Pastor Kelvin Sauls Welcomes Attorney General to Legendary Church
A capacity crowd gathered at Holman United Methodist Church to hear California Attorney General Kamala Harris promote her efforts to create programs that decrease recidivism among youth and eliminate human trafficking.
Harris, who is also a candidate for U.S. Senator, was the guest speaker for Holman’s United Methodist Women Mission Emphasis Sunday on March 13. The annual worship service focuses on highlighting and supporting women, children and families.
“One of the reasons we invited Kamala was that so many of her passions are also areas that we are involved in at Holman. While we, as a church, cannot officially endorse her campaign, I still wanted to provide her with the opportunity to share with the congregation and the community who she was, what her passions were, what has she been doing and what does she plan for the future,” said Holman Pastor Kelvin Sauls.
Many community leaders and elected officials were on hand including U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, retired U.S. Congresswoman Diane Watson and several of Harris’ Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters. Sentinel Executive Publisher Danny Bakewell, Sr., attended as well along with his son, Danny, Jr., and granddaughters Devyn and Bryce Bakewell.
“I wanted to make sure that my children and grandchildren come with me so they could listen and see a successful, Christian and powerful African American woman. Kamala serves as an example for them, that they can reach heights such as she has and even beyond,” said Bakewell, Sr., who presented Harris to the congregation.
Harris’ message was entitled “Growing in Blessedness” based on Matthew 5:5-9. Not surprisingly, she touched on issues that she has advocated throughout her two terms such as education, economics and civil rights which also are issues her campaign intends to address if and when she transitions to the U.S. Senate.
“Jesus says ‘blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.’ I believe this guidance calls for a lot of self-reflection and it calls on us to fight everyday for the meek when they hunger and thirst for righteousness.
“As the top cop in the biggest state in this country, I say to you that law enforcement has such a profound and direct impact on the most vunerable among us, the meek, and has a responsibility and job to a voice for the vunerable and voiceless. That’s the job I decided I wanted to do,” said Harris.
Sharing her story to attain political office, Harris said she overcame negativity and nay-sayers, through hard work and a lot of prayer. She added that she believes God still calls His people to “be thirsty in our strive for righteousness.”
Pleased by her remarks, Sauls said, “We are surrounding her with our support, our love, and our prayers as she continues to do what she does as the top cop in the state and as the potential first African American U.S. Senator from California.”
During this political season the African American Vote is seen as one of the keys to victory in both the upcoming U.S. Senate Race as well as in the Presidential race. Majority African American Churches, political organizations such as New Frontier Democratic Club and social organizations such as the NAACP, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity have all committed both locally and nationally to play active roles in voter registration and get out to vote campaigns. These organizations and many more will all play a vital role in insuring that Kamala Harris and candidates like her, who share a commitment to the issues facing our community succeed in keeping our issues at the forefront of the national, state and local campaigns.
