The 100 Black Men of Metropolitan St. Louis began the New Year with a symposium entitled “The Power of a Man’s Spirit,” held Saturday at Vashon High School.
Joseph Anderson Jr., president of the local 100 Black Men, said the symposium was an organizational effort to engage men in discussions about their spiritual health and its impact on their destinies.
“Seldom have we, as men, been willing to broach the subject of spiritual health,” Anderson said.
Over 300 men and boys of all ages attended the two-hour, all-male symposium held inside the Dr. Julius C. Dix Auditorium at Vashon. Women and girls were allowed to listen separately via an audio feed in the adjacent gymnasium.
Four esteemed local clergyman served as panelists: Pastor Michael Jones of Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Dr. Freddy J. Clark of Shalom Church (City of Peace), the Rev. Rodney Francis of Washington Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and Pastor Aeneas Williams of The Spirit Church.
The Rev. Starsky D. Wilson of St. John’s United Church of Christ served as moderator. Rev. Wilson began by asking the panelists to define the phrase “a man’s spirit.”
“The real you,” Pastor Williams answered. “It’s who you are when no one else is around. It’s your invisible thoughts that ultimately influence the seeing world.”
Pastor Williams said during his junior year in college he didn’t know his true self and sought divine intervention. He spoke of having a “broken spirit” and a personal disconnection with God, before realizing, he said, “I couldn’t run my own life.”
Pastor Williams, a 14-year NFL veteran, used a sports analogy to illustrate his point.
“What I didn’t understand growing up in the church was it’s not that you don’t have your own thoughts,” he said. “It’s just you have a different coach calling plays now.”
Rev. Wilson asked if one can mentor a man’s spirit apart from the church, referring to men without a religious affiliation or with their own personal disconnection with God. The panelists discussed the importance of the church remaining relevant.
Rev. Clark said, “The institution that we call ‘church’ was the only viable and vital institution we had to make inroads into the social ills that our people faced.”
The audience applauded.
“The church has to be more open and receptive to the realities that our young men bring in terms of their lived experience in this world and the way in which they discern and engage God,” Rev. Francis said.
The church must offer something tangible, Pastor Jones said.
“The more relevant you are in their experience, the more often they will [seek] the institution,” Pastor Jones said.
Audience members called for more unified action, particularly with younger males. Rod Jennings, who serves on the University City school board, stressed the importance of positive male role models.
Rev. Wilson singled out Minister Donald Muhammad of the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Mosque #28 from the audience to offer his perspective. Muhammad’s response reflected 100 Black Men’s theme for 2014: “Teamwork makes the dream work.”
The symposium was a part of the organization’s health and wellness initiative, one of four core initiatives that include mentorship, education and economic empowerment.
“And trust me,” Anderson said, “this has truly been a team effort and a labor love.”
