God Is Not a White Man

Chine McDonald’s God Is Not a White Man; And Other Revelations is an important and powerful read. It is highly uncomfortable, and very challenging but offers some significant, if painful, reminders of the role of white supremacy, a role which, sadly, is all too continuing in its presence.

The message, one that needs to be heard, is best summed up in some of Chine McDonald’s own words: “To bring about true racial justice, it is no longer enough to quote the right Bible passages or recite anti-racist slogans. It is not even enough to make bold claims about each of us being made in the image of God when the practices of our very own churches – and sometimes the very fabric upon which they exist – suggest that we believe otherwise. The suggestion that God is a white man is one of the greatest lies ever told. But a white God is inevitable – the logical consequence of a world steeped in white supremacy. God’s miscategorisation as a white man is no accident, but a consequence of white men – whose dominance has shaped history and theology for centuries – creating God in their image. This book is a lament for what has gone before us and the original sin of racism that has seeped its way into our churches and continues to drive the prejudices that exist about the beauty, worth, intellect and dignity of Black people, as well as the inferiority of Black women in contrast to the superiority of white men in almost every area of Western society.”

It's difficult, but we need to take seriously the way in which white dominance has misdirected the church, and the consequences that has produced. “When Christ is portrayed as a white man, the consequence is a Church that aligns itself with the dominant and the powerful rather than siding with those who are forgotten and cast aside. The countercultural act of portraying God as Black makes both a political and a theological statement about who God is.”

This book is an important contribution to an important debate. It raises big questions about what we should do in this area, and certainly about whether we are anywhere near doing enough.

Advice On Ministry

“Dear Nicholas ….: A Father’s Letter to His Newly Ordained Son” was originally written as “a rather personal offering from father to son.” Michael Henshall, then Bishop of Warrington, wrote it for his son, Nicholas, when he was ordained. That was in 1989. In 2019, Nicholas, then Dean of Chelmsford Cathedral (where I very occasionally encountered him in my former post) added some reflection and re-published it. (The earlier version had been published and used as a good source of advice for the newly ordained.)

I must admit that I would have loved to have it in my early days of ministry – though that couldn’t have happened as they were a decade before the original. But even now though, at the other end of stipendiary ministerial service, I really enjoyed reading it and found it to be scattered with nuggets of wisdom.

“Your life’s work, Dear Nicholas, is to be an icon of Christ. In a special vocation, tried and tested, you are to be a mirror of God in your generation.”

“Preach well, Dear Nicholas. Spend time in “remote” and in “immediate” preparation. Make sure you are heard. Accept criticism. Ultimately as you well know, preaching, which isn’t lecturing but proclamation, is all about communicating the mystery of Christ, the glory of God.”

“If we fail to make prayer a priority then we are probably lost.”

“Loitering with intent is a crime in English law. As one of the major priorities in the job description of a priest it is, Dear Nicholas, a virtue and moreover something of an art form. Long ago as a vicar, I learned personally the value of loitering with intent.”

“Ecumenical co-operation is not just a fashionable exercise. It is a deep response to Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17. It is costly, and it is a significant way of growing in faith. In these days we all need to commit ourselves as pilgrims to ecumenical partnership as a means of growing in our ministry.”

“The mandate is clear enough. Jesus makes it absolutely clear that ministry to the marginalized, the broken and the lost is the first priority of the Christian community, not an added extra.”

Just a few examples of what this little volume offers – as Nicholas says in his preface, “straightforward advice about living priesthood.”

Matthew Speaks

Barbara Brown Taylor’s The Seeds of Heaven offers a series of explorations/sermons from Matthew’s Gospel. There are fifteen in all, picking out a mix of things that Jesus did and said, the origin of the volume being a series of sermons that were prepared for radio broadcast in the summer of 1990.

Taylor introduces a number of very interesting ideas as she reflects on the various passages from Matthew, and I found it a gently inspiration, but provocative, read.

