Confirm: Community Survival

By Marilyn E. Thornton

Confirm: Your Faith /Your Commitment / God’s Call is the official curriculum for the confirmation of faith for young people in The United Methodist Church. Why is there a need for the Confirm director and leadership in an African American church to adapt the lessons for their youth? As lifted up in the Director’s Guide, it is important to develop a “coming of age” perspective that represents the experience of the ethnic group that is being served (page 26). The writer, Tonya Lawrence, notes that “the church community played a significant role in the development of its young people, particularly African Americans who had to rely on faith in order to endure some of the most challenging experiences in United States history” (page 27). Confirmation in black churches must “help young people develop a level of consciousness that [will] allow them to function in and out of different contexts” (page 26).

As there are experiences that are unique to black persons—cultural and historical—in shaping a unique perspective, confirmation in black churches must continue to seek to “empower the individual to value oneself while living in a society that does not” (page 27). Confirmation is a rite of passage. Rites of passage must help young people to negotiate the questions “Who am I?” and “How do I maneuver [in]society so that I can find where I fit in” (page 34)? Additionally, results of Christian confirmation should strengthen one’s faith, draw a person closer to Christ, increase effectiveness of spiritual gifts and make a person an effective witness for Jesus Christ (page 35).

Black United Methodist churches have had different experiences and young people therein face a different reality in a denomination that is 94% Anglo or white, even as the United States population is 64% white.In the 21st century, black people within the United Methodist Church have become even more of a minority. Between 2001-2009, 226 black churches were closed.By 2016, an additional 60 churches were closed with a possible 60 more on schedule to be closed in coming years.1The leadership in black United Methodist churches must be intentional about providing confirmation programs. In the processthey should consider some of these factors.

  1. While the majority of flourishing black United Methodist churches have remained “in the hood,” whether in urban settings or somewhat rural/small town settings, a significant part of its membership is upwardly mobile and for the past 3-4 decades has been living in communities wherein the children in those families are often quite the minority in the neighborhood, at school and in social life.
  2. Black children who are distinct minorities in educational settings can have experiences that are detrimental to their self-esteem and self-image. (Some of these factors are also true in schools serving communities of color.):
  3. Black children are suspended and expelled more often.They are assumed guilty when something goes wrong.
  4. Dark-skinned children suffer these effects even more often.
  5. They must use resources that do not reflect anything positive about black people, that always portray people of color as being “less than” and/or in the minority.
  6. They are often singled out for commentary to speak on behalf of all black people.
  7. Black children in majority white settings are often accused by other black people of “trying to be White” or “not being Black enough.”
  8. These families have stayed with churches “in the hood” as a commitment to the history, foundation, and future of the church and to those communities which often continue to struggle. In the 21stcentury many of these neighborhoods are experiencing gentrification. Traditionally black neighborhoods are being discovered by people of means who want to live close to the urban center but don’t like church folk taking “their” parking spaces on Sundays and meeting nights, who don’t want the clientele of certain ministries in close proximity to their newly updated homes. Their presence drives up property taxes and real estate value, making it unaffordable for many of the black people who have continued to live there.
  9. Because of the economic mobility of the families who have moved out, often the only time their young people experience being in the majority and being among young people whose parents or grandparents have similar ethnic and spiritual backgrounds is when they come to and participate in church.
  10. Young people in black United Methodist churches are also a definitive minority when participating in conference activities. At large gatherings, they may be the “token.” The worship experience may not reflect what happens in their home churches or if included it is featured on display, subjected to the normative white gaze as “other.”
  11. While “respectability politics” (keep your head down, don’t make waves, get a job, don’t sag your pants, straighten your hair, go to church and so on) has a stronghold among upwardly mobile black people of any denomination, reality has set in; that none of this keeps a black person safe from the ideology (religion) of white supremacy that even the study of the history of The United Methodist Church will expose. You may live in a gated community, you may have 2-3 degrees, you may have a license to bear arms, you may be on your way to a new job, you may have perfect enunciation,you may be the President of the United States, you may simply be going to class; none of this will save you from expressions of white racism against your personhood in America.
  12. White racism is not marginal; it is seminal to American identity and the United Methodist Church, as they will learn, is a radically American church. What does that mean for a black United Methodist? The question is not only “Can you be both Black and Christian?” It is “Can you be both Black and United Methodist?”

