New Zion Missionary Baptist Church- Rev. Dr. Mazie Ferguson Memorial

[Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] so [Applause] [Music] [Music] so so this my brothers and my sisters we have come to this celebration of life and i want to say to this beloved family who is like my family god will never leave you nor forsake you your mother has left a beautiful legacy of love and of life and service i could take almost too much time sharing the experiences that i've had years ago maisie poured out herself to the nizan family and gave of her time and her talent and we found out early that we had one thing in common and that was that we both love to eat and we found eating places to go and to meet and plan ministries and i want to say to our deacon ministry that a lot of the family ministry that we enjoy now was due to the early work of reverend dr maisy lee butler ferguson and so we're going to celebrate her life family we love you and god loves you we thank god for all of the clerics who are here uh and you know you can tell a lot about your life by who shows up and will all of the ministers kindly stand just for a moment i want you to see family how many are here in the back on this side god bless you god bless you that means an awful lot and they send their love and condolences to you family we're going to move right along with our printed program we're going to have the opening hymn and following that we're going to have the reading of the old and new testament reverend dr lisa lisa caldwell we'll read our old testament and reverend dr coddish brown will read our new testament and that will be followed by the prayer of comfort by reverend dr t anthony spearman who leads the state naacp jesus thus keep [Music] me near the crawl [Music] a praises [Music] free [Music] streams [Music] carries my [Music] [Music] hoping helping and trusting in heaven [Music] tears [Music] always just [Music] beyond [Music] beyond [Music] [Music] be [Music] my glory [Music] [Music] my [Music] shall fight oven rest beyond the reefer [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Music] [Applause] so my rapture so shall find oh and rest beyond the reef [Music] [Applause] [Music] we're all looking for rest beyond the river i come today to share the old testament but as a memorial to reverend dr ferguson the words of a song speaks very clearly today may the work she's done speak may the life she lived speak may the service she give speak i'm so proud to stand as a past president of the pulpit forum of greensboro and vicinity because of the work of dr ferguson she was the first female president of that organization so her work still stands amen today there's a message though for the people for those of us that's here from amos 5 21-24 this message was delivered by the prophet the sheepherder the fig farmer to the people about how god despised rituals and feasts because it's only outward forms of religion god wants to take away the songs and instruments because the hearts of the people is not right there's no heart in their service do your duty to god and your neighbor and grace will be plentiful let justice be everywhere like showers of rain let righteousness in heart and life be a river ever flowing instead of relying upon offerings take care that justice is impartially administered let everyone partake of the water of the river live holy and righteous like a mighty stream if you will indulge me i want to just read the 21st through the 24th verse of amos 5 from the message bible i can't stand your religious meetings i'm fed up with your conferences and your conventions i want nothing to do with your religious projects your pretentious slogans and goals i'm sick of your fundraising schemes your public relations and image making i've had all i can take of your noisy music when was the last time you sang to me do you know what i want i want justice oceans of it i want fairness rivers of it that's what i want that's all i want [Applause] so truly i thank god for the life the love the labor and legacy of my dear sister macy ferguson very appropriately the family has asked that this pericope be shared i feel it's very befitting and speaks to who macy was in the gospel of matthew chapter 25 beginning with verse 31 it says when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him he will sit on his glorious throne all the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats he will put the sheep on the right and the goats on the left then the king will say to those on his right come you are who are blessed by my father take your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world for i was hungry and you gave me something to eat i was thirsty and you gave me something to drink i was a stranger and you invited me in i was i needed clothes and you clothed me i was sick and you looked after me i was in prison and you came to visit me then the righteous will answer him lord when did we see you hungry and feed you are thirsty and give you to drink or a stranger and invite you in or needed clothes and clothed you when did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you here's what i really love the king will reply truly i tell you whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine you did it for me the word of god hmm let us pray oh god our help in ages past our hope for years to come our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home god there are a few of your children here who need you who've known you as our help in ages past who trust in you to be our hope for years to come you have indeed sheltered us and right now you're sheltering us from the stormy blast and even in this moment you are indeed our eternal home but we've gathered together on this day at this time to remember and commemorate the life of one who lived so well our dear mother sister grandmother aunt and friend maisie lee butler ferguson but oh god even if i were to call her name right now maisy maisy maisie does not answer her tongue is cleaved to the roof of her mouth her eyes have been shut in eternal slumber all of maisie's work has been done and done well and we commend her unto you right now in the name of jesus and we turn o god to those who will feel the void and are feeling the void right now of the magnificent maisy butler in their lives we turn o god and ask that you would bless lee daniel and the grandchildren sisters cousins cherished friends and loved ones draw them as near to your bosom as they can stand o god and comfort them in this hour of need because we know that there will be a void left because whatever maisie's hands found to do she did it all unto the lord and for that lord we are so thankful and we pray o heavenly father that those who she has mentored along the way would also be blessed and remembered and would cherish the precious memories that we know will certainly linger in their lives i know and you may see to be a wonderful friend and a yolk person in you oh god splendid life trusted servant blessed woman of god who loved her family she's gone on to a place where the wicked shall cease from troubling and oh god the weary have to be at rest place where every day is howdy howdy and never goodbye we see maisie in that place right now and we would not be selfish enough to try to call her back to this mean old troubled world in which we live you have freed her from bondage she soars on high and oh god we thank you for what she leaves behind because all of it was done well so we say a servant of god well done rest from your loved employ the victory fought the victory one enter the savior's joy and o god we pray for the family this loving butler ferguson washington scarborough family bless them one by one in name by name through jesus christ our lord we pray amen okay peace peace peace peace peace peace peace peace i don't know about tomorrow [Music] i just live from day to day and i don't borrow [Music] from me [Music] it's sunshine [Music] four skies [Music] may turn to gray and i don't worry about my future for i know what jesus said and today [Music] he walks [Music] beside me for only he knows what lies [Music] ahead [Music] come on many things [Music] i don't see [Music] but i know i know i know [Music] hey i know who holds my hand i don't know about tomorrow but i know i know who holds [Music] thank you [Music] family there are many things of which we've not quite figured out but there's one thing that i know and i want you to know that he holds your hand and i want us to give god a good praise right now i don't know about you for those who are assured that he's a very present help in troubling times come on let's give god some glory in the house to a life well lived [Music] hallelujah oh bless his name [Music] go [Music] um [Music] thank you jesus [Music] anything's about tomorrow [Music] don't need to wonder i know i know [Music] [Music] i may not know about tomorrow but i know [Music] hallelujah [Music] even yes [Music] oh bless his name [Music] amen this is what happens when you allow the power and presence of the holy spirit to come on in and have his way [Music] um [Music] thank you thank you let us receive at this time acknowledgements and resolutions miss kathy harrison and miss pamela stewart will come at this time good morning everyone before i read the acknowledgements i would just like to say to the family that my friend the reverend dr maisie ferguson butler ferguson she always reminded me of that not only was she a civil rights icon and an advocate for everybody but she wore another badge of honor the democracy without walls program for our leadership program was named now after her but it [Applause] and during the time that i worked for the state of north carolina i got called by the juvenile justice system and was asked if our leadership program had a curriculum for troubled girls and i told them that i did not but there were girls who had graduated from our program in college and i would call them together and ask them if they would put together a curriculum the girls wrote this curriculum and the juvenile justice system loved it they then gave them a grant to travel to what was then called samarkand it was a juvenile justice system for girls they traveled there 11 months out of that year and the reverend dr maisy butler ferguson traveled with us every single saturday and she taught those girls how to rap about the books of the bible and you all know about that right what was interesting about that is that when those girls started coming out of that system they came to greensboro to find us and to find reverend ferguson and i want you all to know that that group of girls are now contributing citizens to the state of north carolina and nationally thank