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Hush Now Don’t Explain: No Apology Owed to the Black Church
Posted by Rev. Dr. Renita Weems on June 21, 2012 at 11:36 am
I know. It’s been two years. I’ve been busy.
I dusted off my blog this evening because Twitter only allows 140 characters and Facebook is not suited for long, rambling remarks.
Especially when it comes to talk about the black church and gay marriage.
I do not think being gay is an abomination. I’m sure I did once. But I don’t anymore.
President Obama declared for the first time on May 9, 2012 in a White House interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts that he supports same-sex marriage, after nearly two years of saying that his views on same-sex marriage were “evolving.” Reactions to the president’s remarks have been swift, predictable, and for the most partisan.
At least one well-known black minister has not hesitated to voice his disappointment with the president’s comments. Says Rev. Jamal Bryant of Baltimore, Maryland, the president has some explaining to do to his black church constituency. I disagree. Obama doesn’t have any explaining to do to the black church about his position on same-sex marriage. I co-sign my colleague’s, Leslie Callahan, comment on her Facebook page reminding us that Obama is the president of the United States and not the pastor of the United States.
While I am proud there’s a black man in the White House I am not one of more than fourteen thousand fans of the “I love it when I wake up in the morning and Barack Obama is President” Facebook Fan page. Can’t do it. But neither do I want to wake up in the morning with the public thinking Jamal Bryant’s comments represent the best (or only thing) response black clergy have to Obama’s comments on same-sex marriages. (In fairness, I should disclose that I know Jamal Bryant personally and I am disappointed with his comments, though no entirely surprised.)
…biblical teachings on human sexuality (if teachings are what we can call the inchoate biblical passages that deal with sexual issues) don’t serve us well today. We know too much…Human sexuality is powerful, confusing, dangerous, many times beautiful, most often messy.
I’ve already stated on this blog that I do not think being gay is an abomination. I’m sure I did once. But I don’t anymore. And while I’m still evolving on the issue of gay marriages, I don’t oppose it enough to clobber its supporters nor do I support it enough to blast its opponents. Not trying to be coy or clever. It’s just that I am fierce about what matters to me and not easily baited by topics that don’t strike a match in me.
Until now I’ve been content to stay out of the gay marriage fray. Until I read Jamal Bryant’s claim that the POTUS has some explaining to do to his black Christian constituency.
Same sex marriage, in my opinion, is not a biblical or theological issue; it’s a social and political one. Traditional and conservative Christianity is going to lose on this issue.
I disagree with those who see legalizing same sex marriage as a threat to the Bible, Christianity, or the institution of marriage. I agree that legalizing same sex marriage is a threat to thousands of years of tradition. But that isn’t a bad thing, mind you. I would be a slave, and a barefoot and pregnant one at that, if tradition hadn’t been questioned or challenged. Not to mention that lots of other important scientific knowledge we now embrace would not be known to us if we’d stayed tied to the biblical cosmos.
The Bible meant well in its edicts on human sexuality. But not many of us, including Rev. Bryant, would not want to live in biblical times. And not just because there was no running water back then. We wouldn’t want to live in the moral and social universe it advocates where wearing glasses disqualifies you from serving at God’s altar, contact with a menstruating woman makes you unclean, and adulterers must be stoned to death. Yet I understand what made our biblical ancestors want to contain this powerful, chaotic force known as human sexuality. But biblical teachings on human sexuality (if teachings are what we can call the inchoate biblical passages that deal with sexual issues) don’t serve us well today. We know too much. (The same laws probably didn’t serve people well back then either.) Gay love is as old and tenacious as heterosexual love. And love and sexual desire have a tendency to make a mockery of rules. Human sexuality is powerful, confusing, dangerous, many times beautiful, most often messy. Laws are good, but laws are limited.
I am willing to question tradition, even my own cherished tradition and refuse to embrace any part of tradition that flies in the face of what Jesus ultimately lived and died for: unselfish concern for the other; honesty, integrity, equality, and fidelity; and sacrificial love.
