Bishop Miah White is the Lead Pastor of The Worship Center STL in Saint Louis, MO., and a daughter of The Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship International. In 2024, she attained yet another historic milestone by becoming the youngest consecrated African American female Bishop in the Lord's Church.

I am excited to join the group of regular Sparkman contributing writers. My name is Patricia Sylve. I am a native of St. Louis, and have resided in Texas for the last twenty-seven years. My goal is to offer meaningful information in this column, Growing Wise Together. With that said, let’s talk about annual check-ups for children returning to school.

John 14:26- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

Recently, a good friend of mine decided to begin coaching 8–10-year-olds in baseball. In the description, he spoke of collaborative effort and celebrating everyone's successes, not just the top performers. I wanted to spend a minute on this.

The "Mandate for Leadership Project 2025" outlines several changes that are likely to have significant impacts on marginalized groups, including poor people, women, non-white, non-heterosexual, and non-Christian individuals. Key areas of concern include:

While all the promises of God are yes and so be it, recognize that some scriptures are written to a specific people for a specific time and then there are scriptures written that are perpetual and for our believing.

Supporting the effort to safeguard our facilities and protect staff and residents from dangerous contraband, on August 1, 2024, the Missouri Department of Corrections will begin using body scanners for staff, visitors, vendors, contractors and volunteers entering adult institutions.

Breaking into a new career can feel impossible. Often, there is little or no way to move directly to a dream job.