Buffalo Criterion, 1987-06-11

              niagara region rochester wny's necessary minority newspaper - featuring paid legitimate circulation established in 1925 thursday june 11-17 1987 the buffalo criterion vol 62 - no 24 eve co-sponsors ssi bill in assembly by abdullah luqman deputy speaker arthur o eve of the new york state assembly introduc ed along with ohers a bill to amend the social service taw in relation to increas ing the state supplement to the federal supplemen tal security income ssi program raising some categories of ssi benefi ciaries nearer to the poverty level the american associa tion of retired persons aarp vigorously sup ports the bill which would begin to bring some of the 300.000 elderly blind and disabled persons in nys many are members of aarp closer to the poverty level said a report in their newsletter the bill introduced march 31 says the legislature hereby finds that the supplemental security income ssi pro gram a federal cash assis tance program to which l*v<ih .-,' ,-».»-; iv contri buted to since its inception in 1974 is of great importance to aged dis abled and visually impair ed people in need the legislature further finds that when the ssi program began the total benefit received by recipi ents living alone in the community was approxi mately at the poverty level it also acknowledges that since 1974 the federal contribution to the pro gram has increased at a rate greater than the state contribution and that re cipients living alone in the community are'now living below the poverty level therefore it is the intent of the legislature to increase the state supple ment to the ssi grant for all recipients living in the community as the initial step in a three-year effort to aid all ssi recipients living in the community and return the level of ssi grant to recipients living alone at least to the poverty level as determin ed by the federal govern ment the state legislative committee of aarp said that in 1974 the federal government initiated the ssi program to support poor elderly blind and dis abled persons with both federal and state funds the federal portion of ssi has kept pace with the cost of living the nys contri bution has fallen from 76 to 71 in 1986 despite the large rise in the cost of living the assembly bill con tained more than _ 26 million or so much thereof as may be necessary out of the moneys in the state hppgfpp in ho go..oral fund to the credit of the local assistance account not otherwise appropriat ed and made immediate ly available to the commis sion of social services for expenses in carrying out the provisions of bill number 6338 erie county open convention the erie county demo cratic party is sponsoring an open democratic con vention on june 26-27 at the buffalo convention center for the purpose of endorsing the party's nominee for erie county executive democratic committee members from every sin gle portion of erie county will convene and cast a secret ballot it will be a carbon copy of a national convention but committee members will take the place of delegates because the democratic party is sponsoring an open convention for the first time and because there are so many intricate details the co-managers of the convention erie county legislator chuck swanick council member herbert bellamy donald kane convention press officer kevin smith and erie county democratic chairman joseph f cran gle have scheduled a press briefing and inform al input session for friday june 12th at 10 a.m in room 102 of the buffalo convention buffalo native pastors one of the fastest growing churches in virginia the rev steve parson grandson of the late rev e j echols sr is building a million dollar church facility in richmond virginia rev parson son of alex parson jr and the former anna echols was born in buffalo where he attended bennett high school excelling in baseball and football after high school he attended north carolina university and became all-state on the basball team after college rev parson entered the army after leaving the army he married and settled in north carolina afterwhich he was called into the ministry rev parson founded the richmond christian center which started with a handful of people who gathered in his richmond home on december 4 1983 he held his services at christ presbyterian church for a few weeks . moved to the fifth baptist church since november 1984 the center has occupied the harvie street warehouse where he held two sunday services - about 500 people would attend the 8 a.m service and 700 attended the 11 a.m service if this isn't revival i don't know what revival is rev parson said for a church to grow to over 1,000 in two years that's revival and we're still growing he said people are just coming by the droves many times people are turned away because there's not enough room he said that his congregation includes people from all races professions and denominations the 36-year-old pastor said that he believed the reason his church has grown so rapidly lies in his approach i'm not into religion when people think of religion they think boring he said christianity is not religion <*■> christianity is life i.tell the people how to bring the lord into their lives i don't get all hooped up i talk to them on an everyday level i ask questions of the congregation rev parson said that the richmond christian center is a non-denomina tional full-gospel church we believe in all of the bible and we believe it is for today it's different new exciting the people are coming here getting turned on prospering and telling people how they've been blessed rev parson said that the church gets five to 30 new members each week i haven't asked anybody to join the church yet i just offer he said if the church continues growing at this rate it may become one of the area's largest within a few years mr parson said my goal is not to have the biggest church however we do want to win the multitudes for jesus then there won't we any church large enough he said moving to a new site at 214 cowardin aye rev parson a former car salesman turned preacher and television evangelist said this site is the best possible location for a church we'll have a larger impact there rev steve parson gillette to seek 3rd legislative seat citing a need for real progress as opposed to stagnation former erie county legislator minnie gillette has announced her candidacy for the third erie county legis lative district ms gillette who repre sented most of the current third district in the legis lature from 1978 to 1987 stated that she would be more than happy to compare her four-year record with that of the incumbent william rob i'laon t oullal*3 my four years in the legislature were marked by significant accomplish ments for the people of erie county and the city of buffalo she said we achieved an unprece dented spirit of coopera tion between county gov ernment and the people who live in this city much of that spirit has been eroded during the past six years because of unnecessary partisan poli cal bickering she added i want to return a veness and unity to the district i ms gillette pointed to the construction of the city campus of erie commu nity college the establish ment of a day care center at the campus her vote for the retention of the four health centers in the county and the passage of a requirement that 10 percent of federal monies be set aside for minority contractors as the high lights of her four-year tenure on the legislature i don't believe the incumbent can match my record and that's the message,l'll be delivering to the voters of our community she said ms gillette a mother of thrvv *_» _- jj,-u_tw3*~*rf h f two was endorsed by the conservative party thursday night ms gillette said that she will also be seeking the repub lican endorsement and will run as an independent in the september 15th demo cratic primary minnie gillette peace baptist church to honor leaders rev and sister augus tus smith leaders of the peace baptist church 145 stanton st will be honor ed at their 27th anniver sary churches participating is this celebration include bethlehem baptist church rev pearson miles pastor sunday june 7th sunday june 14th at 4 p.m mr carmel baptist church rev w g turner pastor sunday june 21 4 p.m mt moriah baptist church rev lawrence williams pastor sunday june 28 4 m promiseland baptist church rev charles jen nings pastor the program commit tee consists of deacon royal lynch general chairman sister nervan allen co-general chair man sister g._rgi_.