Is marriage ordained by God? On those days when the marriage is going well, I like to think that God brought me and Martin together. But on those days when it’s a hot mess and we’re both looking for the exit sign, well, we will both probably say that we should have ceded to the many signs (and friends) that said a marriage between the two of us was doomed. In other words, marriage is ordained by God when it’s a good marriage. But when it’s a hell hole you have every reason and right to exit when it’s wrong for everyone involved. Here’s what those of us who support same sex unions have got to get across to our Christian friends who think of same-sex unions only in sexual terms, and that is that same-sex unions are not simply about sex and power, but love and commitment. Why are we so quick to to tell LGBTQ individuals seeking the rights and recognition of their unions that marriage is ordained by God when many of us don’t honor our own marriage vows or turn a blind eye to the indiscretions of our friends?
Those of us who are products of the 60s and 70s never thought we’d live long enough to see the day when “liberal” would be a bad word. Many of the rights and privileges women and minorities enjoy today are the results of the tenacious agitation of liberal-minded people over the centuries. But now “liberal” has been replaced by “progressive.” So, I guess I’m a progressive Christian if progressive means I am willing to question tradition, even my own cherished tradition and refuse to embrace any part of tradition that flies in the face of what Jesus ultimately lived and died for: unselfish concern for the other; honesty, integrity, equality, and fidelity; and sacrificial love.
What I’m sure of is that I’m no libertarian nor am I a sex positive feminist. I don’t believe “anything goes.” Civilized societies have a duty to protect its citizens from the violent impulses of other citizens. Even if the laws prove imperfect and don’t put an end to the acts they criminalize. Victimized sex can not be tolerated. Rape is unacceptable. Pedophilia is indefensible. (Even though the Bible often soft-pedals rape and is downright silent about pedophilia, something Christians never talk about.)
Speaking as a former Pentecostal who remains Pentecostal in her heart, I say this in sum to my fellow conservative Christians: the train has already left the station. The POTUS does not owe all of us in the black church an explanation for changing his mind on gay marriages. The president is a politician and a Christian. And the politician knows that the momentum is on the side of legalizing same-sex marriage. Even if it doesn’t happen in this latest round of state votes. Same sex marriages will be legalized in my life time (and I’m a cancer survivor so you know I’m on slippery ground here). Social change has always preceded legal and religious change: women’s suffrage, reproductive rights, interracial marriage, and black civil rights movement.
Black Christians will have to find another sign to point to as proof that despite the fact that there’s a black man in the White House, the world is still coming to an end.
Dr. Renita J. Weems is a bible scholar and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Church. Formerly a member of the faculty of Vanderbilt Univeristy and former Visiting Professor at Spelman College, her scholarly insights into modern faith, biblical texts and understanding of the role of spirituality in everyday life make a much sought after author and speaker. She earned her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, and her Master and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary. She is an eloquent contributor to Beliefnet.com and her own blog Somethingwithin.com.
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As an African American Christian, proudly rooted in the spiritual heritage of liberation and freedom, I am dedicated to the struggle for justice for all people, especially those on the margins of society.
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Reflecting on Black Sexualities, Black Religiosity, & Black Lives in Anti-Black Times
Posted by Darnell Moore on November 3, 2014 at 7:00 am
These reflections were first shared on October 20, 2014 at the Columbia University conference, “Are the Gods Afraid of Black Sexuality? Religion and the Burdens of Black Sexual Politics,” and published in TheFeministWire.com
Seventy-three days ago, Mike Brown, Jr., an 18-year old black teen, was shot several times by Darren Wilson, a white police officer. The killing of Mike Brown has positioned Mike Brown’s death was in no way disconnected from the other forms of blue-on-black crime and other types of vigilante style murders that have ended the lives of black people in St. Louis and elsewhere.Ferguson, Missouri, in the public imagination as a contemporary Selma—a site of civil unrest and provocation in response to anti-black, state-perpetrated and sanctioned violence, a site where a mostly black populace will not allow the murder of one of their young to be forgotten and dismissed.
Mike Brown’s death was in no way disconnected from the other forms of blue-on-black crime and other types of vigilante style murders that have ended the lives of black people in St. Louis and elsewhere.
Mike’s death is not disconnected from the murder of 19-year old Renisha McBride (shot in her face and killed after seeking help at the home of Theodore Wafer, the perpetrator, in a suburb of Detroit), 22-year old Jonathan Crawford (shot dead by police in an Ohio Wal-Mart while holding a toy gun), Aiyanna Jones, Trayvon Martin, Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Miriam Carey, Ezell Ford, and so many other black cisgender and transgender women, girls, boys, and men.
