Please continue to pray for me on this journey. I have a PLAN for the Zion Church:
PROMOTING
Personal Care and Mental Health for Pastors
For the last 30 years, I have watched ministers put themselves on the back burner, myself included. When I received my Type II diabetes diagnosis, I decided to change my lifestyle and my eating habits. Consequently, I dropped 22 pounds and lowered my A1C. I was convinced to start a YouTube channel demonstrating the recipes that I use to eat clean. My YouTube channel is appropriately named - Charlrean Eats Clean. Mental Health for ministers is imperative. In our community, we do not want to talk about these matters. I believe it is imperative to talk to God and to a human being who is qualified to provide assistance through godly wisdom. There are several Christian-based mental health providers who can help us navigate these difficulties in our lives. When I was a student at Hood Theological Seminary, I enrolled in a course entitled, "Pastoral Care and Counseling," thinking that a portion of that course would be dedicated to pastors caring for themselves. I quickly learned that it was a course designed for pastors to care for their parishioners. I believe pastors should care for their parishioners, but we must take care of ourselves, to effectively take care of others.
LEADERSHIP
Leadership In Post Pandemic Era
When I served as General Youth Secretary for the Women's Home & Overseas Missionary Society from 2003-2011, my focus was, "Tearing Down the Walls and Taking It to the Streets." When I was assigned to my current charge in Wilmington, I told my parishioners, "We're going to tear down the walls and take our ministry to the streets of Wilmington." Shortly after I made that statement, the Corona virus hit, and we (and other churches) were forced to do just that. I utilized the Zoom platform to train, meet and equip our members for ministry prior to going into the neighborhood and other areas of the community. This has been an effective method that helps to prepare the parishioners before they perform the actual ministry. We've knocked on doors, blocked streets and engaged the community in various ways. Additionally, we are blessed with every age group in our church, therefore we offer sessions for each of them (for example: Fall Prevention for Seniors; Interviewing Skills for Youth and Mental Health for Young Adults).
AUTISM
Autism Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion
For almost 18 years now, I have been an advocate and a voice for my son and others on the Autism Spectrum. As a student in the D.Min. program at Duke Divinity School, I wrote about Autism. The title of my doctoral thesis is, "Inclusion of the Autism Population in Churches, Schools and Communities." I transformed my thesis into a podcast, "Let's Talk Autism with Dr. C..." season one is available on Spotify. I have a 10 point plan available for any church or pastor who is interested in starting an Autism or special needs ministry in their church. In 2021, I was asked by Governor Roy Cooper to serve as a member of the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities.
NURTURING
Nurturing Ecumenical Relationships
My ecumenical work did not begin when I became a pastor. It started when I was a college student back at Clark Atlanta University. As a pastor, I have led my congregations into partnerships with local grocery stores to provide food for the community, led interdenominational ministerial efforts in communities. We partnered with the Presbyterian church to provide support for single parents living at or below poverty level. Most recently, I was asked to serve as the inaugural president for an ecumenical campus ministry at University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) - Wingspan ILM. Our purpose is to ensure that college students remain grounded in their Christian faith as they matriculate through the university.
