June 13, 2024 • 58 mins
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How does a systems engineer, tech entrepreneur, and award-winning filmmaker reconcile the complexities of faith, race, and leadership? Listen as Ms. Temeko Richardson shares her extraordinary journey, from her faith-centered upbringing to her diverse roles in technology, systems engineering, and her perspective as a writer and producer of inspirational films like "At the Cross."
We take a hard look at the imperfections of church institutions, the often complicated dynamics of church leadership, and the current issues that confront our society. Through real-life examples, we discuss the challenges of transitioning church leadership and planning for the longevity and vibrancy of faith communities. Temeko also provides her thoughts on promoting female empowerment in church settings and the vital role of youth pastors who can genuinely connect with the younger generation on contemporary issues.
In an era marked by rapid societal changes, our discussion ventures into how churches can become more inclusive without compromising their core beliefs. The metaphor of the church as a hospital resonates deeply as we explore how faith communities can support and guide individuals through their struggles with love and integrity.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Grantley (00:09):
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the
intersection of faith, race andreconciliation, and I'm your
host, Grantley Martelly.
My guest today is Ms TemekoRichardson.
She's a systems engineer, techentrepreneur, philanthropist,
(00:32):
writer, director, and producerof inspirational films.
In 2023, she released At theCross, a full-length feature
film, a full-length feature filmwhich went on to win the Best
(00:54):
Feature Film Narrative at the2023 Oakland International Film
Festival, Best Feature Script atthe San Diego International
Film Festival, and she wasnominated for the Best Female
Director in 2023 at the MontrealIndependent Film Festival.
At the Cross also won the BestSupporting Actor Award at the
(01:16):
Golden State International FilmFestival, so I'm excited for you
to hear her story.
So let's get right into it.
Okay, good morning.
My guest today is Ms TemekoRichardson, and she is a New
York native, a producer, systemsengineer, tech, entrepreneur
(01:41):
many things.
We're going to get to know hertoday.
We're going to get to know thework that she does t hat I think
, is pretty vital in thisdiscussion about faith, race and
reconciliation.
So let's begin.
Tomeko, welcome to Above theNoise.
Temeko (01:57):
Thank you very much, Grantley.
Thank you for having me on.
Pretty exciting.
Grantley (02:01):
Thank you for coming.
So you know know a lot ofthings, and but I'm going to let
you explain them to ouraudience first, and then we will
get into them one by one.
But one of the first thingsthat you told me, one of the
first things I read about you,is that you're a New York native
.
So tell us where you were born,a little bit about your family
and your upbringing.
Temeko (02:24):
New York native in the sense that I was born in upstate
New York and live in New YorkCity as well as upstate New York
, so I live in both places.
Where I like to do my writingis actually on Long Island, in
the Hamptons.
That's really my New York story.
I'll say, in terms of where Iguess I went to college is more
(02:50):
like down 95.
So anybody that follows youthat is on the East Coast
they'll understand this.
Whe I went to Temple,university of Penn and
Georgetown.
So that's all down basicallyI-95.
So my background actuallystarted with math and computer
science as an undergraduatemajor.
(03:12):
That's what I graduated from,or graduated with a bachelor's
at Temple and then went on tothe University of Pennsylvania
and focused on systemsengineering with a background in
operations research fromWharton and then Georgetown with
sports management.
So I was able to, and still amable to, marry all of the all of
(03:35):
my majors.
They all matter in everythingthat I have ever done.
So I know how college studentsalways say that I majored in
things that didn't even apply tothings.
But I was fortunate.
I actually used them in allcapacities.
So I run a technology company.
I have real estate adventuresthat I have across New York
(03:56):
State, and then I also dophilanthropy across the country
as it relates to running, whichis, of course, my, my favorite
thing to do in the world in themorning to ease the stress and
um.
And then, of course, thisproduction company, where it's
focused on inspirational content.
(04:17):
So that's, I guess that's thesummary.
That's the cliff notes.
How about that?
About tha?
Grantley (04:23):
so I also had some similarities to you and you know
my original degree was inchemistry and then biochemistry,
then it got into environmentalindustry and transportation,
then transportation, publictransportation management, and
also do podcasting, and I I'malso a licensed minister.
(04:46):
And people also say, well, howdid all those things come
together?
Well, god brings them alltogether to do the things that
he wants to do.
Right, after a while, yourmajor in college really doesn't
matter.
It's how you put thingstogether to do the things that
(05:06):
you want to get done.
Would you agree with that?
Temeko (05:08):
To some extent, right.
So all of my clients are basedin that whole field of math,
computer science and systemengineering, as well as sports.
So I think it's different fordifferent people, but I think
it's also about focus, right.
So, like I kind of knew what Iwanted to do, my middle school
principal I saw him a couple ofmonths ago and he was like you
(05:32):
know, clearly you had a Jewishmother and it worked out, so you
know.
Grantley (05:37):
so, yeah, so tell us about your systems engineering
work.
What does that involve?
Temeko (05:44):
Systems engineering work .
What does that involve?
So that really involves a lotof both the technology side, as
well as understanding sometimesthe transportation side and the
electrical side, and thebusiness intelligence based
around it and the systemsintelligence based around it as
(06:05):
it relates to sometimesanalytics building out
algorithms to make things run alot more efficiently.
I know that people say AI andartificial intelligence and
machine language are going tokill society but, it has a lot
of benefits, so I was basicallyon the front end of it when it
first started.
Grantley (06:25):
But that's interesting .
We won't get into that, but Iactually worked for an
engineering company at one time.
Part of the things we did wassystems engineering, project
controls, logic control boardsand all that kind of stuff.
Temeko (06:39):
Hey, bring out the logic control boards, we can work
them out.
Grantley (06:44):
Yeah, most of my work is in the transportation
industry.
As we move on here, tell us alittle bit about your faith
journey.
Temeko (06:52):
Well, I think my faith journey is a little different
than most because mygrandparents were both pastors
and preachers in the UnitedHoliness Church.
So when my parents were gettinga divorce, I stayed with my
grandparents.
Everything I did was mostly goto church, because that's what
they did in United HolinessChurch.
They were always in church onmost days Sundays, mondays for
(07:17):
Bible study, tuesdays forsomething other Bible study.
Wednesdays for the church Biblestudy, thursdays for the for
the praise night.
So, yeah, pretty much you werein church at least five days a
week.
And then I think that that kindof morphed into adulthood where
, from an adult perspective,once I became, once I graduated
(07:40):
college, then my focus was okay,I don't want to be in a church
that holds service more than anhour, hour and a half tops, so,
so, so I was like I want churchlight.
You know what I mean.
So I joined a church when Imoved to, when I moved back to
(08:03):
New York after Philly, I joineda church and I'll call it church
light to be to be nice.
Yeah, church light wasn'tworking because church light
that particular church light wasvery political and I don't go
to church to be part of politicsand you know, rub nose with,
rub noses with people.
Um, it's about God and theinspiration that is driven from
(08:30):
the Bible, having strongbiblical teaching and things of
that nature.
So I left that church and wentto non-church light.
So it's Church in the A&E,allen A&E.
Grantley (08:43):
Yeah, I'm familiar with Allen AME it's Church in
the AME.
All AME.
Yeah, I'm familiar with AlanAME.
Where was that?
I think there was one.
I had some friends in the AlanAME in Barbados and then in Salt
Lake City.
Temeko (08:54):
Okay.
Grantley (08:55):
Yeah.
So is that where you attend now?
Temeko (09:01):
Yes, yes, Alle alan, AME .
Our Pastor Emeritus is FloydFlake, who is a member of
Congress, and his wife iscurrently the pastor, E elaine
Flake, due to AME rules andregulations that require pastors
to retire at a certain age, sowe'll be getting another pastor
in the near future.
Grantley (09:22):
So it's an interesting , interesting concepts there.
So, as so your faith journeyhas led you, you know, from your
grandparents, all the waythrough to your life right now,
you have also become a movieproducer, and one of the things
we want to talk about in in thisinterview is your, your movie
(09:44):
that you just released and someof the concepts in there,
because some of the concepts inthat movie bring us back to some
of the things that the churchis facing.
So if we could begin withtalking about you know your
venture into becoming a producer, a film writer, producer, tell
(10:05):
us a little bit about thatjourney and then we can get into
talking about At the Cross,your movie that was recently
released.
Temeko (10:13):
Sure.
So a lot of things that I thinkwe experience in life, we
channel and we don't use thoseexperiences to help others along
the way.
So I didn't want to be thatkind of person.
So every challenge that I had,I'm like OK, this some way has
to fold into some type of story.
(10:34):
I don't know what that story is, but some way someone has to
learn from it.
And those were just obstacles.
As it relates to, of course,being the grandchild of two
preachers and two pastors andlooking at it from different
perspectives, because, of course, my grandmother was a pastor as
(10:55):
well as my grandfather.
So those are two differentperspectives and two different
lenses.
And, of course, the church,because, as a whole, because I
don't think any one of yourfollowers will think that the
church is perfect and nor thatleaders in the church are
perfect.
So I've seen on the back endwhat a lot of great ministers
(11:18):
and pastors, basically, aredoing behind the scenes.
I'll'll say that people wouldnever imagine.
So I've seen all of that um.
And then, in terms of, like, thecorporate world, with a lot of
experience in the corporateworld in different industries.
So bring that all together aswell as dealing and just like,
(11:40):
uh, relationships with people inthose corporate environments
and helping people understandthat there is some.
There is a lesson in everythingthat you go through, so you
just don't go through it justbecause.
So basically wanted to teachthose lessons and be an
inspiration across the board asit relates to corporate America,
(12:01):
church, religion, mental health, wellness, sports and the like.
Grantley (12:09):
Okay, so you put all of that together and what?
What inspired you to to writethis?
Were you actually the writer ofthe script and the producer?
Temeko (12:18):
I did all three yeah.
Grantley (12:19):
Okay, so what inspired you?
Temeko (12:22):
Jewish mother man, you just got to go do it all.
So I'd inspire jewish mother.
Jewish mother man, you justgotta go do it all.
So, so, um, for for thisparticular movie, it was, it's
actually based on a true story.
It's based on two true storiesthat I blended together.
That happened, uh, with relationto the church and how it is
particularly seen.
