IT BEGINS WITH THE MEMBERS’S FAITH
No pastor likes to think of conflict and division in the church, especially the one in which the pastor offers spiritual leadership. How can a pastor provide spiritual leadership for a congregation that is daily confronted with the racial tension in our society? Most Christians in mainline churches would agree that racism is contradicted by such major Christian affirmations like “loving your neighbor,” “turning the other cheek,” “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” and other affirmations in the Gospel. At the same time, most members are reluctant to enter into any behavior that might divide the congregation. What can a pastor do?
BEGIN WITH THE FAITH OF MEMBERS
I suggest using the story of the wilderness journey of the Israelites as a template for our Christian journey through this wilderness of racism and the divisions that are experienced in both local churches and the society at large. Begin with the basic doctrines of the faith that most members would affirm, at least in the abstract. Rather than challenging the membership, ask them in an email exchange to identify what they value about being part of the Christian community and also to name some of the basic affirmations of faith they see as central to the faith. (If interested, I can provide you with sample email formats.)
Allowing a couple of weeks to gather their responses, format a summary of what they have identified into a graph format, and share them through email beginning a congregational-wide conversation.
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION
Next, you identify a recent Barna Poll suggesting that two-thirds of active Christians and 44% of society believe that the Christian church should be involved in healing the racial tensions that are dividing our society. In South Africa, when they were concerned that the end of Apartheid might result in major experiences of societal violence, they engaged in a process known as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to assist in healing the tension in that society. Your church leadership is seeking to adapt that process and facilitate some multi-church conversations to demonstrate the healing power of the Gospel when we engage in some deep listening to each other.
WWJD
Having seen the graph, and recognizing your discipleship of Jesus, ask the membership to identify three or four affirmations that they believe Jesus would declare to them AND at least two results of such conversations they believe Jesus would affirm.
This is the beginning of a conversation drawn from your membership. You could move from there and ask how they think the basic affirmations that they have identified would suggest how they believe Jesus would want them to respond to the racial issues in your society.
INVOLVING SEVERAL CONGREGATIONS
If you would be willing to explore this possibility further with some other clergy and your congregation, I would invite you to contact me and allow me to share more details about this process. If the membership of the congregations knew that the graphed results were going to be shared with the other congregations, it might encourage them to put their best affirmations forward.
If several congregations, both Black and White, as well as mixed congregations were to participate, then the leadership could begin planning to implement an adaption of the Truth and Reconciliation format to exhibit an alternative to the tensions and even violence in our society. I would be pleased to provide you with some detailed suggestions for how to proceed.
