April 2022 Newsletter

"I Understood the Assignment"

Reflections on the April 3, 2022 Liturgy
Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

by the Rev. Martin Rafanan

 

The Rev. Lamont Wells preaching on the topic "Understanding the Assignment"

Bishop Abraham Allende presiding at Communion

 

Amidst the flaming red paraments with their colors and emblems passionately communicating the Spirit's enthusiasm for empowering our lives and witness, we gathered as a synod at Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church to dream Dr. King’s dream and to commit ourselves to dreams of our own. With many young people in the congregation who would stay after the service for a conversation about race and repentance, The Rev. Lamont Wells, flanked by bishops Kusserow and Allende,  reminded us that we must “understand the assignment.”

The theme came straight from the annals of Instagram and TikTok and were not lost on the younger crowd. Tay Money’s playful meme “I Understood the Assignment” showcases the one who goes above and beyond the requirements, who gives 110 percent for the mission, whose demeanor and personal commitment demonstrate utter alignment with the values indicated.

Rev. Wells was quick to acknowledge that he often does not understand the assignment, that he had to be put in a position to learn it again and again. God, through the Spirit, continues a process of teaching us the assignment through prophetic witness and the encouragement to prophesy in our own lives. This is the model of baptismal covenant, a willingness to die to what takes us from our Godly assignment and to be resurrected to a fuller knowledge and practice of that assignment with the gift of our lives.

In Dr. King’s life and ministry, we see this pattern repeated, and on the night before his death, he prophesied powerfully that he had been to the mountaintop and had seen the promised land. Somehow, he knew that he might not get there with the gathered crowd, but that they would get there. He knew the assignment. He believed in the assignment. He was prepared for the outcome of the assignment. On the following day, an assassin’s bullet would strike him down, but that bullet could never strike down the assignment and its ongoing relevance for the movement and for each of our lives.

As we move into the celebration of Easter, understanding the assignment is more important than ever. As God moved in the life of Dr. King to keep him focused on nonviolence, the proclamation of love, and a radical commitment to justice and equity in the church and in the world, so our “assignment” remains unchanged.

We cannot celebrate Easter without fully reckoning with a war in Ukraine and violence in other parts of the world. We should not sit back and think that our own violent national policy in recent history does not have an impact on the war we see from afar today, nor should we think that the violence perpetrated in our own communities is somehow different from the broader violence we see in the world. In this Eastertide, we must reflect on the experience of "resurrection" in the midst of violence. How can we be true to our assignment? Dr. King said it best: “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

Understanding the assignment is to take on the legacy of Dr. King: active nonviolence in both practice and policy that admits a common commitment to peace in our families and on our own streets and communities, as well as peace in the broader international realm. It is to serve those in need and to administer life-giving support in the many venues in which God calls for our active prophecy and personal sacrifice. We must be constant learners. We must be constant doers. Our words must match our actions.

Of course, there is One who fully understood the assignment. Not only that, but this One fully understands us, and is by our side as we attempt to stay focused on the assignment in our lives. This One could not be constrained by perceived failure, or injustice, or death. Understanding the assignment means paying constant attention to the life and witness of Jesus, calling on him for forgiveness, strength and courage. He willingly and purposefully accepted death on our behalf rather than to continue a pattern of human violence and human commitment to dominance at all costs. He purposefully opened his heart and life to all people rather than to accept the social, political and religious realities that oppress fellow human beings and promote inequity. He understood the assignment and in response, God raised him from the dead, granting him a final victory over the forces arrayed against Life and Love, a victory that is shared in the lives of all humanity by faith.

Do you want to “understand the assignment?” Join the Authentic Diversity and Justice team in the synod. Continue to learn and practice anti-racism. Be a part of developing training programs, listening to communities who are different from us, and staying committed to the work for justice and equity in our church, our communities and our world.

Many thanks to the good people and leadership of Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church who provided such a loving and gracious setting for the Dr. King Commemoration.

Watch a recording of the April 3 service on YouTube - the Gospel reading and sermon begin at the 30:30 mark.

"Ecumenism, Alliances, and Social Justice"

Last month, AD&J Chair Rev. Ryan Pusch joined Rev. Renee Mikell (UMC) on the "Meet in the Middle" podcast to discuss the value of ecumenism and the benefit of a collaborative approach to social justice issues. Listen here.

Exploring Reparations with Bethel AME Church

by Sue Gaugler

 

Demolition of Bethel AME Church's building in the Hill District began in 1957.

