Congress on Urban Ministry Calls for Prophetic Imagination
SCUPE’s fifteenth biennial Congress
on Urban Ministry convened April
15-18, 2008 under the theme “God’s
Reign in Our Cities.” By the week’s
conclusion, Rev. Otis Moss, III and
Dr. John Kinney had both issued
strong challenges for urban pastors
and church leaders to raise up new
generations of city church leaders
who are able to minister both prophetically and imaginatively
to those who have been left out of traditional church
structures.
Rev. Moss, who is pastor of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, spoke at morning Bible studies on three days of the Congress, while Dr. Kinney, a Congress Co-chair, delivered both the Wednesday evening plenary address as well as Friday’s closing challenge. Rev. Moss contrasted the leadership styles of Moses and Joshua in the Old Testament to illustrate the need for new leadership in today's urban church. He then went on to demonstrate ways in which the church can reach out to the Hip-Hop culture of disaffected young men and women, and in so doing pass on ministry leadership to new generations.
Other plenary speakers included
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra of Clergy and
Laity United for Economic Justice
in Los Angeles; Dr. Young Lee
Hertig of the Institute for the Study
of Asian American Christianity; Dr.
Anthony Weston, professor of Philosophy
at Elon University; Dr.
Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit activist;
and Dr. Dave Frenchak, president of SCUPE. Stirring worship
and music were provided for each plenary session by
Donna Dinsmore of Vancouver, British Columbia, along
her excellent worship team.
In addition, the 2008 Congress on Urban Ministry featured over 50 workshop sessions on topics ranging from “Hip-Hop Culture,” to “Peace Making with Urban Youth.”
A particularly strong workshop track focused on the role of churches in working with prisoners and the formerly incarcerated. Other workshops focused on the practical skills needed for effective urban ministry: fund-raising, putting faith into civic participation, designing redemptive worship, and getting ministries started.
Afternoons at the Congress were
dominated by a new feature: the
Caucus for Action, led by Mary
Nelson, a Congress Co-chair.
On the first day, delegates
divided into regional groups to
trade ideas on “what is working
well” in their own churches and
communities. The following day,
they divided into groups based on particular urban issues and
pursued connections and resources to help one another’s
ongoing work. An overall success, the Caucuses were one
significant place that allowed delegates to speak and bring>
ideas to the forefront. Plans call for an ongoing
communications network to develop from connections made
through Caucus sessions.
More than 300 delegates from 34 states, plus four other countries, gathered for the 2008 Congress on Urban Ministry. Thirty-seven different church denominations were represented. As usual, the 2008 Congress on Urban Ministry provided delegates with an excellent opportunity to get together with urban ministers from their own locales and beyond. The many informal opportunities for resourcing and networking proved to be especially beneficial by everyone's estimation.
DVDs (of plenary sessions) and CDs (of all workshops) are now available from Dove Conference Services at www.dovecds.com/scupe. Just click SCUPE_2008 for a full catalog of all Congress sessions.
Plans will soon begin on the next Congress to be held in 2010.
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The Center for African American Theological Studies (CAATS) Celebrates its First Graduating Class
On May 28, 2008 the Center for
African American
Theological Studies (CAATS)
celebrated the commencement
of its first graduating class at a
service held at Trinity United
Church of Christ in Chicago.
The Post-Baccalaureate
celebration was an opportunity
for the Center to celebrate its accomplishments, as well as a
reunion of sorts for members of the steering committee,
faculty, and former directors all gathered to honor the
graduates.
The service was filled with
moving tributes to the
graduates and the Center’s
founding partners (Rev.
Jeremiah Wright, Dr. Dave
Frenchak and Dean John
Kinney). The Sanctuary Choir
of Trinity United Church of
Christ along with their dance
ministry provided the perfect accent for the event and for the
more than 200 people who gathered for the celebration. The
event was both spiritual and profoundly enlightening.
The Baccalaureate speaker for the evening was the Rev. John Jackson from the Trinity United Church of Christ in Gary, Indiana. Rev. Jackson, challenged the graduates to overcome the “crisis of compassion” plaguing many pastors and churches today. He admonished them not to settle for success but rather to strive for the greatness promised to all who serve the cause of our collective humanity. Rev. Jackson went on to implore the graduates to engage in the ministry of Jesus Christ by maintaining their commitment to serve “the least of these” in the great prophetic tradition of the Black church.
Each graduate was publicly acknowledged for completing the requirements for the Master of Divinity degree by Rev. Dr. Yvonne Delk. In her tribute to them Dr. Delk called the graduates by name and reminded them of both their genealogies and their commitment to ministry. Graduate Sharice Bradford gave the valedictory address and the event ended with a moving prayer by Dr. Ogbu Kalu who asked the attendees to pray for students, teachers, and resources.
