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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1997)
I’ a ( i I B: A pkii 2, 1997 - I'm P orti and O bserver [O il O i f rangin B acfon dour with ‘“Tour o f L ife” (jospel Production G o sp o C en tric R e c o rd s’ pop gospel recording sensation Kirk Franklin and I he Family are back touring and p erform ing on the " l o u r o f L ife ,” an in n o v ativ e scripted and staged gospel pro duction currently touring the coun try and scheduled to appear in Portland on April 5. The location for this appearance has not yet been determ ined. F ran k lin ’s return to the tour followed a tragic stage accident in Memphis. I ennessee. shortly af ter the tour initially got underw ay back in O ctober. He was hospital ized in a coma and spent a month at home recuperating. Now that he is fully recovered and has been released by his doctor, h e 's back perform ¡ng on the rescheduled tour with The Fam ily, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams, gospel com edi enne Sister Cantaloupe, the K&K Mime (iospel Dance Troupe and other youthful gospel talents. I he rescheduled tour under the direction o f ALW Entertainm ent Com pany got underw ay D ecem ber 26 This unique concept packaging popular youthful gospel recording artists with a Gospel M ime Dance Troupe, actors and an extremely funny gospel com edienne plus other m usicians and perform ers in a perform ance setting com plete with a m ade-to-order stage set, will rival or exceed any version o f the ’greatest show on e a rth .’ It will also mark the firs, time in history o f the entertainm ent busi ness that this approach has been used to present renown gospel acts and attractions to audiences across the country T he p h e n o m en al rise o f GospoCentric recording artist Kirk Franklin and The Family, whose popularity and record sales have taken him and his singers to heights o f success no other gospel act has ever reached, also created a need to have Franklin's ’live' performances take on a new look This need plus the new audiences and acting expe rience he gained over the pas, year traveling and starring in the ’hi,’ gospel play, "He Say ...She Say...But What DoesGod Say?,” helped spawn the idea of presenting his future live performances with other popular gos pel artists in a staged and scripted production form The "Tour o f Life” resulted! This exciting gospel production has all the ingredients and talents necessary to make it one o f the great est gospel music experiences ever to grace a stage to be w itnessed by young and old gospel music loving audiences. The overall idea is to take gospel music and its leading popular artists far and beyond the ordinary gospel concert stage in performances. This type o f presentation makes the idea a living reality. It’s a brand new day, a brand new way - it's gospel music and some o f its’ leading performers coming your way on the “Tour o, Life.” This electrifying, entertaining and exciting presentation o f gospel mu sic featuring Kirk Franklin and The Family, Fred Hammond, Yolanda Adams and others is more than a concert and much more than a dra matic stage play. It’s an electrifying gospel experience that has no peer! Mainstream cufture embraces, redefines the meaning o f ‘S pirituahtf Underneath the biggest cult story in the US in 20 years lies an endur ing question: What is spirituality? Much o f the reflection on the millennial sect H eaven's Gate, and the leader w ho compared him self to Jesus while leading his adherents to death, centers on the "spiritual” as pect o f the tragedy. C u lt le a d e r M a rsh a ll H e r f f A p p lew h ite’s "spiritual p h ilo so phy” o f the soul hit Page I. Internet groups chat on "N ew Age UFO s p ir itu a lity .” O ne e x -H e a v e n ’s G ate m em b er says Mr. A p p le w h ite ’s “ physical body was born in H ouston, but his spiritual se lf was on a higher level.” Yet pastors and theologians say all this indicates how widespread, casual, and even devalued the idea o f “the spiritual’ has become in the U.S. They say a new level o f “spiri tual talk” among Americans may show a healthy longing for a higher or richer sense o f life. But it also Hattens or distorts a concept that had a distinct meaning inside churches and synagogues - o f someth i ng genu inely “holy” or “divine” rather than merely psychological. The word spirituality is in such wide use today that it has lost its focus," says Gabriel Fackre o f the Andover-Newton Theological Acad emy in Newton, Mass. “The closer we get to the year 2000 it seems, the more we will hear the phrase, from popular as well as cultic and esoteric movements.” Popular usage o f spiritual has grown in mainstream culture as well as in churches and synagogues. Last Friday, for example, when the Rev. Martin Luther K ing’s son met with James Earl Ray, in prison for killing Dr. King, the son, Dexter King, described the meeting to reporters afterwards as a spiritual experience that helped him “complete...a spiri tual circle.” Under the Protestant discourse that held sway, at least in many religious traditions, for much o f the 20th century, spiritual suggested the nature or presence o f God, the Holy Spirit. For the faithful, spiritual or spirituality was also tied to a deep moral sense - including a sense o f history, responsibility to a commu nity, and o f truth as a meaningful concept. In recent years, the w ord’s usage has undergone dramatic change. It means everything from emotional fervor or intellectual excitement, to a sensual experience, to the descrip tion o f a “family” like H eaven's Gate that hoped to join a