These murders signify the valuelessness of black life in the United States.
And in St. Louis in particular, a city replete with examples of the various ways white racial supremacy has been reified by way of municipal laws and evidenced in the tense relationships between police and the black folk who reside there, black life ain’t worth shit.
So much so that the black public was made to experience a “neo-lynching”: a moment when a lifeless body killed for being suspicious, shot for being non-docile, deadened because of an attempt to actually live, was left on display in a densely populated but small black neighborhood—in the street—for four hours. This killing-turned-public spectacle was a pedagogical moment meant to teach black folk … that black life is so insignificant that the broader public (some of whom are black) won’t lose any sleep if our bodies are left to lay prostrate in a U.S. street, dead.Friends, family, neighbors who were strangers, passersby in the Canfield section of Ferguson, were made to peer upon Mike’s blood-drenched black body—for four hours.
This killing-turned-public spectacle was a pedagogical moment meant to teach black folk about the ways in which we are to behave, to remind us of the consequences that await us if we deny the state its power, to instruct us so that we understand that black life is so insignificant that the broader public (some of whom are black) won’t lose any sleep if our bodies are left to lay prostate in a U.S. street, dead.
In fact, they will keep living and attempt to feed their presumptions as the real truth: here was a black weed-smoking thug who had it coming to him.
And should we get the nerve to speak back to power, to ask for truth instead of lies, the black will be met with tanks in the street, shot with rubber bullets in our chests, burned with tear gas eating away at our eyes, have our bodies caged in jail cells subsidized by the same federal dollars used to support the attorney general’s office who we pray will ensure a just process of oversight.
But our prayers seem to almost always go unanswered.
To be black in an anti-black society is to be a commodity fit for liquidation, it is to be already evidenced as not befitting of life, it is to live under surveillance and always positioned as a potential threat, it is living under the conditions of carcerality—of various forms of imprisonment (of our senses of self, of our expressions, of our bodies, of our gender articulations, of our sexualities).
•How then do we free ourselves of the lure of anti-black self-think?
•How might we think differently about ourselves, contrary to the ways we are otherwise instructed by the state, by the corporate sector, by the church?
•How do we become abolitionists of both the prison industry capitalizing on black bodies and the metaphorical prison cells restricting the expansive nature of our sexed selves?
•How might we begin to locate police brutality next to capitalist exploitation of black laborers next to poverty next to housing discrimination next to educational inequity, rape culture, queer and trans antagonism, ableism, citizen-centrism, death dealing theologies, and much else aimed at harming black folk within the same matrix of anti-black oppressions?
To free our selves, our bodies, and our desires, we must rethink and expand our racial justice framework.In other words, how can we create a black-body-loving, pleasurable, non-harmful, expansive view of sexualities in a society that does not love the black body?
How do we think through and express black sexualities that are not an artifact of years of anti-black conditioning?
To free our selves, our bodies, and our desires, we must rethink and expand our racial justice framework.
Our inability to expand our racial justice frameworks in such a way that it is purposefully and radically intersectional, self-reflexive, and expansive results in us reinforcing the anti-black logic—that some of the black deserve invisibility, policing, and death.It is easy for us some of us to place Ferguson at the center of racial justice work at present. Emotions are high, and rightly so. Righteous indignation is what many of us feel. And yet, it is so easy to forget that racial justice, the type that insists upon the securing of justice for ALL black lives (not just cisgender heterosexual men), can only be achieved through an expanded vision of liberation and a move from a type of just-us that is patriarchal, heteronormative, and restrictive.
Unless all black lives matter to us, anti-blackness (and its contingent features) will continue to deaden us. Our inability to expand our racial justice frameworks in such a way that it is purposefully and radically intersectional, self-reflexive, and expansive results in us reinforcing the anti-black logic—that some of the black deserve invisibility, policing, and death.
This is why it is possible for Rev. Jamal Bryant, the notorious pastor of Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore, MD, to show up at a large gathering at Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis University during the weekend of resistance of #FergusonOctober and speak from the stage about justice as if his sermonic rant on black liberation for the black folk in St. Louis was not at all complicated by the many misogynist, sexist, and homo antagonistic sermons preached from his own pulpit. One must ask if the “unloyal hoes” Bryant recently preached about at his church factor as those blacks who deserve justice, too.
