Tag: Issues

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The Separated Black And Non Black Conferences In Adventism – Will We Ever Just Talk?

It doesn’t take much to get a discussion going regarding “regional conferences” and “non regional conferences.” I was on Facebook and pointed to this article where a Black and a White church decided to come together to have a worship service. It was an interesting story in and of itself. But in the comments section the discussion quickly turned to a discussion of the Black and White church and Black conferences. This was particularly interesting to me in that the original story was not about Adventists. In addition is wasn’t about dismantling anything. It was only about worshiping together.

Black Churches and Regional Conferences Are Separate Issues

Upon reflection a few points came to mind. the first thing this told me was that we cloud the issue of Regional Conferences[1. Regional Conferences was the name given to the conferences made up of predominantly Black churches. They were called regional because they had jurisdiction over “regions” rather than “states” as the old conference structure of the Adventist church in North America.] and Black Churches.

We had Black churches before regional conferences and we will have them after. Whatever we do about regional conferences will not remove the black church. Arguments that we should worship together are only tangentially related to the “regional conference question.” I think it is interesting that there are black churches in the non regional conferences. So don’t get into a long discussion of how we should worship together and then jump to Black conferences…it is two different issues.

The existence of Black Conferences do not constitute forced segregation. To use the language of “segregation” is to imply that people cannot worship where they please. Are there any black people in the predominately white church in town? Are there any white people in your predominately Black church? Most likely the answer is yes to both of these questions. What is really interesting is that there are Black employees of non regional conferences now and even non black employees of the regional conferences. We all may agree that it is not best that we had to create these conferences, but to compare them to “segregation” is really not a correct comparison.

Our Ability To Work Together Is Questioned

Now I do agree, as noted above, that having these conferences working the same field is not our ultimate goal. The existence of regional and non regional conferences says something about our inability to work things out. Yes all sides had a role to play in this, but be not confused, the split between non regional and regional conferences happened because we allowed white racism to go unchecked. We must look at that history before we can move on.

More than that, it says something that the Black work was being undeserved before the creation of regional conferences in the south. We have seen the African American work blossom as money and resources were now going straight into the inner cities much more than before.

The Split Kept Us Together

But we also must recognize that the creation of regional conferences probably saved a split in the denomination. Look at other denominations in the United States. The Methodists split over the race issue. Baptists split. Presbyterians split. Most have different denominations. Just about everybody split. But we found a way to hold together. I agree that the existence of regional and non regional conferences in the same areas is not best, but it is better than the total split that we see in other denominational bodies.

Can We Understand Each Other?

Some Black folks support the continuance of the regional conferences because they do not trust that their issues will be treated fairly as in the past. Now some folks deny that we should fear that. Some folks get mad that some fear unfair treatment. Some folks will say that “Black folks need to get over it!” But let us for the sake of argument say that some Black folks fears are unfounded. If you don’t understand the fear and apprehension that that group would have then I question if you have done much study at all into the race question in this country.

Some white folks attach the existence of regional conferences to racism and thus accuse any Black person who supports their continuance of promoting racism or playing the race card to the detriment of the church where, according to them, race should not matter.

These white sisters and brothers want to point to a “Post Racial Church” where race does not matter and even appeal to President Barak Obama’s election as a sign that we have reached a post racial place in America. And they think the best resolution of our problem is to ignore race. Many of our Black sisters and brothers believe that racism still exists and that the call to ignore race is at best naive.

Where Do We Go Now?

So here we are. Many of our Black sisters and brothers fear that they will not be treated correctly. They have history that informs that fear. Many of our non black and international sisters and brothers think that they treat all equally and that the call of racism is something that we have largely overcome in the past.

What can we do? It is past time that we come together. It is past time that we have real conversations with one another. It is past time for our African American sisters and brothers to have space to talk about the alienation that they feel. It is past time for our sisters and brothers of other elasticities to give their perspective on the issue. Yes it is past time for us to come together and be real about why the church started these conferences. It is past time that we talk about when is the right time to remove this structural separation.

The answer is not in a top down “You will get rid of these conferences.” Neither is it in the attempt of the previous GC president in telling the young African Americans to tell their presidents that they don’t want these conferences (as if the whole reason for their existence is a “black problem.” The answer is for us to have space for dialog. Before we do anything, let us first talk. Can we stop pointing the finger…and recognize that no side can claim complete innocence…and even more than that recognize that providence has placed us together, because we need each other…

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Do We Really Know our Doctrines?

In the mythology of Adventism it is told that Adventists were once called people of the Book. Alegedly, during this time, you could pull just about any member aside and ask that one for a text that teaches the Adventist understanding of the Sabbath, State of the Dead, or Sanctuary and any could give that to you. I am not sure if this day really ever existed or if it is simply something that seeped into our collective memory without really having any basis in fact.

