Minister says stability vital
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer on Jan 1, 2013, at 2:22 AM Updated on 1/01/13 at 6:47 AM
The Rev. Anthony Scott of First Baptist Church North Tulsa sits in his church. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
The gunshots echoing through a small town in Connecticut resonate with the Rev. Anthony Scott. His congregation at First Baptist Church North Tulsa and the community it serves are not strangers to gun violence.
The Sunday after the Newtown shootings, said Scott, "some of the children in our church didn't take their coats off. They were quieter than usual. They were afraid somebody was going to come in and do something. That just floored me."
With the attack on the elementary school, Scott said, some children in his church felt they were "running out of places they consider to be safe."
Scott, 44, was among those who came to the fore in the aftermath of last spring's so-called Good Friday shootings. Largely through Scott's influence, the Rev. Jesse Jackson made an appearance in the city.
"That unfortunate situation," said Scott, "brought the community together in a way I'm not sure I've ever seen."
One way to stabilize neighborhoods - and households - is for men to be a positive influence in both. In the coming year, said Scott, men and boys will be a focus of his ministry.
"Men view spiritual health the same way we view physical health," he said. "We don't want to go to the doctor or do the things we need to do to take care of ourselves physically, and we are the same way spiritually.
"If we're going to make a change, we need men to reach out to young boys. And it's not just in spiritual ways. It's in practical ways. Too many boys don't know how to be a man."