What I am trying to do is draw our attention to the myriad ways anti-blackness works to pervade our imaginations, politics, and our theologies of sexuality. And by anti-blackness, I mean any apparatus or ideology that renders any black life futile and appropriate for annihilation.
If we are to talk about religion, media, markets, and the making of black sexualities, we must therefore contend with the force of anti-blackness in a society, a marketplace, where whiteness is commodified and blackness deemed useless.
Any tool of the market, then, be it media and in some cases religion, will be used to construct an image of black people, help proliferate ideas about black sexualities, shape our gender expressions as black people in ways that will always benefit the market and never us, never all of us, never women, never queers, never trans brothers and sister, never the undocumented, the disabled.
In a market organized around the imagined normative “family”—always patriarchal, always economically a step above those who are imagined as drying up the state’s resources, always married, always white, black folk remain among the queer assemblage in the public imagination, always non-normative, which is why it makes sense that some of us fight so hard to disprove the image of the contemptible black person lodged in the public imagination.
Too often, religiosity is positioned as the bully pulpit upon which claims about right and natural sexualities are laid.We fight to be seen as normal, acceptable, and worthy.
And too often, religiosity is positioned as the bully pulpit upon which claims about right and natural sexualities are laid. This is why it is important for us to question how black sexualities are conceptualized, theologized, and actualized in this moment—this moment of Ferguson resistance.
The sooner we realize, however, that America was Ferguson before Ferguson ever was, the sooner we might realize the force of anti-blackness has always been at work shaping our ways of being (and non-being) in the world, our self-representations, and our conceptions of sexualities.
Here, now, we find ourselves existing in a time of dissent. No more will our bodies be left in the street. No more will we allow sagging pants, loud music, seemingly suspicious looking items in our children’s hands, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, police quotas, our blackness to be a cause for our deaths by the police or others. No more.
We are beginning to name the state as a culprit and imagining justice as that which can be achieved without state intervention. Here, now, we find ourselves in a moment where counter-hegemonic politics are necessary. Indeed, as scholar activist Frank Wilderson contends, “Blackness is a positionality of ‘absolute dereliction’ (Fanon), abandonment, in the face of civil society, and therefore cannot establish itself, or be established, through hegemonic interventions.”
The question now before us is a simple one: will religion be used as a tool of the market to further perpetuate the types of violent black-hating, black-body-despising theologies that render black folk, queer folk, trans folk, women, the disabled as insignificant black lives, or can it be used as a spirit force illuminating the truth that all black lives matter?
Therefore, the politics and practice of black liberation that seek to upset the hegemonic order (of white racial supremacy, of capitalism, of patriarchy, of hetreonormativity) must resist reinforcing that which it seeks to dismantle. In fact, a radical politics and practice of black liberation, in this moment, won’t be marketable under those normal conditions—offering plates will come up short when we preach counter hegemonic messages, to be sure.
The question now before us is a simple one: will religion be used as a tool of the market to further perpetuate the types of violent black-hating, black-body-despising theologies that render black folk, queer folk, trans folk, women, the disabled as insignificant black lives or can it be used as a spirit force illuminating the truth that all black lives matter?
If religion’s practitioners do not choose the latter, it too can be counted as an apparatus of the anti-black project imprisoning and deadening our people.
In response to anti-blackness, we proclaim that black lives matter. It is a political proclamation, but it is also an intervention in the face of policies, ideologies, and systems that would deem otherwise. The sooner the better that we realize some of the black are still assailed by deadly queer, trans, bi antagonistic theologies; that cisgender and trans women are still harmed by the hands of white racial supremacy, patriarchy, sexism and rape; that so many of the black are trapped within restrictive gender boxes that function as ideological prison cells; that black bodies are not valued and some less so than others.
Black queer folk matter.
Black trans folk matter.
Black women matter.
Black disabled people matter.
The black undocumented matter.
The black poor matter.
All black lives matter.
And our proclaiming these truths—whether from the pulpit, on the street corner, or within media—is a counter-hegemonic act of resistance in a world bent on reminding us of an always present desire for our demise.
This entry was posted in Blog, Bullying/violence, Community questions, Gender, Sexual orientation, Theology, Transgender, Youth and young adult. Bookmark the permalink.