To comment on just one, her reflection on the parable of the labourers in the vineyard, recorded in Matthew 20. The story is of a man who hired folk to work his vineyard on one particular day. Some started early in the morning. As the day progressed, he felt he needed more help, and hired others, and then again, later on, still others. At the end of the day, everyone was paid the same, which was as agreed, but significant disquiet amongst those who had worked the longest, as they felt his generosity was unfair.

I am usefully challenged by Taylor’s insightful comment: “The most curious thing about this parable for me is where we locate ourselves in line. The story sounds quite different from the end of the line, after all, than it does from the front of the line, but isn’t it interesting that 99 percent of us hear it from the front row seats?” Quite so!

She adds: “God is not fair. For reasons we may never know, God seems to love us indiscriminately, and seems also to enjoy reversing the systems we set up to explain why God should love some of us more than others of us. By starting at the end of our lines, with the last and the least, God lets us know that his ways are not our ways, and that if we want to see things his way we might question our own notions of what is fair, and why we get so upset when our lines do not work.”

Preaching

I recently read Doug Gay’s God Be In My Mouth in which he helpfully explores the task of preaching, reflecting on its importance and its possibilities. As he says: “To be called to preach is to be called to see the world as clearly and honestly as we can. It involves an ongoing attempt, in the words of Burns, ‘To see oursels as ithers see us’, but it also requires a willingness to see what other people see, not to look away from poverty or suffering or injustice or privilege. The seeing is important, because sermons turn seeing into words.”

Preaching is certainly both a privilege and a responsibility and those of us who are called to engage in it do well to take time to reflect on that calling and just how we are engaging with it. The book reflects on different aspects and perspectives. It is not easy to preach well but, sometimes surprisingly, even our most faltering efforts can be used in amazing ways by God.

As in all aspects of discipleship, what matters is that we do our best. God expects us to do what we can, not what we can’t – and will use that – but it is important to take the calling seriously, do what we can, and then leave the rest to God.

As Doug says, ““Preachers in every era of the Christian church find themselves in messy, compromised and contested situations, in which they have to do their best - and in which they often fail. Thank God, some preachers manage to speak with prophetic and luminous clarity on certain issues at key moments. No preachers speak rightly about everything, all the time. We may (and should) pray ‘God be in my mouth’, but we will look around and look back to see that, in the mouths of others and in our own preaching mouths, there was also confusion, prejudice, ignorance, oppression and fear.”

Reflecting Further On Ministry

One of the biggest challenges in ministry is working out what to do. There is always more that could be done. Equally, it is often possible to avoid things that ought to be done. When given the opportunity, I have always urged those entering ministry to take and enjoy space when it arises, and not feel guilty. It won’t happen that often, at least not for those, the vast majority, with a proper commitment to ministry. It is important that we think about priorities, giving some weight to what ought to be done and what actually ought to be left.

Stephen Cottrell (in On Priesthood: Servants, Shepherds, Messengers, Sentinels and Stewards) explores this point. He writes: “Of course, as ordained ministers, we do things. Of course, there is an awful lot to do! But let us not delude ourselves. The things that you actually have to do to as a priest are not so many. Once you have led the services on Sunday, chaired the PCC, and buried the dead, there is not such a huge list of stuff that absolutely has to be done. What you could do is limitless and never ending. One of the hardest home truths for clergy to face is that when we are too busy and our diary too full, it is not because of all the things we had to do, but the things we chose to do. Indeed, the greatest and most practical wisdom that every priest must acquire in order for their ministry to be fruitful is the gift of discernment about what to do – what to pick up, and what to put down, and how to lead and build a church where ministry is the work of everyone. Many clergy never achieve this. They often end up washed out or burned up. It is a desperately sad sight. They will also complain: about the congregation, with whom they would share ministry if they weren’t such a dull bunch; about the diocese – all its red tape and bureaucracy are really to blame. But never themselves. This is essentially a spiritual issue. It is about seeking a life that is lived in community with God. The important question is this: Is the love of God and the love of the gospel the motivation behind all that I do? And is prayer and the nurturing of the spiritual life the wellspring of my ministry? The life of prayer, and nurturing the life of prayer, is the heart of ministry. It will express itself in many different ways.”