-cur ry chairperson sister lue eubanks co-chair person sister diane lynch sister racile ridgeway sister lottie phillips sister carolyn harris brother roosevelt barlow sister rosie da vis and sister mary christian rev and mrs smith invite the public to attend these services ul program to symbolize achievement program geared to motivating black male youth to remain in school on june 21st at first shiloh baptist church 15 pine st some forty male adults wearing caps and gowns and processional dress will escort male graduates in a procession of spendor symbolizing a tribute of achievement the escorts will be prominent african-ameri can men from our commu nity representing politics the clergy business civic and social affairs law and order and the military and medical professions the graduates will be african-american male students graduating from an elementary or . high school the male students were chosen to be saluted for their graduation feat and for other contributions they have made to their school and community american fraternal bac calaureate program to be held on father's day sunday june 21 at 4 p.m in the first shiloh baptist church the baccalaureate ser vice will be highlighted by rev robert graham as speaker dr claude clapp retired deputy superintendent of buffalo public school system as grand marshall and by the presentation of awards to the graduates the service will be followed by a reception and fellowship the baccalaureate ser vice will serve to reinforce achievement and to moti vate our african-american male youth to remain in school and further their education as well as instill a sense of moral and civic responsibility ***!. education is one of the chief vehicles to achieve aari emcees j cone try but a disproportionate number of black male students are not staying in school these youth need to be encouraged to complete their education and to set goals for their future they need visible positive role models to offer direction and motiva tion and to reinforce achievement in response to these needs the buffalo urban league inc and a con sortium of male groups will sponsor an african forty africa-american male adults escorting the 3 d_<_s c m w_ecna positive role models be cause of their professional | achievements and visibili ty in the procession the community is strongly encouraged to give their support by attending this program said leroy r coles president ceo of the buf falo urban league rev robert e linder pastor of durham memori al ame zion church is chairman of the baccalau reate program robinson backs united way report erie county legislator william f robinson d 3rd district has won approval of a resolution he sponsored in the erie county legislature affirm ing the findings of a recent united way report which disclosed what people erie county think are the county's foremost prob lems the united way re cently conducted a phone survey in which respon dents were asked to name what they believe to be the greatest problems facing us here in erie county they were also asked to give their opinions as to whether existing agencies in the county are doing an effective job in meeting their obligations to solve these problems robin son said according to survey participants throughout the county the priority needs which must be addressed include the re duction of unemployment the eradication of drug abuse the ever increasing problem of the homeless the need to reform welfare programs the need to augment elderly support programs the reduction of crime the accessibility of health services and the growing problem of teen pregnancy robinson went on some of these prob lems are being met to a certain degree by direct services provided by united way agencies however surveyed resi dents do not believe the priority needs of unem ployment elderly support programs food programs accessing needed health services job training and crime are currently being fully addressed by existing county agencies and de partments this resolution applauds the united way's survey and its show of deep concern and interest for improving the county's human services programs its other purpose is to encourage the development of new programs and the expan sion and modification of existing ones to further address these pressing issues that confront us here in erie county i've asked the county executive to direct certain county officials to issue written responses on the priority needs pertaining to their department that were identified in the united way's survey some of these department heads include the county economic development coordinator the commis sioner of mental health the acting commissioner of social services the commissioner of health the director of the office for the disabled and the commissioner of senior services robinson con cluded men's day planned at first baptist men's day will be observed sunday sept 14th at first baptist church 320 ingham aye in lackawanna a pre-kick-off break fast will be held at the church sat june 13th at 8 a.m the donation is 3.00 to present lecture series m scott peck m d noted psychiatrist and author of the road less traveled will present a lecture series sunday august 9 at the opening of the third annual chau tauqua in central park festival at central park united methodist church two lectures will be delivered by dr peck starting at 2 p.m the first entitled the taste for mystery will deal with the manner in which people either approach or avoid religious experience in their lives following a brief recess dr peck will take for his subject spirituality and the psychology of human nature - stages of religious development and spiritual transformation will be presented in depth dr peck will be avail able for book signing after the lectures his newest book the different drum was published re cently by simon and schuster tickets at 10.00 per person price includes both lectures may be obtained through the church office 216 beard avenue buffalo n y 14214 phone 833-3193 child care will be provid ed and the building offers wheelchair access m scott peck m d bro damon to sing in concert bro damon oliver will be in concert sunday june 14th at 7 p.m at the gethsemane baptist church 55 grape st rev herbert reid is host pastor the public is invited to come out and help bro oliver worship god in songs tha business of life is to go forwards samuel johnson rev parson — continued on page 2 serving working leading in wny inner cities since 1923 price only 20 per copy