Rev. Amantha Barbee. Race and Reconciliation

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1 Rev. Amantha Barbee Race and Reconciliation The message that Rev Barbee wanted to convey was that we are in this world together, and we need to understand where we came from and why things have happened the way they have. We need to understand history, or we will repeat it. Sometimes history gets repeated even when we do understand it. We need to understand that whites (aka non-minorities) have privileges that minorities do not - - even when economics are taken out of the equation. Along with these high points, we need to understand the foundations of the problem, and recognize that slavery still exists in America in our penal system. With a disproportionate number of inmates being African-American, and the penal system using inmate labor to do work - - sometimes hard labor type work - - in essence, slavery still exists. Police control those not sent to prison by the fear of being shot (even when no crime is involved) or being sent to prison. As a society, we must look at the reality of the situation. This system was set up by white people, and white people have the opportunity to fix it, as whites are still in power. The PCUSA can be a big help because while we may not be the biggest denomination, we are among the richest. Rev. Barbee said that when she finished her talk, she thought, OK, that s step one of a thousand more. She wondered how well it was received, and sad that she had to give the talk. She did say that the feedback she received from the group was very positive. And we need to keep that going! When asked how the Synod could help, she replied that we need to keep pushing MANDATORY nonbiased training for all church leaders - - teaching elders, ruling elders and deacons. We have to be prepared to lead. She also said we need to be aware of all the goings-on in Washington, DC. When we see racism and hatred, speak up about it. Silence in the face of hatred is tantamount to condoning it. Rev. Barbee is continuing to take her message out, and is currently on the planning team for the Service and Leadership Training event to be held in November.

2 Rev. Antonio Lawrence Young Adult Ministry Reverend Antonio Lawrence, Pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in Goldsboro, NC, served as one of nine presenters at the 239 th synod assembly and offered a sermon titled The Courage to See again, a challenge to the synod to see, believe and hope again. His presentation focused on what it is like to be a Young Adult Presbyterian in Leadership. He provided personal reflections around where black leadership has been and where it is going. As a result, it gave an opportunity to open up a conversation around what effective leadership looks like in the Presbyterian Church and why it is critical in the Black Presbyterian Church. Overall, his conversation with assembly posed a question of what are we really to take the risk for in our life and ministry. Rev. Lawrence visualizes the synod becoming a partner with Young Adult Ministries and in doing so, beginning with their development in seminary; making a significant investment in them so that they profit in becoming better. Important questions that he wants all of us to ask are, How do we connect young pastors and seminarians to communities or to pastors who want to see them in the call that they are working on? How do we maximize the leadership that we have and develop young leadership? He emphasizes that the guard is changing and we must develop the people. It was important to Rev. Lawrence not to speak from shock value but from a pastoral approach, as someone doing pastoral work in the community. He felt well received and sensed that attendees were reflective and enthusiastic because they were able to put a face with a piece of the church. Further conversation ensued around contextual ministry, specifically questioning what your context looks like how are you thriving in a church in a location where you are not the dominant culture in a dominant space in the city. He stresses with equal importance the ability to blend while not losing your identity and showing excitement as you are as a church while still knowing what needs to be done for the future life of the church. For future presentations, Rev. Lawrence thought it would prove important for the assembly to discuss What does the church look like in difficult times? Being the church in difficult times is the conversation that needs to be had as a denomination and he encourages the synod to reach out to Denise Anderson, Dianne Moffet, Tore Marshall/Eustacia Marshall (Winston Salem) and Hodari Williams (Atlanta) as he feels that they are the next wave that will carry the church into the future and because they are also Presbyterian Pastors whose churches are growing with a presence in the community and who are also ministers who can preach and work across the lines.

3 Rev. Gun Ho Lee Organizing Pastor of Korean Presbyterian Fellowship of Greenville & Associate for Multicultural Ministries of New Hope Presbytery March 2017, Mid-Atlantic Synod Gathering Speech Toni Morrison said, In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate. From this sad reality of racial division arises an important question: what is really involved in doing God s mission in the US and the world over in the age of migration? My answer to this question, based on my own experience of migrant living in the US for a quarter century, is inclusion of all people of God into our ministry and its corollary, namely, hyphenation and hybridity of our self-understandings in the contested space of intercultural encounter. My contention is that immigrant ministries include intercultural ministries which are full of intentional and unintentional mistakes and misunderstandings. Whether old or new, immigrant ministries should be regarded not as specialized and segregated ministries but as ministries that integrate our diverse cultures and touch our deep feelings. It is not easy but necessary for the church to be an intercultural community in order to show the way of life together with differences to the world where inter-relations among diverse people are skindeep. We are living in the political era that aims to make America great again. According to the recent remark of an Iowa congressman, the Great America to be restored is an America that s just so homogeneous that we look a lot the same. This type of America is a segregated America. There is no light in this Dark America that excludes the other. Anne Frank, whose immigrant visa application was denied by the US government, said, Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness. Where can we find this kind of light in our midst when the church fails to live up to its calling to be the light of the world (Matt. 5:14-16)? The darkness that now engulfs us is xenophobia, fear and hatred of anyone or anything that is strange or foreign. Xenophobia is universal but not necessarily natural. It is socially taught and learned as Nelson Mandela reminds us. In contrast, God the Good Teacher has taught us to respect and love the other, that is, xenophilia. Biblically speaking, xenophilia is not only a love imperative but also a love indicative. God loves the other (Deuteronomy 10:18-19). God s xenophilia crosses the boundary between our fellow citizens and aliens residing with us, documented or undocumented, and there is no difference between them as the object of our love (Leviticus 19: 18b, 19:34). God condemns xenophobia (Deuteronomy 27:18). Missionally speaking, we are called not only to go ourselves as God-sent, but also to welcome others as God-sent. As Kosuke Koyama puts it, we are sandwiched between Christ s saving reality and [our] neighbor s other-than-myself reality. God arranges our living together with differences here and now. So we should welcome all and learn together about what really matters to God. No doubt, our congregations believe that they are welcoming communities. In a sense, it is true. But there is a problem we are often reluctant to address. As Eric Law puts it, We narrow the margin between our fear zone and our safe zone and leave little room to extend our boundary to include another who might not look or act like us. (Eric H. F. Law, Inclusion: Making Room for Grace, 35.) What Christ asks us to do is to create and expand what Eric Law calls the grace margin where diverse points of view and cultural understandings are valued and respected. It is my prayer that the Mid-Atlantic Synod should take the initiative of creating the grace margin of immigrant and intercultural ministries by establishing a synod-wide network. Through the work of this network, each presbytery could create concomitantly its own grace margin.

