From left, Bishop L. Jonathan Holston of the S.C. Conference of the United Methodist Church, Bishop W. Andrew Waldo of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper S.C., Bishop James B. Walker of the Seventh Episcopal District Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and Bishop Herman R. Yoos of the S.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
By Chip Lupo
Catholic Miscellany
It should be the duty of the Christian faith community to take the lead in combatting racism in our society.
That was the call to action brought forth by theologian and author Drew G.I. Hart at the fall dialogue of The Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops on Oct. 15 at Shandon United Methodist Church in Columbia.
The Fellowship of South Carolina Bishops, formerly known as LARCUM, is the coalition of Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, United Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal and Christian Methodist Episcopal bishops – including Bishop L. Jonathan Holston of the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Hart
“If we’re going to be serious about confronting racism in any sphere, we have to be committed first as Christians to getting to the root of it and not just being well-intentioned,” said Hart, author of “Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism.”
“Until the racial hierarchy is flattened, there will continue to be these really terrible moments in which people cannot come as shared human beings; followers who should be leaders to step up and be the ones to lead the conversation.”
The subtitle of Hart’s book, “Changing the Way the Church Views Racism,” was adopted as the theme of the dialogue.
Speaking before nearly 100 clergy and lay people representing several denominations, Hart, 35, an assistant professor of theology at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, delivered a powerful three-part presentation. He recalled his experiences as the only African-American man on his dormitory floor in college and spoke on everything from inequality in education funding and opportunities to the history of slavery, white privilege and police brutality.
“It will take some renewed minds to be able to once again recognize what God desires for his creation,” Hart said. “There’s a great opportunity here for us to both present our bodies in sacrifices and also to have renewed minds in the midst of the racialized patterns that exist in our society.”
After each presentation, attendees gathered in small groups for 15-minute sessions to discuss questions Hart had asked.
“This was a very substantive presentation,” said Father Sandy McDonald, pastor at St. John Neumann Church in Columbia. Hart “provided a very helpful framework to understand the dynamics and difficulties and challenges of racism and how it applies to education, and how it applies to the call of the Church to respond.
“We need to hear the story of racism anew today and seek to understand it. It’s very complex, it’s very fraught, it’s painful and it’s necessary.”
