What you know, legally, youre not supposed to have bible studd l of that. We have a lot of deep conversation. They began to speak to me about proclaiming larger audiences. I did not realize that the people had been watching me. I said i went to him and had the experience. I went to evening communion and hes preached a sermon about people running gospel. He said i heard that. He he said of anyones senses the call, call and come to the altar. Before i knew it i was at the altar and i said yes to that sons of god. He said we have been waiting for you. I preach immediately i moved that is our opening segment and that will keep us truly interested all the way. We will come back in a moment. Dr. Jackie thompson will be back. Welcome back. If you heard dr. Thompson you had to be excited about her call to ministry. We have more about that. It been a joy. I was raised there. I started going there when i was 12 years old. I was too sick of going to charge. That was during the time when you went to church all day and there was sunday school, the morning service, three clock service, you came back for 6 00 service and at 12 years old i lu had mother who waher churut hea th d. Importfo this man with a deep voice. Abouthe lence a man we to. Were supposed to do something. Not just sitting in the pew but our faith should drive us to action. I join. I was raised there. So pastoring there has been for real. It is my life coming full circle back to where i started. I feel blessed for the opportunity. Did you experience the profits . Not really. I think the transition process was different. I saw my first woman preacher there. I think people are challenged by the idea of authority. I never had female authority and i wondered what that would look like. I have no horror stories. People have been amazing and loving and kind. We get the years seven, well see if we have that seven year itch. When i started i was worried about the membership. Our membership is 2800 people are moving out and thats a pretty good number. Absolutely. We are very blessed. We came one time and you were there. I was at love center because their pastor had gone and they were in transition and they were asking people to come and support the people. The new pastor had only been there a couple of years. They had been inviting me and i had been able to do it but that sunday knowing he left and how important that leadership was i was there to encourage people. Yes. We actually just had a black history concert this past sunday. Thats right. We heard your great message. Tell us about that. Preserved for a purpose was a closing sermon for black History Month to remind African Americans that out of everything that we have been through and what we have experienced that god kept us for a reason. Not for us to lesson our roles are live in our space but we have been placed to be a blessing to other people and bring another generation along with us. Reminding us that we were kept this far for a purpose eakelike you did, that was a great idea. For me, sometimes bet black History Month can be pigeon holed. We focus on the superstars. We were people before we were enslaved. We have a rare opportunity to lift up that history. It was important to me to make the connection. We also have members who are from those nations, many of the nations lifted up. I wanted them to feel blessed. Good. Tell us about your style of preaching. When i talked about thatsnbeing here is a secret the world will now know. I am one of the few who made it through seminary and i did not take up preaching class. I started preaching my first year in the dean there, i preached at his motherinlaws church in rhode island and she sent him the tape. He said i heard you have been around the country and you dont need as he signed me out of it. So i think my preaching style developed over the years and eyes kind of start with the one take away i want people to leave with and i built a sermon from there. For me its about transformation not just transformation of the mind, behavior as well. I kind of start with the behavioral purpose and that is the thing that dr. Frank herman lifted up in his sermons. He is amazing. So in his book he lifts up a behavioral purpose statement. What do you want to be different as a result of the engagement. I have kind of taken that as a methodology i built. I love the style. It says you have scholarship combined with girlfriend wit. Yes. I am and east oakland girl. In many ways, still down to earth, practical and sensible. Sometimes we lose a generation because we cant speak to their current day. So girlfriend has to do with being able to identify with people where they are. It is not just a heavy approach to the gospel and words the people dont understand but trying to minister like jesus who live the life and made the gospel relevant to them. He knew that doing judaism how he learned it was not going to work so he told parables. Hispable my girlfriend wit. I like that. Well, we love that you came today. 47 years of wisdom. I just do i love to receive. Were going to take another break. I want to hear more. Okay. Okay. We will be right back. Welcome back to mosaic. You did a lot of work in dc . I did. Tell us about that. Ywentto Howard University an studied under dr. King hope, dr. Lewis carpenter. It was a renaissance time. While i was there i served at channel Baptist Church in washington. They were founded by slaves. They have a social justice dna. I served as the youth pastor and built that program and model up to scale. It became nationally recognized and then shifted because dc was not the dc we know today. There were a lot of people in the community. I became their director for family services. You were extremely successful from what i read. Your call is preaching and teaching. Where did you get your doctorate . At fuller, it was in African American leadership. That is whyou can bind the emphasis on the roots and of course, what you are doing in the community as well . Yes. And the role of the church. I wanted to blend my concept around the role of the church in the community and the way it was transformed to reach another generation. Many of our young people are antiinstitution, any institution, the reality is that faith and institutions have brought us this far as a people. We have to