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Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven "Journey to Wholeness" Rev. Ann C. Fox |
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What does "wholeness" mean to you? As an individual, being whole for me would be a state of being where I do not judge others as being less than myself for any reason, and especially not because of difference of race, class, sexual orientation, ability, wealth, intelligence, or attractiveness. As a religious community, being whole would be reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity in our society at large. This weekend is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday celebration. How good it is that once every year we can call ourselves to account, to self-examination as to how we are progressing regarding our individual attitudes towards racism. Are you excited by the idea of diversity in our congregation? Do you love to read about it, sing about it, reflect upon it? If so, you are a typical liberal religionist. Do you feel a sense of pride when you think about our Unitarian Universalist movement being in the forefront of cutting edge social justice activities? Regarding this last, we must take great care not to become too smug about ourselves for we may fool ourselves into thinking we're better than other religious liberals. We are theologically very diverse, more than any other denomination. But we are NOT racially diverse. Only 1.3 of our Association is of African American descent and this has something to do with our ambivalence in charging ahead with being free of racism. Today, let us discover more of our denominational past so that we might see clearly what we need to do to become who we want to be. What, for example, is our real story in combating racism? Telling the story will take many years of Martin Luther King, Jr. celebrations, but perhaps we can begin today. When I looked for a definition of "racism" yesterday on the Internet, I found "racism, a pigment of our imagination." Until I went to seminary, I thought we were exemplary. Weren't we abolitionists par excellence? In the 1800's, didn't Reverend William Ellery Channing denounce slavery all of his life in spite of a disapproving congregation? Didn't Reverend Theodore Parker work and sleep and write his sermons with a rifle at hand ready to spring up at any moment to defend the runaway slaves hiding in his house? In his book Black Pioneers in a White Denomination, Reverend Mark Morrison-Reed, the Black American minister serving the UU Toronto congregation, assures us that while Channing and Parker did indeed condemn slavery and help runaways, they and others harbored the notion that Negroes were innately inferior. It was not until years of interminable debate that the American Unitarian Association passed a moderate anti-slavery resolution in 1844. However, Universalist Dr. Benjamin Rush helped to found the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery in 1784 and he helped freeman Richard Allen establish an African church in Philadelphia, which later became the African Methodist Episcopal church (the AME) that is so successful today. (I will attend the AME church in New Bedford I will attend today). Morrison-Reed tells us the stories of how two black ministers entered our denomination. Here is the story of how one black man, Ethelred Brown, tried to be a Unitarian minister. Ethelred was born in Jamaica in 1875. He entered the British civil service at the age of 19 years. While still a choirboy in the Episcopal Church, he had a revelation that the Athanasian Creed (that's the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit idea of God) was not the truth for him. Soon after, he found in an uncle's house a copy of one of Channing's sermons called "The Lord Our God is One". He couldn't get the Unitarian idea out of his mind. Since Ethelred was married and had six children, it was in his middle years that he wrote a letter addressed "To any Unitarian Minister in New York City" seeking information as to the possibility of entering the Unitarian ministry. The letter finally found its way to Franklin Southworth, president of Meadville Theological School (which is still one of the seminarie s for UU students today). In 1910, although Ethelred was accepted into the African Methodist Episcopal church, which had recently established in Jamaica, he chose to take on great difficulties in order to go to Meadville Theological School. The Unitarian Universalist Association warned him that there might be no church that will offer him a pulpit since there were no African Unitarian churches. Ethelred Brown was the seventh black man to attend Meadville. The president was determined to nurture blacks through the seminary years. Ethelred wrote that the Meadville years were the most exciting and happiest of his life even though there were some experiences of cultural stereotypes. When Ethelred had done something particularly well, one student exclaimed, "You must have some white blood in you!" Upon graduation, Ethelred persuaded AUA President, Samuel Eliot, to help him build a church in Jamaica in 1912 and begin his work as a Unitarian Missionary. The next year, the AUA sent a retired minister, Hilary Bygraves, to assess Ethelred's progress. Bygraves reported to the AUA:"The Rev. E.E. Brown is pronouncedly black, which is somewhat of a handicap to him in his work, since those of his race who are fortunate enough to approach absolute whiteness are too proud 'to sit under' any minister save 'a white gentleman.' (This is directly from our archives at Beacon Street.) He is fairly well educated, seems endowed with tact and great common sense, and is a speaker of considerable eloquence and force." When Ethelred Brown requested more funds the following year, Rev. Bygraves wrote to the President that the AUA should not continue the support "since Mr. B being coal black himself could not hope to secure the cooperation of white people, and what was sadder still