(12:43):
So if you you walk through how,I guess the plot of the story
is basically the bishop, who isthe pastor of a church it's a
non-denominational,multi-generational church that
is also in an urban communitycommunity he basically traverses
(13:07):
through challenges as itrelates to having the church
return back to normalcy afterthe pandemic, as well as trying
to have an intergenerationalrelevance with the youth, to
bring them off the streets andback into the church and as well
as keep the existingindividuals who are members of
the church still a part of thechurch.
And then, of course, there'sthe component of the succession
(13:29):
planning that I think that mostchurch leaders miss the boat on,
if they're not, you know,forced, but I think they miss
the boat on it, and in thisparticular case, it's a matter
of him trying to leave thechurch to his son.
Grantley (13:45):
So you wrote the script, and how long did it take
you?
By the way, before we get intothat, the movie we are talking
about is At the Cross, producedby written and produced by Miss
Tameko Richardson.
It's available on Amazon Primeand Tubi.
I encourage you to go watch itand see her great work.
This show has also won a fewawards that we're going to talk
(14:09):
about here a little bit later,but we're talking about the
movie At the Cross, so how longdid it take you to go from this
concept to actually producingthe movie?
Temeko (14:22):
Well, the concept was already kind of in the mind.
So then you have to write downlike what do you want to bring
across in the movie.
So I think that probably tookabout two to three months in
order to identify the conceptand then to change the concept
or to change what you wanted totell in the story as it relates
to the concept.
So a lot of it had to do withwhat did you want to bring
(14:44):
across, what messages did youwant, had to do with what did
you want to bring across, whatmessages did you want to send
and what did you want to deliverto make those uncommon
conversations that don't happen,as it relates to the church or
around the church.
So that took probably anothertwo months.
Grantley (15:01):
So did you have experience in producing movies
or stuff like this before?
Temeko (15:06):
Well, I did a.
I did a short film before,called Fork Down that had
several awards to it, so itwasn't the first.
No, like I didn't just go outand say let me just write a
feature, no, I guess that's whatI'm trying to get at.
Grantley (15:20):
How did you get from this concept actually producing
a movie that I think is like anhour and a half, yeah, and then
have it to be available online?
Temeko (15:31):
I mean that that seems to be multiple processes and
multiple areas of specialtythere that that just doesn't
happen in six months right and I, and I think also when I was
consulting for one company inCalifornia, one of the things
that I did do as a side is thatI attended New York Film Academy
(15:53):
, so just to hone in on writingskills and things of that nature
.
That played a part in it aswell.
Grantley (16:01):
You had some.
Temeko (16:03):
Had some training, yes, training and stuff like that.
Yeah, okay, well, that's goodto know I didn't go on YouTube
and just say let me just figureit out.
Grantley (16:11):
yes, the reason why I'm getting at that is because I
think that's just a monumentalfeat that you were able to, that
you were able to pull off insuch a short space of time.
Temeko (16:22):
Appreciate it in such a short space of time, appreciate
it.
Grantley (16:25):
In the film you talk about a number of different
issues and I think, coming on tothe end of it, you sort of
condense them into sins all thenew social justice, gender
identity, racial and sexual biasand mental challenges, and you
had an interesting statementthere that said the imperfect
(16:49):
church welcomes you to a perfectGod.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat statement there.
The imperfect church welcomesyou to a perfect God.
Temeko (16:59):
Well, yes, I think that people believe, when they join
churches, that there's not alevel of error, inefficiency,
inaccuracy, lack of judgmentthat you would expect from
church people, right, becausethat's what you would get from
God.
So I think that that misnomerneeds to be just thrown out
(17:24):
there right out of the gate,right?
So there is no church that'sperfect, there are no perfect
people, but we do serve aperfect God.
So you may get judgment frompeople for what you do, but at
the end of the day, it's reallyup to God and your relationship
with God.
So I think, if we use thechurch as an emphasis to hone in
(17:51):
on getting more biblicalteaching and focus on what we
know to be the relationship withour with our God as it relates
to everything that we do in life, but we should be getting that
on a personal level by ourselvesbefore we get to the church, so
that way, you know, we're notdissuaded from spirituality and
(18:16):
Christianity.
So I think that that's a bigthing, and a lot of times when
people join the church, they getexcited, and one of the things
my grandparents both told me isthat if you ever want to keep
your relationship with God andyou want to always be really
good in your church.
Don't join any organization andthat came from pastors and
preachers, right?
(18:36):
So they're just like once youjoin those organizations, man,
the people in thoseorganizations will make you want
to not go to church anymore.
Man, the people in thoseorganizations will make you want
to not go to church anymore.
And my very first experiencejoining organizations that did
happen.
Or I'm like you know what I'mgood on church, like I can go
online, I'm good, but it doesn'twork for everyone, right?
(18:58):
So everyone doesn't have thestrong relationship with God.
You know what I mean.
So I think learning that churchis imperfect, that is very key
before you start your walk withGod, just understand that church
is the vehicle that you willneed in order to be around
like-minded individuals thatwant God and want biblical
(19:19):
teaching.
Grantley (19:21):
Yeah, so many people expect.
I think I hear you saying thatthe church is perfect because we
say we serve a perfect God butthey forget that the church is
made did that sermon at the end?
Serving a sinless God.
The way that we serve a sinlessGod is that we sin less daily.
(19:53):
Right, I thought it was apretty powerful concept.
God is who he is, but we're notwho God is.
And the concept of sin less, Ithought that was pretty powerful
.
Temeko (20:06):
Yes, she did that.
Actually, our pastor, reverendElaine Flake, is the one that I
heard that from first in one ofher sermons, and Marissa Farrow,
she's an actual minister.
So she's not an actor, as youcould probably tell.
She's very good, very dynamic,very, very, very strong and
(20:29):
powerful youth minister acrossthe country.
So she or I can't say acrossthe country, I'll say across the
world, because she does a lotof preaching internationally as
well.
Grantley (20:40):
So let's talk about this concept of you know some of
these concepts again.
You had the pastor who was alsoa bishop, and he wanted to
transition out the church to hisson, his older son.
The son wasn't really feelingas though this was something he
wanted to do or needed to do,but was struggling with how to
(21:02):
tell his father that.
Let's talk about that a littlebit, this thing of succession
planning, and sometimes that thepeople, that who we think will
take over for us, may notnecessarily be that person, or
that person may not be seeingthemselves in that role.
Temeko (21:19):
I think succession planning is something that the
church does a horrible job with,as in general, like I've seen
it done really, reallysuccessfully with two churches,
and that being Faithful Centralwith Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, where
he did basically a six or sevenyear transition to Dr JP Foster
(21:44):
and did it really well.
Another one would be Pastor thelate Pastor Lawson.
He just passed last week.
He did, I think, almost like asix or seven year transition to
Dr Marcus Crosby down at WillardAvenue Baptist Church in
Houston.
So succession planning can besuccessful but in most cases
from a church perspective it'snot, and that's both
denominational andnon-denominational.
(22:05):
So I think a lot of problemswith that is especially for
ministers who are pastors, whohave their children in place in
the church and they kind of wantthe children to take the reign
and kind of like it's a familybusiness, that kind of thing.
Like it's a family business,that kind of thing.
The problem with it and youknow we joke about it with one
(22:25):
major church is well, no, withseveral major churches is that
like you're giving it tochildren that don't have any oil
, like you could tell they don'twant to be there, like their
messages are extremely weak.
Grantley (22:42):
They're not called.
Temeko (22:44):
Right, and they're just very fabricated in their whole
presence.
So the problem with that isthat you then, after you do that
, you tend to have individualswho no longer want to attend the
church, right, because theycan't connect with these
individuals.
So now here goes your churchmembership it's falling and then
you're not reaching peopleRight, and that's that's really
(23:05):
the key is to bring people on asdisciples.
So you can't bring disciples inif the people who are leading
aren't called right.
So I think that's a problembecause it can actually destroy
a church and it can destroy thelevels of discipleship in the
future.
You know, I think thatsuccession planning is something
(23:25):
that needs to be taught from anMBA perspective to church
leaders, as well asorganizations like the
denominations, like the exampleI was given before, from the AME
perspective, right.
So, yes, you have to have thepastors retire by 75.
Great, but allow the pastors toput in a person for that last
(23:50):
five to seven years so that theyare ingrained into the church
community as well as the body,the body of people, and
understand the dynamics, thepolitics within the community
and the city, all of those typesof things to make keep the
church going and keep it growingand, of course, growing the
(24:12):
disciples.
So, yeah, they need an MBAapproach to that.
They need to stop with whatthey're doing within the church.
Grantley (24:20):
You brought up a couple of different things there
, you know.
One of them is this resistancein many churches that you know
we are a church and we are not abusiness or we are not a
secular organization so we don'twant to talk about.
You know how people do stuff inbusiness and like proper
(24:41):
succession planning and whatdoes it mean and how does it
help an organization when we seein so many instances, like you
have articulated, where if wedon't do it well, it can cause
many problems.
But there's also this otherchallenge out there in some
denominations that leaders andministers are called to be
ministers and not necessarilychosen by their family to be
(25:04):
ministers.
It's not always a familybusiness, right?
God calls people to his workand maybe part of the leadership
succession planning is not somuch looking at who's in your
family who can do the work, butwho God has placed in your
church or around you, who he iscalling right.
So like Samuel and Eli right Inthe book of 1 Samuel, Eli's
(25:30):
sons were not following the wayof the Lord.
Just like this young man wasright, he didn't want to be a
priest, but God sent Samuel as ayoung man for Eli to train to
take over as the priest, theprophet, the priest and the
judge, right, so that dynamic ofit may not be your son or your
(25:52):
daughter whose God is God.
It may be someone else aroundyou, but if you're so focused on
this is how we do it or this ishow I want to do it, you may
miss that person which in yourmovie actually happened.
And that brings us to thesecond topic, that we can sort
of meld them a little bit.
Is this thing about sexualbiases in the church right?
(26:13):
Because here was a young ladywho was maturing her faith, who
was called, who had the gift in,but the way that the church was
structured was not structuredto facilitate her ministry
developing to its full potential.
Temeko (26:32):
And I think a lot of that also has to do with, yes,
the succession planning for, orthe lack of succession planning,
I should say that wants to havethat nepotism, that wants to
have that nepotism.
But also it screams to the factthat some people are still
resistant to having femalesbeing in the leadership roles
(26:52):
within church.
I never really experienced thatbecause even though my
grandparents were in NorthCarolina, there were plenty of
female ministers and pastors inUnited Holiness Church and still
to this day, even growing up asan adult, I've always seen
females in leadership in thechurch, and a lot of it also has
(27:20):
to do with the fact of who is amale doesn't delegate any of
the duties to a female leader inministry.
