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Black Church News in Virginia

Queen Street’s Pastor Pens Book On Lenten Season

NORFOLK
“This insightful work will lead you from heartache to hallelujah and I invite all to take the journey,” says Dr. John W. Kinney, dean of the Samuel D. Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, about Dr. Glenn E. Porter’s new book, Journey With Jesus Through Lent.

Journey With Jesus Through Lent is a daily devotional for the season leading up to Easter. The book, based on Luke’s Gospel, follows in the footsteps of Jesus on the road to Jerusalem and the cross.

Dr. Henry H. Mitchell, author of Celebration and Experience in Preaching and The Recovery of Preaching calls the new book “a brilliant spiritual resource.” Says Mitchell, “It is also a practical help for reading the Bible and offers real insight into human experience.”

Porter, senior pastor at Queen Street Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA, was inspired to write the book because he sees a need for practical, spiritual resources surrounding the Christian calendar and from an Afrocentric perspective.

Porter, an adjunct associate professor of religious studies at Tidewater Community College, says the issues, stories, illustrations, quotes, and concerns in the book are “offered through the uniqueness and particularities of my Black experience – rooted in fertile African soil and growing in the era of the grassroots Black Lives Matter movement, at time of an unrelenting twenty-four hour news cycle and social media feeds that are advancing, in real time, unbelievable episodes of brutality and violence inflicted upon persons of color, and the most vulnerable.”

Dr. Bernadette Glover, senior pastor at Saint Paul Baptist Church (Montclair, NJ) and associate professor of preaching & worship at New Brucnswick Theological Seminary believes congregations and individuals will benefit from the devotional. “Using Christian history, cultural heritage, Holy Writ, and internal reflection, Dr. Porter has laid a path that’s conducive to our spiritual formation,” adds Glover.

The book is a seven-week study that focuses on spiritual disciplines practiced during Lent, including prayer, fasting, studying Scripture and gratitude.

“I’m hoping that pastor’s will use the book for Bible studies and congregational studies throughout the Lenten season,” says Porter.

Lent is the 40-day period in which Christians spiritually prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection on Easter. “This is the period of the Christian liturgical calendar that pointedly directs believers to the redemptive works of Jesus Christ,” explains Porter.

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“This book is a must read for all those who seek to strengthen their faith and spiritual disciplines by setting aside time for reflection on the Jesus Christ, his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection,” states Dr. Ervin M. Scott, president of the Tidewater Metro Baptist Ministers Conference of Virginia, and senior pastor at New Rose of Sharon Elim Baptist Church, Norfolk, VA.

Porter, a native of Roselle, NJ, earned the D.Min. and M.Div. degrees at the Samuel D. Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and a BA at Rowan University.

This is Porter’s first book published by Judson Press. Judson Press is the publishing ministry of American Baptist Churches USA, a historic Protestant denomination that includes 1.5 million members in 5,600 congregations in the United States and Puerto Rico. The book can be ordered at www.judsonpress.com. It’s also available online at Barnes & Noble, Target and Walmart.

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