So since May 7 or so I’ve been in Alaska. I came to attend the Alaska Pacific Region’s Annual Conference, hosted by First CME Church of Anchorage, Alaska.
I was surprised that we had a CME Church in Alaska. After all, we are a traditionally African-American church. Alaska? Do they even have black people there? Yes, they do. They have lots of them. Many, it appears, first came with the military. Many of the African Americans, like many of the Caucasians -- and, one assumes, all other races except the Native People – many came with the Military, fell in love with it, and stayed. We don’t just have a CME Church in Anchorage – we have THREE. And there are Missionary Baptist Churches, and all other kinds. There are lots of churches in Alaska, from what I’ve seen.
First things first: A word about First CME. I don’t know when I’ve encountered a more hospitable church. The Pastor, Rev. Jerry Webb, is a transplant from the Carolinas. He’s loving it here, and I see why: in addition to having a relatively new, well-maintained church building, he has a congregation that walks under a heavy anointing. You can see when you interact with these people that they love the Lord and are about doing His business. Now, it could have something to do with the fact that Alaska is so spread out and there’s little public transportation to speak of, but from the time people picked us up at the airport through today, when a sister is going to come and get me to take me to a dinner at the church, they have just bent over backwards to accommodate us and take care of our every need. It’s been amazing.
Though probably not as amazing as Sunday morning worship. It’s great to worship in a CME Church – wherever you are, there’s the familiarity of the liturgy that makes you feel right at home. But oh, my! These folks have a gospel choir that can rock! It’s not like in some churches where you know you’re getting a performance – with these folk, their hours of practicing shows in the way they harmoniously execute their arrangements, but the Holy Spirit shows up and lends itself to the experience. That is something amazing.
On my first day here we had Holy Communion (they let me help serve!), and Bishop James B. Walker, the Presiding Prelate of the Ninth Episcopal District, preached the Word. Theresa Duhart and other General Officers of the CME church were in attendance. Afterwards, we had a luncheon in their fellowship hall. Proceeds of the luncheon are to help them send young people to the National Youth and young Adult Conference in Orlando in July. After lunch, we did a hospital visit. While the brother we visited had some issues with his pancreas and thought he’d have to miss the entire Conference, we were delighted to see him show up at the Annual Conference later in the week! Ain’t God Good?!?!?
After the hospital visit, Pastor Webb and Mrs. Webb took Bishop Walker and me on a quick tour around Anchorage. We went to see the Sleeping Lady, we went to a state park in an unsuccessful attempt to see Bullwinkle, and we went on a quick tour of downtown Anchorage. It was quite an impressive introduction!
On Monday, I didn’t have anything planned until 5 pm, so I called up Alaska’s Finest Tours and Cruises to go on their Wildlife and Turnagain Arm Tour. It was advertised for $49.00. I spoke to someone who told me I’d have to call back the next day about 10. I called, and they didn’t have the minimum number they needed for the tour. The minimum number was 2. They told me that if I paid a 50% surcharge, I could do it by myself. I asked if he’d be willing to pick me up at the Crowne Plaza where I was staying instead of in midtown. He agreed, and I booked the tour.
This was supposed to be a three hour tour, starting at 11:45 am and ending at 2:30 pm. It was advertised at $49.00, but he said that was last year’s price, and that it had gone up to $59.00. When I questioned it, he agreed to honor the last year’s price. With the 50% surcharge, a $10.00 fee to enter the Wildlife Conservation Center, a 5% fuel charge (high as gas is *inside joke*), and whatever other taxes and fees he added, it cost me something like $88.00.
THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY THE BEST, BEST, BEST TOUR I HAD IN ALASKA, AND TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!! THE GUY’S NAME IS BEN, AND HE WAS AMAZING!!! If you are going to Anchorage, check out www.glacierhikesandtours.com. Call 907-764-2067 and talk to Ben. HE WILL HOOK YOU UP!! This brother picked me up at 10:30 am. We went shopping and to Starbucks, then we set off down the Seward Highway. He stopped me at so many picturesque photo ops, and we ended up going down into Whittier to some seafood place (Swiftwater Seafood Café, in Whittier, AK) that had the freshest, moistest Halibut I have ever eaten. It was so good, I took a picture of it, which you can see in this album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3537795157405.2150335.1048146180&type=3&l=e11d743f0d. He would have taken me on down to the Alyeska resort, but I declined, since I thought the church was going to do a trip there. Bad move on my part. Turned out the church folk weren’t that interested in going to a ski resort – there weren’t enough people to do a trip. SO glad I went on this tour with Ben!
