Mediaboss Marketing

President Obama and the first family worshiped Easter Sunday at the 212-year-old Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, where the minister mixed bible verse with social justice.

Started by slavesin 1803, Alfred Street is the oldest and most prominent African American church in Northern Virginia, with a membership of more than 7,000.

After selections from the churchs young adult choir,Rev. Howard-John Wesley, preached a sermon titled The Resurrection Matters, that included modern examples of how people are forced to make choices about things in life, ranging from their choice of civil rights leaders to the kind of music they enjoy.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.Prince or Michael Jackson; Biggie or Tupac; New Edition with Bobbie Brown or without, Wesley said. Even today inour political landscape, aline in the sand is drawn forcing you to make a decision on where you stand.

Where do you stand with rights for same-sex coupleswhere do you stand on gun reform, where do you stand with police body cameras?Wesley asked the church.Where do you stand on affordable health care? Life has a way of making you make a decision. .Where you stand on the resurrection of Jesus Christ: You eitherbelieve it or you reject it.

Wesley, 42, who has been at Alfred Street for seven years,said in an interview,It wasanhonor to just worship with the president. It allows us to know that he recognizes the work thatGod is doing in our church.

Wesley is known as a progressive leader in the faith community, supporting civil rights protections for same sex couples.

Rev. Delman Coates, pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton and president of the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality, saidWesleys sermon and the presidents visit were significant because they show that the black church is not monolithic when it comes to social issues like gay marriage.

I think what we are seeing is a shift in communities of faith in which African-American faith leaders are coming out in support of progressive causes, including LGBT rights, because many see a connection between Jesus and justice, Coates said.

Coates noted that Saturday marked the 37th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thirty-seven years ago, Dr. King lost his life and to see an African-American president come to a historically black church on Easter Sunday is not only spiritually relevant but socially and historically relevant.

Read the original:
Obama family visits historic African American church in Northern Virginia