That also poses a problembecause then people won't look
at that individual as a trueleader, a called individual, and
(27:41):
in that particular light so alot of it has to do with who is
running it from the top, justlike a corporation, right, you
are as successful as the peoplethat lead you from the top.
In most cases, what I will sayis that when you have a male
leader that is in charge at thetop, who has no problem with
putting women out in front ofpeople having that particular
(28:05):
charge, the people will respectthe ladies that are in
leadership.
So I don't think that we shouldveer away from succeeding to
women in charge because ofgender.
I think that that's a misnomerthat I think that people have.
(28:26):
But I will say also, in thatsame light, with a lot of the
movement across the countrybeing the US, with regards to,
like hashtag, female bosses andfemale empowerment and all of
these different things, you willget resistance because no one
(28:49):
wants anything forced on them.
If you are forcing it, it's adifferent thing than integrating
it without promotion.
So I don't think you need tointegrate everything with
promotion, because it'sdifferent, right?
We don't need to say that ifwe're all, if it's an all black
congregation, we don't need tosay, hey, we need a Caucasian
(29:10):
person in here and we're goingto force this Caucasian uh
minister on you guys and you'regoing to listen to them Like you
don't need to do that, right?
Just bring them in, have themstart preaching, have them
integrating in the Bible studyand let it.
Let it take its course.
So I think that we need to havea safe boundary, and I think we
(29:31):
also need to have someperspective on what we're doing
in the church as well as justacross the country.
Grantley (29:41):
Yeah, and that natural progression of people building
relationships with each other.
So another issue that you tryto address in this film I mean
there's so many of them is thisissue of the youth and
integrating the youth into thechurch and trying to keep the
young people engaged.
(30:02):
And they were having thediscussion about how boring
church was and they didn't wantto be there anymore, and that
seems to be an issue in manychurches today.
Where does young people fit in?
How do we keep them there?
What roles can they serve?
Let's talk about that a littlebit.
Temeko (30:23):
Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that
the churches have to beintergenerational.
Now, even if you have a leaderwho's 70, 75, that still does
not mean the church is notintergenerational, right?
So they can have youth pastors20 to 30 men, you know, the baby
(30:43):
boomer pastors and all of thesedifferent ministers that they
can have that focus on theseunique individuals and
demographics within the church.
So I think that that's thefirst part to it.
You have to have a personthat's leading in some capacity,
that understands the struggles,right?
So if I'm 70, outside ofunderstanding what my
(31:08):
grandmother I'm sorry,grandchild is going through, I'm
really not understanding what'sreally happening to the 20 and
30 year olds, right?
So I'm kind of outdated.
You got to have someone thatunderstands what you know what's
the new language, what's thenew common terminology, what are
those particular struggles?
So that's the first thing.
(31:29):
I think also, the second thingis that the church has to have a
have a way to be entertaining,to bring them, to bring the
church in or bring the youth in,but not entertaining such that
church becomes entertainment.
(31:49):
And that is, I think, achallenge for a lot of churches
because even with praise andworship, depending on what
church you're in, but mostlymost of the praise and worship
that is done, I'll say, is notfrom the Christian base.
So it's it's to keep youengaged in entertainment that
(32:11):
you would probably be morefamiliar with.
If from a secular perspective.
Right, if you listen to some ofthe beats of the newest songs
that are out there, as itrelates to Christian music and
gospel music, those beats arevery similar to secular beats,
right, and sometimes they usesecular samples.
Right, and not saying anythingis wrong with that.
But you can't keep that personaand you can't keep up that
(32:37):
thought process as you arebuilding your church and getting
people in the church.
Right, at some point you haveto turn it into biblical
teaching and people have to livein a proper fashion and not
just say, well, if you're a goodperson, you're going to heaven.
Like, yeah, it doesn't workthat way.
So at some point you have toturn the leaf from the
(32:59):
entertainment to calling them toGod, helping them to get
relationship with God so thatthey can sin less, because that
is the idea of God is to loveyou through your correction, so
that you are corrected.
So I think that's the key there.
Grantley (33:17):
Yeah, and I think that was also addressed by the
worship leader when they werepracticing the dance the first
time, when he stopped and saidhey, this than the dance, it's
more than the performance, it'sgot to be worship, so get it as
so the young people.
Some of the young people wereinvolved in that.
But get also getting back tothe young people and and this
(33:38):
thing now about gender identity,when the young people did get
involved with the young pastor,they got involved at school and
they started reaching out totheir friends.
They immediately ran into thisdiscussion about gender identity
, right, and came back and sayswell, how do we deal with this?
So many churches are dealingwith that right now.
What are some of your ideas andthoughts on how the church
(34:03):
needs to deal with this genderidentity question?
Temeko (34:06):
Yeah, that's a difficult one in the sense of a
traditional church, simplybecause, you know, the
traditional church reallydoesn't have gender identity
issues.
But understanding that Godcalls all people in terms of
being part of the people that heloves, right, he loves
(34:27):
everybody.
So, whether you're theadulterer, you are the thief,
it's all the same, right.
So in the gender identity, soit's everybody, he loves
everybody.
So I think that the first thingthat people have to understand
is that there will be peoplethat don't look like us that
(34:49):
still love God and God stillloves them.
So we can't shun them away fromthe church.
What I think that we do have todo is have those uncomfortable
conversations right, andunfortunately, in this
particular country, people don'tknow how to have uncomfortable
conversations.
Like we don't know how to agree,to disagree, we don't know how
(35:09):
to go, not go off the handle oneach other and like shut each
other down if we have somedifferences in our opinions.
Place in the church where we cando that right and from that
perspective, once you do that, Ithink that that solves a lot of
(35:35):
issues, as it relates to peoplewho are in this crossroad of
not understanding who they maybe, not understanding what this
means for their spirituality, aswell as some of these things
leading to depression and mentalanxiety and things of that
nature, and you don't want thatright.
So you don't want to be theperson or the church that didn't
usher in a person, because youknow they are binary or whatever
(36:00):
their classification is.
They become depressed about itand don't want to have a
relationship with God, orthey're so done with church
people that they just can'tfathom a relationship with God,
so you don't want to be thatperson.
But I will say that allchurches need to understand that
love is the top thing that weneed to do to bring people in,
(36:23):
that love is the top thing thatwe need to do to bring people in
.
Grantley (36:24):
Yeah, so that's, that's an interesting concept,
right?
Because when we say in thechurch, you know God only made
two genders, right?
Male and female.
That's all there is.
That's good to say.
Is that really helping theperson who is struggling with
their gender identity?
Temeko (36:42):
Well, I don't think that's think that's helping the
person, right, but you probablyhave to say that you know that's
what God made.
But at the end of the day, ifyou're struggling with one or
the other or if you believe thatyou are one and not the other,
then I think that's yourrelationship with God that you
(37:02):
need to have, not yourrelationship with the people in
the church is going to judge you, right, because it's in terms
of what your sins are and like.
What are those sins?
And at the end of the day,there's no hierarchy of sins.
So there's no PowerPointpresentation in the Bible that
depicts that.
(37:23):
You know, this sin is likeequal to these two sins and
things of that nature, right?
So I think we just always haveto be mindful of it, that we
have all sinned and fallen shortof the glory.
We all have been confused insome manner on something before
and we seek God forclarification and we seek him
for direction.
Grantley (37:43):
Right, that's an interesting point, because
people in the church are alldealing with a whole bunch of
different things.
This gender identity is onething.
The mental health you mentioneda little bit about and that's
talked a little bit about inthere.
But even you know the pastor,the bishop, had his own issue.
Oh yeah, we sort of won't givethat away here, but you know he
(38:05):
had his own.
He had his own issue as well.
So even as a pastor he wasdealing with his own issues.
So if, if we approach it fromthe standpoint that you're
saying, where people in thechurch and in the community are
dealing with a whole bunch ofthings and that God doesn't see
a hierarchy of those things,right it's, how can we help
(38:25):
people come to God, have arelationship with Him and let
Him, through the power of theHoly Spirit, work them through
that process to the point towhere they're sinless and become
more like Him?
Temeko (38:41):
Well, yeah, and I think a lot of it also has to do with
we have to have that boundarywhere, also, when you allow this
hospital of people that have,you know, ailments and injuries,
call sins, let's, let's say itwhat it is.
Once you have that boundary,you also have to understand that
you cannot, as the leader ofthe church, you cannot have let
(39:04):
the sin prevail right in thechurch, because that also can be
a sense where it can beinfluential.
A lot of times you'll see inchurches where individuals are
married and then they have thisside person and they're
committing adultery with someonein the church.
Like you hear it all the time,right that it happens, but like,
(39:24):
do you want that person to bein charge of the financial board
or the you know, be a trusteein the church or be a deacon,
and that's the behavior thatyou're accepting as a leader of
the church or do you sit thatperson out for a period of time
and let that person work ontheir issues, out of the
limelight of being a leader inthe church, to move forward?
(39:49):
So I think a lot of that has todo with how the leader of the
church actually deals withpeople and deals with correction
.
Another thing to that isbasically from a church
perspective.
Even if we're in church, wealso have to be mindful of being
judgmental of the people thatare in church and not hold them
(40:09):
hostage to sins that they'vecommitted.
Right, because many timespeople don't understand the
dynamic of not having thenuclear family at this point.
Right, so there are going to bea lot of situations where there
are kids that are born out ofwedlock, and it's more prominent
now today.
Right, because the culture saysit's okay, so we, we have that
(40:31):
dynamic.
So we can't hold people hostageto sins that were created or
that were done years ago and wehave to keep keep things moving
in terms of helping people,loving people through or
correcting them through love.
Grantley (40:49):
Yeah, and I think you use a really good example with a
hospital, right.
The church is like a hospital.
You go to hospital andeverybody has their own
different ailments, but theirstandards right.
This is how you get healed,this is how we help you, this is
how we bring you back to goodhealth, and each of those things
take different times anddifferent interventions,
(41:09):
different skills and differentthings.
But are we allowing people toheal at the rate they need to
heal, up to the standard theyneed to heal to?
Why, at the same time, notcompromising the message of the
gospel and the standards thatGod expects us to uphold within
the church and within thecommunity as well?
Temeko (41:33):
Absolutely.
Grantley (41:35):
So that's a great discussion.
I want to encourage peopleagain.
The movie is At the Cross andit's available on Amazon Prime
and Tubi.
