Firing Someone Doesn't Change Much

By now, most people in the Pittsburgh area have heard about the termination this week of Wendy Bell, a local news journalist for WTAE. If you’re like me, you have heard the news because of the reactions it generated, both in support of Bell and in support of the station firing her.

I do not, nor have I ever, watched local news, and I barely knew who Wendy Bell was before this week. So, I have no intention of debating whether she is a noble journalist who was simply misunderstood, or a racist whose true colors are finally showing. There are enough people doing that already. This is not a referendum on Bell or WTAE.

However, I have read Bell’s original post on Facebook that started this whole mess, and it unquestionably demonstrates white privilege and racist attitudes. This does not necessarily make Wendy Bell a hateful person or explicitly racist. She may have had the best of intentions. I will give her the benefit of the doubt that she did and does mean well.

But that doesn’t make it okay. This controversy sheds light on a problem in our culture, particularly in Western Pennsylvania where conversations on race are few and far between. A professor of mine from seminary often said, “There are no racist people. Only racist attitudes.” That has always stuck with me. It reminds me that even if I have the best of intentions, I still possess racist attitudes of which I am unaware. This is known as implicit bias – having attitudes or beliefs that operate below a conscious level, affecting our thoughts and actions without our awareness of it. It is these attitudes which must be addressed, and which are in some ways equally as problematic as explicit racism.

Wendy Bell, like me, benefits from white privilege. Wendy Bell, like me, isn’t always conscious of the implicit biases and racist attitudes she has. Wendy Bell, like me, continually needs anti-racism or sensitivity training. My hope is that Bell takes advantage of this situation to grow and mature as an individual.

As for WTAE, they could have used this controversy as an opportunity to address a systemic issue by requiring all their employees, including Bell, to engage in such training. Maybe they are, and maybe they terminated Bell because she refused to participate. I don’t know. What I do know is that firing Bell solves a public relations problem, but it won’t do anything to dismantle racism in WTAE’s workplace, our region, or our country.

This is one reason I am proud of my employer, the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. We take seriously our commitment to “creating a culture of inclusiveness”, recognizing that “We are richer with diversity and we will continue to find ways to witness with full inclusion and the embracing of all our sisters and brothers of color.” Several years ago, we required all pastors to participate in a two-part Dismantling Racism training, and conference leadership has recently decided to require similar training for new pastors within their first year of service as a commissioned minister and provisional member. The conference also added a new staff position last year, a Coordinator of Diversity Development, to help “move the church forward in being racially inclusive of all persons as we seek to make disciples for the transformation of the world.”

Until we move beyond calling people racists or getting defensive when others call us racist, nothing will change. Until we acknowledge that we have implicit biases and work to overcome them, nothing will change. Until we begin to discuss about what is problematic in our language surrounding race, nothing will change. Attacks and counter-attacks draw headlines, and employee terminations have the veneer of taking a stand, but the real work lies beyond. Change begins with conversation, and continues with a commitment to changing ourselves from within. This is what God requires of us. Might this be a chance for the church to take the lead, changing and re-shaping the cultural discourse?

Anam Cara: Part 2 of Several

An Anam Cara is a soul friend. Join me as I share experiences of soul friends that have walked with me in my continuing journey of faith.

My name is Erik, I’m a pastor, I enjoy reading, cooking, going to ball games, and long, slow, reaffirmation of baptismal covenant services on the beach.

The first time I attended such a service, I was in St. Lucia on a mission trip with my youth group. Our last night there, we headed to the beach for some evening relaxation and closing worship. One of the pastors at our church, Rev. Eric Park, led the service, which was centered on reaffirmation of our baptismal covenants and the celebration of Holy Communion. I will never forget that service, particularly because of the way the sacrament of communion was served.

Imagine the sight of 80 senior high youth and adult leaders, worshipping on a Caribbean beach. Now imagine Eric, a bowling ball of a man, leading the service while standing knee deep in the ocean, holding the elements of bread and wine in his outstretched arms and inviting us to the Lord’s Supper. Imagine further that Eric is wearing athletic shorts, a Scooby Doo cut-off t-shirt, and a bandana on his head. This is the scene of one of the most memorable and comical experiences of communion in my life.

Before then, I had received communion countless times. But until that night, I had never seen it administered by someone wearing sleeveless Scooby Doo vestments. Then again, Eric is the type of guy who, as an adult, still reads comic books and watches cartoons, so none of us were in any way surprised at his attire.

As a high school student, I had already begun to sense a call to ordained ministry. However, I was a teenager, so I wasn’t really sure what it all meant. I needed guidance on the matter. Though my parents were pastors themselves, our conversations on the subject seemed guarded. It was almost as if my parents wanted to support my potential call to ministry, but maintain enough distance that I didn’t feel any added pressure to follow in their footsteps. So Eric began to be a person I turned to for guidance.

