Summit on the Black Church gathers to address ‘Healthy Churches:…

By Jessica Brodie

SUMMERVILLE—What does it look like to be a healthy church striving for wholeness?

That’s the question church leaders asked as they gathered Oct. 3-5 for the Summit on the Black Church, a three-day conference in the Lowcountry to learn how to strengthen and grow for maximum ministry and reach.

The event started Thursday evening with a word from the Rev. Kendal L. McBroom, director of Civil and Human Rights at the General Board of Church and Society, followed by a comedy show from award-winning Christian comedian Mike “The Bowtie” Goodwin.

Friday and Saturday plenary sessions covered important topics such as leadership excellence, spiritual formation, self-care and evangelism. Workshops rounded out the event with wisdom on social justice, Christian education and connecting with the community.

Christal Heyward provided praise and worship music throughout, and by the time attendees left, they’d learned new lessons on doing church in a healthier and more holistic manner.

Looking back for tomorrow

McBroom kicked off the summit Thursday drawing from Philippians 1:3-6 as he taught on the strength of a “Sankofa” church.

He noted Sankofa is a principle in West Africa with the Twi word translating to “go back and get it.” The concept embraces the notion of looking to the past in order to inform the future.

McBroom noted how he was raised in Conway and learned a heart for people his seminary degree couldn’t possibly teach. Yet today, the faith community—and the Black church—is struggling.

“We’ve moved away from what made the Black church the Black church,” McBroom said, noting that perhaps what we need to do is not learn new models of doing church but instead look to the old ways.

Looking back to old ways helps us understand where we are and how we got here, as well as undergirds our work with a strength that is hard to break.

McBroom lifted up three principles of how Sankofa can help today’s church.

First, it provides us with necessary wisdom. If we understand how we operated in the Great Depression, or when so many Black church leaders were being murdered in the 1960s, we can better understand how our people navigated politics, government and other structures.

Second, it ensures our history and heritage are not forgotten. It’s important to understand Jim Crow laws, the AIDS epidemic, crack cocaine and other struggles. Sankofa, he said, allows us to understand we did not always operate out of a love for Christ and enables us to go back and right wrongs.

Third, it allows for the possibility of a beautiful future by cultivating a church with a heart for its community.

McBroom urged attendees to seek out practices of our ancestors during trying times, to implement programming that honors the past while forging a strong foundation for the future, and to not give up honoring God by gathering as a community instead of isolating.

The bottom line, he said, is that we can move forward best by using the lessons of our past to shape our future.

‘What If?’

The next day, Dan Canada brought a morning devotion on “What If?”, drawing from Matthew 21:1-11.

Canada shared how in this Scripture, we’re told how Jesus rides triumphantly into Jerusalem upon a donkey. Yet when he told his disciples what to do before this triumphant ride, his instructions likely left plenty of room for questions.

Essentially, the disciples were told to find a donkey with her colt, untie them and bring them to Jesus. Jesus said, “If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away” (Matthew 21:3 NIV).

The instructions were easy, but doing as we’re told can be another matter.

“God’s instructions are not difficult,” Canada noted. “What is difficult is believing he will make it all work out. What is difficult are all the ‘what ifs’ that immediately flood our minds.”

For instance: Sell all you have and give it to the poor. But what if I get hungry? What if I rip my clothes? What if I need money to get a place to stay?

Or pick up your cross and follow me. What if you get us lost? What if the cross is too heavy?

Or love your neighbor as yourself. What if my neighbor doesn’t speak my language? What if he doesn’t eat what I eat or dress like I dress? What if he’s dirty and smelly?

“Understanding is not the problem. The what ifs are the problem,” Canada said.

In this Scripture, the disciples trusted Jesus enough to overcome their what ifs and follow his instructions, and because of that, see what happened.

This is the lesson for us all today. What ifs will not save us. Only the word of the Lord and our surrender to his will can save us.

As Canada asked, what if God is directing our church right now through the Holy Spirit? What if he wants us to do a new thing? What if he wants the Black church to lead the renewing of The United Methodist Church?

“We cannot do his work until we get our ‘what ifs’ out of the way and open our spirit to the present movement of God,” Canada proclaimed.

True excellence

Next, Dr. Vance P. Ross, senior pastor of the historic Central United Methodist Church in Atlanta, offered a plenary session on pastoral leadership excellence.

Ross noted that South Carolina is at the forefront of spiritual leadership in the life of this church and in this nation. Indeed, the man who killed the Emanuel Nine did so because he knew the impact and import of South Carolina.

He said the Black church must stay focused on its mission, vision, purpose and methods in order to be truly excellent. Our mission is what we must do to stay in business, which for the UMC is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Our vision is why do we do what we do, and God’s preferred future for this ministry.

Our purpose is the inspiration to do what we do, our day-to-day goals that energize us to make an impact in the world.

And our methods are how we do what we do, including the strategy, structure and tools needed.

He challenged attendees to consider: What is your ministry’s mission, vision, purpose and methods?

But we must remember to keep Christ at the fore.

“We can’t be healthy without love,” Ross said. “Love has to live.”

Holy listening

Next, the Revs. Angela Ford Nelson and Mary L. Johnson led a plenary on spiritual formation.

Nelson started by asking those gathered to dig into 1 Samuel 3:1-9, when the Lord calls Samuel.

The call of God on Samuel’s life, Nelson noted, was also a call on Eli’s life. Eli’s eyesight (and insight) were dimming, while Samuel was just starting out. When Eli finally realized it was God calling Samuel, Eli stepped up, providing spiritual formation and direction. And eventually, Samuel went on to become the prophet who would anoint kings.

“Spiritual formation is the process of developing one’s spiritual life and deepening one’s spiritual relationship with God,” Nelson said. “It involves intentional practices and experiences that foster growth in faith, character and spiritual maturity.”

Throughout this process, we must be reminded who and whose we are. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and because of this, we have inherent dignity and worth.

She explained that being a spiritual director is actually being a conduit for the Holy Spirit doing its work.

“It’s holy listening, holy seeing, holy journeying with the Lord,” she said, noting it is a three-part encounter: God, the person being directed and the spiritual director.

The Summit on the Black Church was organized by the Rev. Walter Strawther and a team dedicated to helping the church strengthen in important ways for growth.