Time to Remove Racial Divisions
It’s past time for the Seventh-day Adventist Church leadership to abolish “separate but equal” conferences. They should never have been started in the first place, but we can’t go back and change past history now.
Frederick Russell has a good article in the Adventist Review. It’s interesting to note that Russell is the senior pastor of the Miracle Temple in Baltimore, part of the Allegheny East conference. I have been told many times that the reason that we can’t abolish racially-segregated conferences is because of those in the “regional” conferences.
It is understandable that people will worship with those with a similar subculture, at least in areas where there are multiple churches to attend. However, that does not warrant having separate administrative offices supervising the congregations. Indeed, in the Chesapeake Conference, where I work, we have White, Black, Korean, and Hispanic pastors. Maybe others that I’m forgetting. I don’t define them by race (other than for identification purposes, much as someone might point me out as being the bald short white guy in a place where people are tall, black men with full heads of hair!) I see them as colleagues who are trying to help people come to a closer relationship with Jesus.
The old excuses of “conference leadership” need to be abandoned. I don’t really care what race my ministerial director or conference officers are — I’m more concerned with their calling to administration, which has nothing to do with race.
Dr. Russell’s last paragraph hit home as I’m dealing with some of these issues in my current assignment (issues that are not solely related to race):
If our church is going to reach this culture, we need to think well what we are presenting to the world, as well as to a new generation in this church.
People do notice when we can’t get along with each other. Questions arise like “Why don’t you ever do anything with so-and-so church in town?”
I look forward to the day when the Seventh-day Adventist Church can abolish these divisions and get on with the Father’s business.
Link: The Obama Message by Frederick A. Russell
Timothy D.Lee has taken a perspective on my article that I did not suggest. What I said is that the majority of conferences (including his conference) are racially segregated. The Allegheny East Conference also has pastors who are White, Black, Korean and Hispanic, and yet, we have not placed an official “cap” on how many pastors of a particular race we will hire. It is based on need. I would ask that he check his own conference’s policy regarding hiring more black pastors (they presently only have two) in a conference that has a fast growing black membership. Once again, the vast majority of NAD conferences are race-based, not just regional conferences. That is the fallacy that our White brothers have never acknowledged or even paused to consider. The discussion can’t even get started until we recognize the broadness of the issue, that goes beyond Regional Conferences, and stakes it’s claim in “State” or White Conferences also.
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, Dr. Russell.
My point about the fact that we have black, Korean, and Hispanic pastors was not an attempt to make Chesapeake look good. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have stated it, for it goes totally against my vision. My vision is that we get to the point where it doesn’t matter what race the employee is — only that the person is called to serve in the position at this time.
I long for the day when race truly doesn’t matter in hiring practices. I think it’s overly simplistic to believe that only a black pastor can effectively minister to a predominantly black congregation, or that only a white pastor can effectively minister to a predominantly white congregation. Furthermore, in many places, including the area served by our conferences, congregations are becoming more multicultural. In my last assignment, near Baltimore, the little church had Hispanic, black, and white members. In my current assignment on the Eastern Shore, we have black, Romanian, Indian, and others worshiping together weekly. I know the same situation exists in Regional churches. In fact, very few of the congregations I am familiar with (admittedly a small number) have been exclusively one race or another. Pastoral hiring practices must be based on calling, skills, and match to the congregation — without respect to race.
When I say that the separate conferences should be abolished, I do not mean that we simply take the regional churches into the “State” conferences with current leadership and organization. All existing conferences could be dissolved and reorganized along geographical lines with the new constituencies. If we need only the so-called “State” or only the so-called “Regional” conferences, I see special constituency meetings called for reorganization and election of new officers, executive committees, etc., that would reflect the needs of the combined organization.
I don’t believe that integrating the conferences will have a magic effect and that racism on both sides will instantly vanish. However, I don’t believe that racism in the pews will disappear as long as the church still officially condones racism with separate conferences.
It’s one of the “top-down” or “bottom-up” quandaries that we find ourselves in so often — does reform need to come from the Top and work its way down, or does it need to come from the pews and work its way up the organization? I would prefer both. However, leaders need to be leaders, and so we need to initiate change together.
