Inspired By A Message..

I had a really good meeting with some of the trangender members of TBC yesterday. Today I was reflecting on the first meeting I had with Dee Dee . She was one of the trangender individuals I met with yesterday. I always appreciate talking with Dee Dee, she's a very caring and sensitive person who is always thinking about ministry for hurting people....

The meeting I had with her about three years ago was a real eye opener to the lives of trangender people. I had absolutely no idea what they went through just to be themselves. When she finished telling me of the tragedy and pain she had suffered in her life I was in tears. I could not imagine how someone could survive such injustice and rejection. But she did survive it and she did it because she turned her pain into an opportunity to rescue and save other transgender individuals from having to go through the same suffering that she had to endure. She asked me if Tabernacle would partner with LaGender Inc. (a nonprofit organization she started) and open our doors of love and acceptance to the trangender community, so they would have a place to worship God without being treated with discrimination, alienation, and prejudice. I was honored. It was humbling to know that our church was a place for someone who never had a pastor and never really been in a church, yet she found TBC a place of solace and comfort.

I would like to be honest and tell you that not everyone in our church welcomed the transgender ministry. It was surprising to me that even the same gendered individuals of the congregation were struggling with the new ministry. But after the dust settled and the transgender people assimilated throughout the congregation, everything was just fine. We are one big happy family worshiping and praising God together.

I am getting ready to go to a barbecue at my son Micah's house. I am so proud of him. He and His partner Michael have just purchased a new home and he has invited the family to come over. One of my beloved members, Deshon, who is a trangender will be joining us. I call Deshon my daughter. She is supposed to bring the kabobs and a banana pudding. I am a little concerned about the banana pudding cause no one can make banana pudding like my ex-wife. Speaking of the ex-wife, I have got to go now and pick her up from the airport. That's my BEST FRIEND.

Until Next Time,

Pastor Meredith

Pastor's 1st Blog.

I am really thankful for having the opportunity to do this documentary. When I began teaching the love and acceptance doctrine I had no idea of where or what this teaching would lead to. I just believed it was necessary to bring to the GLBT community a healthy, holistic, loving and healing message to a population of hurting people that have for so long been demonized and demoralized.

I often wonder if Christian people know how vicious and hurtful they can be to people all in the name of Jesus. I have heard so many painful stories of gay people who have been victimized by pastors and other church leaders. This to me is such a tragedy and a poor reflection on Christianity.

I am very sensitive to this issue and I have suffered a lot of personal loss just because I choose to love and accept and teach others to do the same. I have been told I was going to Hell and my whole church was going with me. People have literally walked away from the church because they refuse to love and accept people of the GLBT community. These people were my friends. I ate at their homes, laughed and fellowship with them, but when I began teaching love and acceptance our loving friendships abruptly ended. Stuff like this hurts... But I believe I have to follow the assignment God has given me to do. Every time someone thanks me for words of affirmation or thanks me because they are transcending their issues of self-hate, I know the struggle is well worth it.

Speaking of struggle doing this documentary has not been easy. I have had to deal with rejection and two faced preachers who smile in your face and talk about you behind your back. This documentary has made me be more vulnerable by forcing me to be more open and honest with my own personal life. I will speak more about that in my next blog.

(Here's a picture of my Grandson and I with the old bike! Teach them while they're young haha.)

Its time for me to get on my Harley Davidson street glide and let the wind blow in my face. ahhh! The feel of that power between your legs and the sound of those pipes roaring down the road is like nothing else in the world matters.

Until next time,

Pastor Meredith

Also, please subscribe to this blog and help us spread the message of Love and Acceptance through this documentary. Thank you all so much.

The Beginning of a Journey...

At the beginning of 2010, Pastor Dennis A. Meredith in association with Captain Crazy Productions, INC created 'The DAM Films, LLC' and began production on a feature length documentary that would evaluate the ongoing conflict of the exclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from Religion due to their lifestyles.

Dennis Meredith is the Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. For the past 8 years he has been preaching an inclusive message of Love & Acceptance that welcomes anyone and everyone to worship God. His personal struggle to spread this message of tolerance is the main focus of our documentary.

The documentary expresses the idea of Love & Acceptance to be a message adaptable to all people and circumstances. Our main focus looks into the African American church community and their struggle with openly accepting people who are traditionally thought to be unaccepted by God. The Tabernacle Baptist Church does not run off the popular "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" guidelines instilled in the culture, but rather creates a church setting that embraces everyone and encourages all to love themselves and each other. We are all PEOPLE after all....

Pastor Meredith and a few other volunteers from the church are allowing us to follow them on their day to day lives to represent an example of the struggle that the GLBT community has within the African American community. We will be constantly blogging about our progress on the project. We hope the documentary will open the eyes of people and evoke healthy thought and discussion about this issue.

We are currently in production and plan to submit the film in the festival market at the end of this summer.

Please subscribe to this blog to support our cause and get up-to-date personal thoughts by Pastor Dennis Meredith and more!

Here are a few videos that shed light to the topic at hand: