Rev. John E. Jackson: The Domination System – Part 2

by Rev. John E. Jackson On Tuesday of last week January 23, 2024, in Memphis, TN, the National Baptist Convention had its Joint Board meeting. On that Tuesday they had as the keynote preacher Dr. Gina M. Stewart, the pastor of the Christ Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. Dr. Gina M. Stewart& Dr. Stewart preached a powerful sermon titled “What will you do with Jesus?” She used as the scripture to preach from Mark 15:1-15 and Matthew 27:19. Dr. Stewart preached an insightful and impactful sermon that day. However, surrounding the sermonic moment was the tension in the air that began to trend on social media and around the nation, because of some male preachers who did not think that a woman should be preaching to them. Not all of the preachers and pastors who are part of the National Baptist Convention feel this way, but there were some who could not stomach a woman preaching to them, no matter how skillful, and powerful she was. I open with this current episode to illustrate what Dr. Theron Williams examines in his important book “Black Church, White Theology,” and that is how the domination system impacts how we practice the...