wfn.org | Lowery challenges church to 'get up, get in the way'

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 17, 2002	News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.     10-31-71BP{167}

NOTE: This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #165. A head-and-shoulders
photograph of the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

By Ethel McCane*

INDIANAPOLIS (UMNS) - The church today must "get up" and use God's power to
improve people's lives, civil rights legend Joseph E. Lowery told Black
Methodists for Church Renewal at the caucus' annual meeting.

The church is called to help people reclaim values, both spiritual and
societal, he said. BMCR and others must work for job training, livable
wages, health and retirement insurance, he said.

"Church, the power (of God) is coming down," he proclaimed. "Get up and get
in the way, black Methodists! Your power is coming down. How long will you
tarry in the valley of indecision. Get up ... and get in the way."

The Rev. Lowery spoke to more than 700 people at the closing banquet of
BMCR's April 10-13 meeting. Known to many as "the dean of the civil rights
movement," he is the immediate past president of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, the organization of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A
retired United Methodist pastor, he lives in Atlanta. 

"Stir up - rekindle - fan into flame the gift of God that is within you,"
Lowery told his listeners April 12.

Lowery reminded them that the church has a commitment to be the "conscience
of the world." Quoting from 1 Peter 2:9, he told the primarily
African-American audience that "you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of
Him who hath called you out of darkness into the marvelous light." 

He noted numerous social issues plaguing African Americans. Discussing the
negative impact of racial profiling, he emphasized the need for "positive
profiling."

"Profiling in this country is an attempt to define us. But we must define
us," said the preacher and social activist. "From Diop to Douglass ... from
Mandela to Martin ... from Truth to Tubman ... we must define us."

Amid several rounds of applause, Lowery reminded those in the audience that
African Americans have come far and overcome trials and tribulations, but
that this is not the time to rest on laurels. "Our profile moves beyond
individual achievements," he said. "Black presence has demonstrated the
power of the human spirit to translate adversity into opportunity. We have
come further ... from further back  ... in less time ... than anybody. We
took nothing and made something of it. 

"Black people have prevailed against the odds. We've inherited the kind of
power from our elders that allowed us to move from slave ship to space ship,
from log cabin to governor's mansion, from a maid in the city jail, to a
mayor in the city hall. We've come a long way, but we've still got a long
way to go."

He also spoke of the events arising out of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
particularly the rekindling of patriotism and the history of
African-American patriotism. "We have demonstrated what authentic patriotism
is all about," he remarked. "At every turn we have challenged our country,
but we have also loved our country so much that we have been prepared to die
for her salvation.

"From Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell, we too, have been the nation's
patriots," he said. "Black impact on patriotism has spread from Selma to
Soweto, from Philadelphia to Peking, from Tennessee to Tiananmen Square,
from Montgomery to Manila, from Birmingham to Berlin." 

Lowery, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, shared his experiences
during the civil rights movement and his views about world peace, stating
that the church must cry out for peace and encourage a "balanced approach"
on foreign affairs. 

Reflecting on domestic issues, the speaker challenged the several hundred
convention attendees not to be silent about society's decaying values. "We
have deserted the good spouse of spirituality," Lowery said. "We are
shacking up with the prostitute of materialism and greed. It is producing
offspring with congenital defects: sexism, racism, addiction to drugs,
violence, economical and political exploitation. We must turn back toward
that prayerful posture."

As a surprise, Indiana Area Bishop Woodie W. White announced that $13,000
would be sent to the Joseph E. Lowery Institute for Justice and Humans
Rights at United Methodist-related Clark Atlanta University. The gift was
collected just two weeks before the event from the pastors of 13 of the
largest African American United Methodist churches in the U.S.

"On the occasion of the 35th annual meeting of Black Methodists for Church
Renewal, we are proud to make a contribution to the Joseph E. Lowery
Institute for Justice and Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University in the
amount of $13,000," White said.  "Your witness as an advocate for justice
and reconciliation has been an inspiration and model, especially to pastors
who seek to be in a holistic ministry of redemption, reconciliation and
transformation."

Speaking as a friend and former staff executive of BMCR, the bishop thanked
Lowery for his "witness in and to the United Methodist Church, the greater
community, and indeed, the world." 
# # #
*McCane is a free-lance writer and a United Methodist living in
Indianapolis. Denise Johnson Stovall, a free-lance writer and a United
Methodists living in Dallas, contributed to this report.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org