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June 24, 2009

Celebrating Johnnie Monroe

PHEWA award recipient urges church to ‘stand up and cry out’

by Bethany Furkin
Presbyterian News Service

(From left to right) Outgoing PHEWA board of directors President Warren Dennis, the Rev. Johnnie Monroe and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary professor Ronald Peters at the PHEWA’s John Park Lee Award dinner. Monroe, a veteran pastor, teacher, mentor and social justice advocate, was presented with the award. Photo by Jim Nedelka.

ATLANTA — As a third-generation Presbyterian who has been ordained for more than 40 years, the Rev. Johnnie Monroe said he thinks of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as his family.

And you can criticize your family.

Monroe was presented with the prestigious John Park Lee Award by the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA) as part of its conference here at the Big Tent event, a first-ever gathering of 10 national conferences under a single banner, with joint worship, group meals and a plethora of workshops open to all.

A veteran pastor, social justice advocate, community leader, teacher and mentor, Monroe is pastor emeritus of Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. He took the opportunity to speak about what he said was the denomination’s proud past and disappointing present, focusing on recent staff cuts in the areas of justice, peace and racial ethnic ministries.

“The Presbyterian Church stood for truth and light and justice. They reminded us that we were the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Those were the days when we were proud to be Presbyterians,” Monroe said, adding that Presbyterians have a long history of social consciousness and evangelism.

“But something has happened to this Bible-believing, justice-seeking denomination in recent years,” Monroe continued. “Instead of making the world look like us, we have begun to look like the world. What I see is a church that is looking more like a corporation than Jesus Christ. We balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it.”

In March, the General Assembly Council reduced the national staff by 43 — eliminating 55 positions and adding 12 new ones — as part of balancing a $10 million budget shortfall. One of the eliminated positions was that of associate for Social Welfare Organizations, held by the Rev. Nancy Troy. Troy is also the executive director of PHEWA, an umbrella group of 10 membership-based networks doing various social ministries on behalf of the denomination.

At a PHEWA gathering on Thursday, a joint statement by PHEWA and the GAC announced that the groups have agreed to compose a narrative of the events of the March meeting that reflects the views of each side, identify work needed to move forward and revise the covenant between PHEWA and the GAC.

Ronald Peters, associate professor of urban ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, introduced Monroe, saying that now is a time to lift up those who preach the gospel of peace.

“I think we need this celebration tonight,” he said.

Monroe combines evangelism with agape, Peters said, and the people he reaches also start to reflect that. Peters listed several of Monroe’s accomplishments, from working to stop racial profiling to mentoring seminary students to pushing for economic development in his Pittsburgh neighborhood.

“Systemic change is needed,” Peters said. “You can’t just pull the kids out of the war. You have to go in and figure out who is throwing the kids in. That’s a hard kind of ministry. Unless you’re Johnnie Monroe.”

At the end of his speech, Monroe urged PHEWA members to tell the General Assembly that God isn’t pleased with what the church is doing ... or not doing. PHEWA must stand up and cry out, and must put action behind its beliefs.

“We must leave here after we’ve gotten our ‘feel good’ … We’ve got to go back down to the valley and we’ve got to touch some lives. There is still some need for some balm in Gilead,” he said. “I’m still convinced that there is power in the church because we are connected to the source of power.”

Saying goodbye

Those at the awards dinner also heard another kind of speech — a farewell. Nancy Troy, associate for Social Welfare Organizations and the executive director of PHEWA, told the crowd that she’ll miss all those connected with PHEWA, especially those who come to the organization for help.

Troy’s position was one of those eliminated by the GAC in March.

PHEWA board members presented Troy with a prayer shawl, a plaque and a deck of cards — representing taking a gamble, and the gambles they said she has taken over the years to help the less fortunate.

“My heart and my prayers and my mind go with you,” she told the crowd. “I wonder where God’s gonna send me next.”