At any rate, I was listening to a few preachers who seems to buy this idea totally. They not only believe that it was true at some point in the past, but they also believe that it is true right now. One preacher literally said that today you could grab any Second Advent believer and that one could still recite a text to defend 1844, Sabbath, state of the Dead, or any other doctrine. The preacher further stated that Adventists spend too much time worrying about and thinking about the doctrines of the church. They said that Adventists can quote the text, but do not know the author of the text. The preacher then concluded that we need to know Jesus more than we need to know the doctrines.

Really I wonder where these people are living. I doubt you could find many people who could explain these doctrines even without texts. I mean who can tell you what the Sabbath is for? Certainly they may tell you something about the 7th day, but then they are out of ideas. Is that knowing too much doctrine? How many Adventists really could explain anything at all about the Sanctuary? Whether you agree with the Adventist understanding or not, we all would agree that very few could tell you more than a vague notion that something happened in 1844 that they can’t explain the relevance.

While I do not know every Adventist, I doubt very seriously that you could go into many Adventist churches in America and get just about any to tell you why they believe what they claim to believe. It is true that Jesus needs to be the center of all our doctrinal teaching. But these preachers have given a missed diagnoses of the problem for the days of Biblical literacy in and outside of our church are gone, if they ever really existed. So what can we do?

Steps to Biblical Literacy

Preachers need to preach from the Bible. I think that the common preaching type that we have learned from our “evangelistic sermons” is to jump all around the Bible. We read a text here and a text there. Certainly this can be good and needed, but do not use too many texts. What happens is that the people leave without a solid understanding of any one of the texts. Take one text, explain it, use a few texts to help explain the major text.

I was reading somewhere where more and more churches are emphasizing the reading of the scripture. One way to combat the illiteracy is to read and explain the texts. We need solid preaching, but we need more than sermonizing. In addition to sermonizing we need teaching. Wednesday night can become an evening of prayer and study. Sabbath School can become a real learning experience rather than a way for novice preachers to preach to a captive audience.

You know, One of the great components of the Black Preaching Tradition is that it has a tendency to preach the great stories of the Bible. Our White brothers and sisters are more inclined to use the didactic portions. The nice thing about the stories is that they go deep into your head.

Stop The False Diagnoses

As long as we continue stating what is not true, we can never deal with the true ailment. Adventists do not know the doctrines at the expense of our relationship with the Master. Adventists need a closer relationship with the Master as well as need more knowledge of doctrines and the Bible. Maybe then we can have substantial conversations about the Sanctuary. Maybe then we can start talking about the Sabbath beyond simply saying it is the Seventh-day.

Simply put, we are like everybody else. We don’t know the Bible, we can’t find texts, and even quite conservative Adventists can’t explain the doctrine of 1844 let alone calculate it from the scriptures. Yet for some reason we think we know what we don’t know…and preachers who promote this mythology almost obliterate the reality that we don’t know squat. Yes we need to know Jesus, but how many of us have any idea of what the Bible says about him? In short, we don’t know…we think we know…and nobody is helping us to know. Now that is a recipe for disaster…

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Church Hopper or Minister

Photo by Marco Gomes
I recently heard a preacher preach about a common phenomenon in all of Christiandom, the church hopper.

What is a church hopper? It is one who simply moves from church to church following the next big “high.” When a new exciting pastor comes to town, they go join it. We often see this when a Mega Church grows at the expense of many smaller churches. In the city in which I live, I have seen some jump from church to church as pastors come and go. One very dynamic preacher left town and the migration to another powerful speaker started. Then a new preacher came to town and now the “place to be” moved to that new locale.

However, sometimes a church hopper moves to a new church for added responsibility. Sometimes a church hopper comes to a new church because the leader of the new church has inspired action that gives added spiritual growth and ultimately a stronger witess in the community and the world. Sometimes church hopping may strengthen the member. Sometimes God may even call you to move to another church and the community is strengthened. Sometimes church hopping can be a blessing.

However, much of the time people church hop not to be involved in the church community or to be stronger witnesses in the larger commuinity, but to find better religous entertainment to consume. That entertainment may be preaching, singing, or programs put on by the church.

But then there are other hoppers who have been displaced or run off by new leadership. Sometimes when a new pastor comes to town current leadership of a church takes the time to move on. Other times pastors move some current leadership out. Some pastors displace the leadership in a church when they come into a church. These people have been sat down by the pastor for whatever reason. Sometimes the pastor has a valid reason for setting them down, sometimes they don’t.

The preacher’s main point is that none of these really increase the number of Adventists. Neither does it really increase the amount of people who have heard the message we have been called to preach. Tithe may increase at that local congregation, attendance may increase locally, but church hopping does not normally increase the number of Adventist members in the city.

Why are we here and what are we to do? If we are here to “preach the Gospel of the kingdom for a witness to all the world.” Then it is time to judge our ministries and our work by whether it is providing a witness in the world and whether we are warning the world of the coming crisis. It is time for us to stop acting as if church is solely about our needs and our entertainment and recognize the responsibility of church membership and Get in the game. It is time for all members to move into that category of member that is not just an attender but a minister.