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Addressing injustices everywhere they are found
Posted by Rev. Cedric A. Harmon on December 11, 2014 at 1:05 pm
Eric Garner’s death at the hands of a policeman was alone distressing, sad, unsettling, and painful–even more haunting is to see the video of it happening. The Grand Jury decision not to indict the policeman inflamed an already raw and unhealed wound.
Twice in the space of six days, citizens in cities and communities united to decry unequal application of justice by legal systems.
This moment invites our reflection, meaningful action, and yes, even protest. Lives are being lost, families shattered by grief, and our confidence undermined in protection by those sworn to do so.
By now, it should be clear that the occurrences in Ferguson, New York, Florida and Cleveland were not isolated incidents separate from any of the other cities and towns in America.
Neither isolated incidents, nor separate from other oppressions.
Many are familiar with the concept of intersectionality. Simply put, police brutality is not separate from mass incarceration, poverty, failing schools, high unemployment, health disparities, violence against transgender women, anti-gay antagonism, implicit bias/racial prejudice and so forth. As Audre Lorde declared, There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
My hope is that we would internalize the grand truth that indeed, Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, so saliently stated years ago by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Last week I met in conference with leaders of Black churches, all strengthening their resolve to do the work of social justice advocacy within their ministries and communities. Many have traveled to Ferguson, listened deeply, and learned from emerging leaders there. When asked, “Where have the prophets gone?” one speaker declared, “The prophets [of this day] are on the streets…” Organizing and activism is happening with or without traditional top down leadership.
Creating the beloved community
The outcry has not quieted. In fact, the pitch of voices is growing. The Many Voices movement challenges injustice visited upon lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families — and injustices visited upon all of us. We know the call of justice is indivisible.This weekend thousands will participate in actions, marches, and prayers and wear black attire to keep the issues in the public consciousness.
The work of Many Voices is rooted in social justice. Our movement challenges injustice visited upon lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families and injustices visited upon all of us. We know the call of justice is indivisible.
Creating the beloved community requires us to address systemic failure and structures of inequity — everywhere they are found.
This entry was posted in Bullying/violence, Church leaders, Social justice. Bookmark the permalink.
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Southern Clergy Voices Signal a Shift throughout the Black Community
Posted by Rev. Cedric A. Harmon on November 21, 2014 at 2:50 pm
For many, the very idea of an African American pastor or clergy person publicly embracing LGBT equality is unimaginable. You know the story; the Black Church is conservative and homophobic.
That story is shifting. While the larger society has grown in support of LGBT people and their families, pastors and church members in black religious settings have engaged in ‘Many Voices’ dialogues, seminars, and discussions, and forged deep relationships over the last four years.
Many Voices’ videos feature the voices of Southern Black clergy who have broken through disbelief and resignation, sharing how they hold fast to their faith and support LGBT people and their families.Now three are speaking out through Many Voices’ video campaign launched on October 7. The campaign features the voices of Southern Black clergy who have broken through disbelief and resignation. These clergy tell how they hold fast to their faith and support LGBT people and their families.
In the series, sexuality is not avoided, as is too often the case in our churches, rather it is celebrated as an essential part of scripture.
Misinterpreted biblical mandates used to condemn gays and lesbians are illuminated, giving Christian families and friends courage to love without hesitation.
As Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler reminds us in his interview, “All people are worthy of God’s love.” He is clear there are no exceptions.
Later in the series, Rev. Dr. Terence Leathers testifies to the power of honest dialogue within his congregation as they grow and learn together. He raises the question, “How Speaking from their hearts as pastors, they know all forms of discrimination are to be challenged. The lessons of the civil rights movement, commitment to social justice and full human rights are at the core of their theology.could someone be treated as if they don’t matter?” His faith and relationship with God informs him that, “Whosoever” relates to everybody – transgender, gay, lesbian, queer – ”
Speaking from their hearts as pastors, they know all forms of discrimination are to be challenged. The lessons of the civil rights movement, commitment to social justice and full human rights are at the core of their theology.
Rev. Reggie Longcrier provides ministry and care in rural North Carolina to those on the margins. It wasn’t a leap for him to be outspoken and supportive of LGBT people. Reflecting on growing up, he says , “We were friends. We were family. We had a common bond. We shared in the same pain. We shared in the same struggle.”
