The Lord has placed in my heart for the year 2022 that this shall be a year of  soul-winning for this church.

The Lloyd Welch constitution came from our desire to be free. It was a constitution because we wanted not to be governed, but to govern. Why allow us to then, decades later, throw ourselves under a charter?

I’ve read comments several times over this past week alone where people state that federally recognized tribes must maintain their language or risk losing their federal recognition.  This is absolutely, unequivocally untrue. 

Why did we each need a Savior to be born?  Why was Jesus, The Son of God, born on earth as a little baby, and not as a grown man?

Earlier this month, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) announced they would be adding two new names to buildings on campus. They chose two trailblazers at the school. Hortense McClinton was the first Black professor at UNC. Henry Owl, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), was the first American Indian student to attend the university.

There have been good and bad days for the Cherokee press this year. While our Tribal Council and Executive Office have verbally supported the idea of transparency in government, everyone seems to have a different definition of the word “transparent”.

“God wastes nothing,” Pastor Melton made clear, “Not one of your tears. Not one breath. Not even one hair, as each one is numbered.”

A small group of people have been diligently at work in an attempt to engage community input for a tribal constitution.