you the family is truly appreciative of every resolution card dinner flower monetary gift call text post tweet act of kindness offered in honor of the great life of their beloved matriarch in this most difficult time the village response has illuminated their steps through this valley of bereavement their gratitude can best be be expressed through the words of albert schweitzer when he said at times our own light does go out and is rekindled by a spark from another person each of us has calls to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us special acknowledgements to dr william barber and the poor people's campaign the beloved community center and the faith community church pastor wesley morris and pastor emeritus reverend nelson johnson and family the hargett funeral home the lonely family the democratic party of guilford county and the state of north carolina the state and national naacp the national road corporation and pastors bass and bass zeta phi beta sorority beta new zeta and theta ada zeta chapters along with the entire southeastern and eastern regions the offices of jim clyburn congressman jim clyburn and congresswoman alma adams guilford county schools board of trustees and superintendent the honorable sharon contreras the minister's pulpit forum of greensboro and vicinity total kingdom vision ministries the international civil rights museum the members of liberation baptist church gillespie park faculty and staff the list is too long to name everyone but the family thanks each and every one of you for the outpouring of love dr ferguson's model lives on in and through you all because of the smallness of the resolutions from congresswoman alma adams and the naacp i have asked someone who can see better than i can to please read those thank you not sure if i can see better than you we shall see to god be the glory this first letter comes from the greensboro branch of the naacp september 11th 2021 letter of condolence words cannot adequately express what we are feeling right now the transition of reverend dr mazie ferguson has left an indelible imprint on the lives of many she was a trailblazer determined and focused who took seriously the plan god had laid for her life and she lived it every day out loud and unapologetically to the family of this female warrior extraordinaire please know that we grieve with you we we pray that you are comforted in knowing that she was a mighty woman of valor who left an illuminated trail to show us the way as we journey on our load is a little lighter because reverend dr mazie butler ferguson went boldly before us and now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise god our savior be glory and majesty dominion and power both now and forever amen may god's comfort be with you the greensboro branch of the naacp and it is signed by the president the reverend c bradley hunt iii this comes from the u.s house of representatives and the writing is small to the family of reverend dr maisie lee butler ferguson dear lee daniel commissioner scarborough and ferguson family i was extremely saddened to learn of the passing of your loved one reverend dr maisie lee butler ferguson mother grandmother sister aunt friend and my church member the citizens of the 12th congressional district of north carolina and i joined new zion missionary baptist church in expressing heartfelt condolences to the ferguson and butler families as you mourn the passing and celebrate the well-lived life of reverend dr maisie ferguson dr ferguson was a prominent and devoted alumnae of south carolina state university and a member of the illustrious zeta phi beta sorority incorporated as a strong woman of faith she exercised both spiritual and civic authority and was dedicated to community service advocacy politics civil and voting rights at a very early age and throughout her lifetime and legal career it was obvious that she was bound to be a leader in her community and in politics an extraordinary god servant visionary community organizer dr ferguson always fought for justice and consistently stood up for the rights of all people especially african americans she was never afraid to fight or speak truth to power dr ferguson may be gone from our sight but never from our hearts she leaves a legacy of strength and dedication seen every day in her loving family dr ferguson will be sorely missed but memories of the difference she made campaigning and championing causes for education and an improved quality of life for students and humankind will remain with us forever i pray that love strength and cherished memories of reverend dr ferguson will bring comfort during this most difficult time second corinthians 5 8 reminds us to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord she is resting now with our heavenly father continue to trust and lean on the lord for the comfort that only he can provide dr ferguson 7 plus decades of life brought love happiness and success to all who knew her memories of her fight as a social justice warrior loyal servant of god and her contributions to our democracy will live on while you celebrate her life cherish the memories you shared and take comfort in knowing she left an indelible impression on the lives she touched we will remember this dedicated woman and her legacy always may she rest in power sincere sympathy alma adams phd member of congress 12th congressional 12th congressional district in north carolina and now the church resolution from new zealand missionary baptist church we're going to ask all members of the church excluding those who are in the family to please stand as we read the dedication newshour missionary baptist church church resolution of love and respect for the reverend dr mazie butler ferguson we the officers and members of the new zion missionary baptist church would have the ferguson family to know that our hearts too are heavy as we gather with you to be at farewell to a woman of faith courage integrity compassion and unwavering strength a drum majorette for justice who made an indelible mark here at new zion and in this community a dear mother grandmother sister cousin auntie and our friend reverend mazie butler ferguson whereas reverend maisie butler ferguson professed the hope in christ and acknowledged him as her personal lord and savior and upon the profession of that faith upon moving to greensboro became a member of the new zealand missionary baptist church whereas reverend maisie butler ferguson championed our youth here and became a mother figure and role model for them treating them as her own with her own whereas reverend maisie butler ferguson because of her love for christ and for humanity shared her activism here at new zion as she became an integral part with us in our efforts to increase and advance knowledge of and membership in the naacp whereas reverend mazie butler ferguson was the first female president of the greensboro pulpit forum where she served distinctively for several years and whereas reverend mazie butler ferguson sojourned here at new zion until she was called to pastor the first missionary baptist church of solar city then in 2007 realizing the fruition of a vision founding the liberation baptist church here in greensboro be it resolved that we bow an humble submission to god who never makes a mistake as we remind the family to be encouraged though we cannot replace this amazing we will do our very best to emulate and to demonstrate through our actions and deeds the legacy that she has so absolutely left for us to follow till we meet again humbly submitted this 11th day of september 2021 new zealand missionary baptist church greensboro north carolina the reverend william f wright jr pastor thank you [Applause] thank you so much for um those resolutions we are honored to have the head of the state naacp here in the presence of dr t anthony spearman and i'm going to ask him to come at this time with his state resolution thank you pastor if i may ask all of the members of the naacp if they would stand with me as i read this resolution all members of the naacp amen this is a resolution honoring the witness of the reverend dr maisie lee butler ferguson esquire god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble psalm 46 and 1. the unhearing wisdom of our lord was providentially executed on friday september 3rd 2021 as god lovingly and peacefully summoned into his eternal presence the soul and spirit of our beloved co-laborer in the struggle the reverend dr maisie lee butler ferguson esquire no matter what your trials are or how big your mountain seems the lord is there to see you through he will go to all extremes so if your cross seems hard to bear and you know not what to do the one who loves you most of all will be there to see you through whereas we the president executive committee and members of the north carolina naacp feel it is befitting to express our sympathy to this family during the passing of maisie butler ferguson we therefore commend her to him who knows all things and whereas the reverend dr maisie butler ferguson esquire was a civil rights activist legal services attorney pastor and social justice warrior spending her entire life fighting the injustice that plagued our world and whereas as the daughter of a south carolina pastor she heard the call of god to serve in his social justice militia in 1955 when emmett till was found at the bottom of the mississippi river and at age 11 she vowed that no child nor grandchild of hers would ever live in a world where that could be their lot and whereas as the great great grand niece of dr mary mcleod bethune education was important to her as she went on to earn her juris doctorate from the university of south carolina law school and attend the lutheran theological seminary of the southeast and the shaw university divinity school where she served as the divinity school student body president and whereas dr ferguson held a number of positions within the naacp including the state housing chair of the south carolina naacp before moving to north carolina and the chair of the religious affairs committee of the north carolina state conference of the naacp and whereas the reverend dr maisie butler ferguson esquire leaves behind a legacy grounded in service to humanity as she stood courageously with several male clergy engaged in civil disobedience and endured arrest in the 1996 k-mart struggle and whereas her trail-blazing life of service included fearlessly leading as the first female president of the greensboro pulpit forum and challenged the captor freed the captive and captivated the children of god for 77 years and whereas you could rest assured that whenever the reverend dr maisie butler ferguson esquire seized