Isn’t that the point? Our common experiences, similarities, shared hurts and hopes connect us far more than anything that divides us.
Another powerful Southern preacher steeped in black religious heritage said it this way,
It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.
We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied into a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As one viewer of the first video commented, “I hope it can create a wave of change.” Amen to that. I do too as the final video is released in the coming weeks.
I believe the wave is part of a rising tide, and as more are willing to face the troubling concerns, conflict and questions that hinder the necessary conversations, the sweep of this wave will lead toward greater justice everywhere and for everyone.
This entry was posted in Blog, Church leaders, Congregational life, Hospitality, Opening to change, Theology. Bookmark the permalink.
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When I spoke out, support poured out
Posted by Rev. Dr. Terence K. Leathers on December 3, 2014 at 12:53 pm
Rev. Dr. Terence Leathers appears in the Many Voices Video Campaign, a visibility platform that illuminates the powerful presence of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Christians and allies within the Black church. Watch and share his video here.
When I first joined the Many Voices Video campaign, I wrote a reflection on the importance of having the conversation around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) acceptance in the Black Church—even when we’re not sure how.
Since my video voicing my support as an ally and a southern minister was released, one thing is for certain: People are talking.
My congregation at Mount Vernon Church is talking. My fellow ministers are talking. All of Clayton, North Carolina is talking. Loud.
For every naysayer, there have been multiple unapologetic supporters spreading a message of acceptance.And their response has been overwhelmingly positive.
While there were pastors who called, concerned that I took such a strong stance publicly, and community members that could not get on board — for every naysayer, there have been multiple unapologetic supporters spreading a message of acceptance.
My participation in the campaign made my views about inclusion unequivocally clear. Although I had never condemned anyone from the pulpit and alluded to my support of the LGBT community, I wanted my church members to hear firsthand why I stepped out in this way. Although I had never condemned anyone from the pulpit, I wanted my church members to hear firsthand why I stepped out in this way.So I preached a sermon called “The Invite” for them to gain clarity on my position. It was something I had on my heart that I needed to do.
The message came from John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
I talked about how Christ invites everyone to the table. No matter what position you hold, no matter how you identify yourself, you are still God’s child. I explained how some folks don’t feel welcomed coming to church. They feel discounted, judged, and moved aside.
Some people didn’t care for that message but, by in large, it was a moment in our church that we’ll remember. It broke a lot of chains.
There were parents I didn’t know had gay children pouring out their appreciation.After my Many Voices video and Sunday sermon, I realized that many people want something from the church that they aren’t getting. There were parents I didn’t know had gay children pouring out their appreciation and parishioners sharing my testimony on social media. Some felt they had to keep their LGBT loved ones a secret.
I got emails and phone calls thanking me for making them feel comfortable—and that’s how family should feel. The church is home for everyone. No one should have to leave parts of themselves at the door.
When people wonder why I participated in this campaign, I tell them plainly: God loves everyone. It’s that simple. I’m 52 years old. I have to walk in my authentic self. If I can’t be me, who am I going to be?
After the video, someone complained on a congregant’s Facebook post, “I don’t know why these pastors can’t deal with black issues.” Her response: “Black people are gay too…and my pastor deals with all issues.”At times I don’t even have to defend my decision. Members of my church and my community jump to my defense. For instance, someone commented on a congregant’s Facebook post about the video saying, “I don’t know why these pastors can’t deal with black issues.” My church member responded, “Black people are gay too…and my pastor deals with all issues.”
I recently went in to get my car fixed and the manager said, “I saw you in the newspaper concerning ‘that issue.’” I said, “Yes, I was…you still gonna do my car?” He said, “I’m so proud of you,” then proceeded to tell everyone in the shop the details of the campaign and the local paper that covered my participation. A woman at the auto repair added, “That was so brave of you. God is going to bless you. I know so many people that struggle with this. I’m going to get the paper.”
I’m not sure where this is going but we’re moving through this process to a deeper understanding together. Let’s keep talking.
Rev. Dr. Terence Leathers is a recognized leader in the development and establishment of youth-oriented programs that specifically address their culture and social environment. His work is widely respected by community, civil and governmental leaders. He is pastor of the Mount Vernon Church, located in Clayton, N.C.
