The Separated Black And Non Black Conferences In Adventism - Will We Ever Just Talk?

It doesn't take much to get a discussion going regarding "regional conferences" and "non regional conferences." I was on Facebook and pointed to this article where a Black and a White church decided to come together to have a worship service. It was an interesting story in and of itself. But in the comments section the discussion quickly turned to a discussion of the Black and White church and Black conferences. This was particularly interesting to me in that the original story was not about Adventists. In addition is wasn't about dismantling anything. It was only about worshiping together.

Is it Time? - Frederick Russell, Calvin Rock, and the Black Conferences

In a very interesting move, the Allegheny West Conference has elected Pastor Frederick Russell to become its next president. What is interesting to me is that this happens during the discussion in the Adventist world over the existence of so called "regional conferences."

Russell has written an article that calls for the removal of the separated conferences in America. His plan, which looks like one of the plans presented in the General Conference document that we blogged on two years ago and can be found at this link, calls for the abolishment of both the local conference and the union conference levels and then create a new entity that is larger than a local conference, but smaller than a union conference.

In contrast, Dr. Calvin Rock disagrees with Russel. You can find his compelling piece at this link.

What to Keep in Mind

I think when we talk about the Black and White conferences we need to keep a few things in mind. First and foremost many of our brothers and sisters of other denominational traditions are being hypocritical when they condemn us for having black and white conferences. We must keep in mind that many of their denominations may not have black and white conferences, the reason being is because they have white and black Denominations. The Methodists split along the color line and so did the Baptists. Certainly today we see some black churches in predominantly white denominations, and a few in the other direction, but I have heard to many Adventists doing hand wringing when a baptist asks about Black conferences when we can at least say we didn't split the denomination itself.

Black People Can't Bear the Brunt of The Black Conference Existence

Another important point to keep in mind, Black people cannot bear the brunt for the reason for their existence. I sometimes hear black and white brothers and sisters blaming black people for the existence of "Black conferences." Their existence was due to white racism totally. This was not created by so called black racism, but white racism plain and simple. If we ever do away with them, we must recognize this and state it, if we don't it will demonstrate their need. A new way this is argued is to say "we don't' have white conferences we have black conferences and integrated conferences." This is attempting to sweep it all under the rug and blame black people for its current existence.

Structural Renewal Can't be Used to Sweep Under the Rug

Also, The real need for structural renewal cannot be used to sweep away the Black conferences without us fully dealing with why we created them in the first place.

Is it time to get rid of the Black conferences? I don't know, but I tend to doubt it. Is it time to get together and figure out when that time would be? Well it is way past time for that determination. We pray that Frederick Russell can begin that conversation in his new role.

Calvin Rock's 3 Questions on Black SDA Preaching

As I begin this series looking at Calvin Rock's seminal article "Black SDA Preaching: Balanced or betwixt and between?" I notice that the article begins with 3 important questions for consideration. These questions reach the heart of Black Preaching within an Adventist context.

1. Is it possible to do genuine Black preaching when we are separated from the Black churches? In other words, must one be in a historically Black denomination to engage in true Black preaching? Related is the question of whether an "Anglo hermeneutic" has taken over our preaching which would be a detriment to Black preaching itself?
   
2. How has the separation of Black Adventists from the historic Black denominations affected our preaching? Has it given us an "Anglo-emphasis?"
   
3. Are we Black preachers with an Adventist doctrine or Adventist preachers with a Black emphasis? Or are we a hybrid "too theologically Anglicized for authentic Black preaching and too authentically ethnic to fit the Adventist prototype?"
   

Why Care about the Black Tradition?

A deeper question also emerges as I look at these questions. That question is should we even care or worry about an African American approach to preaching? Is it valuable in its own right or is it a relic of the past with no relevance for today?

Those are complicated questions. But in the end, Black preaching is valuable because of its emphasis on 3 important things that can enrich all preaching. The first of these is its "practicality." Great Black preaching is not simply about teaching doctrine, but finding practical ways to make that doctrine relevant to daily living. The second important characteristic of Great black preaching is it is "communal." Great Black preaching seeks to build a community of people who can make it through the difficulties of life. The emphasis is on community. The final is it is from the vantage point of the "least of these." Black preaching looks at the Bible and the preaching moment as a means of celebrating the perspective of the least of these. This is a valuable hermeneutic in that a good portion of the Bible's witness comes from the perspective of the least of these. Please see this link for an article I wrote on the Black Preaching Tradition.

Black Adventist or Adventist who happens to be Black?

So yes I think that the Black preaching tradition is important, even to Adventists. But this goes back to the question of whether we are Black Adventist preachers or Adventist preachers who happen to be Black. I don't like the dichotomy between these two descriptions. But I will begin to answer this question this way. I refused to separate the two. I must preach as an African American who has engaged in the benefits and liabilities of being a part of the community. But I am Adventist. Both have demands on me as a preacher. I must look for what God is doing for the underdog when I look at the text. My African American perspective forces me to do that. But I also must look for the "Great controversy" theme and the connection to the consummation of all things at the Second Advent, because I am Adventist.

Unify the Two?

I must seek to "celebrate the good news" and attempt to have the people "experience the word" because so many in my African American tradition have done that, but I also must preach reform and the responsibilities of the Gospel because I am Adventist. In short, I must do both, and hopefully reflection on this article will help me retain this "dual-consciousness."

Please stay around for our reflections on this important document.