The very first lesson in the teaching plan module forConfirm is entitled “Traveling Together.” Its goal is to help participants begin to understand what it means to be part of a particular confirmation community and how to begin on a path to perfection in Christ by following the Wesleyan way. In the “Connect” section, the activity is Community Survival. While the activity is generic, engaging and interactive regardless of ethnicity and socio/economic/political status, a perspective on community survival for African Americans and the Black Church is one that should frame the next section “Explore” and continue to be interpolated wherever possible and appropriate throughout the curriculum.

For black people, any more than for the ancient Hebrews, immigrants, or any group on the margins, community survival is not a game. You may have all the tools (times ten) required by the 94% (or 64%) and still “have to work twice as hard to get half as far.” Because confirmation is a rite of passage that helps young people transition from being baby Christians to being more mature Christians who are committed to growing in their faith,young people in black United Methodist churches need to be able to hear and discuss a point of view that will enable them gain the tools that will empower them to cope with challenges against their humanity.

The “Explore” section of Lesson 1 uses two principal biblical personalities, Samuel and Moses, to explore emotions. After the introduction by the leader, the class is then to divide into teams, read the assigned Bible verses and discuss the emotions experienced by these two personalities.From an African American perspective, the liberator Moses is a perfect biblical example. The ancestors put his story in song “Go Down, Moses”; Harriet Tubman is nicknamed “The Black Moses.” His story speaks to God’s power to liberate and deliver, resonating deeply with a people whom God delivered from chattel slavery. However, the introduction for Moses leaves out a few critical details. After giving information about Moses’ birth (Exodus 2:1-10) it reads, “When Moses was an adult, he let his anger get out of control and he killed an Egyptian slave-driver. As a result, Moses became a fugitive and was hiding out in the desert living with a shepherd priest and his family” (page 13).

What is missing are the circumstances for Moses’ predicament (Exodus 2:11-17):

1. Before losing his temper, Moses had left the palace and been walking among the people of his birth, Hebrews (not yet considered Jewish), slaves working in the fields.

2.In doing so, he came upon an Egyptian slave-driver who was abusing—that is—“beating a Hebrew.” He kills the slave-driver.

3.The next day, when Moses admonishes two other Hebrews who are arguing, he finds that while he has come to an awakening of his Hebrew identity, other Hebrews have yet to find solidarity with him.

4.Moses then becomesafraid of being ratted out by his own, which is exactly what must have happened because when Pharaoh heard of it, he sought Moses’ life. That’s why and when Moses ran.

It may be that for black churches, Moses should be the only personality studied at this time. In addition to “picking up on Moses’ journey after he had been living in the desert,” one group could utilize the suggested verses (Exodus 3:1-14 and 45:1-5, 10-16) while the other concentrates on Exodus 2:11-17. They will both still deal with the emotions felt prior to an unwanted journey. However, the 11-17 passage will make a connection not only with black history as experienced in the United States but with some of the contemporary experiences of black people in everyday life.

W. E. B. DuBois coined the phrase “double-consciousness,” describing the feelings that most black people have; the love and loyalty to a country that does not love and is not loyal to them.2Just as Jesus is fully human and fully divine, African Americans are fully American and fully Black (no matter the skin tone or economic status). We are aware that we have a two-fold identity. We are doubly conscious. Though Moses lived in the palace and was raised in Egyptian ways, as he walked “in the hood,” he became aware of his ethnicity, gaining a double-consciousness that he had never encountered. Rather than turning his head and siding with the slave-driver and the system that would back him up (slave was being lazy,had the wrong attitude, I feared for my life, I just neededto beat up on somebody today), Moses felt empathy for the Hebrew who was being mistreated. His eyes were opened. Today’s activists might call it becoming WOKE!