We can continue to blame each other, or we can come together in humility to the Cross, to recognize that in Christ, there is no black, or white, Hispanic or Korean, nor any other race. Together, we have a mission — to share the “everlasting gospel” to “every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue.”
The separate conferences seem to be only in the United States. I know in Canada this is not the case!
Thank you Pastor Lee for your response. I not only hear your voice, but more importantly, I hear your heart. We stand together in our views. My only concern earlier was trying to have a broad-based conversation around the country, and not limit it to a perspective on the organization challenge that does not take into the consideration the whole.
@Jam Bella:
Here is the breakdown of Regional conferences by Union in the North American Division, moving from North to South, East to West:
Northeastern Conference (Atlantic Union Conference)
Allegheny East Conference (Columbia Union Conference)
Allegheny West Conference (Columbia Union Conference)
South Atlantic Conference (Southern Union Conference)
Southeastern Conference (Southern Union Conference)
South Central Conference (Southern Union Conference)
Lake Region Conference (Lake Union Conference)
Central States Conference (Mid-America Union Conference)
Southwest Region Conference (Southwestern Union Conference)
The following Union Conferences do not have Regional Conferences:
Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cananda
North Pacific Union Conference
Pacific Union Conference
Just because there is not a separate organizational structure does not mean that the territory is without racism. I have not been blessed to spend any time in Canada or the West Coast, so I don’t know whether racism is rampant in the church in those areas or not. Basing on the general population, I imagine that there are at least some areas in each territory where racial tensions exist.
I don’t see it ever happening. Racially integrating the Conferences that is. TI don’t think there is enough love on the “white” side of the discussion to make it happen. The devil works hard on churches, especially on the SDA church. We all know that EGW wouldn’t have it and unfortunately todays leadership still hangs onto her teachings despite a paucity of sanity in her writings.
Shalom
Thanks for bringing my attention to this article which I had not seen. It is a topic that I am very interested in – living in South Africa which still has two conferences – the Transvaal (White) and Trans-Orange (Black) Conferences – that are divided along racial lines. You may be interested on a series of posts on Racism & the SDA Church that start here: http://h0bbes.wordpress.com/2006/05/16/the-sda-church-structurally-divided-along-racial-lines-i/
We have the first African-American president in the history of United States. Sadly, this fact shows us that our “religious systems” is not keeping up with the reality of the community that we serve. If there is something that the post Christendom–post-modern culture in which we live does not tolerate, is segregation and perhaps this is the main reason why most of the Caucasian young generation membership in our denomination is declining. We are failing to be inclusive If there is something we can learn from the elections is that many of us are ready to make changes that in this case are Biblical and meet the needs of today’s society. We have different races in most of our Divisions and yet the North American Division is the only one who is racially segregated. I know, reconciliation would take hard work, but we need to start somewhere. How can we get to Shalom? I do not have an answer, but I think we can start with a dialogue among our leaders since our church works within a hierarchical frame. We can make the best effort to implement pastoral training to meet our multicultural society. I went to what I believe one of the best undergrad colleges our denomination has(Southern Adventist University). It prepared me well to be a pastor, but not to serve in a multicultural community. We can not afford to keep missing the fact that the majority of the population in our country are in urban areas that are multicultural and yet our training is poor in that area even at Seminary level. If we have pastors who are trained to think more inclusively, they can make a difference in the local church as well.
It’s high time we admitted that, we aren’t yet arrived at our ultimate destination as indivituals and as a church: the fortress of our great commision is anchored and build on loving one another – whether black or white,rich or poor, educated or illitarate… yes, by this the world would hear a living and real good news.
We might have nurtured several reasons why “racially – segregated conferences” are live and vibrant in the USA, other countries too can “boast” of “tribal …,” but one thing is clear: from here we have been called and adopted to be sons and daughers of the God.From here we must arise and entre the promised land where our light will shine; the entre world to behold; not from Obama’s presidency but becouse this is the Lord’s command that love must reach beyond worldly boundaries.