Mentoring programs prepare African-American youth for adulthood
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Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography LLC Members
of the 2004-05 Debutantes for Christ class received mentoring from
students at United Methodist-related Clark Atlanta University.
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Members
of the 2004-05 Debutantes for Christ class received mentoring from
students at United Methodist-related Clark Atlanta University.
Debutantes for Christ is one of a growing number of "rites of passage"
programs that churches around the United States are offering for
African-American youth. Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography LLC.
Photo #05-360. Accompanies UMNS story #296. 5/12/05 |
May 12, 2005 By Rori Francis Blakeney* ATLANTA (UMNS)—Donnella Cranford says she is called to train up a new generation of Esthers. “God
charged Esther with an important undertaking,” Cranford says of the
biblical queen who saved the Jewish people from destruction. “We are
here to raise up modern-day Esthers.” Cranford, a United
Methodist lay person in Atlanta, is founder of Women After God’s Own
Heart, a mentoring ministry in which older Christian women help
African-American teen girls become healthy adults. For the past year,
Cranford and several other women have helped 19 teens grow in their
faith and prepare for adulthood. The girls completed the program,
Debutantes for Christ, with a formal cotillion in March. “It
changed my life,” says Eleah McClamb, a 17-year-old member of Cascade
United Methodist Church. “Every time I make a decision, I think, ‘What
would Jesus do?’ I realize that I do have an effect on people.”
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Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography LLC Eleah
McClamb of Atlanta carries her gown into the Marriott Atlanta Airport
Hotel before a cotillion capping the Debutantes for Christ program.
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Eleah
McClamb, 17, carries her gown into the Marriott Atlanta Airport Hotel
before guests arrive for a cotillion capping the Debutantes for Christ
program. McClamb is a member of Cascade United Methodist Church in
Atlanta. Debutantes for Christ is one of a growing number of "rites of
passage" programs around the United States that provide mentoring for
African-American youth. Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography LLC.
Photo #05-362. Accompanies UMNS story #296. 5/12/05 |
The mentoring ministry is among many “rites of passage” programs
developed since the 1980s. Such programs are gaining momentum among
African-American churches seeking to usher their youth into the faith,
according to Marilyn Thornton, development editor for African American
resources at the United Methodist Publishing House. Rites
of passage mark the significant milestones in a young person’s
development, initiating them into healthy, responsible adulthood through
training, introspection, rituals, mentoring, service and more. They are
opportunities for acknowledging a young person’s “coming of age” by
honoring his or her growth and changes, answering questions and helping
the young person find a place in society. Much of today’s
“rites of passage” curriculum has developed based on gender issues,
spirituality and ethnic or cultural background. This year,
the Publishing House published “Daughters of Imani: Christian Rites of
Passage for African American Young Women,” a mentoring curriculum for
girls 8-18. It published a similar resource for boys called “Young
Lions: A Christian Rites of Passage Program for African American Men” in
2001. The Rev. Chris McNair, an elder in the
denomination’s Minnesota Annual (regional) Conference, was serving Park
Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis when he was inspired to
develop “Young Lions.” “I knew (the church) would miss a
lot of students. I had the task of creating something that would hold
the interest of young African-American boys,” McNair says. “Young
Lions” emphasizes positive peer group involvement, hands-on skill
development, knowledge of the African American culture and a
relationship with Christian men as role models. Rites of
passage programs are similar to confirmation classes but designed to
reach a broader group of young people. Many United Methodist churches
use them as an evangelism tool. “‘Young Lions’ is cultural,
but it is also Christian,” McNair says. “It presents the Gospel to
African-American boys in a relative way. It does target young people who
are not in the life of the church. The program opens the door for
evangelism.”
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Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography LLC A cotillion caps the 2004-05 Debutantes for Christ program for 19 young Atlanta women.
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Nineteen
young Atlanta women complete the Debutantes for Christ program with a
cotillion. Debutantes for Christ is one of a growing number of "rites of
passage" programs that churches around the United States are offering
for African-American youth. Photo courtesy of Lisa Dozier Photography
LLC. Photo #05-361. Accompanies UMNS story #296. 5/12/05 |
In general, rites of passage ministries for African Americans address
issues such as goal setting, etiquette, career planning and community
service from a biblical perspective. Some present cultural and societal
issues and then weave in the spiritual dimensions. To build friendships
and support, programs often include social activities, such as trips to
the theater, community service projects and sleepovers. The
Rev. Herbert Lester, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in
Memphis, Tenn., believes today’s culture has neglected the importance of
rites of passage that mark the transition from adolescence to
adulthood. As a result, he says, many young people live in a state of
perpetual adolescence, refusing to assume the responsibilities and
trusts of adulthood.
“Rites of passage programs that
involve the community are an act of spiritual formation,” Lester says.
“It is an act of evangelism. We do it in hopes that (the community) will
become a part of our community of faith. The goal is to form Christian
character.” Christian character is what Ida Crook, a member
of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, wanted to instill in the
27 participants of her program, Cascade Christian Debutantes/Beaux
Rites of Passage. She and Cranford want to go around the country setting
up similar programs at different churches. “The ultimate
goal is to help young people understand that you can have Christ in your
life and not be a nerd,” Crook says. “You can be a good Christian and
have a strong social life.” Crook’s program worked with
both young men and women at the same time because “I wanted them to
learn together,” she says. “We must live together. The world is made of
men and women.” Each session opened with a prayer and
Scripture. “I wanted them to know the Bible is a source of reference for
everyday living, that they could always go back to the Bible during
different stages in life,” Crook says. The biblical story
of Esther is presented as a model for young women through the Women
After God’s Own Heart program. The Bible teaches that Esther spent a
year preparing herself for her God-given task and then saved her people
from destruction. In that year, Esther took time to beautify and develop
herself spiritually with the help of a eunuch, a servant to the king. “I
think that those eunuchs worked with (Esther) to prepare her to be a
leader. She had to know how to stand out above the other women,”
Cranford says. LaToya Yates, one of this year’s debutantes,
says just hearing Esther’s story was helpful. The program turned her
into a kinder, gentler person and improved her attitude, she says. She
also remembers the session about spiritual gifts because she discovered
she had the gift of leadership. “I didn’t think of myself as a leader before, but after the session I saw that I could do more,” says Yates, 16. Just
as Esther was charged with talking to the king to set her people free,
the girls are charged to talk to other people to set them free from
social bondage, Cranford says. “We remind them that God has prepared them for such a time as this.”*Blakeney is a freelance writer in Atlanta where he is a member of Cascade UMC and is pursuing the ordained ministry. News media contact: Tim Tanton, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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