You can go and watch it andtalk about it with your friends,
maybe have a watch party, maybeuse it at your church.
Tamika, I want us to go on andtalk a little bit about the next
work that you're working onright now.
(41:55):
It's called I Am Him.
Temeko (41:58):
If you can give us a little bit of primer on that
next project you're working on,so I Am Him is a short film that
we filmed at the latter part oflast year and released it in
February.
And turning it into a seriesand it actually just this week
(42:19):
was not our one tele award forgeneral advocacy and causes as
it relates to mental healthwellness, so pretty excited
about that.
So it's about two best friendsthat navigate through life's
challenges.
They're still trying to upholdthat whole mantra of I am okay
(42:40):
and we know how people ingeneral but definitely men they
hold that mantra of they're okayto the fault and they got to
keep it moving.
They can't have any downtime.
But it deals with theembarrassments that men don't
like to address, like financialhardships, relationship issues,
(43:00):
health issues, and it goesbehind the scenes of those
particular nuances on howthey're expected to get ahead in
certain industries and that maychallenge their manhood as well
.
So it crosses the spectrum of.
It crosses the spectrum ofalmost all the challenges that
(43:37):
men in people in theentertainment industry, um to uh
, the preachers to um, theindividuals, men that also have
had some some health challengesand try to hide it and it, it it
becomes worse because they tryto hide it.
So basically, bringing all thattogether like people need to do
(43:59):
better, and I think that thatis probably why it won the Tell
your Word, so I'm pretty excitedabout that.
Grantley (44:06):
So that's available now as a movie.
Temeko (44:08):
Well, it's a short film.
Now it's in the film festivalcircuit and it'll be in the film
festival circuit until the endof August, and then we'll
release it as the film, and thenwe'll release it as the um, as
the film, and then the serieswill be in the fall.
Grantley (44:24):
So where will?
Where will people be able tosee it?
Temeko (44:27):
Uh, Amazon, prime, uh, or looking at Netflix as well,
um to be, uh, Apple TV.
So it'll be on all, basicallyall your mainstreaming channels.
Grantley (44:38):
Yeah, that's great.
I'm looking forward to seeingthat and seeing how we can use
it.
Any other things you're workingon that may interest our
audience.
Temeko (44:50):
So I mean, we do have a documentary that we are working
on that's coming out withrelation to professional
athletes and what that challengeis from a perspective of being
the athlete that is dominant,going into the professional lane
and figuring it out in terms ofwhen it's over, when you don't
(45:14):
want it to be over, what yournext steps are and how do you
adjust once it's over.
So we have that, and thenthere's another one and that's
called the tryout, and thenwe'll be doing a feature at the
end of the year called seasonedum and that I think people will
be able to relate to because ithas a lot of focus on ageism.
(45:37):
Should be very interesting.
Grantley (45:39):
So you're deeply into dealing with the current topics.
Current and relevant topics.
Temeko (45:45):
Hey, we got to keep it inspirational for people.
Grantley (45:48):
Keep it inspirational.
Yeah Well, I'm looking forwardto that, and looking forward to
seeing those and how we can usethem, and how we can use them to
help people with challenges.
I had my own set of healthchallenges last summer that I
had to deal with.
I've learned it's better totalk about it than to try to
hide it.
Temeko (46:08):
Yeah, a lot of people are going through those things,
so it's always better to talkabout it.
Grantley (46:12):
Yeah, it doesn't help to hide it and you can get the
help you need a lot faster ifyou're open about it.
Absolutely it, and you get, youcan get the help you need a lot
faster if you're open about it,absolutely, you get introduced
to the right people just somehow, just because people, the word
is out there and people help youfind the help that you need,
which was, which was, myexperience yeah, and I think in
this particular series, whatwe'll find is um, because the
(46:35):
person is trying to hide it,they basically go to like I'll
call it the wrong doctor, if youwould.
Temeko (46:43):
That tells them that they need X amount of treatments
, et cetera.
And then they go to the rightdoctor, I'll call them, and they
don't need that many treatments, right?
So those are types of thingswhere, because they finally
opened up about the situation,someone was able to recommend
the right doctor that wouldallow them to get less
(47:04):
treatments and, of course,that's less on the financial
pocket, right?
So, like you said, you got toopen up to be able to talk about
these things and make it moreamenable to go through more
amenable to go through?
Grantley (47:21):
Yeah, and it does help , but what are some of the tools
that you would recommend topeople who say this is very
interesting, the issues that thechurches are facing, the
current issues that we'redealing with as people of faith
in our churches, in our society,in our community, and so what
kind of tools would yourecommend to them or helps that
would help them in addition towatching the movie at the cross,
(47:44):
but that they could use to helpthem on this journey?
Temeko (47:47):
Are you talking about leaders or are you talking about
people who attend church?
Grantley (47:53):
Well, both we could break it up into leaders and the
people who attend church breakit up into leaders and the
people who attend church.
Temeko (48:02):
So I think from a leadership perspective in
churches, we need to get awayfrom that whole mantra of it's
not a business, because itactually is a business right,
because you can't open the doorsto your business and I can't
open the doors to my businesswithout having to pay the
utility bills, the lease on theproperty.
The utility bills, the lease onthe property, going through all
(48:24):
kinds of things as it relatesto the permits you have to go
through, whatever it is right.
Insurance upkeep insurance,everything right.
So all of those things arebusiness generated.
So treat it like a business andstop trying to hire individuals
that are in the church tomanage the business of the
church.
And get business people tomanage the business of the
(48:46):
church.
I think that's the number onething, because a lot of times
what leaders do is they feelsorry for somebody and they give
them a job at the church andyou know that person's so
unqualified and it ends up beinga nightmare.
So I think the first thing ishire qualified individuals and
don't just look for people inthe church in order to do that.
(49:06):
So be a success from thatperspective.
And the second thing I thinkwould be helpful for leaders of
the church is to understand theimportance of being
intergenerational, as we spokeabout before.
Grantley (49:17):
You have to have people that are relevant.
Temeko (49:19):
And by saying people that are relevant, we don't mean
that they are ministers thatare out in the clubs with the
people, right?
So relevance is not being atthe rapper's party, that's not
relevant.
So, helping to understand wherethey are in their life, being
able to reach them from aperspective of those common
(49:44):
areas, from a biblicalperspective, and breaking down
the Bible so that they can helpthem with those particular
challenges, that's the relevance.
Going to the schools andtalking to the schools, as was
done at the cross, and beingable to be that unbiased person
that's just involved in thingsthat are happening at the
schools and the community, uh,that is around it.
(50:07):
So that's the relevance that Imean for intergenerational Um.
So, and I think, alsounderstanding that, uh,
membership doesn't outweigh thedemand for biblical teaching.
Membership doesn't outweigh thedemand for biblical teaching.
So you can't be a minister orcan't be a pastor focused only
on membership.
Yes, you want growth, but youwant disciples, right.
(50:29):
So you want to make sure thatyou are reaching people through
biblical teaching and you arecreating disciples that are
going to spread the gospel ofJesus Christ.
So I think that's that.
And then the fourth thing thatthe leader has to understand is
that you will be offendingpeople.
You cannot be everything toeveryone right, because once the
(50:53):
leader tries to be everythingto everyone, what ends up
happening is that there's alevel of sensitivity and
political correctness that comesalong with that, that people
are forced to believe, and thatdoes not create a good base or
foundation for the church.
So you have to not move awayfrom teaching about sin and
(51:16):
living right to not offendpeople.
You just have to keep it withinthe bounds of correcting
through love, through biblicalteaching and helping people
ensure that they have arelationship with God.
So I think that that's for theleaders.
From the perspective ofindividuals that attend church,
I think that the importance isto attend a church where the
(51:40):
leader is someone that you canrespect.
I think that's where you start,because can you respect the
leader that is walking around inall Gucci suits and all Louis
Vuitton and Fendi suits, has aMaybach and a Bentley and that's
(52:01):
?
Grantley (52:01):
really all they're offering.
Temeko (52:03):
Right On Sundays or whatever days.
They don't offer anything aboutwhat needs to happen from a
biblical perspective.
They don't offer anything aboutwhat you should be doing from
an economic perspective as itrelates to, you know, not
spending money using your tithe.
10% for your.
That's one thing that ReverendFlake used to always teach us.
(52:26):
Floyd Flake is that make sureyou give 10% to your house in
addition to 10% to God's house,right?
Not telling you where to investit, but making sure that you
save for the rainy day.
You always have your ownproperty, that you're getting
that type of thing.
So you want to make sure thatthe leader that is in charge
basically walks how he talks andis a very respectful leader, I
(52:53):
think also from people that goto church.
Just again, stop thinking thatchurch is going to be perfect.
It's not because the people arenot going to be perfect in it.
Know where you can draw yourboundaries and find either a
group of people in the church Ifit's a megachurch, find a group
of people that are someBible-believing prayer warriors
(53:23):
Bible believing prayer warriors.
Find them and not focus onbeing a part of an organization
or ministering in the church assoon as you get there.
Right.
So understand the lay of theland and who people are from
that perspective.
And I think a third for thepeople, especially the youth,
for church don't just be drawnto church just because of the
beat was good or the music wasgood on a particular sunday.
(53:43):
Um, understand that you.
You have to build thatrelationship with god and you
need people around from a churchin a biblical perspective that
help you get through yourchallenges.
Um, because at the end of theday, god is still working, even
though you don't see what he'sworking, and it always works out
(54:05):
.
So I think that's the summary.
That was probably a lot.
Grantley (54:09):
No, that's a good summary.
That's a good summary, verywell thought out and very well
put together.
So anything else you want toadd before we go?
Temeko (54:20):
No, I think that you know.
I think we've coveredeverything.
Grantley (54:24):
Yeah, I appreciate you coming and I appreciate our
time together.
I learned so much about you, notjust from just reading about
you and meeting you before andthen watching the movie, but
from what you shared here todayis even more enlightening.
I encourage you to continue thework that you're doing and be an
(54:45):
inspirational movies anddocumentaries and short films
that will help people deal withthese issues, cause I think
they're really, really important, and one of the things you said
in in in one of your commentswas you know people learning to
have discussions, withconversations lead into some
sort of reconciliation andrelationship, rather than having
(55:08):
them degrade, like you said,into them calling and not being
able to truly articulate.
