Black and Presbyterian:
Looking Back to Grow Forward

by Stephany D. G. Jackson
Associate for congregational leadership, Theology Worship and Education

Arms outstretched to the heavens were a normal sight as convention attendees engaged in praise and worship. Photo by Evan Silverstein

The National Black Presbyterian Caucus’s 39th convention was also the 200th celebration of Black Presbyterianism. This convention like no other afforded the caucus an opportunity to evaluate itself and redirect its course for the future. More than 600 persons, of whom more than 200 were youth, attended the conference in Philadelphia in July 2007.

A high point of the conference was a warning from a futurist, the Rev. Robert N. Burkins, the senior pastor of the Elmwood United Presbyterian Church in East Orange, New Jersey. Burkins charged the conferees to face the grim facts of our existence. He called us to a radical conversion experience and said that it would take more than our own power and ability to rescue us from our present plight.

He made the following points:

“We come to celebrate 200 years while we are exiled, having voluntarily associated with a denomination in exile.
“We bless God for stained-glass windows that we cannot see out of and those outside cannot see into.
“We are in a crisis and deeply disconnected from the
communities surrounding our congregations.
“For most African-American Presbyterians, the good news has become stale. We are mainline no more, and our once fiery passion for God has become lukewarm.
“We are archivists of the historical record, and we have resisted the fire of the hip-hop generation.”

The Rev. Burkins concluded his message by informing the group that any hope for a spiritually prosperous future lies in the hearts and hands of the next generation.

The worship services were another high point of the conference, and they displayed a diversity of musical and liturgical styles. The African Heritage Presbyterian Association of Musicians planned and led the worship
services for the group.

Traditional workshops were not offered during this year’s celebration. Instead there were focus groups consisting of elders, deacons, youth, clergy and laypersons. The groups were asked to respond to three questions: Where have we been? Where are we now? Where are we going? The groups reported back to the body, and the findings, with few exceptions, were predictable.

Key Findings

• The witness of Black Presbyterians used to be strong. We must reclaim our prophetic witness and our role in the African-American community as liberators. We can do this by developing opportunities for educational excellence.
• As with much of the PC(USA), our congregations are aging and dying. In our current state, we do not have the ability to attract and retain young people.
• We are more polity driven than biblically driven. We need to develop stronger spiritual characters. We need to return to the basics of Bible study and practicing spiritual disciplines.
• Elders do not understand their roles as leaders and there are few successful models available for them to emulate.
• We have not made a strong commitment to stewardship and tithing. We need to become more self-supporting and self-sufficient.
• African Americans are not welcomed participants in some presbyteries.
• We have developed a sense of spiritual arrogance. We must be willing to surrender dying to self and to our own will.
• We must understand that evangelism is more than filling the pews. We must be willing to develop the faith and the courage to walk into the unknown.
• We must become more loving and more compassionate in order to attract more members.
• Our clergy and their families are struggling financially and dying under the weight of dysfunctional and even toxic ministry.
• We need to determine the health of our congregations based on a view of ourselves:

1. From across the sanctuary
   What is the depth of our prayer lives? Is there bitterness or sweetness in our fellowship? Are our Bible studies and sermons relevant? Is there a struggle for power? Are we crippled by our fear of extinction?
2. From across the street
   What is our interaction with our neighbors? Do we know how to build relationships with strangers? What roles do mission and social services play in our congregation? What is our commitment to empowerment and economic development for our congregation and the community?
3. From across the sea
   The silence of good black Presbyterians in the face
   of Rwanda, Darfur and Katrina is appalling!

For some groups, the pain of their current reality was too prevalent for them to focus beyond their immediate needs and concerns and on the concerns of the larger group. For older members, called the Moses generation, the conference served as an opportunity to reminisce and to be nostalgic. Among middle-aged persons, the Mojos, there was frustration and the talk of starting a network that would meet the needs of grassroots persons from the larger African-American community as well as African-American Presbyterians.

The Joshua generation (younger persons) staged a protest during the Edler Hawkins Banquet. They stated a list of concerns and demands and expressed their frustration that time had not been set aside during the regular schedule to hear from their focus group.

The clergywomen were presented with a bicentennial report by the Rev. Dr. Marsha S. Haney and the Rev. Dr. Katie G. Cannon on African-American Presbyterians and mission. Their report included a historical outline from the 1600s, when Africans became the key object of commerce, supplying colonies with cheap labor, to the ordination of the great social prophet Francis J. Grimke, in 1878.

The NBPC adopted the Task Force Action and Implementation Plan for African American Church Growth Strategies in the PC(USA). The strategy includes proposed actions for growth in the areas of leadership development, discipleship, employment and support for clergywomen; and evangelism. The strategy will go before the next General Assembly for approval.

The conference ended with worship at the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. First African was the first and is the oldest African American Presbyterian congregation in existence.

While there is clearly much work ahead of the newly elected board, a long-range planning team was established by the president, the Rev. Gregory Bently, pastor of Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The long-range planning team will take into consideration the reports from the focus groups, the presentation of the
futurist, and the Task Force Action for church growth and design a plan of action for African-American Presbyterian congregations and the Black Presbyterian Caucus.