an opportunity she would remind the young people of the importance of committing the words of the preamble of the united states constitution to memory now therefore be it resolved that we the people in order to form a more perfect union establish justice ensure domestic tranquility provide for the common defense promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity bow in humble acceptance of the perfection of god's plan for our beloved maisie lee butler ferguson who has fulfilled her task on this earth we take solace secure in the knowledge that we will be reunited with her again in joy and in the fullness of god's mercy and be it further resolved that the north carolina naacp will forever pay homage to the reverend dr maisie lee butler ferguson esquire's legacy of service persuasive alacrity piercing humility and perspicuous spirituality as she labored as the state conference's sole religious affairs chairwoman over the course of the conference's life cycle and be it finally resolved that a copy of this resolution be given to the family and a copy be retained in the official records of the north carolina naacp so that generations yet unborn will know the immeasurable impact of this lifelong advocate for justice and faithful servant of god [Applause] servant of christ well done praise be your new employee and as eternal ages run enter your savior's joy humbly submit it on this eleventh day of september in the year of our lord 2021 the reverend dr t anthony spearman president north carolina state conference of branches naacp thank you dr spearman and we will now receive reflections and tributes and uh those who are listed on the program miss harriet thomas and pastor wesley morris pastor nelson johnson ms troy scarborough miss kawami gilead and mr nichols nicholas knight we will come in that order good morning church members and family members dear friends and family gathered here today this day today is a hard one for us all it is easier to mourn in silence it takes away the worry of not being able to get our words out or even simply getting the right words out but silence or not one thing which i am sure we all appreciate today is being here all together sharing in each other's silence sharing in each other's moments of thoughts for amazing who we all loved as a friend a mother or sister we all have our personal stories and special memories of the mark that she left in our hearts in our lives and it is hard for me to stand up here hearing my own thoughts out loud trying my best to focus on the happiest times that mays brought us i'm certain of two things though she would have wanted us to be here today with our happiest thoughts of our time spent spent together and secondly she is here with us very strongly in spirit major was such a strong stubborn person through and through from character personality and presence we are all here because somewhere somehow we have all been touched by amazing for me she will be with me what i will remember is when we met 71 years ago in first grade in a combined music class at stonehill elementary school sumpter south carolina we lost contact after her family moved to another part of town many years later we were reunited at lincoln high school where we were identified for an accelerated program with 11 additional students we tagged ourselves the 13. upon graduation we went in pursuit of our advanced degrees at different colleges and universities one summer i wanted to try a hair product called curl free mimi of course mesa was my willing hairdresser to apply this product to straighten my thick hair we spent a hot afternoon with her working the product through my hair to no avail as many of you know mazes watch clock or calendar did not work effectively at all times my dear friend showed up at my wedding a week late and wondered why the church was locked and no one else was around we had many laughs about her timing our friendship solidified in the early 80s into miami into my being brought into the family as a sister friend auntie to her children lee and daniel she was amazing as well as godmother to my children were you aware that maisie was an avid reader of this genre she loved archie veronica betty and jughead comics they were her childhood favorites as well as bazooka bubble gum and were favorites until the end of her life this is what makes maisy remain with me personally and i'm sure that you all have your own special and private moments that you will cherish and keep close to your hearts we were all incredibly lucky to have our have had her in our lives and as much as she will be missed she will remain with us all every day as long as we can remember we love and miss you amazingly butler ferguson past present and future in closing i would like to share this helen steiner rise poem with you there is no light without a dawning there is no light without a dawning no winter without a spring and beyond death's dark horizon our hearts once more will sing for those who leave us for a while have only gone away out of a restless care-worn world into a brighter day we love you maisie [Applause] thank you we will move forward now and we would ask that if you could you can come on up here uh try and keep it if you can to about two minutes for the consideration of the family thank you amen to pastor wright the official and to the family to my family love i'll do my best god is good 2005 was the first time i met reverend mazie ferguson i was a questioning christian i could not follow or see myself submitting to a jesus that could see all the suffering and the oppression and just keep on going by and be all right with me saying thank you jesus on sunday i was a questioning christian and i went to an event at new light missionary baptist church and it was the millions more movement gathering there were many speakers there minister louis farrakhan other pastors but there was a woman on the stage reverend maisie ferguson and when she spoke there was electricity that got ignited all throughout my body i said this woman is speaking as if she really believes in jesus after that program i went outside and i said i had to find her it was night time and i ran up and i just like a questioning christian said i read about in jeremiah that god has a plan for your life and i feel like i need to know you as you guessed she adjusted her glasses and looked at me she said give me a call this week i then shortly thereafter joined liberation baptist church and after sitting under her teachings and seeing a woman with just about 12 people gathered for church sweating out of every single poor in her body preaching the word of god preaching about justice love and mercy and doing everything that she said on sunday every other day out the week you see she would take me with her on the road we'd go out to samaria i mean uh salisbury north carolina and and we would find ourselves in the midst of good trouble we would go out to bethany and i mean uh bessemer avenue and and find ourselves all throughout judea i mean uh the guilford county area and and we would be preaching to those who were left out lost and left behind and and we would see them gather and come to her word not just her person you see what i could see dimly then i can see clearly now that if you were hurt and you needed refuge if you were broken and you you needed somebody to look after you if you were spiritually hurting and wounded from the ways of the world and the systems of domination you would find some refuge there she would give you rest as they say in matthew 11 but but not only rest for your body but rest for your soul she was a good teacher as i navigated through seminary i would get a phone call every now and again and say where are you what are you reading what are you thinking and what are you doing i thank god for the testimony of maisy because it extended beyond the walls in every situation you see i was in a walled situation called a meeting and i was in a walled situation going through an agenda it was a pulpit forum meeting and and there was a walled situation called robert's rules of orders and and i'm not going to tell you the preacher he's my friend he tapped me on on the knee he said he said look there go maisy she had come in the back door he said he said look they're going amazing and then we looked at each other and laughed because we knew something was about to happen inside of that walled situation and and he looked at me he said here she go because her hand went up and uh and she said excuse me mr president uh i i have something that i need to say and and she stood up and and you see she she wasn't one to say i need to be in the front she she sat in the back and and then her voice began to move her to the front and and as she began to move to the front she said she said there are some children here in this county who are oppressed by systems of domination and their home life isn't going well for them and they come to school just to eat sometimes and they are being denied a lunch she said we as a church need to do something we as the church need to pull together and she said i know that you're past that part of the program but but i think we need to address this situation you say she didn't say she didn't say lord god uh will i be on your right or your left when you go back to paradise she you know she she didn't she didn't say i'm a former past president of the pulpit forum she just took up residence in the space and she she broke that walled situation and that vision spoken like two loaves of bread and five fish then began to drop down into her daughter and i walked into a gym one time in gillespie elementary school and there was a room full of food designed and organized to feed the bellies of the children of this county what the state couldn't do what the city refused to do maisy said god's children have to do and i want to say it like she said it to me you're one of god's children so be god's child don't look for a program where justice shows up from six to eight o'clock be justice don't do justice be justice she was the exemplar of be ready so you don't have to get ready it's just amazing ferguson thank you on behalf of the greensboro community i love you on the behalf of this heart that was put in my chest by w.j and carol morris thank you on behalf of every single person that i know that is here gathered that says i knew a woman that stood on the luke chapter 4 giving the good news to the poor setting at liberty them that were bruised and setting free every captive not only for mass incarceration but the the self-image that we deluded ourselves that's saying that we are not the ones that god called us to be step into the role that justice gave you be justice let justice