Bryant, Vivian C.
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Bryant, Vivian C.
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MCA: When did you
become an elder?
Bryant: I became an elder
in the AME Church in the late
I98os.
J\~ joZ/
he saw her, touched her, and
she was straightened up.
We want to straighten up in
light of the fact that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
We've talked ab out financial
problems and still trying to
tithe. We've talked about marital issues and still staying married. We've talked about being
single and feeling comfortable
with that.
You know who the teacher
is? The Holy Spirit. He shows
up every time, every time.
MCA: What gave you the
impetus to trans- r------==--..,-,
fer from the AME
Church to the
United Methodist
Church?
Bryant: I liked
the diversity that the
UMC has. I also
appreciate the social
issues that they take
a stand against and
, for, depending on
how they feel, and I
enjoy
that.
It
embraces me.
I
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MCA: Can you tell about
the urban ministry side of
things?
Bryant: Southfield: Hope
UMC does urban and rural
ministry, really. We are situated
outside of Detroit, and we
welcome anyone who wants to
come to our church to know
more about God.
We are interested in people
developing their spiritual formations. We know what it
means to serve God. We are
here for people who want to
grow in that way.
MCA: Talk about your
involvements
at
Hope
Church.
Bryant: I have a Bible
study class that meets on
Wednesday nights. Now we are
studying about dealing with
the issues of life. We have pinpointed several life issues to
deal with. Last night we
learned about loving the
unlovable.
Our background scripture
for this class is the Bible story
about the bent-over woman.
She was bent over for 18 years.
It wasn ' t until sh e went into
the synagogue, saw Jesus, that
MCA: What
else is going on
at
Southfield:
Hope?
Bryant: I h ave
an illness support
group, where we
h ave people who
h ave been diagn osed with socalled terminal illn esses, or ch allenging illnesses.
We have those
persons and the
care-givers
and
the family members all come
together so we can d eal with
this issue.
We had one lady who came
who had absolutely given up
on life. She did not care if she
died. When she ended her first
session with us, she had a will
to live, and continues to have a
will to live. She comes to every
meeting and even comes to
Bible study.
MCA: How do you handle
it when a member of the
group dies?
Bryant: We have learned
that death is a part of living,
and it doesn't end with a person who dies in Christ.
MCA: You became a full
member at Detroit Annual
Conference in 2000.
Bryant: Actually, I was a
pioneer of coming over from
another denomination. It took
forever for me to become a full
member in the UMC. I never
complained, I n ever became
bitter. I just becam e more
patient and said, "Whenever
God wants me as a full member I'm standing at the door
knocking."
t
Vivian Chillis Bryant
(William) - "As a servant of
God, I did what he told me to
do ... .Somehow, in spite of my
r- limitation s, in spite of my
, -' shortcomings, in spite of my
being human, God has blessed
me beyond measure. He
blessed m e when He called
me. He blessed me when He
appointed me. He blessed me
when He anointed me. He
blessed me through the .
(African Methodist Episcopal)
Church." And Bryant said she
obeyed the voice of the Lord
in moving to Southfield:. Hope
United Metllodist Church in
1997 as associate pastor.
Bryant, Vivian C.