August 2021 Newsletter
Interview with W. Roger Randolph III
by Rev. Jocelyn Johnston
W. Roger Randolph III is a third-year student at United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he is pursuing a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Black Church Studies. He is a Candidate for ordination to the Roster of Word and Sacrament (pastor) in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA. He currently serves as Vicar at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Arlington, Massachusetts. He is also a Chaplain Candidate in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, serving with the 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment. From Pittsburgh, Roger is a 2019 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering with a Minor in Africana Studies. He is a member of First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Pittsburgh. His hobbies include backpacking, cycling, skiing, and listening to NPR way too much.
W. Roger Randolph III’s views are his own and do not in any way represent the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, the United States Army, or the Department of Defense.
Tell us about your call story.
As a child, those at my mother’s Roman Catholic parish told me I seemed destined for the priesthood, and at my father’s Baptist church they would tell me I should preach. I always dismissed those comments, thinking that life in the clergy was impractical. When I became a Lutheran in 2012 as a freshman in High School (a very long story in itself!) I began to feel a calling to serve God as a pastor. My pastors David Gleason and Gordon Ray counseled me to take a deep breath, take my time, and allow God to guide and work in my life as I went to college. At that time I resolved that “if I still feel this calling when I’m older then I will pursue it”. Years later, as a senior in college studying Industrial Engineering, my pastor Jennifer McCurry introduced me to a visitor at church as “someone [she feels] might be called to seminary”. In that moment, all of those times in my life that God was speaking through those around me came to mind and I realized she might be right! Over the next year, I left space to pray and discern where God was calling me to serve. When I cut out all the noise, it became clear that serving God in this capacity was my calling.
Share about the challenges or tensions that might exist in your different roles, such as serving in the military and working for justice as a person of color, and any others that come to mind.
I have not necessarily experienced what I would call challenges and tensions, but more so dialogue between multiple worlds. The work I do in the Army, the Church, and my stint in the hospital during CPE have supported each other. I have done work in racial reconciliation with the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, and the ELCA that has in many ways has centered around story. My time in the Army has placed me around people from all walks of life, many of whom I would never have met otherwise and that I have built lifelong friendships with. That has equipped my reconciliation work in the Church because it has given me insight. What deeper upbringing and reality informs the views and beliefs of those who don’t look like me, or are from a different place, or are much older than I am? What stories or perspectives might they have never heard? What perspectives have I never considered? Applying these insights in my work in the Church has better equipped me for the challenging conversations I have had with Soldiers in light of all that has gone on in this country over the last 18 months. Visiting those serving people in need during the pandemic, or responding to those on the front lines as civil unrest takes place, requires a solid theological basis and understanding of people. My schoolwork, preaching, and service have all contributed to each other’s growth, with much more cohesion than tension. I pray it continues to be that way.
Share about being a candidate for ministry in a denomination, and especially a synod, with so few clergy of color. Do you have leaders who have mentored you along the way?
The circumstance you described was a large contributing factor in me choosing to attend ULS in Philadelphia, particularly the Black Church Studies concentration within the Urban Theological Institute (UTI). ULS is a seminary with students from (at least a few years ago) 27 denominations. I have been guided and mentored by Black clergy, from the ELCA and beyond. I have also found the mutual support of peers and colleagues as they navigate their seminary tenures and the beginning of their professional ministry. These mentors and peers have provided me with wise counsel, prayerful discernment, and a sense of community. This has been life-giving, because in many ELCA spaces I am the only Black man.
How do you hope to see the ELCA as a denomination, and on the synodical and congregational levels, move forward in working for justice and authentic diversity?
A critical thing that I hope to see the ELCA more fully live into is an understanding of meaningful action towards economic justice regarding African-Descent congregations. Yes, we are congregational in many ways, and yes, congregations should finance themselves if they can, but there are deeper issues at hand. Since being in seminary I have seen congregations with a handful of very wealthy members who only show up for the Sunday assembly but do no tangible or concrete ministry in their community, but they have brand-new, ornate, state of the art everything and full-time clergy. At the same time, I have seen predominantly-Black congregations with one hundred members who are also involved a dozens of community-serving ministries as well as programs for youth who are struggling to upkeep their building, pay even a part-time pastor to guidelines, or really continue to exist. For the upcoming 2021-2022 school year, ULS had zero African Descent congregations participate in the internship matching process, and a major part of that was not being able to financially support a full-time intern. These issues affect individuals as well: it is harder for Black high school and college graduates to afford to pay for YAGM, to afford to work for lower wages at summer camps, and to afford to set aside time or relocate to attend seminary.
A part of the legacy of race and racism in the United States is that the median family wealth in 2019 was $188,200 for white families and $24,100 for Black families. For us, as a denomination, the solution really should not be driving predominantly-Black congregations into debt. The solution especially should not be having those congregations be in debt to synods or churchwide. A significant part of the solution should be, as synods and churchwide, financially supporting places where ministry is fertile but funds may be barren. Supporting Black lay leaders, seminarians, rostered leaders, and ultimately congregations will create space for their unique witness and vision to Christ’s Church. In many ways, this vision and witness has been limited without this needed help.
In memoriam
We join in mourning the death of ELCA Vice President William "Bill" Horne. Bill was the Churchwide Representative present at our SWPA Synod Assembly in 2019. Read more about Bill's work in the ELCA here, and about his role as City Manager of Clearwater, Florida, here. Rest eternal grant him, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon him.
Call to action
The news out of Afghanistan has been heartbreaking. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS) is working to help resettle Afghan allies who assisted US troops, diplomats, and government employees over the past two decades. Find more information about making a donation, volunteering, and providing advocacy here.
A devastating earthquake struck Haiti on August 14. The death toll is high, and expected to grow further, and recovery efforts were stalled because of Tropical Storm Grace. Learn more and give to relief efforts through Lutheran Disaster Response here.