be your song let it roll down rivers as you sing let it fit the very tipple of your mind that it adjust every wrong thought raise every valley and lower every mountain in respect and honor to the program let me read this resolution on behalf of the pulpit forum whereas reverend dr maisie ferguson was born on may 25th 1944 in sumter south carolina and as god would have it was born into a christian home and as a preacher's kid whereas god desired a new deborah for a critical time in the lives of his people so at the tender age of 11 years old she joined the battle for civil rights voting rights and social justice to break down the walls of segregation a war she was to engage in her whole lifelong whereas her courageous unselfish and sacrificial acts made it possible for persons to participate in the joys of american citizenship more fully whereas god blessed reverend dr maisie lee ferguson with talents and gifts and she was an attorney and served as legal counsel for the north carolina legislative black caucus where she helped in the shaping and passing of laws to advance the cause of black persons in the state of north carolina whereas god saw fit to call her to follow in her father's footsteps and preach the gospel where she was a trailblazing pioneer who broke down the barriers and glass ceilings in the church so that woman could serve in ministry and pastors and missionary baptist church in the state of north carolina living proof that god is no respecter of persons and pours out gifts upon our sons and our daughters as she served as the first female pastor of first missionary baptist church in silence city and as founding pastor of the liberation missionary baptist church in greensboro north carolina and as chair of the religious affairs committee of the north carolina state conference of the naacp and whereas the reverend dr maisie lee ferguson was the first woman to serve as president of the pulpit formed greensboro and vicinity and served with the great honor and distinction and advanced calls of christ humanity justice for all of god's children in greensboro north carolina is in a better place because she came this way therefore be resolved that the pulpit form of greensboro and vicinity salutes her for a job well done for a life well lived and for service extraordinary this is the 11th day in september 2021 pulpit form of greensboro vicinity by reverend williams d valian senior president and to the family as she told me in her basement as a young student trying to do a program on auntie's campus and being told no she drew up legal papers and say they are subject to the laws of the state just like everybody else you're going to have that program and she built us a position paper we took that position paper and she said if you have any problems call on me and then she said but i think you're going to be all right god bless you [Applause] i feel a powerful breeze flowing through this place amen glory to god glory to god i'm so glad i have a young pastor from north carolina a t state university amen to the maisie butler family we join you in celebration of dr ferguson's life a life well-lived a life that left its mark not only on the church but on the landscape of humanity itself now i've been asked to say some words about reverend ferguson's impact on the church the ecclesiastical community let me declare that dr ferguson was a powerful innovative unsettling challenging and transformative prophetic voice of the church she was that when i think of maisy the words in the gospel of john arise in my spirit when the sun sets you free you're free indeed dr ferguson was free whether she was in a pulpit forum meeting talking to students or on the street she was free and she proclaimed the good news to god's children she was not captive of denominational limitations she was not conformed to sometimes stifling church adequates and protocol she was not trapped in ecclesiastical legalism i can hear her singing on the back of an old pickup truck as we let thousands of young men in the thousand men march in 1995 right here in greensboro we didn't have to go to washington to have a thousand men march and so we marched from smith home all the way over to the stadium on dudley street and she was singing songs like this this train is bound for glory this train and then she would shift to this little light of mine i'm gonna let it shine and then she would break out into glory glory hallelujah uh since i've laid my burdens down and the young men and women many of them unchurched got into the moment and the spirit of the occasion that was the freedom that maisie butler ferguson had so as a preacher as a pastor and as a prophet maisie butler ferguson was a trailblazer now uh robin brown remember right she did stir up some stuff and upset some people but isn't that what a prophet supposed to do she was a powerful preacher but her ministry was not confined to the sanctuary genuine prophets tend to reflect at times a certain frustration and at the same time a determined god-inspired determination that we're going to press on anyhow no matter what it looks like dr ferguson i think felt the frustration that the prophet amos must have felt when he proclaimed on behalf of god take away from me the noise of your songs for i will not listen to the melody of your heart but let justice roll down like water and righteousness as a mighty stream you know salvation unhooked from justice tend to be deceptive and i might add a bit fraudulent maisie did strive to feed the hungry she did comfort the afflicted uh she did engage and challenge powers and principality i'm talking about a prophetic preacher i remember dr herbert nelson and dr ferguson and i uh with union leaders from new york working with the workers here in greensboro we stayed up late one night until after midnight we differed with the union on some of their strategies that they had dr ferguson didn't mind engaging union leaders not to hurt their cause but to help it and so she helped lead the clergy in greensboro to stand with the workers and eventually won the first best union contract in the state of north carolina yes when you get people on a job that's paying a living wage that's feeding the hungry when you can put people who can't pay their rent in home because they got some money that's helping the homeless and that's comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable and so when i think of reverend dr maisie butler ferguson and her ministry a comprehensive ministry the words of an old song come to mind somebody used those words already it proclaims may the work i've done speak for me may the work i've done speak for me and when i'm resting in my grave there's nothing more to be said may the work i've done speak for me and so to my beloved friend co-worker in the church and the ministry of jesus christ the work you did is and will continue to speak for you to my beloved friend and i just want to thank you for a job well done god bless you and may you rest in god's eternal peace got no time oh oh still in the cup so little time to drink it up just time to know my fellow man and woman and leaving footprints in the sand plenty of life still in the cup so little time to drink i want you to [Music] [Applause] god bless you i greet you not as a stranger but as a son of north carolina agriculture and technical state university but you need to know that i'm here to celebrate a life the life of my beloved auntie maisie lee butler ferguson who gave me my very first nickname because she said i look so much like my father pete she called me lopey little pete and i'm here to talk about the fact that she had shared if you've heard her preach many times that we can't do anything about being born or always how we die but we can do something about that dash in between so i'm here if you don't mind to talk a little bit about her dash my aunt was of course a theologian and a scholar so the thesis of this short tracy if you would engage me is interconnectivity and interdisciplinarity this is a very special occasion because i want to just give you a little bit of history and that is people couldn't understand why and even our own relatives why uh our auntie and i and lee uh and uh my mother her sister ella are so close well a little bit of history there was a time before lee had daniel as a brother and i had tori as a sister we were each other's surrogate brother and sister and there was a period in my parents marriage that they had a going through a tough time and they were trying to figure things out in the early mid 70s and mama didn't know what to do with me but she knew that she had a sister down in columbia that could watch me for a while while she and my father worked things out so my auntie who looked just so much like my mother was a natural progression and and one of the first lessons that she taught me was that just because she and my mother were sisters that didn't automatically make uncle dan and my daddy pete brothers that was my early lesson in geology genealogy and so i had a second home in columbia and it was in lee's trundle lee sat on the big bed as the big cousin and you pulled the trundle out everybody remember the 70s and you pulled the trundle out and i slept on the trundle i tried to sleep uh as if my cousin lee had had enough sleep and she was ready to play troy you're awake boom i said are you awake i was a living baby doll my aunt maisie started pouring into me at a very early age and fast forward god in god's infinite wisdom i call the lord the divine orchestrator because wouldn't you know this aunt from south carolina and now i'ma tell y'all a secret before we were aggies we were actually south carolina state bulldogs okay so we're all interconnectedness right and interdisciplinarity and that's where my love for black colleges started and so my auntie had moved to greensboro before i came to ant and put in place that i would have a home away from home before i even got here and he had predestined that my cousin would go to hampton but she would not finish there she came back to north carolina a t to finish and be a theater major with me you could tell i was a drama major right a theater made you with me and so when you try to get away from your cousins and your family members and god said uh uh no no no yeah i'm gonna go to auntie lee's at hampton i'm gonna do well well nice try the lord said no no she's coming there you're going to get to know your family so the times that i would needed to be fed and needed some free meal as a college student i thought i was getting a free meal what i was getting was a free sermonette and her table became the pulpit and that kool-aid jar was a physical manifestation of her pouring into me [Applause] and there till sometimes two and three o'clock in the morning we would be there so we so much we'd wear lee out she'd go lay down right because we were up solving the world's problems and the first lesson that my aunt maisie taught me she said she had a lot of theories they didn't always look like they were manifesting but she would pour into people so if she didn't manifest them she would point to you and know that one day you would okay and and and and she and she said to me i i i said you're the theater major i don't understand why we're having much money for like theater and i as you said troy all black colleges were doing the plays that you wanted to do that you're doing now with classical theater that was the nature in the history of hbcu drama departments she said troy i believe that the black college has the charge to solve and address all of the ills that affect the black community oh that's right i forgot you all know that the controversy was not strange to her and uh yes you haven't figured it out i'm her nephew so y'all know i'ma tell the truth right she had she had instilled in me to be unapologetic about my concern about people who are of direct african descent and what they tried to say well auntie i want to build the very first masters of fine arts program at a historically black college or university she said troy i believe you just said that and god has gone to work to pull that in to have that happen for you you can't see it and she did her hands like this have you always seen her do this she said she said regardless [Applause] and she put a little auntie hands and took a little body in and she acted it out okay and and i got it that was my first lesson in metaphysics and the power and the limitless divine orchestration of god god was putting things in a place that mistakes looked like shortcomings looked like failures and all they were were fertilizer to god's dreams and blessings you'd look in and you thought you was talking to a little knucklehead freshman she was talking to a future head of a drama department who was building the reflection of our people back to our people to teach us how to love ourselves and teach the world how we should be seen and loved she was a henderson davis player at south carolina state so she was qualified to teach me fast forward again my aunt mason was preaching uh at a liberal progressive church all churches should be liberal progressive i'm sorry did i say that out loud church in new york city and i went to go see her i was a struggling actor and she took the money that she had gotten paid bless the people out of the bank because they didn't cash the check fast enough and gave her nephew some money so that he could live while he was struggling to make it as an actor you wonder why i love this woman after we fought and i'll tell you how to do this and i'll tell you how to do that we got to do this and what does it do in the past we did this why love transcends all that foolishness it's because when we needed her she was always there do you know i was getting ready to drop out of graduate school i said auntie i can't take this foolish sister anymore she said no no you have to go back she said don't know what they're doing i said well they're trying to kill me she said well that's in fact that's what they're trying to do they're trying to kill you she said they're killing the you that you think you are and they're building you back up in the image of the profession when i went back to school that fall that i'll tell you in the fall that it was lee was waddling around ross avenue with nicholas in her belly trying to walk the baby down and i i said and i went back with my shoulders back like this and i didn't care what they said to me i knew that i had to finish interdisciplinarity she was bringing her her english background theological uh theology and law and then taught me to use my theater theology and my lgbtq activism because what she had taught me through her own development and open-mindedness she went from being a closed-minded homophobic bigot to embracing her lgbtq son granddaughter and nephew and saying that you can't love christ and hate another group of people you can't ask for liberation and participate in somebody else's oppression sexism is not a luxury for african-american descended people homophobia is not a luxury for us and so my aunt who did love wonderful things cultured pearls and and nice things you know she she just she was so busy fighting for other people but you know she like to have a little auntie had style so i'll leave you with this and i just simply say that my aunt maisie and i'll leave you with this you may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies but still like air i rise i rise i rise amazing butler ferguson lived so that we could rise god bless you my cousins and my family members lee i don't know why you put me on the program after troy [Laughter] why'd you do that to me i've been struggling all week and it's hard for me to read notes but i'm going to have to read notes because this is hard for me but i've been struggling all week with what to say today um i've been praying and asking god to give me the words i was talking amazing been talking to maisie all week like what do you want me to say what do you want the people to know about you from my perspective and i thought about if she were here she'd probably come up here and sing a verse from a song give us this powerful speech then she'd smile and laughed away only she could smile and it's like yeah that's what she would have done and we would have all left out of here just feeling like we could go conquer the world and defeat whatever dragons are in our way and i thought about saying how can i do this and she said to me she said peanut because that's what she called me troy had a nickname i had a nickname my nickname was peanut and i'm over 50 years old and my nickname was still peanut and she was and you can't believe why i was peeing i was the smallest of all of us not that way anymore but so i was peanut and she said peanut just be you and tell your story and you know that's what she would always tell me just be you i was always the one of us who didn't always do the right thing when they were supposed to do the right thing and then i'd get lee in trouble and she did the wrong thing and tanya was the good one but she let me be me and so her permission to me today was just be me and and and tell the stories that i need to tell and she would always help me understand like who the me was and she always helped me find my voice and i'm sure there are a lot of you out there who she helped you find your voice and gave you permission to use your voice taught you how to use your voice and that's what she did for me and so here's the thing about my relationship with maisie so my mom and maisie their cousins related somehow by blood if you ask us we will never be able to tell you but more important than that they were sister friends which made her my auntie friend which really made her my other mother and it made lee and daniel my brother and sister and nick and julia my niece and nephew so that's how we really so if you ask me how we're related we just say we're cousins but really she's my other mom and so when i thought about what should i say today the thing that stuck out to me was friendship and the power and value of friendship as three young ladies growing up lee me and tanya we had the privilege of watching our mothers be friends and the true meaning of friendship i'm not talking about those superficial friends or those associates but i'm talking about real friendship and so there's some things that are kind of pulled from their friendship one is if you got i got and if i got you got that's real friendship and i remember one time we took a road trip to washington dc and we got in the dachshund and we drove and we sang amazing with seeing all kinds of songs here's something you need to know i can't sing my mama can't sing but maisie would just tell us to sing i would just be singing all off tune but it was okay because we sang and we played games and we got to washington and i don't think either one of them had any money but when they put their two nothings together they had a whole lot of something so we ate baloney sandwiches and did everything free you could do in washington d.c and you cannot tell us that was not the best trip we ever had and we still talk about it she would have school is out parties anybody in here been to one of her school is our party i know y'all been some of y'all been to a school is out party cause i see some of y'all back there it was really lee's party but you couldn't tell me and tanya it wasn't our party too cause she never made us feel like that it was our party and before we could go to the party we had to give her one thing and that was our report card couldn't come to the school does that party without your report card because no need to celebrate if you didn't get your grades right the second thing that i glean from their friendship is your children are my children and my children are your children and see when you're a parent you can't parent alone you can't you have to have a village you have to have friends who can intercede and help you raise your children and that was the nature of their friendship friendship so my mom and i always didn't always see eye to eye i guess that's probably an understatement but we always we didn't always see eye to eye and i dare say that maisie and lee didn't see eye to eye so maisie was my confidante she was my go-to person and she and i would talk for hours and hours and hours and listening to her always seemed to make my life and my world makes sense to me she had a way of doing that with her words with her smile with her songs and then when she didn't quite understand some things that lee was doing or where she was coming from she would talk to me you didn't know that she would talk to me and she would listen to me as i tried to explain lead to her and so when i was in college i was in winston-salem and and they moved to greensboro and so i would drive to greensboro on the premise that i needed to wash my clothes it was probably cheaper for me to wash my clothes in winston but i needed the solace and piece of her house i needed a home-cooked meal and really good conversation i needed her and so i would spend weekends when i was in college just to be with her and probably the best lesson and i'm gonna wrap this up i hear your plan i'm coming on probably the third and most valuable lesson about friendship is that it's like a marriage it's in sickness and in health it's in bad and it's in good when you're up and when you're down so i observe my mom and