figure out how we can make them relevant to the next generation coming behind us. Will you think about running for office . That was meet my desire before ministry. Is not something i think about now, but im not opposed to it. I think even now my influence is probably greater in this capacity. You never know what the future holds. A predecessor of mine, Booker T Anderson is the mayor of richmond. I was pushed a little bit in that direction but i decided i could only do one jo i go right. Right now i think i am enjoying this posture because it gives me the opportunity to critique the things i see wrong. Sometimes when you are functioning in office you could lose your ability to do that because youre considered a part of the institution. Right now im comfortable staying here, i think that there are people being left behind and others need to listen to me. Paul was my mentor. He was full of rich history. Yes. He is able to do that with publishing every sunday. Yes. Its excellent. Im glad to hear thant do ll sing . A little bit. Here and there. My dad was a recording artist. I just sing in the church. Thats right. With all that richness, you felt called to the purpose. Yes. But not for the pastor. Im not a pastor. I think i say too much. Its a labor intensive job and it never ends. I think, when god calls you to it, i wanted a clear call. I wanted a call and then a pastor requires a difference the skill stet. I didnt say yes. You are there. You also have to count preparation hours. You go with joy. When you find what it is you are born to do, it doesnt feel like work. That is true, even in ministry. What is your staff like . We have help. We have 60 lay ministers and we have staff ministers covering different areas. Were going to be building out more staff in the future. You did not baptize . I did not. It was some of our other clergy. When you have a large staff you want to give them opportunities to be able to exercise their gift. It also preserves you. I was preaching so i didnt want to baptize. Use somebody else. I did not just call you. It gives them an opportunity. The same thing with communion. You will see a lot of our associate ministers leading in that. What about funerals, weddings . They are all divided. I do some and then some are divided. I was just concerned when i saw all this that you do. No. I have great help. I stand on the legacy of a great leader who built this organization and provided others the po when it comes to large staff it seems like you manage it pretty well. And i have good people. They were already trained. I inherited them. I needed to take them into the next generation and bring another generation along. Okay. We have one more segment coming up. Okay. Thank you. We will be right back. In this last segment, we went to look at the ministry of dr. Compton and how people celebrated the 100th anniversary. Tell us about what that was like . It was amazing. An opportunity for the congregation to reflect on where god had brought them from , an opportunity for us to celebrate leadership. We were able to dedicate a street name. We celebrated the retirement of alfred junior. We had some of the best preachers in the nation. We had dr. Jeremiah wright. Dr. Freddie hayneshad a gala the rotunda. It was really an amazing time. If we energize the congregation and engage them in opportunity, it was so nice. You have the Memphis Community . We do. For the most part we are a commuter church which is different from when i join. When i joined people lived in the neighborhood. The neighborhood is now predominately hispanic. We experience the same. People do commute. There is tremendous ministry going on. People are doing great work. People commute but they stay there and go. In our last minute or so, what is the advice that you have for people in urban centers who are seeing our members move away. What is the best way to galvanize ministry . The best way no matter where you are is around mission and relationship. All of allen temple are committed to their mission and one another. It is not just coming in on sunday morning for celebration. It is everything that happens during the w planning activities for outreach in the community. That is who we are as a people. We speak out on behalf of those who are voiceless. The people committed to that, there is no distance they wont drive for that to be maintained. They have also maintained relationships with one another. They have been at each others weddings and raised each others children and they want to see their grandchildren be a part. If you have that connection among your members and carry that out to work in the community, you will have success. And remember that success is impactful. We are on mosaic today because of the ministry. If we keep that in mind we will find the success in the urban environment. Well, the smith leea succes i amglad wgot a u. Are esm su th weekly and throughout your ministry. I know you have preached throughout the country and the world. Continue that. Amen. Thank you for joining us. The lord is our light and salvation. We are blessed in the ways of the living. Not just when we die. The ministry is for life that is full and complete now and dr. Thompson is the church. Thank you for being with us, god bless you. Were living in uncertain times, but as californians well get through this together. If your income has been reduced or youve lost your job or your Health Insurance, covered california is here. We can help you find the Health Insurance you need to protect you and your loved ones. And, you may even get financial help to pay for your Health Insurance. So, if you or someone you know is without coverage, visit coveredca. Com to learn more or enroll today. Live cvs bay area studios, this is kpix 5 news. A San Francisco part is packed on a sunny saturday. Doctors express concerns as social distancing circle spill into others. I am afraid this could lead to another many surge. President donald trump takes action to provide more Economic Relief as he tries to work around an impasse with democratic lawmakers. It is a race against the clock in oakland. Classes start in a little more than 24 hours, but teachers are not happy with the districts plan for distance learning. It is just about 6 00. On the sunday, august the ninth. Lets start wi