Thursday, May 7, 2020

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

A Shoe Shine Boy at Kayo’s Barbershop

By Jon Dunnemann


As a youth, shinning shoes at my grandpa’s barbershop on Saturday mornings was kind of like being an altar boy during a Catholic service.

While an altar boy mainly attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell and so on, I had a number of relatively similar tasks helping my grandpa that consisted of cleaning the mirrors and windows, emptying the trash, keeping the magazines neatly stacked, replenishing each barber’s supplies throughout the day, restocking the soda machine, sweeping and mopping the floor as needed, and taking out the trash at the time of closing.

In the background at the barbershop, WNEW 1130 AM Radio 'On Your Dial' in New York was always playing the highly popular music of Eddie Jefferson, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Hartman, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughan, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme along with America’s greatest big bands, ballads, blues, and notable songwriters.

Throughout my regular exposure to this music, I could not help but become a big fan of the jazz and blues vibe and even now, I still greatly enjoy these richly soulful musical styles.

Looking back, the first expository preaching that I ever heard about important issues of war and peace, and right and wrong came directly from my Uncle Junie who upon returning home from his service in the United States Army joined his father eventually becoming a master barber as well in Kayo's barbershop located on Bloomfield Avenue in lower Montclair, New Jersey. The same town where I was born on Monday, January 24th in 1955. These are a number of the reasons why to this day I still dig all that jazz.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Learning To Walk By Faith

By Jon Dunnemann


Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Yes I've been churched. It began for me at a little storefront Pentecostal church located on Roseland Avenue in Caldwell, NJ back in the early 1960's. Shortly thereafter, my older brother, younger sister and I all started going to The First Presbyterian Church at Caldwell situated at the corner of Bloomfield Ave. & Roseland Ave. It was there that I regularly attended Sunday School, participated in the children's singing choir, joined the Cub Scouts, and learned to play basketball with other boys through the youth basketball league sponsored by the YMCA of Montclair, New Jersey.

Although, I don't recall my Mother ever being in church it was mandatory for all of us as children to attend. Despite my generally being much too rambunctious, Church was a place where I knew quite well that I had better act well behaved, causing no distraction at any time to others. Oddly enough, this happened to be the one setting in which I found myself able to exercise good self-control. I think that this had everything to do with having reverence and respect for the church sanctuary and facilities and the reassuring demeanor of the church teachers and leaders. I preferred being in the church then to being at home so much so that I used to hide in the closet when it was time to leave for the day until everyone was gone. When I was absolutely sure that no one else remained in the building, I would come out and go into the gym and shoot hoops until I was exhausted or it became dark outside. At other times, I traveled through every area of the church hoping to discover something that I'd never seen before. Some boyhood adventure right? The only thing that it cost then was time.

As a young boy raised in a household headed by a single-mother, for me church became the place where I felt happy, relaxed, and confident in my own black skin and because I was taught first and foremost to believe in the promises of God. Moreover, being poor was not perceived as some permanent condition any more than one remaining in an unsaved state of being. I believed then and I certainly do believe now that there will always be a way out for me and for others if we steadfastly choose to walk by faith and to pursue spiritual wisdom.

My living circumstances changed once a teenager, I became a Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) foster child of the State of New Jersey relocating to East Orange, NJ where I attended Clifford J. Scott High School and later went on to graduate from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. During those very formative years, I was a student and an athlete and I regularly attended Sunday services at the First Baptist Church of Vauxhall NJ which was built on the revivalist tradition, drawing on the praise-and-worship style of the Southern Baptist Convention, and guided by Rev. Dr. Marion J. Franklin, Jr.'s Pastoral leadership and where he is still pastoring today. Pastor Franklin taught me that generally "we’re all waiting for something". The bible instructs us that we are all waiting expectantly and with hope. Fundamental to being able to wait is trusting God’s character and goodness knowing that He will come at the perfect moment, not a second too soon or too late.
It might be a job or a spouse. It might be healing or a home. Regardless of what we're waiting for, it’s easy to feel discontent when things aren’t going as planned and our dreams are delayed—especially when questions of “Why?” and “How long?” remain unanswered.

Rev. Dr. Marion Franklin also graciously provided me with a formal recommendation when I applied to and gained admission to the Chicago Theological Seminary to pursue a Masters in Theological Studies (MTS) back in 1978. I chose to defer my admission for one year to work and try to save money to afford the first year of studies. As God would have it, I met my wife that year at a house party, fell madly in love, and then placed my original dreams of becoming a youth pastor on hold.