 

When people discuss issues surrounding racial justice, the topic “reparations” arises more frequently lately. What is meant by reparations? For most White Americans the term probably conjures up wide-scale, past injustices that we weren’t involved in and therefore, needn’t address.

St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Shadyside, has recently discovered that reparations work can be accomplished right here and now in our back yard.

Pastor Martin Rafanan, a member at St. Andrew, learned the story of Bethel AME in the Hill District of Pittsburgh after meeting the Rev. Dr. Dale Snyder of Bethel. Pastor Martin asked the St. Andrew Community Ministry committee if we would like to learn about Bethel’s efforts to seek reparations for the loss of their church and congregation during the 1950’s push for “urban renewal” in the Hill.

Bethel AME was a 3000+ member church established in 1808. Their Hill District building held 1,900 people for worship services and other events. Bethel was a stop on the Underground Railroad and also welcomed Black people moving from the South during the years of the Great Migration. Bethel held classes for both children and adults, teaching all to read and write at a time when Black children were not allowed to attend Pittsburgh schools. In short, it was hugely important to the growing, thriving Black community that surrounded it.

In 1955, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) began planning to tear out the Hill District, including Bethel’s building. Though the area was home to a vibrant arts and music scene, not to mention scores of Black-owned business and homes, city council member George Evans wrote that there would be “no social loss if they were all destroyed.” Demolition of this beloved church home began in 1957 to make way for construction of the Civic Arena.

A neighboring White church was spared.

Eventually the congregation was able to build a much smaller building, though it was located in a different neighborhood that made travel too difficult for many of the former members. The new building could only hold a fraction of the former membership. In addition to the loss of their land and building, the church has lost the huge offerings that would have accrued from 3,000 members over 60 years.

Bethel is now seeking reparations. They are working with the Penguins, URA and city of Pittsburgh. They want their land returned (currently in the middle of an empty former parking lot). They are asking for the rights to develop their land in ways that will benefit Pittsburgh’s Black community.

How do we fit in?

Pastor Ross Carmichael and member Sue Gaugler have joined a team that is telling Bethel’s story to Christian churches around Pittsburgh. We have based discussions around the book Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair by Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson. We have come to understand that “reparations” is not a foreign concept in Christianity.

Reparations are evident in the story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan was not responsible for the injuries and robbery of the man he found by the side of the road, yet he took on the task of seeing that the man was treated and made whole. Whether or not we are responsible for injustice to others, God calls us to help heal injustice when we find it.

Reparations are the work of repair. We seek to repair wrongs and repair relationships. Reparations do not only mean that governments should “pay back” the ancestors of those who were robbed of their freedom by enslavement many years ago.

Kwon and Thompson write that “reparations are both local and relational.” In the case of Bethel AME, Pittsburgh, we are finding that to be true. A mere 3 miles down Centre Avenue from St. Andrew we arrive at the site of Bethel’s destruction. These wrongs happened in our area. We can build relationships with the very people who were wronged by the loss of their church and community. We can hear their stories…stories we have not been taught.

We can try to become truly “people of repair” together. That is our hope as we develop our relationship with Bethel AME in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

To learn how to become involved, contact Sue Gaugler at president@standrewpittsburgh.org.

Further Resources

Images of Bethel AME with annotated history of Urban Development and development of Lower Hill

Video about how Pittsburgh’s Hill District became one of the leading contributors to the legacy of jazz in America

Racial Justice Training Opportunities

Region 8’s Racial Justice Training equips leaders (rostered and lay) to face the challenges of racism in a diverse, complex and changing world by providing tools and resources that foster healthy and holy conversations.

Each training includes a combination of instruction and small group conversation. Facilitators will represent the region to the extent possible, spearheaded by the Rev. Carla Christopher Wilson. 

For additional dates, more information, and registration, click here.

Online Training - Register here

  • Friday, May 13, 2022, 12pm-5pm

In Person Training at Lutherlyn for Rostered Ministers

Now is the Time study with EDLARJ

Join the European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice (EDLARJ) for a five-part study/series on "Now is the Time: A Study Guide for ELCA Declaration to People of African Descent". Meetings will be held via Zoom on Thursdays between April 28 - June 2 (not meeting on May 19) from noon-2pm EDT. Register here.

Pittsburgh Opera - "Blue"

The Pittsburgh Opera is producing an opera later this month at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center that highlights themes of racial justice and religious support. Blue will be performed on April 23, 26, 28, 29, and May 1.

SWPA Synod ELCA