Murchison Tabernacle ministers to youth in their terms
By Anisha F. Coleman
For the St. Louis American
The youth at Murchison Tabernacle took over the spotlight this past weekend. Like many area churches, Murchison Tabernacle, located at 7629 Natural Bridge Rd., where Marvin Charles Lue Jr. is pastor, hosts an annual “youth gospel explosion” in an effort to bring the youth of the church closer to God through fellowship, worship, dialogue and praise. The theme of this year’s Holy Ghost Crunkfest was Let’s Get F.I.R.E.D. Up – an acronym that means Filled, Inspired, Revived, Empowered and Delivered.
Empowerment workshops kicked off the celebration Thursday evening. Thursday’s workshop theme was “Building Godly Self Esteem,” a topic close to most Christian parents. The facilitator was Pastor Margaret Dangerfield, who taught the youth how to hold themselves in high regard by emphasizing that we are beautifully made in God’s image. This concept of being perfectly made seemed to stir the teens’ souls, as was evidenced by the full attention paid to Dangerfield’s message.
Dynamic teachings continued on Friday with Betty Thomas’s class, dubbed “Learning to Act Appropriately with Proper Etiquette.” Thomas taught the teens the basics on being polite, proper and appropriate. The teens quickly caught on to Thomas’s teachings and seemed eager to implement them in real-life scenarios. This may be a prayer answered for the parents at Murchison Tabernacle, should these teachings spread into the teens’ schools and communities.
Each workshop concluded with worship services, featuring devotion, worship through song, praise dancing, skits and role playing, all aimed at intriguing the teens and making the Godly connection.
Friday night was deemed the party night, with a fun-filled “lock-in” that went into Saturday morning. The sponsors of this event ordered pizza and movies for the youngsters and, with minimal adult intervention, let them guide the night. Although the lock-in was designed for letting the kids let loose, most of the teens, much to the delight of parents and facilitators, spent the evening reflecting on the messages of the Crunk Fest workshops while downing their soda pop and munching on pizza.
The height of Crunk Fest was the roundtable discussion that followed the lock-in on Saturday morning. The informal setting, with children spread throughout the room with sleeping bags and pillows, allowed the kids to open up and honestly express themselves about issues confronting them at school.
“What’s Love Got to Do with It?” was the theme and questions were plentiful, with teens trying to figure out how God fit into their dating relationships, where to draw the line in dating, how kids their age defined intimacy and the true meaning of love. Definitions of love varied greatly. The consensus among the teens, ranging in age from 10 to 17 years, was that sex, drugs and STD’s are major issues in their schools, both city and county. The young, fresh minister Rickey Gunn and 75-years-young Leroy Rice answered their questions through the gospels of John and 1st Corinthians on a level they understood and which prompted even more dialogue.
Crunkfest went out in grand style on Sunday morning, when the anointed Youth Choir got the early service up and on their feet with hip-hop hymns that resounded throughout the building and spilled out onto the parking lots. Pastor Marvin Lue emphasized that when it comes to saving our young people’s souls, “We don’t need spectators, we need participators!”
Michelle Eunice, age 13, a longtime member of Murchison Tabernacle, said it best by declaring, “I’m just thankful for someone taking the time to show us and teach us how to deal with our issues and to let us know that we don’t have to be ashamed of loving and living for God.”