This entry was posted in Blog, Congregational life, Family, Hospitality, Opening to change, Social justice, Straight allies, Theology. Bookmark the permalink.
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When I spoke out, support poured out
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Things I thought I would never say: An open letter to COGIC
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Things I thought I would never say: An open letter to COGIC
Posted by Bishop Yvette Flunder on November 12, 2014 at 11:09 am
My dear Church of God in Christ,
I am about to take a risk and say some things that I more or less thought I would never say. I have concluded that it is time. I am approaching my 60th birthday and it seems imminently important that I speak these things into time.
I am proud to be from a family of Church of God in Christ pioneers…three generations with three Bishops and many female local and national leaders as well.
As such, I grew up around conversations regarding the backstories and underbelly of the lives of many prominent COGIC leaders and their families, from the time of Bishop Mason until the present.
I grew up around conversations regarding the backstories and underbelly of the lives of many prominent leaders and their families.My family was closely acquainted with the old first families–the royalty of the COGIC–and the particulars, peculiarities and proclivities of their lives and relationships were a part of dinner table discussions.
I knew who drank too much, who slept with whom, whose child was not really their child, who misappropriated money, who was gay, who was greedy, who lied, who was power hungry, etc.
These issues were not the reality for everyone, but there were many stories. I suspect that for some, the dichotomy of these realities would have made them wonder if there was any truth to any of the proclamations of ‘sin-free’ living, but it did not impact me that way. It simply shifted my expectations.
I was never encouraged to fear or venerate the leaders of the church. I was allowed to see people’s humanity.I learned to respect leadership, in spite of what I knew, but I was privileged, as I was never encouraged to fear or venerate the leaders of the church. I was allowed to see people’s humanity, but to worship God…and I continue to worship God with all my heart to this day.
This upbringing was foundational to the work I am called to because I don’t anticipate that people will not be flawed. There are thorns in everyone’s flesh. I don’t need to be judgmental, just practical and my expectations are seldom undermined by the foibles of others because I expect humans to be human…even spirit filled, fire baptized, tongue speaking humans are still works in process.
I am not suggesting that our walk with God does not afford us the impetus, purpose and power for a better life, but learning to live a better life is a process that many did not undertake because we were taught that the ability to live ‘holy’ was instantaneous and not incremental. We seemed to spend more energy pretending than becoming. I watched in sadness the true difficulty this scenario was for leaders who could not divulge their issues and were forced by unrealistic expectations of perfection, to hide in plain sight.
My heart desires that we mature enough to allow people to move beyond the guilt and shame that that makes them hide, judge and condemn people from their closets.I need broken leaders to stop hurting people. Free people, Free people.
I was able to embrace my being a same gender-loving woman, first because it is my reality, and because I am called to the many same-gender-loving sisters and brothers who have lived tortured lives within their church communities.My upbringing also strengthened my ability to take a path that led me away from the COGIC to answer the call to social justice, pastoral and ecclesial ministry as a woman. I deeply engaged in the fight against AIDS, the care of our Elderly and the equal rights of African Americans and women. I was also able to embrace my being a same gender-loving woman, first because it is my reality and because I am called to the many same-gender-loving sisters and brothers who have lived tortured lives within their church communities. (I was told that I was leaving the only true church and I was encouraged to stay and hide.)
I bless God for the call. I am clear about who and whose I am and what I am called to do. Hence the opinions of others down through the years has had little effect on me. I have experienced ridicule and there were some who are now in power who aggrandized themselves at my and my family’s expense, but in truth they must live with their ill-gotten gain and the knowledge that I know….
I now understand myself to perhaps be in a unique place, as I do not fear the loss of position or power. I am not seeking to win favor with leadership. I am not interested in the ‘old boys’ or ‘old girls’ club.
I cannot overstate how glad I am about being free from these weights. I study and teach the history of African faith and Native American faith and how these spiritualities influence the African American brand of Christianity. I am particularly moved by the influence of African indigenous faith in the spiritual growth of Rev William Joseph Seymour and Bishop C.H. Mason.
I love the COGIC with its pageantry, music, celebratory and cathartic worship. I am aware that there is a theological ‘girdle’ that is rooted in the Wesleyan holiness movement, but many don’t fully subscribe to it…but they love the church! All religions evolve and experience reformation in time.