Upon becoming conscious of the condition under which his fellow Hebrews were living, Moses became angry. Jesus became angry when he saw how the poor were being exploited economically in the Temple which was supposed to be a House of Prayer for all people (Matthew 21:12-13).James Baldwin said, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.”3Moses did not just “let his anger get out of control” for no reason! He flew into a rage because he became aware of how desperately his people were being plundered (as Ta-Nehisi Coates might put it). Moses also realized that because of his life situation and its benefits, other Hebrews did not trust him.(Maybe he wasn’t Hebrew enough.)By putting the story in this context, there will be additional questions to be explored, such as:

  1. How do young people feel when they live in majority white communities six days a week and leave “the palace” to go to a black church “in the hood” on Sunday?
  2. How do young people who continue to live in the neighborhood of the church feel about those who are coming “from the palace.” (For the leader: Are there any young people from the neighborhood participating in Confirmation or any church activities? And if so, how are all the young people being incorporated into one community? How are they finding solidarity with one another?)
  3. What do you know about slavery in the United States and how is it being taught in your school? Who are the family heroes of liberation and what is the church history in relationship to the Moses story? (See Addendum.)
  4. When was a time that you felt distinctly Black? Was it a positive event or a negative one? What emotions did it provoke?
  5. When you find yourself in a situation of injustice and you believe or know that it is because you are Black, you will be angry. How can you turn your anger into a positive? How do you allow the Holy Spirit to guide your words and actions?

“Confirmation offers a special community where intentional nurturing and faith formation can occur” (Director’s Guide, page 45). “The church itself is a means of grace in the lives of children growing up within it; it is an instrument needed for the shaping of Christians” (page 51). Confirmation offers an opportunity to allow children to grow into whole persons in Christ, to honor God, who made them as they are with a particular culture and history. Their spiritual training must take into account the strengths and struggles of their ethnicity and background, as well as their present circumstance, helping to shape them for fruitful living in the world they must face. In a world that often seems bent of destroying black community in any shape, form or fashion, community survival rests in young people knowing themselves as God knows them as they grow into faithful disciples who can be instruments in helping to transform the world into the vision of Christ.

Sources/References

1 Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, report by Executive Director Rev. Fred A. Allen.

2 The Souls of Black Folk. W.E.B. DuBois. New York: Dover Publications, 1994.

3 “The Negro in American Culture,” James Baldwin. Cross Currents, XI (1961), p. 205.

4 Between the World and Me. Ta-Nehisi Coates.New York:Spiegel & Grau, 2015.

Addendum

There are many churches and personalities that participated in the liberation and survival of black people. There are churches that survived burnings and others acts of hatred. An assignment would be to have young people learn about these stories and share them. There may be family members who were local heroes and heroines.This list gives an idea of what they should look for.

  1. Churches
  2. Mt. Zoar UMC, Philadelphia, PA: First black congregation in the Methodist Episcopal connection. After leaving St. George’s these people chose to remain in the ME Church rather than to become part of the newly formed AME Church.
  3. Mt Zion UMC and cemetery, Washington, D.C.: Situated in Georgetown, this oldest black DC congregation has felt the full effects of gentrification for sixty years. The cemetery has a brick structure built into the side of a hill, where corpses were stored during winter and where escaping slaves hid. They would go down the hill to Rock Creek which would lead them to the Potomac River, north into free territory.
  4. Calvary UMC, Cincinnati, OH: Church contains secret halls and rooms where escaping slaves could hide.
  5. Clark Memorial UMC, Nashville, TN: Site for direct action training workshops for students participating in the Civil Rights Movement.
  6. People
  7. Matthew Walker (Nashville): freedom rider
  8. Theressa Hoover (Arkansas): human rights activist
  9. James Lawson (Nashville +): Civil Rights strategist
  10. Joseph Lowery (Alabama): Civil Rights leader

Bio

Marilyn E. Thornton (B. Music History, Howard University, Master in Violin, Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, M. Div., Vanderbilt) is an elder in full connection in the Tennessee Conference of The United Methodist Church. An accomplished musician, educator and storyteller, she is the lead editor of African American Resources at The United Methodist Publishing House and the campus minister for the Wesley Foundation at Fisk University.