maisie's friendship as well as her friendship with miss mcneil these friendships superseded titles and accolades when you're on top of the world everyone wants to be your friend and call your name in rooms and places these women helped each other through a lot of adversity a lot of troubles a lot of hard nights and tears that the world never saw and so that's true friendship i learned the value of being vulnerable with your friends and having a space to cry scream and holler and then watch them help pick you up so that you can walk in grace and dignity so i challenge you today to get you a good friend like maisie someone who challenges you to be better someone who loves your kids like her own someone who will give you their last someone who inspires you to find your voice and someone who will lay down her life for you if maisie was your friend you were blessed and if you were a friend to maisie you were doubly blessed thank you praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody because truly god is still worthy even now to be praised amen um giving honor to my family um and the person whose life who has brought us here today the attorney reverend dr maisie butler ferguson whom who i refer to as mama uh i want to start off by sharing with everyone that this this is difficult um for me uh i am looking right now everybody who has been impacted by her life and the service that she rendered to humanity um but this is difficult um especially for my sister and i uh julia um dr ferguson whom we have referred to as mama was like a second mother to us um everything that we know how to do today started off with a random candid conversation with my mom for me it was um you know playing piano discussing politics theology and the ways those two things intersect learning how to drive on in the city and learning how to drive on the highway stressing her out and the most important thing i'm gonna say is um cause i'm gonna start pointing them out now this one right here that one right there and i know my cousin jacob is in here you do not want to invite any of us to your space game tables we are amazing ferguson made i stopped playing me in church one of the biggest things that my family and i knew about my mama was that she would stop at nothing to ensure that this world saw heaven on earth not the heaven where there are nice cars and golden streets because those are luxurious things but uh she she labored here to invoke on earth the kind of heaven where no one was hungry and no one was without because everyone has enough knowing my grandmother was not obsessed with you know hoarding wealth and capital when i was given the task to speak on behalf of my family i was reminded of the last will and testament left behind by our great aunt dr mary macleod bethune so i spent some time collecting many of the writings and the videos my grandmother had put out and i had synthesized a lot of it and have created a last will and testament of dr maisy butler ferguson so this is the last will and testament of the reverend dr maisie butler ferguson and bear with me with this to my family so often i shared with you the poem two worlds diverged in the yellow wood as you continue living and being i leave with you the road no matter which road you choose as times get rough and your vision becomes unclear please remember that as long as you keep walking as long as you keep moving the road will always rise to meet you to my fellow laborers of the gospel i leave with you the freedom to no longer be burdened with defining god humans must stop limiting god to our cultural expressions languages and traditions as proof of god's existence when humans pray in any religious tradition god the creator will always answer may you remain steadfast on the path toward universal peace to my fellow laborers in the movement i leave with you radical integrity be now released from the stronghold of individual status material wealth and distinguished title you will not starve you see god takes care of those of us that dare give our lives for the social and political progress of our people and posterity we must continue to sound the alarm and increase awareness of the reoccurring periods of oppression to current present and future generations i leave with you faith the moral imperative is here you must drive deeper into the deeper into the abyss faith teaches that nothing is too hard for a people led by god faith not politics transforms reality for faith creates hope and a people with hope have the heart to create new reality we must move into trouble may we honor dr ferguson's life and her gifts to us from her will by remaining steadfast and unwavering toward a world where dreams of liberation and reality finally intersect thank you may we receive at this time the reverend dr william j barber ii am i in the baptist church come on give god some praise come on give god some praise for this life for this life [Music] it's down in south carolina while you're standing down in south carolina every now and then somebody would say father i stretch my hands to deed no other help i know if thou remove thyself from me whether shall i go come on give me b flat come on come on come on come on everybody let's sing it hmm [Music] i stretch come on come on my hands [Music] the hair [Music] we [Music] oh [Music] came from moaning territory come on [Music] um [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] god whenever you call men and women to preach you take the risk of putting treasure in trash treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power might be of thee and not of us as you did with maisy do with us now hide us behind the cross cover us in your blood fill us with your spirit that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart might be acceptable in thy sight o lord our strength and blessed redeemer come holy spirit come in jesus name amen you may be seated and as you go to your seat just celebrate god and celebrate this life that god gave us [Applause] to my friend and colleague and soldier of the cross pastor william wright amen the angel of this house amen to all the members here all of the clergy here in greensboro and surrounding areas to reverend lee i almost said reverend daniel i don't know where that's coming from amazing norman fladetta ella and to all of you who have gathered here on this day this homegoing celebration i kind of like it that there's no casket in here because she's gone anyway amen for to to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord now i i pray that everything you all said today you all said it before she left here there's a lot of talking today i pray that you said it before you left here i come from maisy's cloth too cause i might say something crazy so y'all don't have to deal with me but today but um say it while we're living and show it while we're living and i hope that somebody writes a book out all of this today amen and especially my colleagues in the gospel amen let us let us let us speak while it is day because the night cometh amen i told my family i said i'm thinking about ordering a surcharge when i die for the funeral like the club you got to pay a cover charge because a lot of people who show up at your funeral won't show up with you in the march [Applause] so um but we thank god there is a scripture matthew 13 pastor wright the 45th verse in the 46th verse if you all might give me a moment here to kind of put a capstone on all that has been said again jesus said again the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price winning soul all that he had and bought it i want to suggest today dr brown that everybody should want a pearl in your life everybody should want a pearl in your life some people are named but ella they never live out or live into their name but some people do i don't even know if their parents realize it when they're naming them but somehow the spirit orchestrates that some people actually live in and live out their names take for instance nelson my dear friend nelson johnson his name in some forms and in some languages according to studies of epistemology means champion what nelson means and i would suspect if there's somebody here that could say that brother's been a champion a champion in this community a champion for justice you take his wife his wife's name is joyce and in some languages and forms of epistemology dr spearman joyce means female warrior female warrior led by the lord and i would suspect there's a witness here that george johnson has been a female warrior and nelson johnson has been a champion so i decided to check reverend dr maisie ferguson lived into her name the name maisy in the celtic language literally means pearl now it is known that a sister loves herself some pearls my mama told me boy you might give some girls some some jewelry but only get the one you show enough love a set of pearls she got one on someone right now maisie was a pearl and we are blessed to have a pearl have had a pearl in our lives because everybody ought to want a pearl in their life and when he found it he sold everything that he had and bought it well now why was she why did she live out the meaning of her name well she was a pearl because she gave us her full self and as i was studying about what a pearl about the characteristics of a pearl aisle the pearl is the only gem known to humanity that cannot be cut you got to take it all diamonds can be cut gold can be cut silver can be cut diamonds can be cut into smaller stone but with the pearl you got to take it or leave it it is what it is a pearl cannot be divided without destroying its natural value and beauty if you try to divide a pearl if you try to keep a pearl from being its whole self then you will destroy the pearl ferguson was a pearl because you couldn't separate her or divide her oneself from her other self and she didn't even try she brought her whole self everywhere she went she was not one thing for one group and something else for another group when you saw her you knew who she was you knew that's the real amazing ferguson you didn't get one maze for the negroes and another amazing for the white folks i wish i had a witness here you didn't get one more is it for the hood and then another maze for the dignified folk oh no you didn't get one maze in the baptist church and another maze in the episcopal church one amazing seems like i feel some help in here maisy was many things in one person she was kind of like the trinity one in three three in one she was undivided and to know her was to know it all if you spent time around her you would see it all she she was a mother she was a pearl because she was a mother always talking about her children oh wait time i felt like