not even the presence of the whiter people of his own race." In the years between 1914 and 1920, the American and British Unitarians alternately withdrew and reestablished their aid, never giving quite enough to sustain Ethelred so that he always had to work at a second job. Finally, in 1920, Ethelred Brown came to Harlem, New York City and established the Harlem Unitarian Church without any AUA support. In Harlem, the church attracted black, socialist intellectuals to Ethelred's weekly forums. He always had to work at a second job, thus robbing him of the energy to engage fulltime ministry. During the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's and the Depression of the 1930's, the AUA turned its back on Ethelred, hoping he would go away. They tried to remove his name from the list of ministers twice (by the way, they did this to the few women ministers as well) and they would have succeeded had it not been for the intervention of the brilliant and charismatic Community Church of New York minister John Haynes Holmes. (Next year, we'll look at the social justice work of Rev. Holmes.) In his commitment to Unitarian Christianity and to social justice, Ethelred Brown was Unitarian through and through. The Statement of Purpose of his Harlem Unitarian Church reads: "This Church is an institution of religion dedicated to the service of humanity. Seeking the truth in freedom, it strives to apply it in love for the cultivation of character, the fostering of fellowship in work and worship, and the establishment of a righteous social order which shall bring abundance of life to man. Knowing not sect, class, nation or race it welcomes each to the service of all." How is that for a statement of diversity and lack of racism! And how far it goes on the journey to wholeness! Ethelred was indeed an exemplar for us all. Ethelred believed that emotion was central to religion, and music was one way of introducing emotion into the worship service and music and emotion were the factors that made a sermon different from a lecture. (I wonder if Dwight and our choir would agree with this!) Knowing that music and emotion were missing from many Unitarian churches he exhorted his Unitarian brethren to reclaim the emotional dimension of religion. Ethelred Brown was a man ahead of his times. Until the last month of his life at 82 years, he devoted his life to his religion and his church. He was ignored by the AUA, and he died a pauper, and the church, dependent upon his character and inspiration, died with him. Many black ministers followed. It was never easy to find pulpits that would take them and it is only a little easier today! In the last two decades we, as well as the rest of America, have made some progress in combating racism and we have created a program called "Journey to Wholeness," an anti-racism program. The rest of the world has also made some progress. You might have heard the true story of the elderly South African woman on a flight from Johannesburg. She found herself sitting next to a black man. She was outraged and called the flight attendant to complain. "How can you seat me next to this obnoxious person," she shouted. "I demand that you change my seat!" The flight attendant was very embarrassed. She said, "Madam, the flight is almost full, but I'll see what I can do." When she returned quite a while later, she said, "Madam, I have discussed the matter with the bursar and even with the Captain. There is only one seat vacant. It is in First Class. It is highly unusual for us to upgrade like this." The woman looked pleased. The Attendant turned to the black man and said, "Sir, will you please gather your things and follow me to First Class!" The people on the plane cheered and applauded! I like to think that the recent outcry raised at Senator Trent Lott's racist remarks and his consequent removal as the leader of the Senate Republican Party is an example of the progress we have made. The first question to ask ourselves is whether we want racial diversity. I believe the answer to that is "Yes!" How then do we get more racially diverse? We must be INTENTIONAL about it. If a person of color comes in our doors, I hope that we will be even more warm and welcoming than ever! Working on racial diversity will move us along our journey to wholeness. Martin Luther King, Jr. is also an exemplar for us. In the reading this morning, notice that he realized he must not only work for poor people of all races but that believing in non violence meant not waging war upon poor people of other nations. It is interesting that though we elect a government to lead us, the wisdom of the people must end up leading the government when it is wrong. We did this in the anti-slavery movement, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam anti-war movement, and now in the impending war on Iraq. If Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today, I am sure he would have been in Washington D.C. yesterday with the 100,000 protesters. Embracing the journey to wholeness can only make our lives richer with justice and happiness for there cannot be one without the other. King reminds us that we can "make the right choice [and] transform the jangling discords of our world into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood….and speed up the day…when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream." As we walk our journey of wholeness together, may the words and ideas of wise men and women inspire us and may our hearts and minds guide us to transforming acts of love and peace.
Reading
Although we think primarily of Martin Luther King, Jr., as a civil rights hero, his thinking grew broader and deeper to include the poor of all races and the consequences of America engaging in an unjust war. This reading is from his talk called "Beyond Vietnam" given at Riverside Church in New York City in 1967. We might like to consider whether substituting "Iraq" for "Vietnam" has validity for us today. |
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