Sunday 7th June 2020
Dear Friends
I am writing a very personal letter this week, so
please bear with me. I have been so saddened by the news coming out of the
United States, and particularly Minneapolis, of the riots following the death
of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman.
In the late nineties I lived in Minneapolis for two years and it is a
fine city. We still have good friends
there. But my experience of living there
was, for the most part, as a privileged white person.
Although I certainly do not condone all the tactics
and excesses of the rioters, I can attest to some of the longstanding prejudice
and discrimination that black people have suffered.
In the first few months of arriving in Minneapolis
I was taken (I must admit reluctantly) to a Baptist church in one of the
poorest black areas of the city. As I
walked in I found myself surrounded by smiling and welcoming people – four
hundred of them, and I was one of only three white people present. As the worship began, I was swept up with the
sheer joy of the praise, the singing and the warmth of community there. Soon I too was dancing, singing, shouting out
‘Amen’ and ‘Alleluia!’ with the best of them.
I became a regular attender and never once was my colour mentioned, nor
was I made to feel self-conscious. The
only times I was made to feel self-conscious was when some of my white friends
expressed shock and puzzlement as to why I would venture into an ‘unsafe’ area
of the city to worship with black people.
Over the coming months I got to know some of the
congregation and their community. I
visited one of the local High Schools.
The stories I heard from the young people of the struggles they had as
poor black students and the continual and systemic racism they encountered in
many areas of the city were certainly eye opening. Then, the teenage son of two members of the
congregation was shot dead, the innocent victim of a drive-by shooting, almost
certainly gang-related. The indifference
of the authorities to this tragedy was alarming, but more shocking was the
total indifference of many white people I spoke to. Young black men killing
young black men was, they said, inevitable and typical.
However, back at the church, I was so moved by the
dignity of the boy’s parents and the whole congregation who stood by them. The
sermon that the Minister of the church preached after the event was one of the
most moving I have ever heard, he spoke of courage, hope and forgiveness, and
in response to everything he said there was a resounding ‘Amen’ from his
congregation. I felt really privileged
to share this moment with them.
Many of you will be thinking, well that’s all a
long way from here, we’re not like that, and anyway we have more important
things to care about right now. I leave that to you.
What I will say is that racism is not simply about
the colour of our skin. Racism is a
closing of the mind and heart to those who are different to us, those who are
‘other’. We all have prejudices and preconceptions
about other people, individuals or groups, that we hold on to mostly out of
ignorance, fear or laziness. It would be a help if we could, as a starting
point, at least admit that to ourselves.
However, the Christian faith tells us that we are
all made in God’s image, and if that is the case then we must assume that we
are all equal in God’s sight. We all stand under the same judgement and we can
all be recipients of the same abundant forgiveness. Surely this is the truth
that we should be telling everyone.
I am fearful for what is happening in the United
States. But here in Somerset, we have
been given the opportunity (albeit in the unwelcome form of a pandemic) to
rethink how we might live as a community and as neighbours. All we can do is start by looking into our
own hearts, then to one another and out into our community. However, we can pray for our brothers and
sisters across the Atlantic and for a more just society for all.
I am sure that the congregation of Pilgrim Baptist
Church will be praying for that, and they will, I am sure, still be praising
God, even amid tragedy and despair.
Today is Trinity Sunday and we come together to
praise God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
In the service I lead I talk about the dance of love between the three
members of the Trinity. I was certainly
invited into that dance at Pilgrim Baptist and I owe them a great deal.
Next week’s letter will be from Katharine and it
will be her last Sunday with us. I hope
as many of you as possible will communicate with her in the next two weeks as
she prepares to move.
Blessings.
Ann
Ann 01460
351521
Georgina
01460 66159
Katharine
01460 261188
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