wfn.org | Study guide aimed at healing wounds of racial divisions

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

April 3, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.     10-21-31-71B{156}

NOTE:  A photo of the study guide cover is available for use with this
story. For related coverage, see UMNS stories #155 and #157.

By Tom McAnally*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - A study guide on repentance for racism is fresh
off the press and ready for distribution to United Methodist churches.

Members of the Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union reviewed
the study guide during their March 28-31 meeting.

Steps Toward Wholeness: Learning and Repentance is the title of the 36-page
guide intended to help United Methodist congregations prepare for  "acts of
repentance for racism" and to aid in pan-Methodist conversations on union.
The guide was prepared by the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity
and Interreligious Concerns for a study sponsored by the agency and the
church's Council of Bishops.

United Methodists are encouraged to invite members of the African Methodist
Episcopal (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AMEZ) and Christian
Methodist Episcopal (CME) churches to join them in the six-session study.
Delegates and visitors to the 2000 United Methodist General Conference last
May in Cleveland participated in an Act of Repentance for Reconciliation
with representatives of the three historically black Methodist
denominations.  Apologies were made for acts of racism that prompted the
creation of separate black denominations and also for a segregated unit in
the predominantly white Methodist Church from 1939 to 1968. The service was
intended as a model for annual conferences and other gatherings of
Methodists. 

During their Nashville meeting, United Methodist members of the 36-member
pan-Methodist commission led their colleagues through the study guide,
eliciting words of suspicion as well as appreciation.

Pointing to the difficulties of getting white congregations to accept black
pastors, the Rev. Daryll Coleman, a CME pastor from Los Angeles, asked if
racism identified in the study guide is  "history or today's news?" 

"How sincere are you in terms of bringing to fruition what you say?" asked
the Rev. Sylvester Williams, a CME pastor from Birmingham, Ala.

AME Bishop Larry Kirkland of Marino Del Ray, Calif., praised the study guide
as a tool to promote dialogue but said black Methodists should not be afraid
to express themselves. "I must admit some suspicion," he said. "I came up in
a tough time and that suspicion is built into my psyche, so I have to move
beyond that."

Betty V. Stith, an AMEZ laywoman from New Rochelle, N.Y., admitted a sense
of being overpowered by the larger body of United Methodists, and concern
that she and other black Methodists would feel pressure to conform.

A discussion of the study guide prompted some members to question the
existence and nature of the Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and
Union itself. "All four (denominations') general conferences have sanctioned
our work, but did they do it because we are ready or because it was
politically correct?" asked the Rev. George Maize IV, an AMEZ pastor from
Los Angeles.

United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert, ecumenical officer for his
denomination, responded to those concerns by pointing to the gospel, which
"calls us to be not where we are but out where God would have us be ... to
capture the vision of being one." He also stressed the importance of
"keeping the vision of the (United Methodist) General Conference before us,
recognizing that people are all over the place" regarding an understanding
of racism. 

Guiding the review of the booklet, Byrd Bonner, a United Methodist layman
from San Antonio, said a central goal of the study is to help members of the
predominantly white church understand their own history. For repentance to
occur, he said, the church must understand the divisions and why they
developed.

The study guide invites United Methodists on a journey toward healing that
"must include understanding of and contrition for past wrongs, a reception
of God's forgiveness and the determination to lead a new life.

"Further, our journey prepares us for changes in thoughts, words and deeds
that demonstrate our intention to establish new relationships with those who
have been wronged and excluded by past and present racist attitudes and
actions." Carolyn Henninger Oehler, executive director of Scarritt-Bennett
Center in Nashville, wrote the study guide.

A free copy of the study guide will be provided to each United Methodist
charge (one or more churches served by one pastor). The guides will be sent
to the chairpeople of annual conference commissions on Christian unity and
interreligious concerns, who will forward them to the pastors. Copies can be
purchased for $2 each (up to 20 copies) plus postage and handling, or $1.50
for 21 or more copies plus postage and handling. Orders can be placed with
the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries Service Center by calling,
toll free, (800) 305-9857. The stock number is 2995.

# # #

*McAnally is director of United Methodist News Service, the church's
official news agency, with offices in Nashville, Washington and New York.  

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United Methodist News Service
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