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Modern Ministry Is Off to Raucous Start
Nancy Lee, mother of the Rev. Tony Lee, and others come to their feet during Community of Hope's first service. At left is the pastor's father, Orlando.
(Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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Finally, Lee said, there's the "personal hater," the Judas type -- the "you've-been-hanging-out-with-me kind of hater."
Haters -- a term he used to refer to the people and things that stand in the way of success and peace -- aren't going anywhere, he told the crowd, which at times rocked back and forth, laughing.
So, embrace them. Put up with them with dignity. That'll show them.
At the rear of the club, two young men who know plenty about haters and hating were running the audio visual equipment.
Until last year, Dominic Taylor, 25, and Hank Johnson, 34, had been at odds in a long, bloody feud between rival neighborhood groups. Johnson, an Oxon Hill resident who spent nearly 10 years behind bars, at one point dreaded being near his daughters in public because he was a targeted man.
Taylor, of Fort Washington, had a grandfather who died in prison and a father who's serving time.
They said their feud had no logic. It was all "miscommunications" that left a trail of blood and heartbreak, they explained.
"It's like a lose-lose situation," Johnson said. "When they put it on TV, on movies, on video games, it all looks fun. They don't show the pain."
After a particularly jarring confrontation between the groups in 2004, Lee stepped in and brokered a truce.
"When he starts speaking, you can't help but listen," Johnson said. "He been there. You know what makes him so special? He's got cornrows."
Staff writer Hamil R. Harris contributed to this report.
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