During General Conference a (white) clergy member actually tweeted, “Black Christians use faith to survive. White Christians use it to oppress.” That is not only racist and divisive but outlandish!

My favorite tweet was from a black woman who said, “Can we stop racial profiling? All white men are not enemies and All people of color r not victims.” Amen, sister. The best thing we can do for minorities is to stop thinking of them as minorities as start thinking of them as just people.

Stop counting how many black people and white people are in the choir and just enjoy the music.

I agree that the broad brush is bad. I agree that more women and minorities could stand to be involved. I also agree that the system is flawed — but only in that people are flawed.

I disagree with the premise that a white middle-aged man cannot adequately represent a young black woman. I similarly disavow the notion that I cannot be represented fairly by that same young black woman. If a young black lesbian is running for an office and she is better qualified, she should get the position. The problem is when she doesn’t get the position despite being better qualified — or, getting the position when she is not.

While voices are important, I don’t have a problem with 6 women under the age of 35 running an agency. To say that they can’t adequately represent male voices denies their ability to be fully human.

What matters is the integrity of the person. What matters is the ability of the person. What matters is the willingness to seek God’s will.

We seem to have a problem believing that some of the folks in charge are deciding things for the right reasons. We question motives. We assume agendas. We presume guilt.

My exhortation here is for all of our members, clergy and lay, delegate and non-delegate, to fully examine the credentials of a leader, to give full hearing to their words, and to lay aside (as much as any of us can) our prejudices and stereotypes.

We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be deafened by the color of skin, the gender of persons, or the number of rings you might count if you were to cut off a leg.

Galatians 3:28 means everyone or it means no one.

Grace and peace,

Joey

It was a rough couple of weeks. Yes, a lot of us answered the pain we experienced with pain of our own, and a lot of us used humor or sarcasm to deflect or cope when the situation got tough.

On the subject of sexism, ageism, and racism, I think there’s a difference between naming privilege and retaliating with racism, sexism, etc. It might be a fine line to some, but for me it’s clear and as wide as the grand canyon.

For example: I have on occasion had a prejudice against people with, um, southern accents. I tend to assume that they are going to be more conservative than myself. But lately in my life, I’ve been meeting people who find me conservative (okay moderate. ish) with southern accents. Can’t paint the south with a broad brush. Got it.

I do not believe that all straight white older males are out to oppress other people. But I’ve noticed that a large majority of the people who are arguing against inclusion and protection of things like GCORR and GCOSROW are in fact people I perceive to be white, older, and male. For example, when we debated about sexuality in general, there were 4 female speakers and 25 male speakers– that’s total, both sides of the conversation. That’s not right or wrong in terms of content, but suggests a flawed process by which men have been given more voice. By my unofficial count, all of the people arguing for the dismantling of GCORR and COSROW were white, and about 75% were male.

All this is to say that i think there is a very real problem here. In my committee we debated whether or not people might feel safe speaking and voting when it came to sensitive issues. Every single person who thought we had a safe space was someone I perceived to be a white man. That’s not racism; that’s privilege. They are allowed to feel safe, because they are with the group that hold the power. With power comes responsibility to empower other voices and provide safe space for them.

It’s a nuanced thing, and I feel a blog post coming on (it has to get in line!). I just want to say that my observations abut the way some older white males were holding and wielding power are not a commentary on all white male persons over 60, but a commentary on a system that privileges certain voices over others.

Peace,
Becca

We agree on so many points! I’ve been tamping down my cynicism regarding our structures and administration for years. And I’ve often felt like a vital, organized, getting-it-done leader only to discover that I was out for a walk with no one behind me. After those terrifying and humiliating experiences, it was much easier to see that happening in our structures around me to DSs and Bishops alike.

Call to Action is the first time in years — maybe ever — that the overworked and all too “elsewhere oriented” schedules of our episcopal leaders is being addressed. And it is the first legislation that has a chance to bring productive change to an overdeveloped “multi-silo” organization.

It may sound strange, but the fact that you’ve gotten some hope out of this gives me a little more hope myself! Thanks for the post and the insightful comments, Stan.

Grace and peace,

Joey

First, thanks for your thoughts. I’m VERY interested in your ideas about spiritual leadership and followership. I’m a big Len Sweet fan, and he has put his finger on the same notion: We lack the desire to be true followers of Christ in so many ways.

Grace and peace,

Joey

Your questions: “So why aren’t we growing? Why aren’t we thriving?” is not so simple I think. I think we may all have some differing thoughts on this. For me, I look at so little care being put into the spiritual life, the formation of our clergy and lay leader in the realm of their spiritual life. We couch it in terms of “spiritual leaders” or “servant leaders” but it is still “leadership.” What I see lacking, is little care or desire to really be either spiritual or servants and so we have little genuine product to offer. Just my .02