National Black Church Initiative
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) a coalition of 34,000 African American churches constituting 15.7 million members urges its members to take this opportunity during the outreach of the Ebola crisis to reflect on how to develop appropriate protocols based upon World Health Organization (WHO) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) standards. We understand that those standards are being revised as we speak, therefore it is important for church and denominational leaders to call on experts in the field of infectious diseases to come up with the appropriate protocols for faith-based communities. CDC needs to publish guidelines for the faith community so that we can take this opportunity to ready our congregations.
We have the responsibility to demonstrate to our parishioners and the rest of the general community how to respond to this disease without hysteria and confusion. Our job is to work with the appropriate government authorities to keep our parishioners informed, provide adequate literature, utilize the pulpit to emphasize important life saving messaging on Ebola or any other infectious diseases.
Reverend Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative implores CDC and the new Ebola Czar to utilize this opportunity to work with church leaders to help us in three critical areas.
- Help us create messaging to calm our parishioners.
- Provide protocols to be put in place at the appropriate time to make sure that this disease is not spread. This will involve distance and/or spacing during church services, and new procedures for communion and baptism if ever called upon to implement.
- Provide adequate literature and to make sure that faith-based leadership is part of any high-level meetings or committees concerning Ebola.
Here we have an opportunity to also share the power of God’s message of salvation and hope through the ethics and teaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ. The church must employ its’ spiritual arsenal to defeat and destroy Ebola. We must also carry the same message of hope, of monetary and medical assistance to our brothers and sisters in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
We must utilize our religious influence and authority to make sure that Africa is treated fairly, respectfully and will not be dismissed like Mr. Thomas Eric Duncan. Our prayers go out to Mr. Duncan’s entire family and the two infected nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson. We continue to pray for all victims of Ebola worldwide.
SOURCE: National Black Church Initiative
Rev. Anthony Evans