(55:30):
So I am happy to find a partnerwho is actually trying to do the
same thing and hopefullytogether we can help accomplish
that mission to help people offaith be able to really be
people of faith, living outtheir faith in the world, doing
it with intelligence, doing itwith lifestyle and doing it with
(55:51):
the love of God, in the waythat we don't necessarily feel
we have to be saving people, butwe introduce them to a sinless
God who can help them overcometheir struggles and their
challenges to become the peoplehe created them to be.
So I thank you for that and Ithank you for the time today.
Temeko (56:12):
Thank you.
Grantley (56:18):
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(56:42):
Thank you for listening.
Please share this episode witha friend.
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the
intersection of faith, race andreconciliation, and I'm your
host, Grantley Martelly.
My guest today is Ms TemekoRichardson.
She's a systems engineer, techentrepreneur, philanthropist,
(00:32):
writer, director, and producerof inspirational films.
In 2023, she released At theCross, a full-length feature
film, a full-length feature filmwhich went on to win the Best
(00:54):
Feature Film Narrative at the2023 Oakland International Film
Festival, Best Feature Script atthe San Diego International
Film Festival, and she wasnominated for the Best Female
Director in 2023 at the MontrealIndependent Film Festival.
At the Cross also won the BestSupporting Actor Award at the
(01:16):
Golden State International FilmFestival, so I'm excited for you
to hear her story.
So let's get right into it.
Okay, good morning.
My guest today is Ms TemekoRichardson, and she is a New
York native, a producer, systemsengineer, tech, entrepreneur
(01:41):
many things.
We're going to get to know hertoday.
We're going to get to know thework that she does t hat I think
, is pretty vital in thisdiscussion about faith, race and
reconciliation.
So let's begin.
Tomeko, welcome to Above theNoise.
Temeko (01:57):
Thank you very much, Grantley.
Thank you for having me on.
Pretty exciting.
Grantley (02:01):
Thank you for coming.
So you know know a lot ofthings, and but I'm going to let
you explain them to ouraudience first, and then we will
get into them one by one.
But one of the first thingsthat you told me, one of the
first things I read about you,is that you're a New York native
.
So tell us where you were born,a little bit about your family
and your upbringing.
Temeko (02:24):
New York native in the sense that I was born in upstate
New York and live in New YorkCity as well as upstate New York
, so I live in both places.
Where I like to do my writingis actually on Long Island, in
the Hamptons.
That's really my New York story.
I'll say, in terms of where Iguess I went to college is more
(02:50):
like down 95.
So anybody that follows youthat is on the East Coast
they'll understand this.
Whe I went to Temple,university of Penn and
Georgetown.
So that's all down basicallyI-95.
So my background actuallystarted with math and computer
science as an undergraduatemajor.
(03:12):
That's what I graduated from,or graduated with a bachelor's
at Temple and then went on tothe University of Pennsylvania
and focused on systemsengineering with a background in
operations research fromWharton and then Georgetown with
sports management.
So I was able to, and still amable to, marry all of the all of
(03:35):
my majors.
They all matter in everythingthat I have ever done.
So I know how college studentsalways say that I majored in
things that didn't even apply tothings.
But I was fortunate.
I actually used them in allcapacities.
So I run a technology company.
I have real estate adventuresthat I have across New York
(03:56):
State, and then I also dophilanthropy across the country
as it relates to running, whichis, of course, my, my favorite
thing to do in the world in themorning to ease the stress and
um.
And then, of course, thisproduction company, where it's
focused on inspirational content.
(04:17):
So that's, I guess that's thesummary.
That's the cliff notes.
How about that?
About tha?
Grantley (04:23):
so I also had some similarities to you and you know
my original degree was inchemistry and then biochemistry,
then it got into environmentalindustry and transportation,
then transportation, publictransportation management, and
also do podcasting, and I I'malso a licensed minister.
(04:46):
And people also say, well, howdid all those things come
together?
Well, god brings them alltogether to do the things that
he wants to do.
Right, after a while, yourmajor in college really doesn't
matter.
It's how you put thingstogether to do the things that
(05:06):
you want to get done.
Would you agree with that?
Temeko (05:08):
To some extent, right.
So all of my clients are basedin that whole field of math,
computer science and systemengineering, as well as sports.
So I think it's different fordifferent people, but I think
it's also about focus, right.
So, like I kind of knew what Iwanted to do, my middle school
principal I saw him a couple ofmonths ago and he was like you
(05:32):
know, clearly you had a Jewishmother and it worked out, so you
know.
Grantley (05:37):
so, yeah, so tell us about your systems engineering
work.
What does that involve?
Temeko (05:44):
Systems engineering work .
What does that involve?
So that really involves a lotof both the technology side, as
well as understanding sometimesthe transportation side and the
electrical side, and thebusiness intelligence based
around it and the systemsintelligence based around it as
(06:05):
it relates to sometimesanalytics building out
algorithms to make things run alot more efficiently.
I know that people say AI andartificial intelligence and
machine language are going tokill society but, it has a lot
of benefits, so I was basicallyon the front end of it when it
first started.
Grantley (06:25):
But that's interesting .
We won't get into that, but Iactually worked for an
engineering company at one time.
Part of the things we did wassystems engineering, project
controls, logic control boardsand all that kind of stuff.
Temeko (06:39):
Hey, bring out the logic control boards, we can work
them out.
Grantley (06:44):
Yeah, most of my work is in the transportation
industry.
As we move on here, tell us alittle bit about your faith
journey.
Temeko (06:52):
Well, I think my faith journey is a little different
than most because mygrandparents were both pastors
and preachers in the UnitedHoliness Church.
So when my parents were gettinga divorce, I stayed with my
grandparents.
Everything I did was mostly goto church, because that's what
they did in United HolinessChurch.
They were always in church onmost days Sundays, mondays for
(07:17):
Bible study, tuesdays forsomething other Bible study.
Wednesdays for the church Biblestudy, thursdays for the for
the praise night.
So, yeah, pretty much you werein church at least five days a
week.
And then I think that that kindof morphed into adulthood where
, from an adult perspective,once I became, once I graduated
(07:40):
college, then my focus was okay,I don't want to be in a church
that holds service more than anhour, hour and a half tops, so,
so, so I was like I want churchlight.
You know what I mean.
So I joined a church when Imoved to, when I moved back to
(08:03):
New York after Philly, I joineda church and I'll call it church
light to be to be nice.
Yeah, church light wasn'tworking because church light
that particular church light wasvery political and I don't go
to church to be part of politicsand you know, rub nose with,
rub noses with people.
Um, it's about God and theinspiration that is driven from
(08:30):
the Bible, having strongbiblical teaching and things of
that nature.
So I left that church and wentto non-church light.
So it's Church in the A&E,allen A&E.
Grantley (08:43):
Yeah, I'm familiar with Allen AME it's Church in
the AME.
All AME.
Yeah, I'm familiar with AlanAME.
Where was that?
I think there was one.
I had some friends in the AlanAME in Barbados and then in Salt
Lake City.
Temeko (08:54):
Okay.
Grantley (08:55):
Yeah.
So is that where you attend now?
Temeko (09:01):
Yes, yes, Alle alan, AME .
Our Pastor Emeritus is FloydFlake, who is a member of
Congress, and his wife iscurrently the pastor, E elaine
Flake, due to AME rules andregulations that require pastors
to retire at a certain age, sowe'll be getting another pastor
in the near future.
Grantley (09:22):
So it's an interesting , interesting concepts there.
So, as so your faith journeyhas led you, you know, from your
grandparents, all the waythrough to your life right now,
you have also become a movieproducer, and one of the things
we want to talk about in in thisinterview is your, your movie
(09:44):
that you just released and someof the concepts in there,
because some of the concepts inthat movie bring us back to some
of the things that the churchis facing.
So if we could begin withtalking about you know your
venture into becoming a producer, a film writer, producer, tell
(10:05):
us a little bit about thatjourney and then we can get into
talking about At the Cross,your movie that was recently
released.
Temeko (10:13):
Sure.
So a lot of things that I thinkwe experience in life, we
channel and we don't use thoseexperiences to help others along
the way.
So I didn't want to be thatkind of person.
So every challenge that I had,I'm like OK, this some way has
to fold into some type of story.
(10:34):
I don't know what that story is, but some way someone has to
learn from it.
And those were just obstacles.
As it relates to, of course,being the grandchild of two
preachers and two pastors andlooking at it from different
perspectives, because, of course, my grandmother was a pastor as
(10:55):
well as my grandfather.
So those are two differentperspectives and two different
lenses.
And, of course, the church,because, as a whole, because I
don't think any one of yourfollowers will think that the
church is perfect and nor thatleaders in the church are
perfect.
So I've seen on the back endwhat a lot of great ministers
(11:18):
and pastors, basically, aredoing behind the scenes.
I'll'll say that people wouldnever imagine.
So I've seen all of that um.
And then, in terms of, like, thecorporate world, with a lot of
experience in the corporateworld in different industries.
So bring that all together aswell as dealing and just like,
(11:40):
uh, relationships with people inthose corporate environments
and helping people understandthat there is some.
There is a lesson in everythingthat you go through, so you
just don't go through it justbecause.
So basically wanted to teachthose lessons and be an
inspiration across the board asit relates to corporate America,
(12:01):
church, religion, mental health, wellness, sports and the like.
Grantley (12:09):
Okay, so you put all of that together and what?
What inspired you to to writethis?
Were you actually the writer ofthe script and the producer?
Temeko (12:18):
I did all three yeah.
Grantley (12:19):
Okay, so what inspired you?
Temeko (12:22):
Jewish mother man, you just got to go do it all.
So I'd inspire jewish mother.
Jewish mother man, you justgotta go do it all.
So, so, um, for for thisparticular movie, it was, it's
actually based on a true story.
It's based on two true storiesthat I blended together.
That happened, uh, with relationto the church and how it is
particularly seen.
(12:43):
So if you you walk through how,I guess the plot of the story
is basically the bishop, who isthe pastor of a church it's a
non-denominational,multi-generational church that
is also in an urban communitycommunity he basically traverses
(13:07):
through challenges as itrelates to having the church
return back to normalcy afterthe pandemic, as well as trying
to have an intergenerationalrelevance with the youth, to
bring them off the streets andback into the church and as well
as keep the existingindividuals who are members of
the church still a part of thechurch.
And then, of course, there'sthe component of the succession
(13:29):
planning that I think that mostchurch leaders miss the boat on,
if they're not, you know,forced, but I think they miss
the boat on it, and in thisparticular case, it's a matter
of him trying to leave thechurch to his son.
