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God Praised For Bringing Obama

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN | The Tampa Tribune
and MICHELLE BEARDEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2008

TAMPA - The women in the front pews at Beulah Baptist Institutional Church wore their best to church Sunday - colorful dresses matched with coordinating hats. They bowed their heads during the opening prayer and clapped their hands during praise and worship.

But when the Rev. James Favorite stepped to his pulpit, flanked by twin video monitors, they hushed.

"The choir is fired up," the smiling pastor said, as the video screens flickered to life with images of newspaper fronts from across the country. "They ought to be because we have a new president!"

Religion and politics often conflict and are perhaps best not discussed in good company, but they received equal time Sunday in the pulpits and pews of predominately black congregations in the Tampa Bay area.

"We are grateful to God. He looked beyond our faults and recognized our need," Favorite said to about 100 applauding congregants, giving shouts of thanks and affirmation. "He delivered Barack Obama."

As he spoke, the video screens flashed images of Obama from the campaign trail and with his family. The excited congregation buzzed with excitement.

"It's now just the beginning," Favorite said. "This is not the end. This is the beginning."

While voters made the choice at the polls, God got a lot of credit for what happened Tuesday. Joe Lowe, associate minister at Highland Avenue Church of Christ in Tampa Heights, said anything is possible through faith.

"How can an African-American man, with a history of prejudice and hatred in this country, become president of the United States? The answer is nothing is too hard for God."

Lowe said reporters are asking a lot of hard questions of the president-elect.

"How do you plan to pay for all these things, such as your health care plan? They need to understand everything belongs to God. Nothing is too hard for God."

The Rev. Art Jones of Bible Based Fellowship Church in Carrollwood opened his service on hands and knees, offering a prayer for the president-elect.

"Bless the world that welcomed his coming," Jones said.

The election results still haven't sunk in for Martin Silas, who attends First Baptist Church of College Hill. Obama's win was a mandate from people of all races, not just blacks, he said.

"He didn't win with just the black vote. He touched everybody," Silas said.

The retired teacher said he will pass along a valuable lesson from Obama's election:

"I've always taught my children that they could be anything they wanted to be. ... It is a reality now."

In his nearly two-year run for the presidency, Obama did not run on his race, instead speaking in an inclusive voice to all Americans. His views on issues such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage rattled black churchgoers whose views are more in line with white evangelical voters.

But that didn't seem to temper jubilation among black conservative Christians. Most seem willing to put aside those differences to embrace this historic moment.

Kenneth Stewart, pastor of Tampa's Tabernacle of Hope, didn't vote for Obama and doesn't agree with all his policies. Still, the father of three girls was struck when he saw Obama come out on stage with his wife and two daughters Tuesday night.

"That could be my family," the Pentecostal preacher thought to himself.

Stewart, the son of an Army drill sergeant, doesn't usually show his emotions. At that moment, he did.

"I told my wife that there are country clubs we still can't join in this country, but now an African-American will be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave."

There's much to like about Obama, though, and Stewart said he would give him the support he needs in difficult times.

"People think because we have a black president, all of a sudden, overnight, things are going to change," Stewart said. "Until we stop making self-destructive choices, nothing is going to change."

Parishioners Rose and Charles Miller said they thought it important to pray that Obama receives the guidance he needs in handling the country's problems, even though John McCain's views more closely matched their own.

Some social conservatives say they will look for common ground and be open to dialogue. They are willing to agree to disagree because they trust Obama's integrity and judgment.

The Rev. Stephen Nunn of Trinity Gospel Community Church in Tampa has no plans of abandoning those views that separate him from Obama. But he won't close his mind or heart to the course being set by the president-elect.

"If Christian convictions and values are kept out of politics, we will not have a true democracy," Nunn said. But "if Christian convictions and values dominate without reason, we destroy dignity."

The freedom to think, the right to vote and the willingness to work with people of different opinions is the "beauty of democracy," Nunn said.

"As a pastor, I had to use my spiritual insight to determine what was the greatest social good, for my community and country," he said. "And as a pastor, I must engage other people on their level, in order to understand their struggles regarding issues that conflict with my Christian convictions."

Nunn says he's with voters who view Obama's win as a call for change, hope and opportunity - something he said this country sorely needs.

But it won't be easy for the president-elect. Nunn said Obama will need "all the prayers he can get" after he takes office. He suggested Proverbs 3:5-6:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not onto your own understanding but in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path."

Reporters Valerie Kalfrin, Pat Mitchell, Kenneth Knight and Nick Williams contributed to this report. Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613. Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915. Keyword: Sermons, to read sermons a

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