For more information on the CAATS program, contact Sean McMillan, Program Director, at sean@scupe.com
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Black church, white church: What’s the difference?
Keys to moving from racial exclusion to cultural
affirmation
The recent political debates and
Obama-Wright-Pfleger
controversy have highlighted a
continuing gap in theological
education and in ministry perspectives.
The question of the day is “Are
black churches racist by their very
existence?” The question, though
reasonable, indicates a misunderstanding
of the definition and dynamics of racism and a lack of
knowledge of the history and origin of the African American
church.
Historically, the early Christian churches in America were mostly interracial and attended by both African and European members. However, the reason for this “integration” was to ensure that enslaved Africans in the South could be watched, monitored, and taught that slavery and obedience were God’s plan and will for them. Africans were commonly told by the Christian church leaders to remember Paul’s admonition that “slaves should obey their masters,” or that they were slaves because they are members of the cursed descendants of Noah’s son and therefore have been chosen to be a “servant class.” Thus the Christian church in America that was founded and controlled by Europeans was one that preached and practiced a theology which supported the domination of whites over blacks. It was a theology which blessed slave ships and “justified” the mistreatment and enslavement of African Americans. These early “integrated” or “multi-cultural” congregations had African American bodies in the pews, although they were forced to sit in the balconies or in the back of the church, but they did not allow Africans equal participation in the leadership and decision-making structures or positions within their churches and denominations.
In 1787, after attempts to go beyond the superficial relationship of “integrated congregations” which devalued the presence of African Americans, Richard Allen and other African American members decided to leave the “integrated” church in Philadelphia to create a “free space” for Africans to acknowledge and to plan for their own spiritual, emotional and physical needs. They subsequently established church spaces where African Americans could worship God and be in community with one another without the “overseer” environment they found in ‘integrated” or “multi-cultural” churches. This subsequently led to the establishment of African American churches such as the African Methodist Episcopal denomination in 1816. Similar events occurred within the Baptist denominations, leading to the creation of> the “Second Baptist Church” because they were the “second” Baptist churches founded in the city.
The key observation in looking at “white-led” churches versus “black-founded” churches is the difference in their purpose, orientation and targeted community of service. The primary distinction is that ethnic churches were not established to “fight against” but to “fight for” and to “build up” a people whom the larger American society--typically represented by white Americans and white churches--has tried to devalue. To ethnic populations, their religious spaces serve as places of healing, extended family support, community-building, and social networking.
Too often, white leaders and congregations have adapted a
“missionary” style which highlights the value of what they
have to bring to others instead of considering what these
groups have to offer them. As a result, white Christian
churches, while assuming their universality, have historically
been unwelcoming to persons of different cultural
backgrounds, particularly African Americans. The western
Christian church has elevated and maintained the cultural and
religious traditions, histories, values, ministry perspectives,
and worship styles of European Americans. Simultaneously, it
has ignored the worship styles, histories and traditions of
other cultural groups.
If congregations and denominations really want to move toward the creation of truly multi-cultural spaces, they should appoint and develop leaders from diverse cultures to serve as pastors, associate ministers, worship leaders, ministry leaders, and denominational leaders. Doing so would demonstrate a commitment to responding to a diverse community and its needs. It is only by creating a diverse leadership team, at all levels—board, pastoral, worship, and ministries—that any congregation can prepare and position itself to move toward true integration and multi-culturalism.
It is important to recognize the value and the role of these culture-based congregations. Likewise, it is a grave misunderstanding of these healing places to label the actions of these persons as “racist” or “reverse-racist.” Instead, we need to realize that this is the first step in healing for socially excluded or oppressed groups.
In conclusion, the real measure of our achievement of diversity is not our success in making congregations all look multi-cultural, but in our ability to create many different worship spaces that have the same welcoming spirit, but which do not compromise our commitment to justice. It is in the creation of worship spaces that affirm the uniqueness and the humanity of each person, that we truly share God’s gospel of love with others. Unless congregations realize that they need what diversity brings, efforts at multi-culturalism will continue to be symbolic and lack the feeling of inclusivity needed for growth.
By Cynthia R. Milsap, Director of the Nurturing the Call Program
Interested in Learning More about
Cross-Cultural Ministry?
Contact us at: urbanministry@scupe.com
or 312-725-1200. www.scupe.com
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A Culture of Violence
“Those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Jesus Christ
It is important, if we are to reduce and
heal the ugly epidemic of violence in our
cities, that we address violence as a
systemic social issue related to our
cultural addiction to power. In the
opening address, at the Congress on
Urban Ministry, I identified addiction as
the key principality and power informing
an analysis of the violent culture of the
United States. An understanding of the
nature of addiction, particularly the addition to power, is
essential for the church in the city if we are to effectively
address the product of our additive society- violence.
