Dr. Tom Benjamin

T. Garrott Benjamin Senior Living Center

Light of the World receives an almost 5 million dollar grant to build The Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin Senior Living Center

The Miracle Continues...

In less than 30 days after Light of the World Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) of Indianapolis forgave the Messiah Baptist Church of over a quarter million dollar debt, HUD granted the Light almost 5 million dollars to build the Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin Jr. Senior Living Center.

This 50-apartment unit miracle is a HUD 202 project with three floors of comfortable and convenient living. The Center will have a laundry room, activities room, etc. and will be located on what some call the "Miracle Mile" including Light of the World, the International School, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and the DeHaan development. It will be on a bus route in the 4700 block of Michigan Rd. just a few steps from the church. 

This lovely and comfortable center will be built on the Light of the World's 36 acre campus noted as the highest elevation in the city on what is affectionately called the City on the Hill.

Construction is set to begin in the fall of this 2006 with completion in 2007. This the second Senior Living Center initiated by Light of the World. The first was the Jackson-Peoples SLC named after Bishop's grandmother, Mrs. M. Jackson and Rev R.H. Peoples, his predecessor.

Bishop Benjamin said in response to the grant, "We are very grateful. You cannot beat God giving no matter how hard you try. Our church loves to sow seed and God loves to give harvest. The more you give, the more Jesus gives to you. One thing that is so obvious we are going to stay with the plan because the miracle continues."

Click on each image to view it.

Letter To Our Mayor

A City of Peace

Second Open Letter to Mayor Bart Peterson in Response to the Continued Rising Tide of Homicides in the City of Indianapolis in 2006 - October 18, 2006

Mr. Mayor:

On August 11, 2006, a diverse representation of the City’s Pastors, Community Leaders, and Concerned Citizens convened in your conference room to address the rash of violence and murder in our streets.  At that meeting, we challenged you to assist us by leading an initiative to raise a minimum of 25 million dollars per year from public and private sources to expand and strengthen existing social and community organizations, as well as create new opportunities through faith based and other organizations to help turn our city around.  You asked us to create a budget/plan for how the monies raised would be utilized.  Today, we return to you with our proposed plan of action and an expectation that you will honor your word to raise the necessary dollars to support our plan.

Our proposed strategy is as follows:

· Establishment of a Faith-Based Management Group – This entity would be staffed by an Executive Director and Administrative Assistant.  It would work directly with the City’s Office of Faith Based Initiatives.  The primary function of this group would be to receive funding proposals, provide fiscal oversight, and determine the levels of allocation to entities that are awarded funds.
· Establishment of Five Impact Groups – (a.) The Impact Groups would review and rate funding proposals based on established criteria; and, (b.) submit findings to the Faith-Based Management Group.  The Impact Groups would each have 10-12 members comprised of community, business, and faith-based leaders.  The Five Impact Groups are as follows:
1. Youth Programs – includes mentoring, recreational, tutorial and after school programs
2. Employment/Job Training – includes job readiness and placement and housing (transitional and permanent) as well as reintegration programs for ex-offenders
3. Family Services – includes parenting classes and parent training, truancy intervention, and services which directly address domestic violence
4. Gun Violence/Street Intervention – includes street workers and faith walks (direct intervention with gangs and drug users and dealers)
5. Residential Substance Abuse Treatment and Aftercare – includes substance abuse treatment and counseling services

· Respective programs/agencies would apply for (and possibly receive) funding via one of the Five Impact Groups

Our city is still in crisis.  The violence and murder continues.  In August, 81 families had been affected by murder of their loved ones, not to mention the innocent caught in gang crossfire, and thug attacks of joggers, bikers, etc.  Today, the number of murders in our city has climbed to well over 120.  Therefore, we must continue to demand that our City balance its priorities as it relates to the allocation of resources.  If you can help raise millions of dollars to build up sidewalks, why can’t you raise millions of dollars to build up the brokenness found in our families and our youth?  If you can repair sidewalks, shouldn’t you be willing to spend at least as much to repair children, families, and the broken homes that lead to the murder and mayhem we are witnessing in our City?  Can we continue to afford to ignore the loss of life, specifically African Americans, the majority of whom are the victims of the violence and murder in our City?  Is not all life valuable?

Mr. Mayor, we continue our collective call for the City to shift it's priorities from property to people. We continue to ask what good can come out of having a new stadium if we are afraid to go to it. We continue to hold firm to our position that we should not commit to finishing the new stadium until we commit to building a City of Peace. We are not against the stadium or downtown beautification, but we are against the symbol of imbalance of resources that it represents.  We may be driven by your inaction to protest the stadium by non-violent demonstrations.  We continue to ask if Indianapolis wants to be known as the sports capital of the nation or the murder capital of the nation.  Actually, some considers us a more dangerous city than Washington, D. C. Is that the kind of city you want to be the Mayor of?  We want to help you change that.