4 Reverend Jimmie Hawkins Office of Public Witness (PCUSA) Synod of the Mid-Atlantic Ted Talk: Racial Reconciliation (March 17, 2017) The issue of racial reconciliation is pertinent to the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic as it is comprised of four historical African American presbyteries and one synod: Catawba, Cape Fear, Yadkin, and Southern Virginia - Catawba Synod as well as the Atlantic Korean American Presbytery (AKAP), a non-geographical presbytery. A challenge this synod has put before itself is to be ever learning to recognize our diversity as our strength. To speak of racial reconciliation in 2017 is indeed a daunting challenge. Racial discussions are perhaps the most emotionally challenging conversations to occur, especially between people of different ethnicities and races. Primarily because people have so many different perceptions as to the racial climate. Racial reconciliation is the goal, the question always remains how and by whom. So what do we do? How do we work to effectively bring about Racial Reconciliation? 1. Each one needs to understand how racism has impacted me personally. We begin by studying our own history. It would help to write down our story and ask the question, what did I leave out and why? What are my racial blind spots? What don t I want to know about my background, my family, myself? How self-aware am I to my own racism? 2. Second, address issues specific to your community and prescribe local prescriptions to specific racial issues. 3. Third, open up old racial wounds that have not healed in order that healing may really occur. Establish working groups in your local community to address issues of race openly, opening old racial wounds to be dealt with and acknowledged openly. 4. Fourth, challenge your church to make racial reconciliation one of its long-term priorities. Establish a Racial Reconciliation Committee as well as a Social Justice Committee. Become acquainted with the social witness policy statements of the PU(USA). 5. Fifthly, diversify your friends, colleagues and acquaintances by incorporating a diverse group of people into your personal space. 6. Sixth, let your faith inform your politics and not your politics inform your faith. The church is indeed neutral ground and should not be identified as politically partisan. Partnership Opportunities: There are several ways that the Office of Public Witness can partner with the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic. We host opportunities for advocacy training on several occasions. On April 20-23, 2018 CPJ Training Day and Ecumenical Training Days will occur in Washington DC. We will sponsor Youth Advocacy Training in the summer and clergy Advocacy Training in the Fall. We are also willing to come to local congregations to lead training events. We have a manual on local grassroots advocacy we can share and train synod members. We have a staff of three who are willing to come and talk about the work of the OPW pertaining to both domestic and international issues. We are willing to partner with experts within your synod to produce papers and statements on specific justice issues as well as those in partnership with the leadership of your synod. 1

5 Mawuna Gardesey New Immigrant Ministries Immigrants are just like you except when we re are not! Most people who are transported into an alien environment will feel vulnerable. If you feel vulnerable, the first thing you want to do is to find a way to neutralize the threat that is making you vulnerable. Once the threat is neutralized, you want to create a secure environment. A supportive environment. A community. Most immigrants go through something similar when they arrive in a new country. Abram did that when God asked him to leave the familiarity and security of his country, his people and his father s house and to journey into a foreign country. As an immigrant, Abram chose a novel way to neutralize what he perceived as threats in the environment. He offered his beautiful wife to the king of the land! Hans Selye, in his book Stress Without Distress, coined the phrase altruistic egotism - I will be good to you not because it is a good thing to do but because if I m good to you then you will not hurt me. Immigrants are different Immigrants are different in how they go about neutralizing the threat because they grew up in a different culture; they are not different in their need to be safe and secure. Once the threat is neutralized, they will move on to creating a secure environment - a supportive environment. A community. Building the community has been the focus of our work at Olivet The goal is to create a supportive environment; an environment where the members of our congregation feel at home. We draw heavily on their native culture. It has been said that as much as 80% of what we do in church is cultural. Examples are celebrations for such occasions as births, marriages, deaths and holidays. There is a strong music tradition that runs through all these celebrations. Not surprisingly music is a very important part of our ministry. We chose the name Olivet for precisely that reason. We believe that strong, triumphant praise ought to constantly flow out of the sanctuary. Our services are 2 hours long and about third of that is devoted to singing and prayer. There will not be a sermon on Sunday. Instead, we will have a conversation about the changing immigration environment. The conversation will revolve around what to do when a family member, or a caregiver is picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. What preparations need to be in place? I don t know where that conversation will lead us, but I can sense the fear, the vulnerability and I know that the community needs to create a safe environment to share those fears. The community needs to demonstrate support. 1

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