A movement begun nine years ago in a Charleston church to promote Christian civility through the simple act of saying something nice to another person has crossed denominational and national boundaries.
“Say Something Nice Sunday” will be observed June 7 in churches in South Carolina, in the U.S. and across the Atlantic Ocean. The idea was born in 2005 when Mitch Carnell, a member of Charleston First Baptist Church, felt that “pervasive negativity” in his town’s inner-city schools needed to be addressed. He wrote a booklet, “Say Something Nice: Be a Lifter.”
The following year, he talked with his pastor, Marshall Blalock, about the possibility of having a Say Something Nice Sunday for churches. The observance caught on, and Charleston Baptist Association endorsed the idea. In the years since, Say Something Nice Sunday observances have been adopted by some Protestant denominations and by the Catholic Diocese of Charleston. In 2014, the Baptist World Alliance agreed to promote the event.
Say Something Nice Sunday is an “opportunity to build the community of faith, strengthen relationships and heal old wounds,” according to a statement describing the event at Charleston First Baptist Church’s website. “Our national discourse has become so strident and even in religious circles the rhetoric is often far from Christ-like,” the statement continues.
Churches interested in downloading promotional materials for Say Something Nice Sunday may visit fbcharleston.org and click on the “Messages/Resources” tab at the top of the home page.