In closing, Mr. Mayor, we once again appeal to you to lead our City out of social darkness.  We come not to beg you for something that our government owes us as taxpayers and law-abiding citizens.  We are here to represent thousands of parishioners and citizens who have no voice unless we speak. We remind you Sir, that African Americans, who have been most affected by the murder and mayhem, law abiding taxpayers who deserve better than what we are getting.  Why waste time on another study? We know what the problem is and we are offering solutions.  We can leave here today as advocates of your leadership or adversaries of your leadership.  We are at a crossroads.  Please pro act and announce your plan of action.  Next summer will be too late.   

We will not rest until we have a City of Peace.

Signed by: by Bishop T. Garrott Benjamin Jr., Light of the World Christian Church; Pastor Jeffrey Johnson, Eastern Star Church; the Rev. Charles Harrison, Barnes United Methodist Church; and members of Westside Community Ministers, the 10 Point Ministers Coalition, Ministers On the Move and The Concerned Clergy.

"We all have to repent not only for the hateful words and the despicable deeds of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people". – Dr. M. L. King, Jr.

Black Man Up!

9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.  (Genesis 4:9-15)

“Black Man Up” implies that the current condition of the black man in America is “black man down” otherwise there would be no need for the call:  “black man up.”  You may not like this, but sometimes the truth is painful and purging.  Strong medicine never wins a popularity contest.  The present position of the black man is that we have more black men in jail or on probation than we do in college; more black men on drugs than ever before; more black men killing black men; more black men leaving black women and their babies; more divorce, more unemployment because there are too many jobs we will not do.  Even the most casual observer would determine there has been a decided decline in the position of the black man.  I know there are those who would prefer that we not hang out dirty laundry, but the front door to the laundromat is wide open.  James Baldwin said 50 years ago that “not everything that is faced will change, but nothing will change until it is faced.”  Black man, up!

I single out the black man because I love black people.  There are too few of us in college or church to be in charge.  There are too few fathers and husbands, who sat on the thrones of early civilization who now need to regain our position of greatness.  Our past and our potential is tremendous.  It is our present portrait that portrays our painful position.

Now I must admit that our need to “man up” is critical because when we “man up,” we lift the manhood of all mankind.  When our boat rises, all the boats rise because what affects one directly affects all indirectly.  When the black man is in trouble, our community is in trouble, and our nation is in trouble.  When we save black men, we have saved black boys and when you save black boys…

The Cain and Abel story helps us to understand our problems and our possibilities.  We may be down but not defeated.  It is important to understand Abel’s offering as well as Cain’s mistakes.  In the hands and heart of Cain, we see our dilemma.  In the hands and heart of Abel, we see our deliverance.  It is time for “black man up,” down with raising Cain and up with being Abel.  We are more than athletes and entertainers.  We are the future.  Black man up!

Have Black Churches Forgotten Their Heritage?

In a growing age of “multiculturalism,” many churches with predominantly black memberships are wondering if the emphasis placed on “Black History Month” quite ‘fits’ their mandate to “draw all men.” 

The mandate to “draw all men” and the prayer of Jesus  “that they be one” was never intended to deny our heritage, religious affiliation or racial identity.  It was intended to cancel all claims of arrogance or superiority of one race or religion over another and to invite all of God’s children to sit at the table of brotherhood.

In my humble opinion, it is a perversion of the Gospel to deny color or culture as if there is something wrong with the way God made us.  When you fail to see my Godly color, hair, and features, then you fail to see me.

With the chronic crisis of a lack of self-esteem among African Americans, it is imperative that we not only keep Black Heritage Month but make sure that in one way or another it becomes “Black Heritage Year.”  We dare not abandon the celebration and acknowledgment of ourselves.  God loves diversity.  One need only look at creation to see the miracle and blessing that diversity offers.  Instead of trying to manage God’s diversity, let’s celebrate it!  We can be pro-black without being anti-white or any other color.  In essence, that is what multi-cultural means:  “out of One, many…”  We do not have to wear our color, culture or ethnicity as a badge, but it ought to be a blessing.  What I have found on this journey is that the problem is not skin.  The problem is sin.

Let’s keep it real and work on the problem by repenting of racial sin and putting our thinking and actions under the blood of Christ who reminds us that “it is not those who cry Lord, Lord, but those who do the will of the Father.”  I believe that is one of the most important challenges for the Church in the 21st century.