Pilgrimage Ponderings
The Elephant in the Room
I'll say up front that I haven't yet had opportunity to read or listen to Barack Obama's speech from today. And I haven't seen a full news report on the unfolding drama surrounding the preaching of Rev. Wright, Obama's pastor. But I have heard a few opinions.
What I want to say is, "Thank you, God, for giving us an opportunity to talk about the elephant in the room." Of course, I'm talking about racism and more specifically, the failure of the Christian community to lead our nation to a better place.
In South Carolina, we United Methodists have lamented "the most segregated hour of the week, Sunday morning" and shaken our heads and talked about the need to integrate our congregations. At times we celebrate our diversity and the fact that we are the annual conference with the largest number of African American United Methodists in the United States. In 2 of the last 3 congregations I served, there were African American members in predominately Anglo churches. The congregation where I currently worship is the same.
And yet, very few of our congregations look like what I imagine as the heavenly banquet. The level of mistrust between my clergy brothers and sisters of color and the rest of the clergy is high, and I suspect the same is true among laity. I know I tend to avoid people I don't trust. And consequently, I probably miss opportunities to get comfortable talking about difficult subjects like how racism is often the elephant in the room in our annual conference as well as our society.
Perhaps it's no accident that this American drama is unfolding during this Holy Week. Perhaps we Christ followers, Anglo, African-American, and other people of color, need to reflect on our own feelings and attitudes about race and pay attention to how those feelings and attitudes influence us throughout the course of a day. Perhaps we need to be in prayer about what Jesus expects of us. And perhaps we need to think about how much we are willing to inconvenience ourselves to try to make our congregations look a little more like the kingdom of heaven.
Because I think that when it comes right down to it, we may believe that the church should not be the most segregated hour of the week, but we hope someone else will take care of making it happen. In the midst of our existing congregations with their concerns, dreams, and relational difficulties, me may feel overwhelmed at the idea of calling attention to this elephant.
And yet, if no one starts the conversation, we're likely to just keep walking around the elephant. All the while, the rest of the world is watching us, and our witness to the Gospel is at stake. If Jesus really loves the little children; if they are really, red and yellow, black and white, all precious in his sight, than we have some work to do.
For Jesus' sake.
Stephen Taylor: Good post, Kathy. Of course congregations are not going to put the energy into changing the status quo unless motivated by great fear or great reward, and we've not found either for moving beyond the racial divide in the Church. The issue may be more than the monochrome nature of our congregations, but instead may be that we've not found something greater than ourselves for which we are willing to live and die (and change!) (03/20/08)
klh: My husband is a pastor in the northeast, and when he was appointed to this church he was told, "This is one of the flagship churches in the conference in terms of the mixing of races!" That's kind of sad, because there are only three non-white families I can think of in the congregation (with a membership of over 800). I don't really know what to do. I'm white, but even I wasn't accepted at our church because of a cultural difference - I insisted on bringing my daughter into the worship service. Who would have thought that one baby could generate such a violent reaction. (people yelling at me in the hallway on my way into the service, people calling the head pastor threatening to leave the church and take back their financial offerings, etc). My point is that the issue of our churches not looking like the heavenly banquet extends beyond just skin color. If my husband wasn't the associate pastor, I never would have stayed at this church. As it is, I think it was the grace of God to force us together for a time, in order to help us all to grow. But it is no fun to be the one put on the cross for the sake of the sanctification of others. (03/20/08)
Ray Reavis: I know this isn't the same as an every-week worship service, but I celebrate that the Good Samaritan (Lake Wylie) - St. Paul (Clover) charge combined with the African American congreations of the Green Pond - Clover Chapel - Mt Harmony charge at Green Pond UMC last night for a wonder Maundy Thursday service. The Holy Spirit was present in that place as we worshiped, sang, and communed together. What an awsome sight to see about a 50/50 mix of races in a worship service! If only we could pull that off every Sunday morning. (03/21/08)