Grantley (13:45):
So you wrote the script, and how long did it take
you?
By the way, before we get intothat, the movie we are talking
about is At the Cross, producedby written and produced by Miss
Tameko Richardson.
It's available on Amazon Primeand Tubi.
I encourage you to go watch itand see her great work.
This show has also won a fewawards that we're going to talk
(14:09):
about here a little bit later,but we're talking about the
movie At the Cross, so how longdid it take you to go from this
concept to actually producingthe movie?
Temeko (14:22):
Well, the concept was already kind of in the mind.
So then you have to write downlike what do you want to bring
across in the movie.
So I think that probably tookabout two to three months in
order to identify the conceptand then to change the concept
or to change what you wanted totell in the story as it relates
to the concept.
So a lot of it had to do withwhat did you want to bring
(14:44):
across, what messages did youwant, had to do with what did
you want to bring across, whatmessages did you want to send
and what did you want to deliverto make those uncommon
conversations that don't happen,as it relates to the church or
around the church.
So that took probably anothertwo months.
Grantley (15:01):
So did you have experience in producing movies
or stuff like this before?
Temeko (15:06):
Well, I did a.
I did a short film before,called Fork Down that had
several awards to it, so itwasn't the first.
No, like I didn't just go outand say let me just write a
feature, no, I guess that's whatI'm trying to get at.
Grantley (15:20):
How did you get from this concept actually producing
a movie that I think is like anhour and a half, yeah, and then
have it to be available online?
Temeko (15:31):
I mean that that seems to be multiple processes and
multiple areas of specialtythere that that just doesn't
happen in six months right and I, and I think also when I was
consulting for one company inCalifornia, one of the things
that I did do as a side is thatI attended New York Film Academy
(15:53):
, so just to hone in on writingskills and things of that nature
.
That played a part in it aswell.
Grantley (16:01):
You had some.
Temeko (16:03):
Had some training, yes, training and stuff like that.
Yeah, okay, well, that's goodto know I didn't go on YouTube
and just say let me just figureit out.
Grantley (16:11):
yes, the reason why I'm getting at that is because I
think that's just a monumentalfeat that you were able to, that
you were able to pull off insuch a short space of time.
Temeko (16:22):
Appreciate it in such a short space of time, appreciate
it.
Grantley (16:25):
In the film you talk about a number of different
issues and I think, coming on tothe end of it, you sort of
condense them into sins all thenew social justice, gender
identity, racial and sexual biasand mental challenges, and you
had an interesting statementthere that said the imperfect
(16:49):
church welcomes you to a perfectGod.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat statement there.
The imperfect church welcomesyou to a perfect God.
Temeko (16:59):
Well, yes, I think that people believe, when they join
churches, that there's not alevel of error, inefficiency,
inaccuracy, lack of judgmentthat you would expect from
church people, right, becausethat's what you would get from
God.
So I think that that misnomerneeds to be just thrown out
(17:24):
there right out of the gate,right?
So there is no church that'sperfect, there are no perfect
people, but we do serve aperfect God.
So you may get judgment frompeople for what you do, but at
the end of the day, it's reallyup to God and your relationship
with God.
So I think, if we use thechurch as an emphasis to hone in
(17:51):
on getting more biblicalteaching and focus on what we
know to be the relationship withour with our God as it relates
to everything that we do in life, but we should be getting that
on a personal level by ourselvesbefore we get to the church, so
that way, you know, we're notdissuaded from spirituality and
(18:16):
Christianity.
So I think that that's a bigthing, and a lot of times when
people join the church, they getexcited, and one of the things
my grandparents both told me isthat if you ever want to keep
your relationship with God andyou want to always be really
good in your church.
Don't join any organization andthat came from pastors and
preachers, right?
(18:36):
So they're just like once youjoin those organizations, man,
the people in thoseorganizations will make you want
to not go to church anymore.
Man, the people in thoseorganizations will make you want
to not go to church anymore.
And my very first experiencejoining organizations that did
happen.
Or I'm like you know what I'mgood on church, like I can go
online, I'm good, but it doesn'twork for everyone, right?
(18:58):
So everyone doesn't have thestrong relationship with God.
You know what I mean.
So I think learning that churchis imperfect, that is very key
before you start your walk withGod, just understand that church
is the vehicle that you willneed in order to be around
like-minded individuals thatwant God and want biblical
(19:19):
teaching.
Grantley (19:21):
Yeah, so many people expect.
I think I hear you saying thatthe church is perfect because we
say we serve a perfect God butthey forget that the church is
made did that sermon at the end?
Serving a sinless God.
The way that we serve a sinlessGod is that we sin less daily.
(19:53):
Right, I thought it was apretty powerful concept.
God is who he is, but we're notwho God is.
And the concept of sin less, Ithought that was pretty powerful
.
Temeko (20:06):
Yes, she did that.
Actually, our pastor, reverendElaine Flake, is the one that I
heard that from first in one ofher sermons, and Marissa Farrow,
she's an actual minister.
So she's not an actor, as youcould probably tell.
She's very good, very dynamic,very, very, very strong and
(20:29):
powerful youth minister acrossthe country.
So she or I can't say acrossthe country, I'll say across the
world, because she does a lotof preaching internationally as
well.
Grantley (20:40):
So let's talk about this concept of you know some of
these concepts again.
You had the pastor who was alsoa bishop, and he wanted to
transition out the church to hisson, his older son.
The son wasn't really feelingas though this was something he
wanted to do or needed to do,but was struggling with how to
(21:02):
tell his father that.
Let's talk about that a littlebit, this thing of succession
planning, and sometimes that thepeople, that who we think will
take over for us, may notnecessarily be that person, or
that person may not be seeingthemselves in that role.
Temeko (21:19):
I think succession planning is something that the
church does a horrible job with,as in general, like I've seen
it done really, reallysuccessfully with two churches,
and that being Faithful Centralwith Bishop Kenneth Ulmer, where
he did basically a six or sevenyear transition to Dr JP Foster
(21:44):
and did it really well.
Another one would be Pastor thelate Pastor Lawson.
He just passed last week.
He did, I think, almost like asix or seven year transition to
Dr Marcus Crosby down at WillardAvenue Baptist Church in
Houston.
So succession planning can besuccessful but in most cases
from a church perspective it'snot, and that's both
denominational andnon-denominational.
(22:05):
So I think a lot of problemswith that is especially for
ministers who are pastors, whohave their children in place in
the church and they kind of wantthe children to take the reign
and kind of like it's a familybusiness, that kind of thing.
Like it's a family business,that kind of thing.
The problem with it and youknow we joke about it with one
(22:25):
major church is well, no, withseveral major churches is that
like you're giving it tochildren that don't have any oil
, like you could tell they don'twant to be there, like their
messages are extremely weak.
Grantley (22:42):
They're not called.
Temeko (22:44):
Right, and they're just very fabricated in their whole
presence.
So the problem with that isthat you then, after you do that
, you tend to have individualswho no longer want to attend the
church, right, because theycan't connect with these
individuals.
So now here goes your churchmembership it's falling and then
you're not reaching peopleRight, and that's that's really
(23:05):
the key is to bring people on asdisciples.
So you can't bring disciples inif the people who are leading
aren't called right.
So I think that's a problembecause it can actually destroy
a church and it can destroy thelevels of discipleship in the
future.
You know, I think thatsuccession planning is something
(23:25):
that needs to be taught from anMBA perspective to church
leaders, as well asorganizations like the
denominations, like the exampleI was given before, from the AME
perspective, right.
So, yes, you have to have thepastors retire by 75.
Great, but allow the pastors toput in a person for that last
(23:50):
five to seven years so that theyare ingrained into the church
community as well as the body,the body of people, and
understand the dynamics, thepolitics within the community
and the city, all of those typesof things to make keep the
church going and keep it growingand, of course, growing the
(24:12):
disciples.
So, yeah, they need an MBAapproach to that.
They need to stop with whatthey're doing within the church.
Grantley (24:20):
You brought up a couple of different things there
, you know.
One of them is this resistancein many churches that you know
we are a church and we are not abusiness or we are not a
secular organization so we don'twant to talk about.
You know how people do stuff inbusiness and like proper
(24:41):
succession planning and whatdoes it mean and how does it
help an organization when we seein so many instances, like you
have articulated, where if wedon't do it well, it can cause
many problems.
But there's also this otherchallenge out there in some
denominations that leaders andministers are called to be
ministers and not necessarilychosen by their family to be
(25:04):
ministers.
It's not always a familybusiness, right?
God calls people to his workand maybe part of the leadership
succession planning is not somuch looking at who's in your
family who can do the work, butwho God has placed in your
church or around you, who he iscalling right.
So like Samuel and Eli right Inthe book of 1 Samuel, Eli's
(25:30):
sons were not following the wayof the Lord.
Just like this young man wasright, he didn't want to be a
priest, but God sent Samuel as ayoung man for Eli to train to
take over as the priest, theprophet, the priest and the
judge, right, so that dynamic ofit may not be your son or your
(25:52):
daughter whose God is God.
It may be someone else aroundyou, but if you're so focused on
this is how we do it or this ishow I want to do it, you may
miss that person which in yourmovie actually happened.
And that brings us to thesecond topic, that we can sort
of meld them a little bit.
Is this thing about sexualbiases in the church right?
(26:13):
Because here was a young ladywho was maturing her faith, who
was called, who had the gift in,but the way that the church was
structured was not structuredto facilitate her ministry
developing to its full potential.
Temeko (26:32):
And I think a lot of that also has to do with, yes,
the succession planning for, orthe lack of succession planning,
I should say that wants to havethat nepotism, that wants to
have that nepotism.
But also it screams to the factthat some people are still
resistant to having femalesbeing in the leadership roles
(26:52):
within church.
I never really experienced thatbecause even though my
grandparents were in NorthCarolina, there were plenty of
female ministers and pastors inUnited Holiness Church and still
to this day, even growing up asan adult, I've always seen
females in leadership in thechurch, and a lot of it also has
(27:20):
to do with the fact of who is amale doesn't delegate any of
the duties to a female leader inministry.
That also poses a problembecause then people won't look
at that individual as a trueleader, a called individual, and
(27:41):
in that particular light so alot of it has to do with who is
running it from the top, justlike a corporation, right, you
are as successful as the peoplethat lead you from the top.
In most cases, what I will sayis that when you have a male
leader that is in charge at thetop, who has no problem with
putting women out in front ofpeople having that particular
(28:05):
charge, the people will respectthe ladies that are in
leadership.
