May 21, 2013Dear Sir,My heart ached as I read the May 21 article by AME Pastor Nicholas Tweed ‘Don’t Use the Bible in that Way’. My feelings of pain were not so much about of the content of his letter, but rather about the shameful revelation that our churches in Bermuda are so divided. Therein, lies my greatest grief.Bishop TD Jakes, Pastor of the Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, recently spoke out against the Hollywood style that has engulfed the Christian church in America. He said that he was intentionally making an effort to do things differently. (He spoke in reference to an event his church was hosting). I applaud him for taking that stance. I know that discerning, intelligent readers who are reading this letter can read here what is not written. It is therefore with great sadness that I have to say, that for the most part, the established church in Bermuda is no different than America and needs to make a huge paradigm shift before it can truly make a difference in the wider community.The gathering for prayer, commissioned by Premier Cannonier, was a golden opportunity for the people of Bermuda to come together as one people under God and indivisible, joined by the cords of unity and love. I believe that Premier Cannonier was genuinely reaching out to the spiritual leaders of our Island to make this happen. However, if the truth be told, how can you truly have a united front, if the church is divided from within? That is a travesty. You can only give out what you have within. Division within …. division without. Discrimination within … … discrimination without. The prayer event on the steps of City Hall could not be the normal ‘Put-on- your-Sunday-best’ occasion. After all, it was a Thursday! What this event has exposed to me and the wider Bermudian community is the disunity from within. This is the cancer that the church must be cut out first before we can cure our land.Yes, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land”. The good book does not lie, nor does it change. The church must change to align with what the text says. Until then, there will be no unity.“Mega-storm all but destroys entire town” was the headline that appeared on the same day as the article to which I refer. It described the deadly, monstrous Oklahoma tornado … … another event that saddened me.Bermuda, let’s not let this monster of division within our churches destroy our land.DR ANDREA LIGHTBOURNE-WEBSTERPraying for Bermuda