Addiction is a principality and power that does not respect social boundaries and therefore, without fail, produces violence. No where is there more evidence of the violent nature of our cultural addiction to power than in our cities and urban society.
We are an addictive culture. Evidence of our addition is all around us. We, as a country, spend more money on illegal drugs than on food, housing, clothes, education, medical care, or any other one product or service. Because of globalization illegal drugs have become the largest growth industry in the world. The annual revenues for illegal drugs is half a trillion dollars. Then there is our addiction to, prescribed drugs, over the counter drugs and legal drugs such as nicotine, caffeine and alcohol.
Less readily acknowledged, but equally destructive, are our process additions the likes of which include working, winning, perfectionism, celebrity information, making money, spending money, debt accumulation, pornography, getting notoriety, consumerism, sex, shopping, gambling, gaining power, etc... Each of us could most likely add to this list. Sadly, media often glamorizes addictive behavior with the corporate market exploiting for economic gain our process addictions and the entertainment industry, more times than not, blessing and elevating addictive behavior as normal.
We may not like to admit it but we are all affected. It is like an invisible plague that is visiting our society, a deadly virus that has infected the entire population. AA holds that addiction is “a progressive, false disease that destroys life.”
Understanding that our culture is diseased by both our substance and process addictions, allows us to appreciate that the driving force of our culture is a false belief that with the right fix we will find satisfaction, joy and happiness. Instead we find ourselves in deeper despair and both desperate and willing to go to whatever extent is needed to get our fix, a perfect environment for the cultivation of violence.
Our addiction to power allows us to recognize the connection between addiction and violence. We cannot have power addicts declaring and defending war in the name of democracy and not experience the consequences of violence in our everyday lives. Violence is evident in just about every one of our social systems and is occurring all around us; in our families, our schools, our neighborhoods, our cities, our country and our world. We have at the same time the highest homicidal rate of all western nations and an amazing passion for owning guns. Violent films are some of our most popular pastimes and violent video games crowd out the more innocent group play of previous generations for our children. We glorify power, war and violence as a means to well-being and security in our nation while at the same time peace, tranquility and safety in our cities are fast becoming illusions crowded out by violence at home, in community neighborhoods, and schools by the very systems that have been established to make us safe.
Our culture is sometimes referred to as a “rape culture” where one-fourth of our adult women claim to be victims of forcible rape some time in their lives, with the majority of them molestation during their childhood, usually repeatedly over extended periods.
As disciples of Christ how do we address the systemic challenge of violence? A recent magazine poll indicted that 82% of the population of the United States claims to be Christian.
As Christians it is time to remind ourselves how radical and non-violent the God of Christianity truly is.
When the guards came to arrest Jesus, the apostle Peter did what most of us would do in a culture of violence – he drew his sword in what was probably the most “just cause” for the use of violence in all of history. Jesus responded, not with approval but with strong disapproval, and with the power of prophetic imagination healed the wound of violence and prophetically proclaimed the centrality of love, even of one’s enemies. “Those that live by the sword will die by the sword,” Jesus said.
The story rightly serves to create theological dissonance for us Christians in the United States. There is no other nation taking up the sword with more zeal and recklessly wielding it around the world than our “Christian” country. Not only are we living by the sword we are selling more swords than any other country in the world while at the same time asking God to bless us. There is a theological dissonance between a culture addicted to power by the sword that produces a sickness unto violent death in our cities, and our Christian proclamation of a God who loves, even our enemies, beyond all measure.
If we are going to successfully address systemic violence in our cities with prophetic imagination, we too must be willing, at the risk of becoming a victim of violence, to do three things. First, clearly disapprove of violence as means to producing justice. Second, we must use prophetic imagination to bring healing to the victims of violence. Third, we must find our voice to proclaim a prophetic and .theological word of truth about God that disavows violence, for any cause. Violence, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, is in direct conflict with our God and we can be sure, no matter how well our intentions may be, God will not bless violence at the collective or personal level.
By Dave Frenchak, SCUPE President
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Special Opportunities for Seminary Students
Eco-Justice: A Vision for a Sustainable City
Instructor: Rev. Clare Butterfield and Sara Spoonheim
Course Schedule: October 3-4, 10-11, 17-18 (Fridays 1pm-
9 pm, Saturdays 9am-5pm)
Public Issues in Urban Ministry
Instructor: Dr. Ron Peters
Course Schedule: Nov. 7-8, 14-15, 21-22 (Fridays 1pm-
9pm; Saturdays 9am-5pm)
For more information, visit www.scupe.com or contact Dody Finch,
SCUPE’s Registrar, at 312-726-1200 or dody@scupe.com
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