We did all these picturesque places, we went to the Wildlife Conservation Center, where he knows the animals by name! It was 5:00 pm by the time we got back to the hotel. An all day, private, personal tour! BEN ROCKS! Check him out!
So I got back to the hotel in time to hit Bishop Walker’s reception and then to go to Communion services back at First CME. This is the first time I’ve ever had the privilege of participating in an Annual Conference Communion Service, so that was a big deal for me!
I won’t go on with the details of the Conference. To be quite honest, I didn’t attend very much of it, although the Host Bishop, Bishop James B. Walker, treated us like absolute ROCK STARS! There was another Bishop in attendance, Bishop Thomas Brown of the Fourth Episcopal District, with his wife, Dr. Brown. There were also General Officers: Roderick Lewis, the General Secretary of Publications; Jeanette Bouknight, the Executive Secretary, along with her sister; Ouita Brown, General Counsel, along with her mother; and Mrs. Princess Pegues, National President of the Women’s Missionary Council. Rev. Paul Brown was in attendance, as was Rev. David Isom (Candidate for Bishop), Rev. Harlan Jones (Candidate for Bishop), and a couple of others whose names escape me right now.
But Bishop Walker treated us to dinners, had us driven around in limos, had us taken on sightseeing tours – for this preacher coming in with no ties to the Conference, I was simply overwhelmed with his kindness and generosity. And every time I mentioned it to people who knew him better than I do, they said, “Oh, that’s just the way he is….”
It was awesome.
So the Conference went on, with Roderick preaching the Ordination Service, Sister Pegues preaching the Missionary Service, and Julio Andujo (who also tore up Williams when he came) preaching the commissioning service on the last day. On the next to last day, the day of the Men’s Ministry, they had gospel Comedienne Debrah Terry preaching --- er, entertaining at the Wendy Williamson Theatre at the UAA campus. Sista girl, a fellow CME, from Greensboro, NC, just tore it up!! “High as Gas Is…” And ended the evening with an INVITATION! That’s the way to do it!
After the last day, I hung around a couple more days. On Friday, I went on a whale watching tour. They came and got us at 8 am for a three hour drive to Seward. It snowed and sleeted on the way. From Seward we got on a boat, the Glacier Express, and went out through Resurrection Bay (so named because some explorer dude came and their boats were badly damaged. They needed to rebuild them. They burned them, leaving nothing but the nails, then milled timber for new boats. The new boats were resurrected from the old ones and it happened in that bay, and it may have happened around Easter weekend. Hence the name Resurrection Bay). We say bald eagles and sea lions and birds and a coupla whales. It was just sooooooo coooooold, and sometimes there was so much chop in the water that the Captain would not allow people on the bow. (Even when he did allow you on the bow, it was only with crewmembers present). While we didn’t see so many whales, this trip really gave me the sense that we were in Alaska, and I certainly got a whole new appreciation for the guys on Deadliest Catch.
It’s now 2:45. I’m going to go. Have to wait for a church member to pick me up. I’m going to dine with First CME as they do a Mother’s Day meal, and then I’m going to head to the airport for a 9:50 pm flight. It’s been a wonderful trip, and I thank God for it.
Now, while I was here, President Obama made some sort of statement about gay marriage. Everybody’s in an uproar. Fellas, why are y’all so interested in where another man puts his dingaling? Come on now, really? Aren’t poverty, racism, and hunger much more appropriate matters to consume our time and energy? Really? You care how two people express their love? The ability to love is a gift from God. Step outside your judgement for just a minute (cuz if you’re African American, you should realize that they used to use the Scripture to say everything about us was unBiblical as well) – step outside your judgement for just a minute and thank God that two people are choosing to love rather than hate.
I don’t know. I just don’t get why people are so upset over it. I’m up here in God’s country, and somehow to be concerned with how two people express their love seems like majoring in minors. It just don’t seem right. Not the gay love, but the straight obsession with it. Unless you’ve got a dog in that fight, why is it your issue? OK. Going to church now….