Occasionally, I would swing by the church after school to chat with Eric. He shared his passions for Star Trek and comic books with me, and I shared my passion for baseball with him. We found (and still find) common ground with Duke basketball, Steelers football, Seinfeld, and a desire to follow Jesus Christ. And sometimes, we would discuss my call to ministry. Eric gave me a lot of great advice, some of which I remember and some of which I’m sure I have long forgotten. Over the years, Eric has remained somewhat of a mentor for me, particularly now that I have begun to fulfill my calling back here in Western PA as one of his colleagues.

Of the many things Eric has taught me, one very important lesson came on that warm summer night on the beach in St. Lucia. That night, as a high school senior, I learned that to be a pastor does not mean one must sacrifice his or her identity. Eric surely knows when wearing the image of a cartoon dog is acceptable, and when a clergy robe is more appropriate for administration of sacraments. But he did teach me that sometimes, we pastors need to let our personalities shine through. Just because I am now a pastor does not mean I must sacrifice who I am, hobbies and wardrobe included. This I know because of a pastor willing to adorn a cut-off t-shirt while administering communion.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many anam caras, but I am especially thankful for Eric and the important lessons he continues to teach me. How he spells his name may clearly be inferior to the way I spell mine, but I am thankful to have a colleague and a brother in Christ like Eric Park.

Annual Conference Recap: The Short Form

Overall, AC was good, but it had its ups, its downs, and its strange moments. This may have been the strangest Annual Conference I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going for 11 years.

Day 1: Opening Day

The first day of Annual Conference began with an informal opening worship, followed by clergy session. During clergy session, we elected 21 provisional members into our Annual Conference.

Following that, we had opening worship, where the bishop encouraged us to “Burn, Baby, Burn.” He implored us to be motorcycle churches rather than lawnmower churches: getting out and taking risks rather than playing it safe. It was a good sermon to kick off our theme for the week, which centered on our mission as the Western PA Annual Conference of the UMC. Our vision is “to ignite and sustain a passionate spiritual connection with Christ among all people in Western Pennsylvania.”

Immediately following worship was strange moment #1 of 2009 AC. One of the first things we have to do on the business end is approve the agenda – usually a simple task. Well, someone made a motion to amend the agenda. The amendment proposed that we move the constitutional amendment voting up to Friday afternoon. In an extremely rare moment, the vote on amending the agenda was so close that we had to count votes, and 30 minutes later, we passed it as amended.

The rest of Thursday was pretty boring, all things considered. We had our legislative section meetings, then dinner, then a memorial service.

Day 2: Inappropriateness, Inexplicable Voting Rules, Ironic Pizza, and Hoisting the Cup

Friday began harmless enough, with Bible study followed by reports from various people: the conference lay leader, the cabinet, etc. But strange moment #2 of 2009 AC came just before lunch, when a woman came to the podium and announced she would lead us in a time of stretching and meditation as part of our new “Health as Wholeness”* focus. She began by asking us to stand and give our neighbor a shoulder massage. Now, for me, it would mean turning and giving my secretary a massage, which I considered awkward, uncomfortable, inappropriate, and probably a violation of our denomination’s Safe Sanctuaries policy. So we went to lunch instead.

Friday afternoon, we voted on the constitutional amendments. It went smoother than I expected.

Strange moment #3 came on Friday evening. It was Mission Night, but it was also the night of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We heard a great sermon by a pastor from Mozambique in celebration of Mission Night, including stories about how parents in his country can barely feed their children one cup of tea for dinner. This heartbreaking story of widespread poverty was immediately followed by our bishop announcing he had ordered 80 large pizzas so we could all watch the rest of the hockey game together in the plenary room. On top of that, the pizzas were placed directly in front of the Health as Wholeness information table. It was the most irony-laced pizza party I’ve ever attended.

*In light of the rampant obesity plaguing our clergy, our conference is promoting “Health as Wholeness” in an attempt to make us better pastors, as well as cheaper employees to insure.

Day 3: Legislating, Reporting, and Questioning

Lisa came up for the day. We also had one of the young adults in our congregation spend the day with us, as he wanted to see what AC was all about. They got to see some reports, as well as debate over some legislation. (You can find summaries of the more interesting legislative action in the long form report.)

Saturday evening was Ministry Night, where we celebrated the ministry of the laity, of the local pastors, and of the clergy. Bishop Will Willimon preached a wonderful sermon.

Day 4: Ordaining and Returning Home

Sunday morning was the ordination service. Many people I know were ordained or commissioned, including a long time close friend, Matt Johnson. We were groomsmen in each other’s weddings, and we both love United Methodist polity and legislation more than almost anyone else. I’m glad that we are now officially colleagues in ministry, and look forward to being ordained in the same class in 2011.

