Archive: UM Structure Squelches Black Church Growth

By Joseph L. Harris

If trends continue we can expect black Methodism to become an invisible force in United Methodism in the near future.

Before the “Letters to the Editor” column fills up with reactions to the following ideas, let me say that I realize what I am proposing is a radical step. However, urgent needs require radical ideas. Old formulas and solutions have to be discarded in times of crisis. The following ideas are meant to provide creative ideas to meet the crisis of which I speak.

There is a crisis in Methodism far more serious to United Methodists than the farm crisis, far more serious to Methodists than the unemployment figures, far more serious than the loss or 1.9 million Methodists during the last 20 years. This crisis strikes at the very soul of Methodism.

The crisis is the demise of the black United Methodist constituency. If trends continue we can expect black Methodism to become an invisible force in United Methodism in the near future. The only viable solution is to begin new black congregations and revitalize old ones. Sounds simple, yet our present structure may well be our biggest obstacle to beginning new churches and revitalizing old congregations.

Over-qualified Clergy

Our educational requirements for clergy are the main problem, as I perceive it. That is, our main problem is our demand that all fully ordained preachers must obtain a master of divinity degree or pursue a long course or study. (There is an exception clause in the Discipline #416.2, but this is rarely used.)

In effect, this strict requirement has made many black clergy over-qualified for their job. The average black person sitting in the pews today has obtained only a high school diploma, yet we require black preachers to be considerably more educated than most of the people they will serve. Otherwise, if black ministers choose not to seek seminary education, we relegate them to second-class citizenry by giving them limited rights compared to our “fully” ordained pastors. For blacks who have been righting the second-class citizen syndrome all our lives, this is but another insult.

Limited Future

Blacks who do pursue the seminary M. Div. degree often do not want to go to a low-member, low-paying charge with a limited future—especially when their white peers have a variety of options, both now and in the future. What many blacks do is seek additional education to create more career choices—a general board or conference job, or they may eventually move to another career or denomination rather than trying to revitalize a dying congregation or start a new one. How can we stem this tide? Perhaps, with a radical idea.

I propose a two-fold solution. First, when a black man or woman is called of God to preach we need to respect that. We need to recognize, too, that seminary may be neither vital nor appropriate for all persons called of God. Yet the call must be acknowledged as equal to the call of those who are currently ordained. If that person is called of God to pastor in the inner-city, the necessity of three years of graduate school may well do more to diminish readiness for this type of ministry than to help. Certainly some basic educational requirements could be determined, but seminary is neither the end nor the beginning of ministry. The call of God should be recognized as such.

Second, our seminaries should begin to provide full three-year scholarships to black men and women who desire a seminary education—that’s right, a free educational ride through seminary. Provided the student agree ahead of time to commit four to five years of his/her ministry to starting a new black church, revitalizing an old church or working on a mission field, either domestic or foreign. (This is no different than a hospital paying a medical student’s educational bills on the condition that the student agrees to practice medicine in that hospital for a specific number of years.) A student who chose to break the agreement would be required to simply pay what the seminary tuition would have been.

Lest you think these ideas show preferential treatment for blacks, I think similar plans would be helpful for white clergy serving in rural America. My main concern, though, is for black Methodists. Black Methodists help make Methodism a rich and vital denomination. It’s time we get radical before it’s too late.

Joseph L. Harris is associate pastor of Asbury United Methodist church in Tulsa, Okla., and a Good News board member.