SBC LA News! 08.07.2022

We are at the eighth month of the year. We have completed 219 days, including August 7, which leaves 146 days for the remaining portion of 2022. We are still experiencing a spike in the variants of the corona virus due to vaccination resistance, politicizing of the vaccine and vaccinations, coupled with disinformation and political gridlock about moving our country forward with what is necessary to rebound from the effects of the pandemic. Be sure to continue following the directives of healthcare professions rather than conspiracies on the internet and disinformation that refutes what those who are most knowledgeable about curtailing the spread of viruses, while mitigating the damages of the negative effects of the pandemic. Choose carefully whose judgment you trust. Be well and safe.

Thanks to the committee who put together the prayer wheel for the month of July. Martha Taylor La Croix, Barbara Melancon, Venus Butler, D. Marie Battle Michelle Lawson, Sherryl McDonald, and Kathleen Watkins, chair. Continue to keep our concerns in prayer (building repairs, in person worship, church leadership, church congregation, church finances, and the Henderson Community property. We are admonished to “Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19

Sunday, August 28, 2022 is Young Adult Emphasis Sunday. Our young adults will be leading in worship and presenting messages for the pre-recorded broadcast on KJLH.

Continue to do what you are doing as we move through the challenges we are facing with what is happening in our lives, particularly the specific challenges we face as a congregation with the structural damage to our sacred space. Continue to join our zoom meetings so that as we maintain our connectivity and we can see each other. Be faithful and prayerful.

Let me close with a familiar passage of scripture, “It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, said my soul, therefore will I hope in him.” Lamentations 3:22-24.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; / there is no shadow of turning with thee; / thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; /as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, / sun, moon, and stars in their courses above / join with all nature in manifold witness / to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, / thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, / strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, / blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is thy faithfulness! / Great is thy faithfulness! /Morning by morning new mercies I see: / all I have needed thy hand hath provided-- / Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

-Pastor

Dr. William S. Epps, Senior Pastor

"Service is the price you pay for the space you occupy"

More Information

POLITICAL GRAB BAG

Member Steve Bagby, Sr. has released the Political Grab Bag for the month of AUGUST. The topics include the race for mayor of Los Angeles, new metro rail stations in Los Angeles, and the unveiling of the Mary Mcleod Bethune statue on the US Capitol.

SBC LA Backpacks!!!!

FOOD GIVEAWAY & VACCINATION CLINIC

Saturday, August 13th

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

If you'd like to volunteer to help with this food giveaway or future giveaways, please send an email to sbclanews@gmail.com and your name will be forwarded to Ella Quinlan-Oatis and Jackie McMahon.

If you'd like to pre-register for the vaccine, click here. It is recommended that participants bring their ID and insurance card if there is any.

1 Thessalonian 5:16-18

¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

During the Mid-Year Church Meeting, it was reported that Second Baptist has received the following grants:

COVID-19/Urban League - $40,000
American Heart Association: $7,500
2022 African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grant Recipient/National Trust for Historic Preservation - $150,000
The City of Los Angeles/CD9 - 50,000

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

***You can now give through Zelle using 213-400-8777.

Send a check to:

SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH

2419 Griffith Ave. Los Angeles, CA. 90011

Give through our digital platform, GIVELIFY.

Call the Church Office

Monday - Friday

213.748.0318

Community Resources

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Member News

Congratulations to Dr. Lawrence Harkless!

After establishing a new School of Podiatric Medicine at Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona) where he was the Founding Dean and Professor of Podiatric Medicine, Dr. Harkless returned to San Antonio, Texas, where he was later asked to use his expertise and passion for education to establish another School of Podiatric Medicine. This assignment took him to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Dr. Harkless became the Interim Dean of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Podiatric Medicine (UTRGV SOPM), where he had to develop the academic plan and obtain all of the approvals necessary to establish the school. This leadership effort began by getting the University of Texas to understand how beneficial it would be for the University to establish a School of Podiatric Medicine (SOPM) as part of its various professional schools, which is significant as it resulted in the state of Texas and a major state university deciding that the profession is both important and necessary so as to serve its citizens.

The academic plan that Dr. Harkless established had to be approved by several governing bodies before the school could receive its ultimate approval, which occurred in June 2022, including the University of Texas system, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and the Council on Podiatric Medical Education candidacy status . . . no small feat indeed! Due to Dr. Harkless’ passion and leadership, the UTRGV is now the first state university in Texas that is ready to prepare and graduate Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (most Schools of Podiatric Medicine throughout the country are private schools). Guy Bailey, the President of the UTRGV, publicly thanked Dr. Harkless for his outstanding and significant efforts to establish the school. “Over the last three years, Dr. Harkless worked tirelessly to help build the SOPM from scratch and put us in position to launch the program this summer. We are forever indebted to his hard work and dedication,” said Bailey.

We here at Second Baptist Church of Los Angeles congratulate Dr. Harkless!! We all know him to be a passionate person in both his profession and his spirituality, as a former Sunday School teacher here at Second Baptist, and we extend our hearty congratulations to him on another job well done!! Congratulations, Lawrence . . . you continue to make us all proud!!!

-Submitted by Jolaine Harkless . . . a proud first cousin!

COVID-19 RESOURCES & VACCINATION INFORMATION

Numbers are on the rise in LA County. Do your due diligence to keep yourself and others safe.

GET VACCINATED.

WASH YOUR HANDS.

WEAR A MASK.

PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING.

AVOID LARGE GATHERINGS.

Click on this link for more resources regarding the Coronavirus.

Los Angeles County

"The Biden-Harris Administration launched a new nationwide Test to Treat initiative in March to give individuals an important way to quickly access free lifesaving treatment for COVID-19. Through this program, people are able to get tested and – if they are positive and treatments are appropriate for them – receive a prescription from a health care provider (either on-site or through telehealth), and have their prescription filled all at one location. These “One-Stop Test to Treat” sites are available at thousands of locations nationwide, including pharmacy-based clinics, federally-funded health centers, long-term care facilities, and community-based sites. In May, the program was expanded to include federally-supported Test to Treat sites. People can continue to be tested and treated by their own health care providers, health care clinics in their community, and telehealth providers who can appropriately prescribe the oral antivirals to locations where the medicines are distributed."

Learn more about the Test to Treat Program

Find a Test to Treat site near you

***Vaccinations are available to all people 6 months and older. COVID-19 vaccines (not pediatric) have also been approved for boosters. People over the age of 50 have also been approved for a second booster. Please click on the graphic above for more information.

A Christian Approach to Vaccine Hesitancy

Visit the SBC LA Website for more COVID-19 Updates

**COVID-19 At-Home Test Kits**

You can order the THIRD round of free rapid COVID-19 test kits through the government, www.covidtests.gov. A total of 8 test kits (4 boxes) can be ordered per household.

Let's stay connected! Do you have good news to share with the congregation? We want to hear it! Read more about the protocols for sending in information HERE.

Second Baptist Church Los Angeles

2412 Griffith Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90011

Phone: (213) 748-0318

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