 Hi, my name is Audrey Schuette, and I officially joined Northbrook UMC just over a month ago. I have been attending Northbrook with my parents since last January, and in the span of less than a year, I became one of the founding members of the young adult bible study and was called to serve as a volunteer with the youth ministry.
As cliche as it is, one of the things I love most about volunteering on Sunday nights with the youth ministry is the youth themselves (…and the free meals). It’s privilege to be young enough to connect with the youth, yet old enough to appreciate how uniquely crafted, cherished, and talented each individual is—regardless of how they interact with others at church or at school. This past weekend, I volunteered to assist with Northbrook’s youth ministry’s lock-in! We visited Snow Island at Lake Lanier, which was freezing but also so much fun (maybe a little too much fun at the end there with the spin-y rides). We also went to Moe’s, played games like hide-and-go-seek, made root-beer floats, sang worship songs, watched a movie, slept a little, and ate breakfast together. I feel it’s important to note that all of the planning for this amazing 25+ person event was done by one of our youth and one of our adult volunteers and funded through the generous donations to Northbrook. Our congregation’s joyful demonstration of their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness continues to reach out into our community, touching friends who are invited to fun lock-ins, adults who are looking to guide the next generation, and young adults like me who are looking to continue engaging in Christian community after our time with our college ministry comes to an end. Thank you for being a part of this journey at and with Northbrook UMC.
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 Photo by J. Amill Santiago on Unsplash January 17, 2025
On January 20th, we recognize the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It has become a tradition in The United Methodist Church that on the Sunday before, we sing the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing," written by James Weldon Johnson. Mr. Weldon was the principal of the Edwin M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, and a member of Zion Episcopal Methodist Church. He originally set out to write a poem for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. But with the civil rights struggles of the time weighing heavily on his mind, he shifted focus to create a poem that captured the experiences and resilience of African Americans after Reconstruction, especially with the rise of Jim Crow laws in the South. In 1900, a group of 500 students recited what became "Lift Every Voice and Sing" for the very first time. Later, his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, set the powerful words to music, giving the poem a lasting and inspiring melody. Not long after, the Johnson brothers moved to New York City to pursue a career on Broadway. The song continued to spread in popularity across Jacksonville and across the country. In 1919, the NAACP dubbed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" the "Negro national anthem", for its power in voicing a cry for liberation and affirmation for African American people. James Weldon Johnson would be appointed to serve as the NAACP's first executive secretary the following year. It has similarly been referred to as "the Black national anthem." This hymn has made its way through many avenues of our society. Parts of this hymn were used at President Obama's Inauguration in 2009, and Beyoncé even performed the hymn at Coachella in 2018. The song has been performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and at the NFL Super Bowl. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" is indeed a powerful hymn. It is perhaps the closest that the modern voice has come to capturing the spiritual character of exilic Hebrew scripture. The song is more like Isiah than anything I've ever read. It's more like an original Psalm than anything I've ever sung. Wendell Whalum, the late choral director at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, often spoke of the progression of the three stanzas as that of praise, lament, and prayer. The poem's mood moves from exuberant joy based on a past wrought with suffering. The text then recounts a past full of terrible hardship and bloody progress to arrive at God's promise. Finally, the song celebrates God's deliverance and assures that God will keep his people on the right path. All this is sung to a tune more likely played by a high school marching band. The final stanza is often called a prayer in the African-American community. This prayer culminates with the petitions, "Keep us forever in the path, we pray," and "May we forever stand true to our God, true to our native land." Dr. James Abbington, Associate Professor of Music and Worship at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia, and a scholar in African American hymnody, has said, "This song isn't just for African-Americans and people from Africa, it belongs to all of us who are 'true to our God and true to our Native land.'" With music matching the spirit of the inspiring lyrics, the result is a powerful hymn for all Americans, forged in the fires of the struggle for freedom and refined in the flames of hope. On the occasion when we celebrate Dr. King, I think this hymn reminds us that the struggle for social and racial justice is not just a civic duty; it is a spiritual struggle close to the heart of God, who loves all God's children. See you Sunday! Kena Rev. Kena Newkirk Associate Pastor Lift Every Voice and Sing Lift every voice and sing, 'Til earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on 'til victory is won. Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place For which our fathers died. We have come, over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, 'Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand, True to our God, True to our native land. |
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Northbrook United Methodist Church - 11225 Crabapple Road, Roswell, GA 30075 - Phone: 770.998.2000 - Fax: 770.594.9380
Mailing address: Northbrook UMC, 885 Woodstock Road, Suite 430-380, Roswell, GA 30075-2274
Mailing address: Northbrook UMC, 885 Woodstock Road, Suite 430-380, Roswell, GA 30075-2274