So I don't think that we shouldveer away from succeeding to
women in charge because ofgender.
I think that that's a misnomerthat I think that people have.
(28:26):
But I will say also, in thatsame light, with a lot of the
movement across the countrybeing the US, with regards to,
like hashtag, female bosses andfemale empowerment and all of
these different things, you willget resistance because no one
(28:49):
wants anything forced on them.
If you are forcing it, it's adifferent thing than integrating
it without promotion.
So I don't think you need tointegrate everything with
promotion, because it'sdifferent, right?
We don't need to say that ifwe're all, if it's an all black
congregation, we don't need tosay, hey, we need a Caucasian
(29:10):
person in here and we're goingto force this Caucasian uh
minister on you guys and you'regoing to listen to them Like you
don't need to do that, right?
Just bring them in, have themstart preaching, have them
integrating in the Bible studyand let it.
Let it take its course.
So I think that we need to havea safe boundary, and I think we
(29:31):
also need to have someperspective on what we're doing
in the church as well as justacross the country.
Grantley (29:41):
Yeah, and that natural progression of people building
relationships with each other.
So another issue that you tryto address in this film I mean
there's so many of them is thisissue of the youth and
integrating the youth into thechurch and trying to keep the
young people engaged.
(30:02):
And they were having thediscussion about how boring
church was and they didn't wantto be there anymore, and that
seems to be an issue in manychurches today.
Where does young people fit in?
How do we keep them there?
What roles can they serve?
Let's talk about that a littlebit.
Temeko (30:23):
Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that
the churches have to beintergenerational.
Now, even if you have a leaderwho's 70, 75, that still does
not mean the church is notintergenerational, right?
So they can have youth pastors20 to 30 men, you know, the baby
(30:43):
boomer pastors and all of thesedifferent ministers that they
can have that focus on theseunique individuals and
demographics within the church.
So I think that that's thefirst part to it.
You have to have a personthat's leading in some capacity,
that understands the struggles,right?
So if I'm 70, outside ofunderstanding what my
(31:08):
grandmother I'm sorry,grandchild is going through, I'm
really not understanding what'sreally happening to the 20 and
30 year olds, right?
So I'm kind of outdated.
You got to have someone thatunderstands what you know what's
the new language, what's thenew common terminology, what are
those particular struggles?
So that's the first thing.
(31:29):
I think also, the second thingis that the church has to have a
have a way to be entertaining,to bring them, to bring the
church in or bring the youth in,but not entertaining such that
church becomes entertainment.
(31:49):
And that is, I think, achallenge for a lot of churches
because even with praise andworship, depending on what
church you're in, but mostlymost of the praise and worship
that is done, I'll say, is notfrom the Christian base.
So it's it's to keep youengaged in entertainment that
(32:11):
you would probably be morefamiliar with.
If from a secular perspective.
Right, if you listen to some ofthe beats of the newest songs
that are out there, as itrelates to Christian music and
gospel music, those beats arevery similar to secular beats,
right, and sometimes they usesecular samples.
Right, and not saying anythingis wrong with that.
But you can't keep that personaand you can't keep up that
(32:37):
thought process as you arebuilding your church and getting
people in the church.
Right, at some point you haveto turn it into biblical
teaching and people have to livein a proper fashion and not
just say, well, if you're a goodperson, you're going to heaven.
Like, yeah, it doesn't workthat way.
So at some point you have toturn the leaf from the
(32:59):
entertainment to calling them toGod, helping them to get
relationship with God so thatthey can sin less, because that
is the idea of God is to loveyou through your correction, so
that you are corrected.
So I think that's the key there.
Grantley (33:17):
Yeah, and I think that was also addressed by the
worship leader when they werepracticing the dance the first
time, when he stopped and saidhey, this than the dance, it's
more than the performance, it'sgot to be worship, so get it as
so the young people.
Some of the young people wereinvolved in that.
But get also getting back tothe young people and and this
(33:38):
thing now about gender identity,when the young people did get
involved with the young pastor,they got involved at school and
they started reaching out totheir friends.
They immediately ran into thisdiscussion about gender identity
, right, and came back and sayswell, how do we deal with this?
So many churches are dealingwith that right now.
What are some of your ideas andthoughts on how the church
(34:03):
needs to deal with this genderidentity question?
Temeko (34:06):
Yeah, that's a difficult one in the sense of a
traditional church, simplybecause, you know, the
traditional church reallydoesn't have gender identity
issues.
But understanding that Godcalls all people in terms of
being part of the people that heloves, right, he loves
(34:27):
everybody.
So, whether you're theadulterer, you are the thief,
it's all the same, right.
So in the gender identity, soit's everybody, he loves
everybody.
So I think that the first thingthat people have to understand
is that there will be peoplethat don't look like us that
(34:49):
still love God and God stillloves them.
So we can't shun them away fromthe church.
What I think that we do have todo is have those uncomfortable
conversations right, andunfortunately, in this
particular country, people don'tknow how to have uncomfortable
conversations.
Like we don't know how to agree,to disagree, we don't know how
(35:09):
to go, not go off the handle oneach other and like shut each
other down if we have somedifferences in our opinions.
Place in the church where we cando that right and from that
perspective, once you do that, Ithink that that solves a lot of
(35:35):
issues, as it relates to peoplewho are in this crossroad of
not understanding who they maybe, not understanding what this
means for their spirituality, aswell as some of these things
leading to depression and mentalanxiety and things of that
nature, and you don't want thatright.
So you don't want to be theperson or the church that didn't
usher in a person, because youknow they are binary or whatever
(36:00):
their classification is.
They become depressed about itand don't want to have a
relationship with God, orthey're so done with church
people that they just can'tfathom a relationship with God,
so you don't want to be thatperson.
But I will say that allchurches need to understand that
love is the top thing that weneed to do to bring people in,
(36:23):
that love is the top thing thatwe need to do to bring people in
.
Grantley (36:24):
Yeah, so that's, that's an interesting concept,
right?
Because when we say in thechurch, you know God only made
two genders, right?
Male and female.
That's all there is.
That's good to say.
Is that really helping theperson who is struggling with
their gender identity?
Temeko (36:42):
Well, I don't think that's think that's helping the
person, right, but you probablyhave to say that you know that's
what God made.
But at the end of the day, ifyou're struggling with one or
the other or if you believe thatyou are one and not the other,
then I think that's yourrelationship with God that you
(37:02):
need to have, not yourrelationship with the people in
the church is going to judge you, right, because it's in terms
of what your sins are and like.
What are those sins?
And at the end of the day,there's no hierarchy of sins.
So there's no PowerPointpresentation in the Bible that
depicts that.
(37:23):
You know, this sin is likeequal to these two sins and
things of that nature, right?
So I think we just always haveto be mindful of it, that we
have all sinned and fallen shortof the glory.
We all have been confused insome manner on something before
and we seek God forclarification and we seek him
for direction.
Grantley (37:43):
Right, that's an interesting point, because
people in the church are alldealing with a whole bunch of
different things.
This gender identity is onething.
The mental health you mentioneda little bit about and that's
talked a little bit about inthere.
But even you know the pastor,the bishop, had his own issue.
Oh yeah, we sort of won't givethat away here, but you know he
(38:05):
had his own.
He had his own issue as well.
So even as a pastor he wasdealing with his own issues.
So if, if we approach it fromthe standpoint that you're
saying, where people in thechurch and in the community are
dealing with a whole bunch ofthings and that God doesn't see
a hierarchy of those things,right it's, how can we help
(38:25):
people come to God, have arelationship with Him and let
Him, through the power of theHoly Spirit, work them through
that process to the point towhere they're sinless and become
more like Him?
Temeko (38:41):
Well, yeah, and I think a lot of it also has to do with
we have to have that boundarywhere, also, when you allow this
hospital of people that have,you know, ailments and injuries,
call sins, let's, let's say itwhat it is.
Once you have that boundary,you also have to understand that
you cannot, as the leader ofthe church, you cannot have let
(39:04):
the sin prevail right in thechurch, because that also can be
a sense where it can beinfluential.
A lot of times you'll see inchurches where individuals are
married and then they have thisside person and they're
committing adultery with someonein the church.
Like you hear it all the time,right that it happens, but like,
(39:24):
do you want that person to bein charge of the financial board
or the you know, be a trusteein the church or be a deacon,
and that's the behavior thatyou're accepting as a leader of
the church or do you sit thatperson out for a period of time
and let that person work ontheir issues, out of the
limelight of being a leader inthe church, to move forward?
(39:49):
So I think a lot of that has todo with how the leader of the
church actually deals withpeople and deals with correction
.
Another thing to that isbasically from a church
perspective.
Even if we're in church, wealso have to be mindful of being
judgmental of the people thatare in church and not hold them
(40:09):
hostage to sins that they'vecommitted.
Right, because many timespeople don't understand the
dynamic of not having thenuclear family at this point.
Right, so there are going to bea lot of situations where there
are kids that are born out ofwedlock, and it's more prominent
now today.
Right, because the culture saysit's okay, so we, we have that
(40:31):
dynamic.
So we can't hold people hostageto sins that were created or
that were done years ago and wehave to keep keep things moving
in terms of helping people,loving people through or
correcting them through love.
Grantley (40:49):
Yeah, and I think you use a really good example with a
hospital, right.
The church is like a hospital.
You go to hospital andeverybody has their own
different ailments, but theirstandards right.
This is how you get healed,this is how we help you, this is
how we bring you back to goodhealth, and each of those things
take different times anddifferent interventions,
(41:09):
different skills and differentthings.
But are we allowing people toheal at the rate they need to
heal, up to the standard theyneed to heal to?
Why, at the same time, notcompromising the message of the
gospel and the standards thatGod expects us to uphold within
the church and within thecommunity as well?
Temeko (41:33):
Absolutely.
Grantley (41:35):
So that's a great discussion.
I want to encourage peopleagain.
The movie is At the Cross andit's available on Amazon Prime
and Tubi.
You can go and watch it andtalk about it with your friends,
maybe have a watch party, maybeuse it at your church.
Tamika, I want us to go on andtalk a little bit about the next
work that you're working onright now.
(41:55):
It's called I Am Him.
Temeko (41:58):
If you can give us a little bit of primer on that
next project you're working on,so I Am Him is a short film that
we filmed at the latter part oflast year and released it in
February.
