Читать книгу The Gathering, A Womanist Church - Irie Lynne Session - Страница 5

I am convinced that if Jesus of Nazareth showed up in the flesh in most churches, he would be turned off and turned away, unwelcome and unrecognized. Many churches that gather in the name of Jesus would discover that he would reject their praise, disrupt their worship agenda, turn over the offering tables, and demolish the pulpit. Jesus would reject the praise of any church that neglects to do the work of justice and interrupt any worship experience that neglects the needs of the hurting, just as the prophet Amos declared and as Jesus demonstrated in the Gospel narratives. The temple cleansing of those who economically exploited the poor is a preview of what the sable-skinned Savior from the streets would do to the offerings of super-sized churches that major in maintenance of their massive facilities but minor in ministry to the marginalized. In one of the Gospel narratives, Jesus welcomes and heals those who weren’t supposed to be in the precincts of the temple after he chases the money changers out of the temple. Jesus would be offended by the theology espoused in the pulpit that is sanctioned by empire, ignores the poor, engages in toxic masculinity, and is informed by a top-down hermeneutic that is in bed with injustice while being more capitalist than Christian.

As Jesus searched for a church, I would gladly tell Jesus about a church that has taken his mission and ministry seriously. I would insist that Jesus go to a church where he would feel at home. I would excitedly invite Jesus to attend The Gathering. The Gathering is a womanist church in Dallas, Texas, doing the hard work of creating a beloved Christian community while they impact and transform the community. Jesus feels at home at The Gathering because he identifies so strongly with their liberating and empowering theology that informs their loving ecclesiology. I could see Jesus inspired by the compassionate and welcoming climate that characterizes The Gathering. Jesus would appreciate and applaud the egalitarian leadership of bold, brilliant, and dynamic Black women who embody and fight to dismantle hierarchy and work in harmony with Jesus at the center of their word, worship, and work. I could see Jesus being blessed and even shouting during the sermons because they are informed by womanism. The Gathering tells us that “womanism is rooted in Black women’s experiences of struggle, resistance to oppression, survival, and community building.” Jesus identifies with womanism because of his own struggle as a dark-skinned Palestinian under empire, resistance to oppression, survival, and determination to build the beloved community. Since “womanism works for the wholeness of all people and all creation,” Jesus would be graciously embraced at The Gathering.

The Gathering, A Womanist Church: Origins, Stories, Sermons, and Litanies tells the phenomenal and unfolding story of this radical, unorthodox, powerful, compassionate, and loving community. This book is a page-turner that provides an enlightening primer of womanist theology, while testifying to the process of building a womanist church. This book is fire, and the sister authors are fierce. For those who are in ministry, this book will challenge you and inspire you to engage in radical ministry informed by womanism. If you have given up on the church because you’ve been wounded by the church, this book will offer you healing and hope.

In the old school Black Baptist Church, the pastor, upon concluding the sermon, would extend the invitation for worshipers to join Christ and the church with the words, “The doors of the church are open.” Sadly, the doors were only open to certain people who would conform to the ideology of the church that was rooted in sexism. The doors of the church weren’t open to women in ministry. The doors of the church were closed to those in the LGBTQ community unless they served in music ministry and were content to be second-class citizens. The doors of the church were open with a caveat.

At The Gathering, the doors of the church are truly open. The doors of The Gathering are open, inviting all to come in and experience a beloved community. The doors of The Gathering are open to the outcast and the overwhelmed, the least of these and the lost, the marginalized and those who live on Main Street. The doors of The Gathering are open to all who recognize that the hope of our sick nation, infected by toxic masculinity, the poison of racism, and the brokenness that comes from oppressive hierarchies, is in the ministry, mission, and message of this compassionate community. The doors of The Gathering are also open, inspiring all to go into the world to create the beloved community. The Gathering gathers and then scatters into the world to fight for justice for all, as they dismantle racism and sexism and transform the world. I am convinced Jesus would love this gathering of grace, and I hear God saying from eternity, “Now this is my beloved Body of Christ in whom I am well pleased.” Yes, She is!

Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes, III

Senior Pastor, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas