Join us on Sun, May 21 at 6pm for our book club facilitated by Rev. Dr. Marella M. Holmes. Email us your name at bookclub@shilohtrenton.org

May’s Book: We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride, Jo Piazza

Goodread’s summary: Told from alternating perspectives, this novel follows two women, one Black and one white, whose friendship is indelibly altered by a tragic event.

Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia.

But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager. Six months pregnant, Jen is in freefall as her future, her husband’s freedom, and her friendship with Riley are thrown into uncertainty. Covering this career-making story, Riley wrestles with the implications of this tragic incident for her Black community, her ambitions, and her relationship with her lifelong friend.

We Are Not Like Them is both a powerful conversation starter and a celebration of the enduring power of friendship.

8 AM -

Reverend Elliott Cuff is the senior pastor of the Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church, Woodlawn, Ohio. Dr. Cuff is a graduate of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the New York Theological Seminary, where he earned the Master of Divinity Degree, and the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, where he earned the Doctor of Ministry Degree in Social Justice Preaching. Dr. Cuff is also a life member in the NAACP and holds joint membership in the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature. He has written many articles and essays for Christian publications, including his sermon work in the African American Pulpit, published by Judson Press and his essay on African American preaching, published in the Jubilee Bible by the American Bible Society. He is a member of the Harvard University Club of Cincinnati. In April 1999, Dr. Cuff was inducted into the distinguished Board of Preachers, Martin Luther King, Jr. Chapel, Morehouse College, in Atlanta Georgia. Additionally, he has served when asked and has been appointed to various local and national leadership roles in community, institutional, and denominational bodies. He serves as President and Founder of the Voices of the Valley Ministries Leadership and is the Dean of National Baptist Congress of Christian Education, NBCUSA INC. Dr. Cuff is married to the lovely, vivacious and charming Virginia E. Cuff. They are the proud parents of their daughter, Lorell E. Cuff. Dr. Cuff’s preaching motto is, “Be Radical, Be Relevant, but most of all, Be Right!”

11 AM - Rev. Lillian Gail Moore

3 PM -
Dr. Ernest R. Flores, the pastor of Zion Baptist Church of Ambler, is a dynamic preacher, teacher, pastor and counselor who has pastored churches in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for 24 years. Dr. Flores earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in History, a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy at Eastern University. Dr. Flores has preached the gospel in Mexico, Zambia, Italy, Burma as well as across the United States. He has also taught as an Adjunct Professor at Azusa Pacific University, Latin American Bible Institute, Eastern University, Esperanza College, Palmer Theological Seminary and he is currently an adjunct professor at Lincoln University, the first HBCU. Dr. Flores formerly served as president of the Philadelphia Baptist Association Ministers Council. In 2008, Judson Press published a book of his sermons called, “Tempted to Leave the Cross.”