Here are student summaries of fall 2024 MCJD dialogical surveys with members of the First A.M.E. Zion congregation. Click on any title for details, then return to see all titles.
First AME Zion: Reconstruction and Community
Event: First AME ZionInterviewer: Mira
Whom did you interview?
During our trip to the First AME Zion congregation, me and my colleagues had the pleasure of meeting one of the longest standing congregation members, Phillis. Phillis grew up in First AME Zion, and has first hand seen the both the cultural and social shifts in religion throughout decades. She described the church as a large community in the 50’s and 60’s, gathering large groups of families and elders alike in faith. However, she stated as the years went on and the contemporary world shifted their schedules away from accommodating things such as the sanctity of Saturday’s and the emphasis on faith, numbers dwindled. On the bright side, she told us that since COVID, numbers have been on the rise again, and they’re opening themselves up to the community.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?Phillis has a really strong sense of the word, and being involved within the church for so many years has led her to find a strong sense of conviction in faith. While I differ in the sense that I did not grow up with any teachings in faith, I found that our ideals aligned in many ways. She stated that she very much appreciates the natural world, and the importance that faith can bring to it. We had a conversation about us growing up without the teachings of the church, but still turning to nature when looking for a similar sense of peace that prayer can provide. While she has a strong conviction for faith, she also believes that science is valuable, and believes that there are ways in which we can utilize it in order to increase outreach. She used an example of using Zoom meetings to widen the access of the church for people who may not be able to attend church, which is a valuable lesson in using our resources for the betterment of our community and can be applied to environmental issues as well. Over all, even though Phillis’s upbringing differed than ours, we still found areas in which we could agree upon.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?I think that this is a perfect example of “Many Care Just Differently” which is the slogan that underscores the entire idea of EcoTypes. The field trips are an opportunity to connect with people from communities that may differ from us. While this may seem intimidating at first, throughout the conversation you learn that these people aren’t so different from ourselves. Even through a different upbringing and life experiences, we still settle on the same ideas of how we should operate our world. While this isn’t always a hard and fast rule, I believe it destigmatizes the idea of interacting with people that differ from you just because they’re different. With the continuance of this destigmatization I believe it will lead to greater community within our society, as now we often find ourselves distant from even the closest ones around us. I also believe this will start to reduce the shift away from this sense of community that Phillis has seen throughout the course of her life, as the First AME Zion community has opened themselves up to the greater population that surrounds them just to participate in conversation about how they can improve