by Kay Ahmed | Dec 5, 2019 | 21stCenturyReligion, ChurchChange, From Our Archives
This past January, the church I pastor, Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, had its own “come to Jesus” moment during our Annual Church Meeting. I had done my due diligence all year — studying the latest data regarding church growth trends and...
by Kay Ahmed | Nov 7, 2019 | 21stCenturyMinistry, 21stCenturyMission, Commentary
For people in ministry, one of the most frustrating phrases to hear from congregants and committees is, “But we’ve never done it that way before.” There is often a lot packed into that one sentence—fear (of risk, of failure), hesitation around trusting the pastoral...
by Kay Ahmed | Jun 7, 2019 | 21stCenturyMinistry, Featured Article
In the middle of my work as the social media assistant at Bearings Magazine, I came to an important, perspective changing realization: media is art. Surveying our contributors’ pieces, looking for quotes, scouring the internet for relevant pictures, and then diving...
by Kay Ahmed | Apr 4, 2019 | Featured Article
I don’t know why I stay. I was sixteen the first time I was warned my sexuality was incompatible with my salvation. I was eighteen when I watched Bishop Gene Robinson consecrated as the first openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church, his alb ill-fitting over the...
by Kay Ahmed | Mar 7, 2019 | 21stCenturyMinistry, Featured Article
In 2015, three days after the death of Freddie Gray, I joined forces with a coalition of grassroots activists and concerned citizens with a long track record of working for social justice in Baltimore to form Baltimore United for Change. We didn’t wait for any...