I do think the point about taking responsibility for our diaries is important. Having held a senior leadership role (as a URC Synod Moderator) for well over a decade now, I have often been asked about the pressure on ministers. I can advise and support, and often I have, but I can’t enforce colleagues to work (or take appropriate time) in particular ways. Ministry doesn’t work like that.

Cottrell sums up what is essential concisely and accurately when he quotes Derek Allen, one-time Principal of St Stephen’s House, and the person who led his ordination retreat. “Derek Allen concluded his final retreat address with the words: ‘Find enough time to sleep, find enough time to pray, and then do what you can.’”

That is wisdom indeed.

On Ministry

Stephen Cottrell’s On Priesthood: Servants, Shepherds, Messengers, Sentinels and Stewards is one of the most helpful and challenging books on ministry that I have read. I just wish it had been around a long time ago. I like these five categories of ministry which he places very much in the context of ministry belonging to the whole people of God. The priest, or minister, has a particular role – but all are called to discipleship. However, I like, too, his recognition of the big role that ministry should take, not because it makes ministers important, but because it gives them important responsibility. He states that he believes “that the incarnational and sacramental pattern of the Christian faith means that as Christ himself is the sacrament of God, God made visible and tangible to us in flesh and blood like ours, then it is Christ himself who ordains and sends out particular ministers, not just to lead and serve his Church (though, as we shall see, this is a primary part of ordained ministry), but also as evangelists and prophets to teach and preach, to hold the powerful to account, and to speak of God’s kingdom of justice and peace in a world of ever increasing confusion and hurt.”

We, who are ministers, have got a lot to do, and Cottrell recognises that. “So in the Church, the task of leadership is to serve the whole Church and build it up so that each person may discover the part they are called to play in witnessing to Christ and building the kingdom, and to be ready for the inevitable sacrifices that go with a life following Christ, and for the conflicts and persecutions that may come. Leadership in the Church is not an easy thing.”

The task is to take on the five roles, but do so in a way that enables and encourages the whole people of God to play their part in the life of the church. “The task of the priest is not to be the lead player, not the first violin or the concert pianist, but the conductor, harmonising and utilising the gifts and creativity of the whole.”

What does this mean? “So priests must love the people they serve. They are the ones for whom Christ died. They must teach the people they serve to play and love the music of the gospel. They must feed them with word and sacrament. They must make the words of the psalmist their own: ‘O sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the assembly of the faithful’; ‘How good it is to make music to the Lord …’ (Psalms 149.1; 148.1).”

Lots to think about.  Lots to challenge.

God's Table

This is God's Table: Finding Church Beyond the Walls is Anna Woofenden's fascinating account of how she formed 'the garden church' in San Pedro, California. It is an interesting story of how a vacant lot was taken over and became both a garden and a church, making a meaningful impact in its community, gathering folk who, for the most part, would otherwise not have gone to church. She makes the point that, anew in every generation, we need to listen for what God might be saying to us: "The church has adapted from age to age to serve people in their local contexts. Monasteries, medieval beguines, prayer meetings, Catholic Worker communities—all were new ideas once. Innovative expressions of Christian community were, and are, part of a loyal response to God’s call to faithfulness."

We need to see past current models and look for what God is doing, recognising that church is not restricted to our traditional views of how it should be. "A building is not what makes a church. The heavenly city has no temple. Being there for fifty or five hundred years is not what makes a church. The Garden Church brought into focus the power and the essence of church, as people gathered together to love God and love neighbor, share in the sacraments, belong to one another, and serve together. Rooted in the rich gifts of the faithful who have come before, we found the body of Christ together in the garden. We came together around the table believing that we were being nourished in the same stream" of the water of life."

The church is always on the move, following God's exciting ways. "God is making church all over the place, beyond the walls, on the streets, in the soil, and around the table. Whenever we gather together, God is with us. Wherever we pitch our tents, she will pitch hers too." What might God be saying to us about being the church in our context?