boy charm. But if you think it’s OK to boo a former President or to deface anything with his name on it, or to graffiti his sculpture, then you have truly missed the mission President Obama gave in his inaugural message, let alone his messages throughout his campaign.

As for the economy, you cannot just lay that at President Bush’s door, as President Obama said we all have had a hand in it. Black Americans, you contribute when you abandon black-owned businesses for Wal Mart to Tiffany’s; White Americans, you contribute when you would rather hire your friend who has no experience instead of the African American who often times is more than qualified for that position; Hispanic Americans, you contribute when you refuse to learn English in a nation of immigrants where surely you should understand that for all of us to be able to communicate and understand one another there has to be a common denominator language; and lastly Asian Americans, you contribute when you act as if every Black person that comes into your business is a criminal . . . the list goes on and on. We just need to adhere to our new President’s call for service - to help - which means we must have grace. The challenge becomes a minute by minute process, starting one step at a time.