This Is How We Do It
- portialbrown
- Jun 12
- 6 min read
Mar. 27, 2026
Somebody told me to deliver this message.
I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.
He sees this world is full of confusion...
Teddy Pendergrass, Somebody Told Me
That passage I referenced in the last two posts, 2 Chronicles 7:14, contains the ‘if-then’ promise that God will turn things around. If we humble ourselves and remember that we are in relationship with Them, pray / engage with Them, and move away from what keeps us separated from Them, then we can look for God to turn our circumstances around. I wrote those posts because we absolutely have to use a different model for solving our problems. Perhaps it’s hard for some people to wrap their heads around what that model looks like. Here’s a real example to put some meat on that skeleton.
The Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) in Alexandria, Virginia is 223 years old. It was established by enslaved people in Virginia, which gives it significant historical cachet. The pastor, Dr. Howard-John Wesley, has been there about 18 years. He has led the church in their spiritual growth and in doing extraordinary things in the community. It is what I call a ‘working church’. Since the pandemic put churches on lock down and people began watching church services on the Internet, the ASBC membership has grown to include people outside the northern Virginia area and the U.S. Membership now numbers over 12,000. There are 82 active ministries, including initiatives touching mental health, grief, divorce and support for caregivers with plenty of opportunities for members to participate virtually. In a report out of what the church has done in the past year, the pastor shared data on where the offering goes. You can fact check the information on this post in his “Show Me The Money” sermon from February 15th on YouTube. (The link is below.)
Feed The 5,000 is their program that addresses hunger. That program fed almost 30,000 people in the past year. Ten percent of the tithes that come into the church went back out to the community providing 42 grants to 335 organizations in 2025. The Mission work includes supporting two schools in Liberia, a clinic in Kenya and completing construction for a women’s empowerment center, also in Kenya. ASBC owns properties in Old Town Alexandria and provides affordable housing to families that would not otherwise be able to live in that chic section of northern Virginia. When members participate in a church-wide fast, all of the money not spent on their “comfort outlets” like Starbucks or online shopping goes to the church, and is given to whichever cause the church leaders feel divinely guided to support. This year’s attention is on homelessness in America. Over 400 families in the area will be spared eviction and receive free financial planning counseling. Separately, ASBC has partnered with a neighboring church to pay utility bills and halt evictions. In addition to serving the community, over $1 million dollars was provided for more than 500 of ASBC’s members that were impacted by the recent government shutdown. Last year’s HBCU festival, which hosts historically Black colleges and universities, counted over 12,000 attendees. More than 2,200 acceptance letters were presented that day, and over $8 million in scholarships and fee waivers were provided.
There is so much more that has been accomplished, and I haven’t touched on the various ways members of all ages are presented with Bible teaching opportunities, and fellowship activities. However, none of this would have been possible without Pastor Wesley having gone through his own humbling experience. He has told his story of tasting humble pie in other sermons.
Dr. Wesley had been pastoring a church in Springfield, Mass. He is a very dynamic and insightful preacher, and things were going quite well there. When the church officials noticed a call was out to hire a new pastor at ASBC they wanted to hide it from Dr. Wesley. The previous long-time pastor at ASBC had retired and the church had chosen an interim pastor to lead. Now there was a need for the church to be restored to operating under a permanent pastor. Is this something akin to healing the land? Maybe?
In his telling of the story, Wesley never mentioned that he was disgruntled and ready to make a change, but when he somehow discovered the notice, he expressed interest to the Alfred Street search team, was interviewed, was well received and offered the position of senior pastor.
But Wesley began considering what was in Springfield. It was familiar. It was enough. However, going to this new, expansive territory of Alfred Street would require him to stretch and do more. He would bump up against people who probably had fixed mindsets, founded on what worked for them in the past. He would have to spend time and energy asserting himself, sharing a new vision of what’s possible and provoking long time members to change. Stepping into the Alfred Street church would call for him to dig deep and be all of who he was, showing up differently than he did in Springfield, leading a lot more sheep. Considering what he would encounter at Alfred Street, the pastor decided he preferred staying at the Springfield church and turned down the ASBC offer.
Unfortunately the Springfield congregation discovered he had interviewed in Alexandria and felt betrayed. Frosty doesn’t capture the reception the pastor got the following week from his church members. He had closed the door to ASBC and the congregation in Springfield was simultaneously showing him the door. A rock and a hard place. This is definitely some land in need of healing.
While he was in limbo, a seasoned minister at another church in Alexandria pulled Wesley aside and counseled him. This wise gentleman explained the historical standing of the Alfred Street church and advised the pastor not to walk away from the opportunity to lead it. Having burned the bridge in Springfield, he could only move forward. But forward to ASBC would be awkward and uncomfortable.
“If my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.”
A humbling experience is prime time to do a self-examination. The pastor had to let go of everything, understanding that the future was out of his hands. He would have to humble himself and ask the search committee if they would consider offering him the position again. The pastor is a gifted orator and insightful Bible scholar. Imagine how difficult it would be for a confident, extroverted man with high self-esteem to swallow all pride, double back, admit to a mistake in judgment, and hope to find some grace with that search team.
Imagine how flaky that would appear to the search committee. Can this man be seen as someone who could be our leader? Seeds of doubt had been planted. The wind was no longer at his back. He was definitely praying for a door to be opened.
And just a reminder here, that part of the scripture “wicked ways” is translated in some translations as sin. Sin is being out of alignment with the Lord.
Okay, you know how the story ends. Dr. Wesley becomes the Senior Pastor and Alfred Street has done amazing things inside and outside the four walls. See how it took that attention grabbing, shoulder dropping, throw up both hands and say, “Help!” experience to make him realign. All relationships have norms and boundaries. As limitless as God is, They also have norms for us. Those norms help build us up to become the best person we can be.
We are all trying to figure out how to live through – wait for it – unprecedented situations. We cannot think our way out of these crises on our own. Whatever way you choose to make change right now, invite the Creator in, and watch what opens up. Make way for astonishing things that nurture the lives of so many people.
While you’re pondering that, consider this:
How did Dr. Wesley stumble upon the job opening when the people around him were keeping it from him? Why did he even apply if he was content where he was? ASBC offered HIM the position. Were these interconnected moments leading the pastor to his destiny?
Thankfully he humbled himself.
From personal experience, the humbling journey is not pleasant but the outcome on the other side is more than I could have envisioned. Struggling and striving is oppressive. Free yourself.
