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.
Oldest Oregon Church Community Considers a New Future
Event: First AME ZionInterviewer: Adriana
Whom did you interview?
I had the pleasure of talking to the pastor Dr. Dennis Payne who was the person who invited us to their church and speak with other members of the church. He used to work at The Oregonian newspaper company when he was younger until he decided to travel around the States. He promised himself that he would one day return to Oregon which he did ready to serve his community and improve it.
How did your EcoTypes and SDG priorities compare?We had fairly similar ecotype priorities with everyone at our table being small green steps people where we cared about community activities and awareness. The only difference was that Dennis cared more about old knowledge and keeping the past alive while the other students and I prioritized new knowledge since it’s not disappearing anytime soon. The SDGs I had similar to Denis were numbers 1,11 and 16 which are no poverty, sustainable cities and communities, and lastly peace, justice, and strong institutions. Interestingly, we were so like-minded despite being from completely different generations and situations. We disagreed on many points and yet we still have the same ecotype.
What larger MCJD lessons did you learn?We were counting below two fairly often which means that we were justifying and explaining our opinions and choices. It made the conversations more engaging and it just shows how understanding we can be when we have a bit more context as to why the other deals like that. For example, the way Dennis talked about reconstructing the church even though it was around for such a long time but it was time to rebuild it due to all the issues it has due to its old age like leakage and missing or sagging stained glass windows.