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May 23, 2003
Indiana United Methodists seek reconciliation with black Methodists
In an attempt to reconcile centuries of racial injustice in Indiana, the predominately white United Methodist Church will be asking forgiveness of the predominately black Methodist denominations over the next two weeks in West Lafayette and Bloomington.
During the meeting of the North Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, May 29-31 at Purdue University, more than 1,200 representatives of northern Indiana's 570 predominately white United Methodist congregations will be invited to repent of the sin of racism and will be asked to be reconciled with representatives of the predominately black African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion and Christian Methodist Episcopal. The repentance and reconciliation will come during a worship service Thursday, May 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elliott Hall of Music on the Purdue campus.
Likewise during the meeting of the South Indiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, a similar worship service or repentance and reconciliation will be held Thursday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Indiana University Auditorium at Bloomington. South Conference is scheduled to meet June 4-7 with more than 1,200 representatives of southern Indiana's 690 predominately white United Methodist congregations.
Such a call for racial reconciliation was laid down at the May 2000 General Conference of The United Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. The General Conference, the official legislative body of the 10 million-member denomination, urged United Methodist nationwide to repent for past racist acts and attitudes within the church.
Such treatment in the 1700s and 1800s caused black Methodists to break off and form what is today the 2.5 million member AME, the 1.5-million member AME Zion and the 700,000-member CME churches.
"I've never accepted the fact this church is for white people," said Indiana Area United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White, who is himself black.
But for much of its history, the Methodist Church treated blacks as inferiors. Whether it was telling blacks in post Revolutionary War-era Philadelphia where to sit, or tolerating a slave-holding bishop in the old South, or segregating blacks into their own Central Jurisdiction in 1939.
"My guess is, the average member doesn't know the history," said White, who participated in the General Conference service of repentance and reconciliation three years ago in Cleveland.
During the service of reconciliation at Purdue, White will introduce the Rev. Warren M. Brown of Randolph, Mass., a bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and assigned to the Western West Africa District. Presently Brown is assisting in the supervision of the Midwest District of the AME Zion Church. Brown will join White in "A Litany of the Bishops" on repentance and reconciliation. White is scheduled to preach during this service. Brown is scheduled to preach during a worship service on May 30 at 8:30 a.m.
During the conference at Bloomington, White will introduce Bishop Marshall Gilmore, 72, of Dallas, Texas, as the annual conference preacher. Gilmore is presiding bishop of the Eighth Episcopal District of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, that includes all CME churches in Texas, and is the senior CME bishop. Gilmore will take part with White in the June 5 evening Service of Repentance for Racism.
In Indiana, the struggle toward wholeness continues on Sunday mornings. Of the 1,300 United Methodist congregations in the state, White estimates only about three dozen have more than a handful of black members. Most of those churches are almost exclusively black.
According to White, the healing of such a service of reconciliation could cause a breakdown of barriers, real or imagined, between the races, if not among these four Wesleyan denominations.
The church's Commission on Pan-Methodist Cooperation and Union has discussed the possibility of a merger between The United Methodist Church and the AME, AME Zion and CME churches since the 1970s. White, to retire next year, said such a merger is unlikely in the immediate future.
But whether one occurs officially, Indiana churches can make the spirit of slavery opponent and church founder John Wesley come alive by reaching out to their own local black church, said Gary Forbes, senior pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Kokomo, Ind.
After a member of Forbes' church expressed concern over racial relations in Kokomo, Forbes urged him to pursue a relationship with a traditional black church. Historic Wayman Chapel AME Church was approached and the two churches have worshipped or fellowshipped together on four occasions. Included were Watch Night services during the past two New Year's Eves.
"One of our major goals is to get into the homes of one another so we can relate as people and learn," said Forbes. "Another goal is to say to the city of Kokomo there's a group of churches taking the matter of racial togetherness very seriously."
Jim Shaw of Indianapolis is the South Indiana Annual Conference lay leader. He said his board of laity participated in a September 2001 retreat on racial reconciliation. While participation went well, Shaw understands some laity of both races may see racism as ancient history and not worth addressing. He feels there is a need for repentance.
"The bottom line is, Christ calls us and God calls us to be in unity with everyone. That's the constant struggle," he said.
What does White want to see during the repentance and reconciliation services? The bishop carries his own memories of being jailed during the 1960s in Mississippi when he drove from his church in Detroit to attend a Methodist church that did not allow blacks in its congregation.
"I hope we give genuine thanks for the gains that have been made in race, and give thanks for the leaders, some of whom have given personal sacrifices for racial reconciliation and healing," White said. "While we may not be where we want to be, we're further along than we used to be."
That's not to say White is resigned to only slight improvements from the present.
"There are still places where racial discrimination exists, and we need to challenge racism wherever we find it. We need to make a personal pledge to do that. There's a lot more for each person to do, including myself."
In other business of both the North and South Annual Conferences' three-day session, probationary ministers will be ordained, members becoming probationary candidates for ministry will be commissioned and ordained ministers reaching retirement age will be retired. Each conference also will elect 12 delegates, half clergy and half laity, to the General Conference of the church scheduled to meet April 27-May 7, 2004 in Pittsburgh. General Conference is the top legislative body of the worldwide denomination. General Conference meets every four years with 1,000 elected delegates and more than 2,000 observers.
END
For more information about the North Indiana Conference, contact Paula Shock, communication coordinator in Marion at 800-783-5138 or shock@nicumc.org.
For more information about the South Indiana Conference, contact Mary Barnes, in Blooming at 800-919-8160 or mbarnes@sicumc.org.
RECONCILIATION IN INDIANA
An examination of United Methodist black members, pastors and churches in the two Indiana conferences:
North Indiana Conference
- 103, 435 total members
- 780 black members (0.75 percent)
- 577 total churches
- 58 churches with black members
- 5 predominantly black churches
- 7 black pastors serving predominantly white churches
South Indiana Conference
- 120,794 total members
- 2,750 black members (2.3 percent)
- 697 total churches
- 19 churches with black members (estimated)
- 16 predominantly black churches (estimated)
- 12 black pastors serving at predominantly white churches (estimated)
Sources: North Indiana and South Indiana Conference offices