DALLAS, Texas, October 27, 2013 -- The Potter’s House, which has as its pastor the nationally known author T.D. Jakes, sits on the north side
of a four lane highway, with the largest of the parking lots on the south
side. A pedestrian bridge is available
for attendees to move safely from one side of the highway to the other without
stopping traffic. Still, it is quite a
long walk, and I was glad that by arriving 20 minutes early we would make it
into the service on time. I wondered how people managed it when it rained.
As congregants made their way into the
sanctuary a few minutes before the scheduled starting time of 9:00 a.m., a praise band and singers already filled the
room with music. Over 90% of the
congregation seemed to be African American, and it appeared that at least 2/3 were
women. As is common in black churches,
the congregation was for the most part quite well dressed, with both men and
women in their Sunday best. While the extravagance and expense of what was
taking place might have been surprising to past generations, the style and
content of the music fit well with the heritage of Christian worship among
black Americans. The praise team sang:
“No more shackles,
no more chains,
No more bondage, I
am free….”
Shortly after my arrival, a female soloist led in
singing, “There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain.”
After about 15 minutes of singing – it was
remarkable that there was so little congregational singing in this service –
and a time of greeting (congregants were told to share hugs), a well-acted drama
of about 40 minutes in three acts followed. In the first act, a husband and
wife were preparing to go out with another couple in order to celebrate the
husband’s promotion. The husband showed
some clear signs of controlling behavior that made the wife evidently
uncomfortable. As this act closed, text
on the large video screen advised women of various kinds of behaviors that
should serve as warning signs. In act
two, the husband’s new position caused much stress, which added to concern over
his mother who was suffering through treatments for breast cancer. Cruelty toward his wife increased,
culminating in a scene where he began to physically attack his wife just as his
mother walked into the room and passed out when she witnessed what was
happening. This was followed again by
text, this time giving statistics and other information related to both
domestic violence and breast cancer.
Act three began with the couple separating
and the husband’s mother advising him that he needed help dealing with his
anger. Unresolved conflict with his
deceased father was blamed, and the mother gave her son a book, “Let it Go,” by
Bishop Jakes (outside churches, this is known as "product placement") and urged him to read it and get counseling. Further scenes showed both husband and wife
getting counseling, and we were left with the implication at the end that they
would be getting back together, though the ultimate ending was left to a time beyond the conclusion of the play.
At this point, the church’s pastor, T.D.
Jakes, appeared, to applause, on stage wearing a gray suit, striped shirt, and
bright purple tie. Mr. Jakes talked at
length about the problem of domestic violence, saying that women in the church
had been murdered by abusive husbands.
He said that his views had changed over his years as a pastor. Twenty years ago, he would have simply
counseled women to “have faith.” While
he still counsels faith, he now says, “If you’re being beaten, have faith from a
safe place.” The pastor then transitioned to talking about his aspiration for
the church that it be a place where people are honest about the reality of
life, rather than piously papering over the real problems that afflict them.
Bishop Jakes, worked through a series of
announcements and prayer requests, which included mention of a service being
broadcast on BET and a prayer request for the recently hospitalized Paul
Crouch of TBN fame. This was followed by preparations for taking the offering, which turned
out to be an extended affair. The minister emphasized that the church did not
receive money from the government or corporations, pointing out that it should
be funded by the people who benefited from its ministries. At one point, those who would be giving a
tithe were asked to stand up (this was a bit uncomfortable for those of us left
sitting), and many waved large offering envelopes in the air as the minister
continued to urge giving. After the
offering was received, a series of people began bringing to the front large
checks, mostly over $1,000, to be designated for a projected youth
building. After bounding up and down the
platform steps several times as additional people came forward, Jakes joked
that this made up for time not spent on the treadmill that morning. When someone promised to give again, he
proclaimed, “Saying we will give again is a way of saying we will be blessed
again. In all, more than 30 minutes was devoted to the offering.
The actual sermon began at 10:40, over one
and a half hours after the service started.
Jakes took as his text Numbers 20:7-13 as a jumping off place for
talking about “The Fight with Frustration.” While much of the talk used the
story of Moses smiting the rock as a means of understanding why we get
frustrated and act in bad ways, Jakes did take some time to explain the
typology involved in the passage, pointing out that God’s command that the rock
be smitten only once, and spoken to this time, signified the once and for all
death of Christ as sufficient. He
followed this by quoting Isaiah 53: “He
was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities.” He later gave a reasonably good definition of
justification, describing it as a merciful decree of exoneration. This was the high point of the sermon, from
this observer’s perspective, though one fears that it was subsequently lost by
the emphasis on the primary theme of the sermon, which involved dealing with
frustration.
At various points, Jakes urged the
congregation to turn to each other and repeat things he said. For example, at one point, he urged people to
turn to someone beside them and tell them that you know it was like to be
frustrated.
The sermon ended about 11:30, when a
highly emotional invitation that ultimately would last about 30 minutes began.
Jakes asked people who had been struggling with anger and frustration to make
their way forward and be released. It
was difficult to know how many people were going forward, as a steady stream of
people also began to exit at this time (a large portion of the congregation had
also arrived late). Once a large number
of people had arrived down front, the minister began working his way among
them, becoming highly emotional, claiming the Spirit’s power, and on multiple
occasions speaking in tongues. He put
his hands on the foreheads of some, pronouncing them released. With some, he held his hand in place until
they appeared to faint. One man shook
vigorously from head to toe as the minister pronounced him delivered.
The service concluded around noon.
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