By Bob Allen
Sunday, June 7, is Say Something Nice Sunday, an annual event that goes one better than your mother’s advice that if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Mitch Carnell, an author, speaker and communication consultant in Charleston, S.C., got the idea when he volunteered to help with students at the inner-city middle school where his wife, Carol, was teaching, and was overwhelmed by negativity from both students and faculty.
One day the principal told students, “If you want to do well this year, just be nice.” The idea stuck, and Carnell wrote a booklet titled Say Something Nice, Be a Lifter! that he hoped to distribute in public and private schools. That didn’t work out, but the city of North Charleston was interested. The city bought copies for all its employees, and Mayor Keith Summey declared the first Say Something Nice Day on June 1, 2006. In its 10th year, the event has spread across the country and is listed in McGraw-Hill’s Chase’s Calendar of Events.
Looking around at issues polarizing religious communities, Carnell approached his pastor, Marshall Blalock, at First Baptist Church of Charleston about the idea of having a Say Something Nice Sunday for churches. Blalock embraced the idea, and the congregation passed a resolution calling for the first Sunday in June of each year to be observed as Say Something Nice Sunday.
Leaders of the Charleston Baptist Association and South Carolina Baptist Convention became supporters, and before long it went ecumenical with participants including the Charleston Atlantic Presbytery and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina. Bishop Robert Guglielmone of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston added his blessing, prompting support from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York.
This year marks the ninth Say Something Nice Sunday. A flyer on the First Baptist Church website explains why churches should participate:
“The simple answer is that words are powerful,” the pamphlet says. “Words have the power to build or destroy. Words have the power to heal or wound. With our words we have the power to build up a Christian community or to destroy it.”
Carnell says there is no place where words are more powerful than at church. Say Something Nice Sunday “is an opportunity to build the community of faith, strengthen relationships and heal old wounds,” he says.
“This is a day to say thank you to those who make our lives better just by being a part of them,” the pamphlet says. “This is a day to recognize those who contribute to our lives in specific ways. This is a day to apologize for words spoken in frustration, anger or disappointment.”
Carnell chose June for the observance, because it is already designate Effective Communications Month, a secular observance in workplaces across the country.
It costs nothing to participate. Artwork, bulletin inserts, Scripture passages and devotionals are available on the First Baptist Church website. Churches and/or individuals are encouraged to submit additional materials.
Carnell says he has been encouraged by the response to Say Something Nice Sunday and he hopes others will join the movement.
“If we can honor God with our speech on one day, perhaps we can do it for two, three, or even more,” he says. “Then just maybe if we encourage one another and ask for God’s help, we might change the world!”