African-American Fellowship envisions future

African-American Fellowship of Texas officers are (left to right) President Oscar Epps, Vice President Ponce Brown, Secretary Glen Samuels, Treasurer Elmo Johnson and Immediate Past President Michael Evans. (PHOTO/Robert Rogers/Baylor University)

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SAN ANTONIO—African-American Baptists accepted the challenge to look into the future with a new set of lenses as they gathered at this year’s James Culp Banquet during the Texas Baptist Family Gathering.

Nat Irvin II, professor of management at the University of Louisville, recalled how a childhood incident with glass caused blindness in one of his eyes. 

True vision

 “Just because you have eyesight doesn’t mean you aren’t blind,” he said. “Also, being blind doesn’t mean you don’t have vision.”

In his presentation titled “2045: Living, Learning, Thinking and Believing in a New Age,” Irvin challenged the audience to consider the question, “How do you see what you’ve been looking at with a new set of lenses?”

People often remain in denial about what an uncertain future could hold, he said, as he presented statistics and facts relevant to rapid advancement.

For instance, he reported 2,000 tweets are posted per second, and a computer in 2025 will be 64 times faster than it is now.

The job market also is changing, he said. Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple represent combined market capitalization of more than $900 billion but only employ 150,000 people.

Irvin reported advancements in robot technology that decrease the demand for human labor. From software programs that grade essays to machines that fully prepare hamburgers, fewer workers will be needed, he said.  


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Contextual intelligence

Christians need to think in a new way, to be aware of what is coming and have contextual intelligence—the understanding of the world around them, he said.

Irvin encouraged African-American Texas Baptists to continue loving people and use their God-given intellect to envision the future while keeping their eyes open to advancements.

“No matter what it is that happens in the future,” he said, “we as human beings still need each other. We still need to be near each other, we need to hear each other. … Where there is no vision, we will perish.”

New officers of the African-American Fellowship of Texas are Oscar Epps, pastor of Community Missionary Baptist Church in DeSoto, president; Ponce Brown, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in El Paso, vice president; Glen Samuels, New Millennium Baptist Church in Lubbock, secretary; Elmo Johnson, pastor of Rose of Sharon Baptist Church in Houston, treasurer; and Michael Joseph, pastor of New Providence Baptist Church in Houston, assistant treasurer. 


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