After our first year of marriage and one year of working at night for Irving Trust Company New York at One Wall Street in NYC, I decided to apply to Drew Theological Seminary to pursue a Masters in Divinity. Upon acceptance, my wife now in medical school had no interest in returning to living in an on campus setting (or eating cafeteria food) which at the time the Drew Theological Seminary required for its first year students. By then, I must admit that I thought that it was not God's will for me to pursue seminary studies. So I just went on to diligently spend the next thirty plus years growing a family together, working in both the financial services and healthcare industry, and eventually rising to the position of Vice President without a degree in business administration. Most challenging for all of us was overcoming the loss of our first child at the early age of eleven years old to a tragic motor vehicle related accident. We had to learn and practice forgiveness of ourselves and of others. 

Together, we raised our second boy to put his trust in God, to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, and with tremendous gratitude we have all been enormously blessed by the love, prayers and support of our family, friends and Immanuel Bible Church in Howell, New Jersey where for a long time we attended Sunday Church Services, Community Group, Bible Study, participated in a Growing Kids God's Way Program, and had our son enrolled in Sunday School, the AWANA Program, and where my wife and I volunteered and taught children's Sunday School.

Even with all of this going in our favor, I still reached a point in which I felt a sense of emptiness and discontent, for a period of time I fell off track, and became lost in the wilderness for what seemed like an eternity. Something vitally important was missing in my life and I could not put my hand on exactly what it was for the longest time. Eventually though, I came to recognize that it was a matter of "inner-work" or the process of deliberately changing myself to become the person that I wanted and knew that I could become more fully for so long, lacked the courage to transform into, and that I simply could not put off my individuation any longer. I desperately needed and became intent on exploring and defining an integrated approach to finding and reexamining my cultural and spiritual identity. So a few years ago, I decided to begin rigorously searching for the light switch within and I promised myself that when I found it, I would clearly mark it and better protect it, and that when and if possible one day I would find sound ways and the educational means by which to share the results of my personal experience and path to self awareness with others regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality, or disability so that they too could discover for themselves how to live more completely, less encumbered or limited by what other people might think of them and to set about the ordering of their personal affairs.

This principal preoccupation in every spare moment that I could muster over several years led me back through the tracks of my tears and stumblings as a child, as an adolescent, as a young adult, and as a male to where I could rediscover myself and all of the treasures that I allowed to lay dormant for so long there embedded in the bumpy road of life experience and story. As many medical professionals will tell you and of course I had to learn for myself, denying your self-expression can and unfortunately often does lead to depression.

Now, I can tell you that I completely understand that to s/he who is given much, much will be expected. What I now expect most from all of this and of myself is to use everything available to me to help in reducing some of the unnecessary obstacles that are likely to be found in the path of those set to come behind me especially in our challenging African American urban communities. I have painfully learned how to walk with a newly "empowering faith". One that has been ruggedly tested and withstood abuse, carelessness, depression, discrimination, egotism, narccisism, overindulgence, poverty, pridefulness, misunderstanding, rejection, and tragedy. This is the reason why I am so deeply determined to attend The Oblate School of Theology Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership in the future and to energetically pursue their Online Master of Arts in Spirituality Program. I declare to all who are kind enough to listen that I have been fully tested and that I am ready to responsibly and sensitively engage others in the battle of self-discovery and self-actualization and in learning to steadfastly walk by faith so that they may function in the world as African American Christians who have a spiritual practice of affirmative prayer, contemplation, fellowship, social service, and study and worship.

Thank you for your support and God bless you!

JD

Letting go of your angst

Saturday, January 12, 2019

Cutting My Teeth At The Holiness Church

By Jon Dunnemann

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"We went to that Pentecostal church up the street, and they were just a bunch of Holy Rollers."
That’s what my brother may have said to my Mother one morning upon our return home from the small storefront church located just a few houses up the street on Roseland Avenue in Caldwell, New Jersey.

A Holy Roller generally refers to someone who attends a charismatic church service. During their worship services, great importance is placed on the role and power of the Holy Spirit.


Some worshipers of the Assemblies of God and Pentecostal church who “got the spirit” are moved to the point of shouting, while others have been known to suddenly drop to the floor in a shaking, trance-like state, having become possessed by the Holy Ghost. People may also stand up in the pews and wave their hands over their heads, while others will suddenly begin clapping their hands in time with the music. Others who are “in the Spirit” may act crazy, dance, and fall out and roll around on the floor during the church service.

Hence the term was coined, Holy Roller when making reference to these varied responses. However, for some people ‘Holy Roller’ is considered a derogatory term.

In truth, all I can tell you is this, if and when the “Spirit” begins to move within you; go right ahead and allow yourself to simply flow with it!

When I was just a child, I believe that I allowed fear to stand in the way of my direct pathway to the gift of the “Spirit” (Book of Acts 2:38; 10:45; 11:17).

