FLINT BAPTIST CHURCH FREE

We invite people to consider questions of faith: who is God, what does Jesus have to do with us, what does it mean to believe in something – in anything?īesides all that, we like each other for the most part. We have events like our book groups, the 'Let Those With Ears' preaching series, featuring preachers of color, and our not-really-annual fall community festival to spark conversation, but we also gather for worship every week, learning to connect the dots of faith and citizenship, of personal and public belief, of the reign of God on earth and in heaven. We do all this because we believe the church is supposed to be about something bigger than itself. We’ve rallied for immigrant children, for marriage equality, for an end to race-based injustice, for fair housing, for healthcare, safe and affordable water, income equality, for civil rights issues wherever they are. The flag has been our calling card at any number of protests, from Selma to Standing Rock, from Washington DC to Vassar, Michigan. So this new name, Peoples Church of Flint, then, is first a reflection of a long history of this congregation caring for people, standing for justice, working for well-being and second a restatement of our commitment to what is right - the vision of God of a world that works for all.Īs you enter the worship space, you can see the Flag of Humanity, a home-grown Peoples Church of Flint symbol of what we believe – that we are in the world to make it a better place.

FLINT BAPTIST CHURCH FREE

Examples came to mind: The Peoples Law Office in Chicago that defended the Black Panthers Peoples Grocery in Memphis, where Ida B Wells witnessed racist hatred and began her journalistic crusade against lynching Peoples Clinic in Austin, where so many sought free health care in an unaffordable economy The Peoples Water Board in Detroit, which has been fighting for years for safe and accessible water, protecting people from the ravages of corporate indifference.

“Peoples” has a long history of pursuing justice for oppressed and marginalized folks. The congregation, following the lead of Jesus, of Isaiah, of scripture, had put the Common Good at the center of its life. The Statement of Faith, the newly drawn Garland Declaration, and the new location all seemed to point to a congregation committed to the well-being of people - not simply individual people who crossed its path (although there is that), but a world of people drowning in the excesses of capitalism and dying from lack of the things that hold life together. With its new mission tagline, “Joyfully Defiant for the Sake of a Just World,” the congregation leadership began another conversation about whether a new name might better suit this congregation as it emerged prepared for ministry in the 21st century. The move away from the woods was a metaphor of sorts for its move away from the bucolic, pastoral “suburban” life. In 2018, Woodside left East Court Street and, after a hiatus in Central Park, landed in Carriage Town just 2 blocks from where it first built in 1872. In 2014, Woodside called Pastor Deb Conrad and began a years-long process of redefining its mission, clarifying its community presence, and coming to terms with the changing realities of both Woodside and of Flint. In the 1960s, First Baptist Church (c 1853) began doing business as Woodside Church, a reflection of the times, its mission and sensibilities, and its new location on East Court Street - next to several acres of woods.

Flint baptist church