And turning it into a seriesand it actually just this week
(42:19):
was not our one tele award forgeneral advocacy and causes as
it relates to mental healthwellness, so pretty excited
about that.
So it's about two best friendsthat navigate through life's
challenges.
They're still trying to upholdthat whole mantra of I am okay
(42:40):
and we know how people ingeneral but definitely men they
hold that mantra of they're okayto the fault and they got to
keep it moving.
They can't have any downtime.
But it deals with theembarrassments that men don't
like to address, like financialhardships, relationship issues,
(43:00):
health issues, and it goesbehind the scenes of those
particular nuances on howthey're expected to get ahead in
certain industries and that maychallenge their manhood as well
.
So it crosses the spectrum of.
It crosses the spectrum ofalmost all the challenges that
(43:37):
men in people in theentertainment industry, um to uh
, the preachers to um, theindividuals, men that also have
had some some health challengesand try to hide it and it, it it
becomes worse because they tryto hide it.
So basically, bringing all thattogether like people need to do
(43:59):
better, and I think that thatis probably why it won the Tell
your Word, so I'm pretty excitedabout that.
Grantley (44:06):
So that's available now as a movie.
Temeko (44:08):
Well, it's a short film.
Now it's in the film festivalcircuit and it'll be in the film
festival circuit until the endof August, and then we'll
release it as the film, and thenwe'll release it as the um, as
the film, and then the serieswill be in the fall.
Grantley (44:24):
So where will?
Where will people be able tosee it?
Temeko (44:27):
Uh, Amazon, prime, uh, or looking at Netflix as well,
um to be, uh, Apple TV.
So it'll be on all, basicallyall your mainstreaming channels.
Grantley (44:38):
Yeah, that's great.
I'm looking forward to seeingthat and seeing how we can use
it.
Any other things you're workingon that may interest our
audience.
Temeko (44:50):
So I mean, we do have a documentary that we are working
on that's coming out withrelation to professional
athletes and what that challengeis from a perspective of being
the athlete that is dominant,going into the professional lane
and figuring it out in terms ofwhen it's over, when you don't
(45:14):
want it to be over, what yournext steps are and how do you
adjust once it's over.
So we have that, and thenthere's another one and that's
called the tryout, and thenwe'll be doing a feature at the
end of the year called seasonedum and that I think people will
be able to relate to because ithas a lot of focus on ageism.
(45:37):
Should be very interesting.
Grantley (45:39):
So you're deeply into dealing with the current topics.
Current and relevant topics.
Temeko (45:45):
Hey, we got to keep it inspirational for people.
Grantley (45:48):
Keep it inspirational.
Yeah Well, I'm looking forwardto that, and looking forward to
seeing those and how we can usethem, and how we can use them to
help people with challenges.
I had my own set of healthchallenges last summer that I
had to deal with.
I've learned it's better totalk about it than to try to
hide it.
Temeko (46:08):
Yeah, a lot of people are going through those things,
so it's always better to talkabout it.
Grantley (46:12):
Yeah, it doesn't help to hide it and you can get the
help you need a lot faster ifyou're open about it.
Absolutely it, and you get, youcan get the help you need a lot
faster if you're open about it,absolutely, you get introduced
to the right people just somehow, just because people, the word
is out there and people help youfind the help that you need,
which was, which was, myexperience yeah, and I think in
this particular series, whatwe'll find is um, because the
(46:35):
person is trying to hide it,they basically go to like I'll
call it the wrong doctor, if youwould.
Temeko (46:43):
That tells them that they need X amount of treatments
, et cetera.
And then they go to the rightdoctor, I'll call them, and they
don't need that many treatments, right?
So those are types of thingswhere, because they finally
opened up about the situation,someone was able to recommend
the right doctor that wouldallow them to get less
(47:04):
treatments and, of course,that's less on the financial
pocket, right?
So, like you said, you got toopen up to be able to talk about
these things and make it moreamenable to go through more
amenable to go through?
Grantley (47:21):
Yeah, and it does help , but what are some of the tools
that you would recommend topeople who say this is very
interesting, the issues that thechurches are facing, the
current issues that we'redealing with as people of faith
in our churches, in our society,in our community, and so what
kind of tools would yourecommend to them or helps that
would help them in addition towatching the movie at the cross,
(47:44):
but that they could use to helpthem on this journey?
Temeko (47:47):
Are you talking about leaders or are you talking about
people who attend church?
Grantley (47:53):
Well, both we could break it up into leaders and the
people who attend church breakit up into leaders and the
people who attend church.
Temeko (48:02):
So I think from a leadership perspective in
churches, we need to get awayfrom that whole mantra of it's
not a business, because itactually is a business right,
because you can't open the doorsto your business and I can't
open the doors to my businesswithout having to pay the
utility bills, the lease on theproperty.
The utility bills, the lease onthe property, going through all
(48:24):
kinds of things as it relatesto the permits you have to go
through, whatever it is right.
Insurance upkeep insurance,everything right.
So all of those things arebusiness generated.
So treat it like a business andstop trying to hire individuals
that are in the church tomanage the business of the
church.
And get business people tomanage the business of the
(48:46):
church.
I think that's the number onething, because a lot of times
what leaders do is they feelsorry for somebody and they give
them a job at the church andyou know that person's so
unqualified and it ends up beinga nightmare.
So I think the first thing ishire qualified individuals and
don't just look for people inthe church in order to do that.
(49:06):
So be a success from thatperspective.
And the second thing I thinkwould be helpful for leaders of
the church is to understand theimportance of being
intergenerational, as we spokeabout before.
Grantley (49:17):
You have to have people that are relevant.
Temeko (49:19):
And by saying people that are relevant, we don't mean
that they are ministers thatare out in the clubs with the
people, right?
So relevance is not being atthe rapper's party, that's not
relevant.
So, helping to understand wherethey are in their life, being
able to reach them from aperspective of those common
(49:44):
areas, from a biblicalperspective, and breaking down
the Bible so that they can helpthem with those particular
challenges, that's the relevance.
Going to the schools andtalking to the schools, as was
done at the cross, and beingable to be that unbiased person
that's just involved in thingsthat are happening at the
schools and the community, uh,that is around it.
(50:07):
So that's the relevance that Imean for intergenerational Um.
So, and I think, alsounderstanding that, uh,
membership doesn't outweigh thedemand for biblical teaching.
Membership doesn't outweigh thedemand for biblical teaching.
So you can't be a minister orcan't be a pastor focused only
on membership.
Yes, you want growth, but youwant disciples, right.
(50:29):
So you want to make sure thatyou are reaching people through
biblical teaching and you arecreating disciples that are
going to spread the gospel ofJesus Christ.
So I think that's that.
And then the fourth thing thatthe leader has to understand is
that you will be offendingpeople.
You cannot be everything toeveryone right, because once the
(50:53):
leader tries to be everythingto everyone, what ends up
happening is that there's alevel of sensitivity and
political correctness that comesalong with that, that people
are forced to believe, and thatdoes not create a good base or
foundation for the church.
So you have to not move awayfrom teaching about sin and
(51:16):
living right to not offendpeople.
You just have to keep it withinthe bounds of correcting
through love, through biblicalteaching and helping people
ensure that they have arelationship with God.
So I think that that's for theleaders.
From the perspective ofindividuals that attend church,
I think that the importance isto attend a church where the
(51:40):
leader is someone that you canrespect.
I think that's where you start,because can you respect the
leader that is walking around inall Gucci suits and all Louis
Vuitton and Fendi suits, has aMaybach and a Bentley and that's
(52:01):
?
Grantley (52:01):
really all they're offering.
Temeko (52:03):
Right On Sundays or whatever days.
They don't offer anything aboutwhat needs to happen from a
biblical perspective.
They don't offer anything aboutwhat you should be doing from
an economic perspective as itrelates to, you know, not
spending money using your tithe.
10% for your.
That's one thing that ReverendFlake used to always teach us.
(52:26):
Floyd Flake is that make sureyou give 10% to your house in
addition to 10% to God's house,right?
Not telling you where to investit, but making sure that you
save for the rainy day.
You always have your ownproperty, that you're getting
that type of thing.
So you want to make sure thatthe leader that is in charge
basically walks how he talks andis a very respectful leader, I
(52:53):
think also from people that goto church.
Just again, stop thinking thatchurch is going to be perfect.
It's not because the people arenot going to be perfect in it.
Know where you can draw yourboundaries and find either a
group of people in the church Ifit's a megachurch, find a group
of people that are someBible-believing prayer warriors
(53:23):
Bible believing prayer warriors.
Find them and not focus onbeing a part of an organization
or ministering in the church assoon as you get there.
Right.
So understand the lay of theland and who people are from
that perspective.
And I think a third for thepeople, especially the youth,
for church don't just be drawnto church just because of the
beat was good or the music wasgood on a particular sunday.
(53:43):
Um, understand that you.
You have to build thatrelationship with god and you
need people around from a churchin a biblical perspective that
help you get through yourchallenges.
Um, because at the end of theday, god is still working, even
though you don't see what he'sworking, and it always works out
(54:05):
.
So I think that's the summary.
That was probably a lot.
Grantley (54:09):
No, that's a good summary.
That's a good summary, verywell thought out and very well
put together.
So anything else you want toadd before we go?
Temeko (54:20):
No, I think that you know.
I think we've coveredeverything.
Grantley (54:24):
Yeah, I appreciate you coming and I appreciate our
time together.
I learned so much about you, notjust from just reading about
you and meeting you before andthen watching the movie, but
from what you shared here todayis even more enlightening.
I encourage you to continue thework that you're doing and be an
(54:45):
inspirational movies anddocumentaries and short films
that will help people deal withthese issues, cause I think
they're really, really important, and one of the things you said
in in in one of your commentswas you know people learning to
have discussions, withconversations lead into some
sort of reconciliation andrelationship, rather than having
(55:08):
them degrade, like you said,into them calling and not being
able to truly articulate.
(55:30):
So I am happy to find a partnerwho is actually trying to do the
same thing and hopefullytogether we can help accomplish
that mission to help people offaith be able to really be
people of faith, living outtheir faith in the world, doing
it with intelligence, doing itwith lifestyle and doing it with
(55:51):
the love of God, in the waythat we don't necessarily feel
we have to be saving people, butwe introduce them to a sinless
God who can help them overcometheir struggles and their
challenges to become the peoplehe created them to be.
So I thank you for that and Ithank you for the time today.
Temeko (56:12):
Thank you.
Grantley (56:18):
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(56:42):
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