UFO being who resembled FT, the loveable alien in the movie by Steven Spielberg. Today, rock star Madonna de scribes herself as “spiritual." The recent film "M ichael” about an an gel on earth offers "both laughs and spirituality,” says a reviewer. Spou sal abuse is due to "spiritual weak lings,” writes a feminist. One New Age healer asks audiences to "do something spiritual" for themselves. "Spiritual decorating” —arranging furniture in a way that is calming, for instance - is a fad. Yoga masters offer “spiritual massages” to elimi nate “ bad energy." “ I had a m em ber tell me his daughter's wedding was the most spiritual moment o f his life,” says one local pastor, adding “ He may have been confusing emotional with spiritual there.” Theologian David Wells, author o f ’No Place for Truth,” feels people use spiritual to challenge secular trends. “ Modern life at a time where God is so marginalized can feel like a window less room. People want to cut a hole in the ceiling. If you are mowed down by a secular culture, wounded, you feel a yearning for what is non-material." But, he adds, “there is a fundamental difference between this and Christian or Bibli cal forms o f the word.” Experts point to three causes for the new use o f the word: a backlash by the 1970s to a secularism that tried to eliminate spirituality, a new dialogue between Roman Catholics and Protestants after Vatican 2, and the popularity o f Eastern religious ideas that use the language o f spiri tuality. "By 1972 we saw a shift from a cold secularism to a rebirth o f spiri- tuality as a viable category of per sonal identity,” says C raig van Gelder, an expert on Christianity and culture at Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. "Constructing one’s spirituality becomes the project o f the 1970s and '80s.” “ After Vatican 2, you found many in the Protestant world gladly ac cepting a new word, spirituality, which was a new way o f speaking about a religious inner life o f prayer,” says Krister Stendahl, former dean of the Harvard Divinity School. The word became "democratized among lay Catholics and Protestants” in the 1970s, he adds. Zen Buddhism, tran scendental meditation, yoga, and other Eastern beliefs began to take hold among baby boomers, many o f whom watched rock groups like the Beatles journey to the East. Jfeaven'sgate relatives come to terms with cuft repercussions Twelve years after Terrie Nettles watched her mother leave for good to search the stars for ( iod. she received a Final insult Still wondering w hat ever became o f Bonnie Lu I rusdale Nettles, Terrie Nettles learned her mother had died just four hours away in a Dallas hos pital. "I felt like somebody had ripped my guts o u t," Terrie Nettles said o f h e r m o th e r 's d e a th in 1985. She said she thought at the time: "Now the answers are gone.” But her mother’s memory returned last week with the news that 39 Heaven's Gate followers committed suicide inside a California mansion. Ms. Nettles co-founded the cult that evolved into I leaven’s Gate. She and cult leader M arshall H erff Applewh ite shared a platon ic but c lose relationship, trekking across the coun try' and gathering followers to take a spaceship to "the Next Kingdom.” Terrie Nettles' wondering began when her mother, a newly divorced nurse, met Applewhite, a music pro fessor. Early one morning in 1973, they went to a nightclub where l errie Nettles, then 19, worked. They told her they were leaving. “ I wasn 'tai lowed to say goodbye I wasn't allowed to tell her that I loved her and hold her hand," she said. "I felt like Herff prevented that from happening.” That was the last time Terrie and her younger brother, Joe Nettles, saw their mother. “ I remember going down the stairs with her. try ing to keep from crying,” said Ms. Nettles, now' 44. “They just said that God was leading them in a certain direction. They weren't sure exactly w here, or what their mission was. But she said it was really big.” Seven months after the farewell. fabbiSfiefa Qobd co give concert at MJCC Congregation P'nai Or and the Mittleman Jewish Community Cen ter will present a concert by Rabbi S hefaG oldon Fhursday, April 10 at 7:30 PM. Tickets for the benefit concert arc $10 general admission and $8 for seniors and students. "Chai" patron tickets are also avail able for $18. Shefa Gold is a nationally ac claimed composer o f Jewish Litur gical and spiritual music. She has released six albums o f her recorded works. The latest is called “Chants Encounter." She teaches meditation, chanting, and many other facets of Judaism as a transformative path Shefa’s music seeks the essence of Jew ish Prayer and invites the audi ence to come along on the joyous journey. Changing the image op Jesus in B m x i t t I’ow n t J u kson I am always amazed when people claim that racism is over and done with and that if people o f color just work hard enough, they will succeed in this country. I am always amazed because it seems that every week there is new evidence that racism is alive and well in America. Take the story o f the passion play in Union City, New Jersey. After 82 years o f the Park Theater Performing Arts C enter's produc tion o f " I he Passion Play," this year the center chose an African Ameri can to alternate in the role o f Jesus. That’s when the uproar began. Not only did the center find that the people in this multiracial city were leaving profane messages and canceling tickets, but the actor, Desi Arnaz Giles, found him self facing death threats. “As soon as you’re cast in something like this, you know it may stir some people,” Giles said, “ But death