I thank God for the freedom to believe in Christ and feel the presence of God and to simultaneously embrace a liberating theology filled with the love and light of God and free from fear of damnation.Finally, I thank God for the freedom to believe in Christ and feel the presence of God and to simultaneously embrace a liberating theology filled with the love and light of God and free from fear of damnation (hell, hades, sheol). I am deeply grateful to all of my ancestors for preparing me for such a time as this and to the COGIC for my spiritual formation.
I love you still…
Your Daughter,
Bishop Yvette Flunder
Presiding Bishop, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
Pastor, City of Refuge United Church of Christ
This entry was posted in Blog, Church leaders, Congregational life, Family, Gay/lesbian, Hospitality, Opening to change, Transgender. Bookmark the permalink.
← Reflecting on Black Sexualities, Black Religiosity, & Black Lives in Anti-Black Times
Southern Clergy Voices Signal a Shift throughout the Black Community →
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As African American churches struggle for justice, fairness, and equality for all members of society, especially those who are marginalized;
As gay and transgender (LGBT) members of our community and churches are discriminated against and unprotected in many challenging areas, including health care, taxation, housing, employment, and education, and are frequent victims of vicious bullying and violence; and
As I recognize that we Black Christians are not of one mind but hold different opinions, biblical perspectives, and theological understandings;
I therefore pledge to engage in respectful and loving dialogue – to remain godly in my speaking, demonstrating my respect for differences and Christian love for all.
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Video campaign
Black Southern Pastors Call for LGBT Justice in Video Campaign
Straight clergy challenge scripture & stereotypes; send powerful message to church and community
WASHINGTON, DC — October 7, 2014 — Today, Many Voices, a Black church movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) justice, launches a series of unprecedented videos that feature LGBT-affirming African American clergy from the South. Video subjects include Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler, Associate Professor of Bible, Union Presbyterian Seminary at Charlotte; Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Executive Director of prison ministry Exodus Missionary Outreach Church; and Rev. Dr. Terence Leathers, Pastor, Mount Vernon Christian Church.
“All people are worthy of God’s love,” says Rev. Sadler. “In essence, sex is at the core of the biblical message. Our fear of sexuality is inconsistent with the biblical text. Our job is not to keep people away…our job is to be open in our welcome.”
Each interview captures experiences from ally voices of faith that undermine the misconception that Black pastors are monolithically homophobic. The videos also illuminate how African Americans can be both religious and supportive of LGBT people, and that being LGBT-affirming can be consistent with one’s faith.
“Each pastor partaking in this powerful platform talks from a place of religious grounding, and their understanding of scripture harmoniously informs their understanding of LGBT acceptance,” says Rev. Cedric A. Harmon, Co-Director for Many Voices. “Our allies are deeply important to this work because they remind us that at the heart of the movement for LGBT justice is the fight for everyone in God’s family to live safely and authentically.”
All interviewees are based in North Carolina, a state with a substantial Black LGBT presence and strong ties to the Church. With over 40 percent of Black Protestants supporting the freedom to marry, the testimonies are representative of a growing number of justice-seeking pastors across the country. In addition to sharing the videos through social media and community collaborators, Many Voices offers training, resources, and relationship-building opportunities for church leaders and Black LGBT people. The video release is part of an ongoing campaign that launched in 2013.
The Many Voices Visibility Campaign was funded in part by the Arcus Foundation, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Foundation, and the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and was created by Katina Parker, a filmmaker and PR specialist. The music was performed by Rachael Derello, Monica Douthit and Meredeth Summers Moore, and recorded by Sammy Truong and Katina Parker.
Contact: pr@manyvoices.org
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Nondiscrimination Policy
Many Voices’ policy on discrimination applies to all employees, volunteers, members, customers, and
contractors.
It is intended to guide all of Many Voices’ decisions and actions regarding employment, internal
promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, relationships with outside vendors
and customers, use of contractors and consultants, and in dealing with the general public.
Many Voices does not discriminate on the basis of
race, color, ethnic or religious background, descent or nationality
sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression
age, height, weight, physical or mental ability
veteran status or military obligations, or
marital status
Approved by Incorporating Board
April 24, 2012
http://www.manyvoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/MV-Nondiscrimination-Policy.pdf
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