It seemed like any other ordinary Saturday church service with music, praise and singing bellowing out of Breakthrough World Harvest Church, 650 N. Cicero.
But the dozen or so people who filled the pews Saturday Sept. 27, heard a message that empowered men to reconnect with God and to retake their position as head of household.
The two-day conference from Friday Sept. 26 and wrapping up on Saturday aimed to teach men to overcome life’s adversities by having a little faith. That absence of faith, the conference organizers say, has weakened men’s resolve to be a rock for their family. While to conference targeted men, turnout was less than stellar as more women attended. Still, the trials and tribulations, says the ministry’s Elder Pervis Willis, come into everyone lives.
Because men falter in the face of adversity, their households and families, Willis noted, are not where they are supposed to be.
“We can’t buckle under the pressure of a trial and run and go sell drugs. We have to keep fighting, pressing and moving on to try to do things a righteous way-God’s way,” he said, insisting there is reward for going through adversity, but men must past the test in order to receive it.
“It is easy to praise him when everything is going right, but what makes the difference is are you able to praise him when everything is going wrong. That’s were the blessing is.”
So far, men are not passing that test, noted the conference’s keynote speaker, Assistant Pastor Charles Williams of Kingdom Dominion Ministry.
“We are having pop quizzes everyday [on avoiding drugs, sex, and alcohol], and we are failing everyday,” he said, explaining these activities have distracted men from being good husbands, fathers and providers of their households. “We want to encourage men to not fail, to not quit.”
Kingdom Dominion Pastor Olymphia Patton agreed.
“[As Christian Black women], we don’t have a problem with stepping back and letting the men take the leadership role as long as they follow Christ.”
The conference’s mission will continue over the airways. Crown of Glory International Outreach Ministries will host several broadcast services themed, “Men of Strength Fire and Power,” every Saturday in October and the first Saturday in November. The broadcast begins Saturday Oct. 4, from to on WYCA Radio 102.3.
La Risa Lynch
