The Gospel of Jeff, Part II

Now among the Children of Jeff Street in those days, the Administrative Committee was watching over the flock, when the Lord appeared unto them in yea another meeting saying, “I am the God of thy mothers; the God of Buna Wynn, the God of Fannie Flood, the God of Mary Burgess, and the God of Mabel Mitchell.” And the Administrative Committee did hide their face, for they were afraid to look upon the Lord God.

And the Lord did say further, “Surely have I seen the affliction of you my people which are at Jeff Street, and have heard your cry by reason of your taskmasters; for I know your sorrows; and I have seen the oppression wherewith the Long Runians and the Baptist party of the Southern Region do oppress you. And so I am come down to deliver you up out of the hand of the Long Runians, and to bring you up out of that land unto a good land, yea unto a land flowing with coffee and donuts. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto King Ahab, Jr, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the Children of Jeff Street, out of the place of their bondage, the place called ‘Jeff St. Baptist Center.’”

And the Administrative Committee did say unto God, “Who are we, that we should go unto the King , and that we should bring forth the Children of Jeff Street out of Jeff St. Baptist Center?”

And God did say, “Surely I will be with thee. And this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee; when thou hast brought forth the people out of Jeff Street Baptist Center, ye shall serve God within a place of which I shall show you, a place called ‘Machine Shop.’”

And the Administrative Committee wheretoforwith returned to the Children of Jeff Street and sayeth unto them that God had indeed spoken. And the Children of Jeff Street did tremble, for they were exceedingly small in number and in treasury; yet they were exceedingly mighty in spirit and in courage; and so they said unto the administrative committee, “Yea, this great bitterness hath lasted for four years and more, and we hath become fed up. Therefore, let us defy the threats of our accusers and let us trust in what God hath promised us, and proceed to install Cindy as priestess.” And so did they install Cindy as priestess, without shame nor trembling of spirit.

And upon this, the Long Runians did rub together their hands with glee, and they did set upon the Children of Jeff Street and did banish them out of the place called Jeff St. Baptist Center, in which they had sojourned for lo these 25 years.

And the Children of Jeff Street did gather their meager belongings and did journey from 733 E. Jefferson Street to 800 East Liberty Street, to the place called Machine Shop; about eighty persons altogether. And a mixed multitude did go up also with them; with neighborhood children on shoes with wheels, with scribes from those who record the city’s news, and with Paul playing songs of liberation upon his six-string lyre. And they did carry with them their Ebeneezer Stones, and their banners did fly before them; and the great banner leading them did read, “Pulling Down The Walls.”

And they did come forth to the place called “Machine Shop” which the Lord did promise unto them, and they did hang their banners; yea, and they did raise up their Ebeneezer Stones, and they did dance merrily before the lord, and they did sing songs of praise to the Lord their God. And upon their arrival at this place they did proclaim that God had indeed set them at liberty and had created of them a community, and thus did they rename that place, “Jeff Street Baptist Community at Liberty.”

And in those first five years of their sojourn in their new home, like the prophet Nehemiah before them, they did rebuild their walls . . . and their doors, and their roof, and their place for the preparing of food, and their places for personal rest and relief; and they did place upon their new home bright colors which did reflect their bright hope in their future as God’s people in this place. And they did set their Ebeneezer Stones into the wall as a reminder of God’s faithfullness over the years. And in this new place they did grow in number, and in inclusivity, and in maturity; and they did remember the Long Runians no more; and yea, they became a free and a joyful people.

Selah.

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penned by God's own hand, through the vessel of Father Roberto