A few years ago the New York Times released an article called “A Quiet Exodus: Why Blacks are leaving white evangelical churches”. The article centers on the reality that black membership in predominantly white churches has increased steady for the last couple decades, that is, until recently. Starting in 2016 with the election of Donald Trump, Black congregants in white churches — as recounted by people in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Fort Worth and elsewhere — had already grown uneasy in recent years as they watched their white pastors fail to address racial injustice and law enforcement brutality of African-Americans.
Honestly, reading this article confused and concerned me. On the one hand I thought what about the history of white evangelical Christianity would make them think it values black bodies? The fact is evangelical devaluing of black bodies and minds is as American as apple pie. It was the evangelical Christianity of these lands that provided the ideological basis for the enslavement of Africans, the expansion of white supremacy, the justification for the confederate rebellion, the resistance to reconstruction, the acceptance of racial segregation laws and the dismissal of the black lives matter movement to stop anti-black violence and racism.
So given this history why would Blacks in predominantly white congregations be surprised by the silence of their church leaders? The answer has to be that they either don’t know this history or until now they didn’t see the need to make the connection. Whatever the case, I was confused and slightly amused by this.
Then on the other hand, the article left me feeling concerned. Mostly because I began to ponder the question what will these disappointed Black people of faith find if they choose to seek spiritual refuge in predominately Black congregations now? Will they find congregations committed to the liberation and defense of black humanity? Or will they find congregations too entrenched in their own body politics and internal conflict to care? Will they find leaders rooted in the pursuit of justice and the uplift of the most vulnerable? Or will they find ecclesiastical clout chaser more committed to building castles of self-acclaim than they are to building Christian community filled with the righteousness, joy and peace found in the reign-dom of God?
These things I wondered; and continue to wonder especially after recently reading another essay called “The Church’s Black Exodus” published by the Atlantic this month. In this article Dara T. Mathis argues that Black pastors’ silence on racism and COVID-19 is driving Black parishioners away from their congregations. The source of this exodus is dissatisfaction with congregations that offer a brand of faith that is disconnected from or unconcerned about the current events and social unrest of the times. According to the article, there is also an undercurrent of disappointment that the barometer of Christian faithfulness for some churches during the COVID pandemic has simply been consistent virtual attendance and monetary giving when there is so much more community engagement that needs to be done in this time.
My big takeaway from both of these articles is that ALL congregations (especially so-called Black, White and multi-racial ones) need to think seriously about how to respond to those within their communities who are demanding change and actively seeking ways to resist racial injustice, the ungodly presence of anti-black violence in our culture and help heal the communal harm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without question, many congregations have developed practices of preaching, worshipping and Christian educating that are very effective. But what too many have yet to do as effectively is connect their preaching, worshipping and disciple making to the work of bringing people together to build social power and create meaningful community change. And this work involves more than preaching a sermon series or offering virtual talk on “social justice ministry”. We need to be clear that the moment and the movement requires more than the bare minimum.
The good news is that we are in an electoral and socio-political season that is calling for churches to expand their public witness and get more involved in the work of community ORGANIZING and power building.
I believe one way churches can do this is by focusing more on Jesus a grassroots organizer. This requires understanding that the ministry of the historical Jesus was rooted in calling for the oppressed Palestinian Jews of his day to organize themselves and overcome the hostilities of the Greco Roman world. This is why we must start saying more that in addition to being a social prophet, wise sage, spiritual guide. In addition to being the lily in the valley, the bright and morning star. In addition to being the Messiah and the lamb that takes away the sins of the world. In addition to all of these things, Jesus in his historical ministry was a faith-based grassroots community organizer!
He was an organizer because his ministry was about spiritually empowering the least, the lost, and the most vulnerable of his society to catch the vision of a better way of living. He was an organizer because he offered this oppressed community the opportunity to join him in the freedom fighting work of making the vision of a better life a reality.
Jesus was an organizer because he recruited a team made up of underprivileged and overlooked young adults in need of guidance. Then he trained them for leadership. He was an organizer because he routinely had one on one conversations with people in the community about how the condition of their lives could be better. He was an organizer because he taught his people how to do a power analysis of their community and he modeled how to ask hard questions of those in positions of social power. He also uplifted the voices and humanity of the most vulnerable and publicly offered a better way to structure society and called for the coming of new order. As an organizer he participated in an act of civil disobedience in the temple to raise awareness about the corruption of the system. As an organizer he was arrested for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace of Rome. Subsequently he stood trial, was found guilty and was killed as a political revolutionary at the hands of an insecure empire.
After his death the movement he organized suffered a moment of defeat but the Spirit moved among the women of the movement to keep believing and keep supporting the work. And that same empire that killed Jesus eventually died but the movement Jesus organized is still multiplying today!
The time has come for churches and Christian leaders to fully embrace this element of the ministry of Jesus. To be sure, many congregations are already organizing even if’s only to within their congregation. There are congregations organizing people to build larger facilities, pay off mortgages and increase membership etc. All of which are understandable modern church organizing practices. But it’s far past time for churches to translate these internal organizing practices to its public witness and community engagement. And there are few better ways to do this than to organize people in this moment to vote.
Now let me be clear, when I say vote. I don’t mean churches should organize people to vote as an exercise in turning out voters for a political party. That’s too small and illegal a mission. When I say churches need to organize the vote, I mean turning out the vote has an exercise of holy uprising for the liberation of our oppressed people. When I say churches need to organize the vote I mean turning out the vote is has an exercise in communal self-love and power building, especially for Black and Brown people.
When I say churches need to organize the vote I mean seeing our civic engagement as an expression of our commitment to love our neighbor and ourselves. This is the church’s work in this moment!