threats?” It seems that the image o f Jesus as a black man is so threatening to some that their reaction was to prom ise death to the performer. Bernice Powell Jackson is execu tive director o f the United Church o f ^gf/rst L rumpet (Tall for Frenesi Lolita Vaughn/Phillips Frenesi Lolita Carter was born to the union o f Richard and Senoia Carter on May 3rd, 1941 in Boise, Idaho. She departed this life on March 20th. 1997 Raised and educated in St. Louis, Missouri, she came to Portland in 1974. This vibrant young woman went to work for Untied Parcel Service and served well for 21 years, retired in 1995. Frenesi accepted the Lord in 1983 under the pastorate of the Rev. T.L. Lew is. Pastor o f Morning Star Baptist Church. She joined the Usher Board and w as a faithful servant She also was secretary both to Pastor Lewis and the church. In these latter years she was a member o f Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church under the leadership o f The Rev. Jonnie Pack IV. Pastor. She was there until her death As a sojourner for Christ, Frenesi had many attributes. She worked as an on-call person for Christian Women Against Crime (C'W A C ) prepar ing brochures in the early years o f the school, helping students w ith theit math and w hatever she could do to help Frenesi was an achiever In recent months she became a Certified Nurses Assistant Services were Entrusted to: Cox Funeral Home, Inc. Portland, OR 4 Christ 's Commission for Racial Jus tice in Cleveland. ( )hio This article appeared in issue HO ! 66 o f the ( 7 1 //. RIGHTS JOURNAL The concert will be held at the Mittleman Jewish Community Cen ter which is located at 6651 SW Capitol Hwy. In Portland. It is pre sented with special support from Havurah Shalom. Call 244-0111 or 248-4500 for information. passage begins. "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God o f the earth." Her daughter struggled to under stand. “That’s when they first realized who they thought they were, as the two witnesses,” Terrie Nettles said Friday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “ I had abso lutely no clue as to what she was talking about.” Cox Funeral Home 2736 N.E. Rodney, Portland, Oregon (503) 281-4891 Advertise In “Before You Must Make a Decision” (T he ^ J n r t k t u i i Inspect the Beautiful Cox Funeral Chapel (0 b s e r u c r Call 503-288-0033 ‘VConderjufpeople? An “earth ship" of old tires, a little w ooden elephant and mystified people still serve as reminders that the Heaven's Gate cult tried to build a New Mexico home before moving on to California. “These were wonderful people,” said Jim Thorsen, a leader in the New Mexico patriot movement who bought thccult’s40-acre compound last year. Then, peering at a long, mazelike wall of symmetrically stacked tires, he admitted he had other thoughts. “OK, they were screwed up But they were wonderful.” Heaven’s Gate members bought the land 55 miles southeast o f Albu querque in June 1995 and began build ing an environmentally sensitive, fenced and gated retreat center, ap parently intending it as a permanent monastery. About 25 members worked the land, while five or six commuted about 10 miles in Jeeps and Cadillacs to work in rented offices next to G u stin ’s H ardw are store in Mountainair. Patsy Gustin, who rented the three small offices for $250 amonthtoagroupcalling itself’Com- puter Nomads,” cried when she saw her ex-tenants on television, giving videotaped goodbyes before last week's mass suicide “ It’s shocking They were very. the woman who would help stitch mysticism and Christianity into a cult sent a cryptic letter to her daughter. Relying on a fiery Bible passage - Revelation 11:3-l 3 - Ms. Nettles tried to explain how she and a former opera singer became the center o f a new universe, the origin of Heaven's Gate. “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall proph esy a thousand, two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth," the very, very nice people. They were always smiling,” she said, lightly tap ping a table where Heaven’s Gate members once worked. The kind, peaceful cult members with cropped hair planned a thriving commune on the remote property, Thorsen said. The land, a former youth camp dotted with pine trees, sits two miles up a dirt road from the tiny, dilapidated village o f Manzano. They drew up plans for a self- sustaining community, laid gas and electric lines and installed a vast sep tic system. “They planned on attracting mem bers, but they thought they would be subject to something like Waco or Ruby Ridge. That’s why they came here,” he said. It appears to have been incredibly arduous work They milled lumber one tree at a time, mixed and poured their own concrete, and stacked hundreds of tires by hand. Pre-dawn laborers were rewarded by the chalking of“ EB” (for early bird, said Thorsen) on the tires they placed. When they suddenly decided to leave in April 1996, they had a par tially completed, 3,700-square-foot building walled with old, stacked tires filled w ith dirt and chinked with empty soda cans. "Planning your funeral is our first consideration. Equipped to serve all religions, races, veterans and fraternal organizations. " -Jerom e Tanner, Funeral Director ‘How should I pray?” Rick Hamlin offers an engaging, funny, and touching tale o f one man’s lifelong pursuit o f the answer to the question, “ How should I pray?” in Finding God on the A Train. A fresh and fluent new voice on the Christian w riting scene, , Hamlin offers the candid story-sure to appeal to the m illions today rediscovering the joy o f prayer-of his search for an authentic spirituality.