Now that I have a new spirit in me, you may actually catch me dancing, shouting, falling down, or “simply letting go” of my pent up river of tears out of a complete sense of overwhelming gratitude, honor, joy, and emotional release and high praise for the regenerative power of the "Holy Spirit".

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

As For Me And My Calling

By Jon Dunnemann

But what is happiness except the simple harmony between a person and the life they lead? 
- Albert Camus
As for me, now well into the second half of my life, I have gained awareness as a ‘being-at-work’ of soul in accordance with the active pursuit of virtue and the possibility of achieving authentic and integrated human selfhood.

My “greatest concern” is being a person of good counsel and example to youth regardless of setting. Ideally, I would like to create a thriving organization where authentic leadership is enlivened and guided by a solid ethical core (1) the moral character of its leader, (2) the ethical values embedded in its director’s vision, articulation, and program, and (3) the morality of the processes of ethical choice and action that all of its leaders and associates engage in and collectively pursue to foster the kind of organization that brings out the very best in people – creativity, gratitude, harmony, humility, inclusion, love, charity, compassion, good works, universal brotherhood, valuing of others, and the sharing of both power and authority with others.

My attention is primarily focused on experiencing a state of calm presence, emotional equilibrium, clarity of thinking, solidarity and wisdom.

The intention of my heart is to live in a harmonious and altruistic way, actively motivated by the love of God, the experience of union with Him, and the love of thy neighbor.
Being true to myself means being true to my own originality and that is something that only I can articulate and discover. In articulating it, I am also defining myself. I am realizing a potentiality that is properly my own. This is the background understanding to the modern idea of authenticity, and to the goals of self-fulfillment or self-realization in which it is usually couched.  
- Charles Taylor

At the top of my list of important personal and professional goals are the following:

  1. To be a helper, a spiritual being, and wisdom seeker (aware, attentive, humble, intentional, hopeful, joyful, kind, loving, and experienced with change, suffering, brokenness, and the challenges of the renewal process and wholeness) and acknowledge people as being spiritual in nature, with unique purpose in life and a desire for meaning;
  2. To be a Spiritual Practitioner who is on an individuating, humane and compassionate self-developmental journey (not predicated by any religious beliefs or injunctions) in passionate pursuit of transformative learning through a process of critical reflection; and
  3. To encourage the expression of other people’s unique gifts, talents, and the pursuit of their inner journey of self-exploration and in the larger world; and
  4. To honor my true calling which I believe to be finding ways to facilitate the maturing of others in a “psycho-spiritual” sense, while fostering goodness, advocating for the upholding of humanitarian values, and assisting others in avoiding self-destructive habits and thinking and replacing them with life giving habits and deeply sustaining thoughts.
Dr. Wilda (Wil's) I. Smithers and I

Thankfully, I am a runaway no more. Because I found True North by living out of the heart of my faith!

Runaway | A boy in search of his identity

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Seek After That Which Is Spiritual

By Jon Dunnemann

Strive to live your life as one who has chosen to walk unobstructed and in the direction of truth. 

Abstain from every form of evil.

Do not permit yourself to seek after fame, glory, and other things that are of no real lasting value.

If ever you find yourself being victimized, ostracized, and left wondering I humbly appeal to you in the very name and spirit of all that is holy and sacred in this world, to continue onward steadfastly in the pursuit of that which is highly known to be righteous and true.

Above all else, do not allow the manifestation of evil to occupy space within you nor fall prey to becoming the sort of human being who would simply standby idly while cruelty is horribly heaped upon others.

For your own protection and sanctification, begin this day to build a solid fortress of character around your heart. May you be divinely empowered and well-equipped to best fight battles on behalf of those who come to depend on you for both their overall well-being and our collective humanity and sustainability.

In darkest of times, whereupon, bold, daring, and self-sacrificing examples are few and a cold, callous and deceitful kind of evil mindedness is a foot may you always remain aware, clothed in humility, active and intentional about living your life in a manner that is deemed fruitful, life-affirming, nurturing, and universally pure thereby spreading the greatest possible measure of comfort, joy, and warmth throughout the entire world.

And yes, I claim openly that if not you, then who else shall I and others turn too, to take on the quintessential responsibility of creating this greater good?

Seek always then, after that which is Spiritual! And in doing so, may blessings of a thousand-fold be fully bestowed upon you and not only those whom you love out of familiarity but those others, the stranger in our midst, those who are in the most desperate and urgent need of enduring love as well.

For this unselfish service unto others, I say thank you and may your heart forever remain full of immense gladness and inexhaustible strength.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

A Journey

Nikki Giovanni

It’s a journey . . . that I propose . . . I am not the guide . . . nor technical assistant . . . I will be your fellow passenger . . .

Though the rail has been ridden . . . winter clouds cover . . . autumn’s exuberant quilt . . . we must provide our own guide-posts . . .