sometimes i knew daniel i knew y'all didn't even know you but i knew you because you had to know that if you were amazing she didn't stop talking about you all she was a lawyer but she was always a constitutional lawyer always in every situation she was a preacher but always a prophetic justice preacher she was clear that jesus and justice were united and anything that tries to separate jesus from justice and justice from jesus is at best pastoral malpractice and that worse straight out heresy she was a freedom fighter no matter where she went wherever she went something was going wrong she was sitting in the restaurant something's wrong she's going to challenge it she was an advocate for the least of these wherever she went didn't matter who was there i heard somebody say she stood up in the meeting and said mr president didn't matter she didn't get cute she was who she was she was a friend if she was your friend she was a real friend and she challenged you she challenged you she was a truth teller no matter who she was with or in front of she wasn't one of these folk that talked loud about what they're going to do until they get a chance to do it you just give me a chance and i get that my you know i'm going to stand up to him i'm going to tell the mayor a piece of my mind i'm going to tell her and then when they're in their presence something happens to them maisy was not schizophrenic and that's why some people thought she was crazy because too many of us think schizophrenic schizophrenia is sane because we try we spend too much time trying to see which person we have to be in front of which crowd rather than just being who god made us radical integrity you couldn't separate her morality and she believed something she stood for it no ethical and moral schizophrenia didn't matter she did her son disagreed with her her daughter disagreed with her didn't matter her sister disagreed with her she was for the truth didn't have one position here another she was a pearl she could not be divided she had one hope here and for the hereafter her hope was in the lord her hope was in the lord while she was living her hope was in the law but she got a bad diagnosis her hope was in the lord when she was dying if her body was well her hope was in the lord if her body was hurting her hope was in the lord she trusted in god's unchanging grace through every high and stormy gale i rest on his unchanging grace like a pearl maisie ferguson could not be divided she was who she was she stood where she stood and that's why that's why the brother the young pastor that's why he said she inspired him it felt like fire wesley because she could inspire young folk because the one thing young people are looking for is somebody that's going to keep it real uh i read a book the other day refugees are called the death of the church and they said young people aren't leaving the church because we don't have the right music young people aren't leaving the church because we don't have the right synthesizer young people aren't leaving the church because we don't have the right clown performing for them but a lot of young people are leaving the church because they hear one thing on sunday and see something different on monday and you cannot do that they don't even need perfection they don't need perfection they just need some folk to forgive when folk fall they don't need perfection and people like maisy are pearls they are precious because some people you meet you don't know who you're dealing with is this let me have some this baptist church right i heard in the baptist church you could cuss one time on saturday some people you meet you don't know who in the hell you're dealing with that's you don't know on any given day huh you just don't know it's like that with some politician that one way when they run get elected and you don't know but not amazing even in her latter days even when her mind fluctuated she was still her whole self concerned about justice truth and right even the mental changes of her disease couldn't take that lee said you call her she'll go right there to justice even though she might not remember what happened yesterday she go right there to justice one of the reasons i think ella that he she and you ran for office when other people would say you can't win because some people if they can't win they change they compromise they capitulate but amazing new real winning is being true to yourself real winning is is and if being true to yourself means knowing that you were born to shake things up you were born to get in the fight if you don't do anything but shape the debate then you don't separate yourself from that and you don't say you lost you say no i got in and you be true to yourself and in being true to yourself you may inspire somebody else who stays true to themselves her aunt was like that mary mcleod bethune she was true to herself she believed that the lord had told her to build a college there's a book that says that mayor macleod bethune believed that she had an immaculate conception and one day she was in a field and she believed that literally she was impregnated by the spirit of god to build a school to teach young people and and and and some people told her why don't you just let that go listen you can have money you can do anything you don't have to do this and and they say that miss bethune said but if i don't do this i will divide myself from myself i will not be who god created to me so the story goes she went out on a garbage dump and started cleaning off garbage and somebody said what in the world is that woman doing out there said her husband tried to stop her people tried to stop her and they said why are you out there she said i'm being true to myself i'm gonna start cleaning this garbage dump off as though it's a college and either folk gonna say this is a great thing and wanna help me or they're gonna think i'm crazy and they wanna help me but they're gonna help me anyway as long as you be true to yourself you can draw people in [Applause] huh so i encourage you in the memory amazing be yourself like a pearl don't let this world cut you into pieces don't let the polls and the political polls and the ups and downs cut you into pieces don't try to have one face over here and another face over there don't be one way around people one people in another way around other people don't be one way in private in another way in public don't preach just one thing behind closed doors don't go to a pentecostal church and shout and go to episcopal and won't shout be true to yourself because everybody needs a pearl in their life everybody need one pearl in their life in their family everybody needs a pearl somebody who is who they say they are if they say they're for justice they mean it if they say they're for truth they mean it if they say they're for the poor they mean it they say that for people they mean it everybody needs amazing in fact of the matter i almost wish god would give us a permission to call her back fully restored in hell because biden needs amazing huh senator schumer needs amazing pelosi needs amazing uh clobbering though he's black the other day talking about we don't need that money that that the man needs amazing he needs they need somebody that will stand up in their face and tell them the truth see if maisy was the president's advisor if maisy was pelosi's advisor if maisy was schumer's advisor if maisy was clyburn's advisor she said what in heaven is wrong with you stand and stop backing down stand and stop letting joe manchin run everything stand how dare you let one man control this country stand and act like you've been elected president stan [Applause] that's what macy would say huh stan how dare 168 members of the congressional black caucus and the progressive caucus let one or two senators control the whole agenda they need amazing up in d.c huh i know she would tell them that because when i was running for president naacp i might as well tell it publicly there was a there was an election steal in the works there was a there was a trickery going on and and i called maze and told her i was going to run and she said well i might help you and then she said let me ask you something are you going to be the same thing in the front of the room as you are in the background what are you going to do what are you going to stand for what are you going to stand for why you want to run now then and baba is this you is this you or is this somebody else encouraging you is this you do you believe these things in your bones are you willing to put your life on the line for these things cause i'm not getting in this and when i answered properly she said all right i'll stand for you and i'll help you get elected and i'll be at the state conference to stir up something because i know who the tricksters are and i know what they plan to do and i know when they plan to do it and i'm gonna take all the heat she said i'm gonna make them focus on me you're not gonna have to do it but it was only after uh is this you maisie was a pearl not only that amazing amazing was a pearl and everybody needs a pearl in their lives because pearls teach us that what is meant to hurt us can actually end up healing us pearls pearls teach us that stumbling blocks can become stepping stones pearls teach us that that they can god can give us power out of pain pearls teach us god can give us strength out of weakness pearls teach us that god can give us hope out of despair let me see so young granddaughter granddaughter come come here baby i didn't know you're gonna be here but the lord always orchestrates stand right there i want you to see this pretty group of pearls for a second on her neck but but see y'all see those pearls you see them thank you thank you now here's what you need to know and i'm almost going to my seat thank you the pearl as beautiful as they are is the product of suffering a pearl is formed when the oyster gets a grain of sand trapped in the soft flesh inside the shell and the sand irritates and cuts and messes with the oyster and makes the oyster let out layers of saliva and calcium so the pearl is produced out of suffering and the sand thinks that it's gonna cut and kill the pearl but instead the sand makes that come out of the pearl that otherwise wouldn't come out of the pearl unless there was suffering inside the pearl mesa ferguson was a pearl because instead of problems pains and persecutions irritants and struggle and suffering and defeating her god used those things to make her the bold beautiful maze that she was maisy was a pearl of a woman and you know black women have had after what black women have to do and go through sometimes in this world can i hear the black women