I have heard . . . from previous visitors . . . the road washes out sometimes . . . and passengers are compelled . . . to continue groping . . . or turn back . . . I am not afraid . . .

I am not afraid . . . of rough spots . . . or lonely times . . . I don’t fear . . . the success of this endeavor . . . I am Ra . . . in a space . . . not to be discovered . . . but invented . . .

I promise you nothing . . . I accept your promise . . . of the same we are simply riding . . . a wave . . . that may carry . . . or crash . . .

It’s a journey . . . and I want . . . to go . . .

Nikki Giovanni: African-American poet who helped birth modern black consciousness

Born in 1943, Nikki Giovanni is the author of numerous collections of poetry and was the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/journey

Discipleship Formation in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the 21st Century

Galatians 5:16-26 (MSG)

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

Oblate School of Theology - Letter of Conditional Admittance | 11.22.2019

Oblate School of Theology - Master of Arts in Spirituality

Master of Arts in Spirituality


Program Goal
The goal of the Master of Arts in Spirituality is to provide students with an in-depth understanding of Christian spirituality with an emphasis on significant classical and contemporary spiritual and mystical traditions.

Program Overview
The Master of Arts in Spirituality is an ATS accredited graduate level academic program designed to help students from a variety of Christian religious traditions deepen their understanding of Christian spirituality. Students will study various classical and contemporary Christian spiritual and mystical traditions, movements, and figures. Graduates will be equipped to better understand their own spiritual journey and prepared to be valuable resources for spirituality and renewal centers, parish and retreat work, as well as other spirituality-related faith formation and educational programs in a culturally diverse and globalized world. Students will also be encouraged to participate in cohort integration groups. This program is available online or face-to-face.

Program Objectives
Upon successful completion of the program students will be able…

1. To present a summary overview of major historical periods within the history of Christian spirituality and mysticism by identifying relevant movements, schools of spirituality, and major figures.
2. To demonstrate proficiency in at least one classical school of spirituality and one contemporary school of spirituality.
3. To demonstrate a basic competency in the ministry of spiritual direction and accompaniment.
4. To evaluate instances of Christian religious experience and dynamics of interior transformation as understood within the Christian spiritual tradition.
5. To identify and discuss important classical and contemporary literature in the field of spirituality.
6. To articulate the importance of spirituality and lived experience within religious traditions.
7. To demonstrate a basic competency in a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of Christian spirituality.
8. To integrate one’s personal spirituality with fundamental principles and insights from the Christian spiritual tradition.

Sankofa Institute providing education program for ministry among African Americans

Sankofa; Raising Up African-American Church Leaders


The concept of SANKOFA is derived from King Adinkera of the Akan people of West Africa. SANKOFA is expressed in the Akan language as “se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenkyi.” Literally translated it means “it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot.” SANKOFA teaches us that we must go back to our roots in order to move forward. That is, we should reach back and gather the best of what our past has to teach us, so that we can achieve our full potential as we move forward. Whatever we have lost, forgotten, forgone or been stripped of, can be reclaimed, revived, preserved and perpetuated. Visually and symbolically SANKOFA is expressed as a mythic bird that flies forward while looking backward with an egg symbolizing the future in its mouth.

Become a Transformative Leader in Your Community
Sankofa Institute programs provide opportunities for intellectual, professional, and inspirational development of transformative leadership. Resources, partnership, and cultural engagement enhance classes, lectures, symposia, worship conferences, workshops, internships and practical field education, and support our programming across North America, and include sister and brother communities from Africa.

Connect with the Leading Minds in Black Church Studies
In recognition of the web of connections and faith traditions represented in the African American Christian community, the Institute is committed to partnering with other academic and cultural institutions for our mutual benefit and for the most effective and efficient way to reach the programmatic goals of our students and the mission of the Oblate School of Theology.

Become a Sankofa Scholar
The Sankofa Institute for African American Pastoral Leadership is committed to developing and supporting pastoral leaders, men and women of all races and backgrounds, for the African American Christian community within the context of the universal Christian mission of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. The Institute aims to foster within Church leaders an understanding and appreciation of African Americans’ contributions to the entirety of Christian faith, life, and witness in North America. The Sankofa Institute will provide opportunities for the intellectual, professional, and inspirational development of transformational leadership within the African American community, offered through classes, lectures, symposia, worship, leadership workshops, internships and practical field education, as well as social outreach and cultural celebrations.

The interdisciplinary categories specific to the Sankofa Institute include:

• Black Church History
• Black Biblical Studies
• Black Theologies (including Black liberation theologies and womanist theologies)
• Sociology of Black Religion
• Contemporary Issues in the Black Church and society
• African American Christian Social Ethics
• African American Christian Education
• Black Church Worship and Nurture
• Black Preaching
• Social Justice