say yes lord huh and and but you also know what god does with a black woman somebody say yes lord in spite of what black women have to go through somebody say yes lord maisy was a black woman and you know who a black woman is don't you y'all know who a black woman is despite all of the suffering a black woman is the only woman that can take a week of leftover scraps and make a gourmet meal y'all do y'all know who a black woman is a black woman is the only woman that can cuss a man out and then make love to him and make him apologize at night a black woman huh a black woman can raise a doctor a world-class athlete a musician and a straight a student a black woman can turn boys into men and girls into women in an environment decide that that is dysfunctional broken and and designed to destroy them only a black woman can heat a whole house in the winter without the help of a gas company only a black woman can go from boardroom to the block and keep it real in the boardroom and on the block a black woman can work in the fields or in the suites and put food on her family's table a black woman can live below poverty and still sets fashion trends and the way she puts what she has together a black woman can fight two struggles every day and make it look easy a black woman can make a child happy on christmas and they don't even get a toy a black woman can be 75 years old and look 45 a black woman a black woman can look so good she make other women want to pay plastic surgeons to try to get what she got only a black woman can be the mother of civilization despite all she's gone through a black woman is a pearl amazing was a black woman [Music] not only help me on the mic was amazing was not only a black woman but she was a black woman preacher and you know black women preacher freedom fighters they catch it on all sides let's tell the truth the church didn't want them even at the march on washington no women were allowed to speak and law school was often seen as out of a woman let alone a black woman's reach and yet maisy took on and suffered internally and externally through all three entities the church the law school and the movement mazie was a part of that radical group called core core core went through some suffering coral led the freedom rides in 47 and then in 61 and they were beaten and they were bruised and they were hurt that's who maisie came up in and out of core came a movement and out of core came amazing they suffered but out of that suffering there was a breed of black men and women born that said we will have our equality and they came up out of it and out of it maze the ferguson and you know what she said she had all those degrees but she said through it all what i really have is a b.a born again what i really have is a phd past having doubt and what i really am is a dd a devil disturber y'all know what i'm talking about [Applause] the church carter said women couldn't preach but she was daughter of a preacher and the suffering of male chauvinism in the church produced her and she became what folks said she couldn't be she was a lawyer and a preacher and and when one church put out they just made a church founder and a church planner that's how she met you if they hadn't put her out she wouldn't have been in greensboro if she hadn't been in greensboro she wouldn't have met wesley if she didn't meet wesley he might still be waving in his faith but look at what the lord has done yeah [Applause] racism threatened the killer and her commitment to the struggle but the more racism did the stronger she get like a pearl suffering amazing had the reverse effect instead of destroying her it made her better better macy was a pearl she was a pearl in spite of the fact that what the devil meant for evil oh god used it and turned it to good thank god we had a pearl in our lives i wish i had a praise right there thank god we had amazing in our lives because everybody needs a pearl in their life but i got one more thing to tell you and and that's that that that rather than saying maisy died i want to say she lived and she lived a full life she fought the good fight she lived a fateful life but i got to come by here in order to be a gospel preacher she didn't live a faultless life because none of us do we've all got our failures we've all got our fractures we've all got our frustrations and sometimes when you have amazing she can even frustrate children and frustrate loved ones and that's why i'm glad that i can stand here today and with no doubt to say not only was maisy a pearl but maisy found the pearl lord have mercy she found what we all better found and that is the kingdom of heaven and the bible says that when you find the kingdom of heaven you give all that you have you sell everything you've got in 13th chapter matthew trying to explain what the kingdom of heaven was like jesus gave six examples and then on the seventh example jesus said the kingdom of heaven is so valuable it's like when a merchant and travelers find the pearl and they sell everything they have in order to in order to have the kingdom of heaven and the truth is when you find jesus you better give up everything you have because only jesus is worth it do i have a witness here i'm so glad that amazing new it's worth it to give everything to jesus it's worth it to serve the kingdom of heaven it's worth it to have the grace of the kingdom of heaven the love of the kingdom of heaven the mercy of the kingdom of heaven the eternal life of the kingdom of heaven is there anybody in here that you found the kingdom of heaven because you found your way to jesus i'm so glad that maisie got her pearl the pearl got a pearl and the pearl is in the pearl right now i'm so glad that because she knows jesus there's a bright side somewhere i'm so glad because jesus died and got up from the grave there's a bright side somewhere for those that serve the lord there's a bright side somewhere for those that love people there's the kingdom of heaven there's a bright side somewhere for those that try to live right there's a pearl for the pearl for those that love the lord and his appearing there's joy somewhere there's eternal life somewhere every day is sunday somewhere the sabbath has no end somewhere there's a place where there's no tears somewhere there's no suffering somewhere there's no racism somewhere there's no chauvinism somewhere where where jesus is where where glory is where where god the father is and like meza don't you rest until you find it until you get your pearl don't you rest until you find it keep telling the truth don't you rest until you find it keep singing don't you rest until you find it keep praying don't you rest until you find it keep believing don't you rest until you find it it'll be worth it after a while don't you rest don't you rest until you find it don't you rest until you get your pearl there's a bright side somewhere say yes say yes say yes yeah miss amazing you didn't rest until you found it we'll see you in the mountain keep the lights on keep the pearl shining we're coming but not yet there's a bright side somewhere don't you rest don't you rest don't you rush don't you rest [Music] [Music] hallelujah come on let's praise god right there come on come on hallelujah hallelujah oh come on after a word like that hallelujah there's a shift i was just telling i was telling sister pam that when you worship it shifts the atmosphere come on can we just lift our hands and just begin to bless god when sunday is not just a day hallelujah but it's a posture holly and he got a posture of worship when [Laughter] sunday comes [Music] my trouble gone ass sooner it gets here i'll [Music] have a new song [Music] i won't have to cry no more all of my trials all of my tribulations all of my memories all of my parents every childhood situation will be high when yeah [Music] [Music] days we're gonna have a new glorified body when sun that comes there'll be no more crying no more dying we're gonna put on our robe and gonna walk the streets of gold every day will be sunday's habit we'll have nowhere sunday [Laughter] sunday every day will be sunday and [Laughter] no more sickness no more pain no more [Music] when it comes when it comes when it comes [Music] [Music] come on give him worship come on come on come on give him worship come on don't just panic him come on give him worship come on open your mouth and give him glory hallelujah he's been good he's been faithful if you're hurting you ought to praise him if you're feeling down you ought to bless him if you love god you ought to give him glory i decree that it's morning time it's sunday time we've been man do it for a night but joy cometh in the morning [Music] [Music] hallelujah come on come on hallelujah come on come on come on praise is your weapon praise is your weapon i dare you to open your mouth and give god praise after a word like that after a praise like that [Music] let us continue the tradition that we've already spoken of and join hands invoking god's spirit not now in this place but in us as we leave this place to go out and make a difference almighty creator we are reminded now that at one time you troubled the waters and after troubling the waters caused healing for a man through a situation called kmart through a labor dispute you have troubled the waters in greensboro and from troubled waters you have caused up to be down and you have brought together businessmen and community people workers and those who own companies pulpit forum and those who are from all walks of life you have troubled the waters and even as you have troubled our waters you have made us stand up and notice that we have healing as a result of the troubling now we have come together to hear let us depart now to go and teach and to do and to do and to do better be with us as we leave this place give us insight for new opportunities to serve you better by serving humanity and all of god's children joined in the prayer and said amen amen just keep on praying for the lord is not just keep on praying he'll hear your cry [Music] oh the lord has promised and the word is true [Music] just keep on praying he'll answer your [Music] [Music] and the word is true just keep on moaning just keep on praying thank you just keep on praying for the lord we'd like to remind those of you who are worshiping with us to please remain at your pew until you are dismissed by the usher thank you and his [Music] keep on word he'll answer you you can't pray moan just keep on moaning for the lord is not [Music] just keep on

Channel: Greensboro- New Zion Missionary Baptist Church

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Length: 158min 57sec (9537 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021