As always, Annual Conference was many things. More than anything else, it was a celebration of our connectional nature. We became one body for just a few days, then dispersed again for another year of ministry throughout the mountains and valleys of Western Pennsylvania, where we will ignite and sustain a passion for Christ among all people. May it be so.

Annual Conference Recap: The Long Form

As always, I thoroughly enjoyed Annual Conference this year. I couldn’t sleep the night before, and now that it’s over I am sad that I have to wait an entire year before we come together again for holy conferencing. Overall, AC was good, but it had its ups, its downs, and its strange moments. This may have been the strangest Annual Conference I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been going for 11 years.

Day 1: Opening Day

The first day of Annual Conference began with an informal opening worship, followed by clergy session. During clergy session this year, we elected 21 provisional members into our Annual Conference. They will be on the new two year track to ordination, meaning most of them will be ordained with my class of 10 from last year. That will be a long ordination service in 2011.

Following that, we had opening worship, where the bishop encouraged us to “Burn, Baby, Burn.” He implored us to be motorcycle churches rather than lawnmower churches: getting out and taking risks rather than playing it safe. He charged us with this task: “Take the church out on the open road, give it the gas, and see what the old baby will do!” It was a good sermon to kick off our theme for the week, which centered on our mission as the Western PA Annual Conference of the UMC. Our vision is “to ignite and sustain a passionate spiritual connection with Christ among all people in Western Pennsylvania.”

Immediately following worship was strange moment #1 of 2009 AC. The first order of business every year is simple administrative tasks: filling out attendance cards, setting the bar, approving the agenda, etc. Well, when we got to approving the agenda, someone made a motion to amend the agenda. We were scheduled to vote on the very important constitutional amendments on Saturday afternoon, but many clergy leave early each year for a variety of reasons: golfing, officiating weddings, camping, preaching on Sunday – all those things that do NOT trump our obligation to attend all of Annual Conference. Well, the amendment proposed that we move the constitutional amendments up to Friday afternoon so that those who wish to skip out early can do so.

In an extremely rare moment, the vote on amending the agenda was so close that the bishop had to call a division of the house. Tellers who hadn’t organized themselves had to haphazardly count votes, and 30 minutes after we started looking at the agenda, we finally passed it as amended. I doubt I will ever see a division of the house on the agenda again in my lifetime.

The rest of Thursday was pretty boring, all things considered. We had our legislative section meetings, then dinner, then a memorial service.

Day 2: Inappropriateness, Inexplicable Voting Rules, Ironic Pizza, and Hoisting the Cup

Friday began harmless enough, with Bible study followed by reports from various people: the conference lay leader, the cabinet, etc. But strange moment #2 of 2009 AC came just before lunch, when a woman came to the podium and announced she would lead us in a time of stretching and meditation as part of our new “Health as Wholeness”* focus. We realized she wasn’t kidding when she asked us to stand and give our neighbor a shoulder massage. Now, for me, it would mean turning and giving my secretary a massage, which I considered awkward, uncomfortable, inappropriate, and probably a violation of our denomination’s Safe Sanctuaries policy. So we went to lunch instead. Whoever came up with the idea of asking me to give a massage to my secretary in the middle of holy conferencing needs to rethink some things.

Friday afternoon, we voted on the constitutional amendments. By “we” I mean everyone around me. As a provisional clergy member, I was not allowed to vote. Our congregation’s lay delegate, who was at Annual Conference for the first time ever, was allowed to vote. One of the interesting things about the UMC is that when you become a local pastor or provisional clergy member, you actually lose the power to vote on certain things, including constitutional amendments. It appears that some of that may be corrected in the near future, but for the time being, my M. Div. and license for pastoral ministry means I’m less qualified to weigh in on important denominational decisions than laity. For the record, most lay delegates I talked with agreed that this is silly.

Strange moment #3 came on Friday evening. Well, actually, all of Friday night was strange. It was Mission Night, but it was also the night of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, in which our beloved Penguins were attempting to capture the crown for the first time in 17 years. We heard a great sermon by a pastor from Mozambique in celebration of Mission Night, including stories about how parents in his country can barely feed their children one cup of tea for dinner. This heartbreaking story of widespread poverty was immediately followed by our bishop announcing he had ordered 80 large pizzas so we could all watch the rest of the hockey game together in the plenary room. On top of that, the pizzas were placed directly in front of the Health as Wholeness information table. It was the most irony-laced pizza party I’ve ever attended.

But it was fun. By the end of the game, many people had left, but there were still several hundred of us there when the final seconds drained off the clock. It was fun to watch the Pens win the cup while at Annual Conference, and it was the first time I’ve seen us take time at AC to be in fellowship with each other outside of our hurried meals at the college’s dining halls.

*In light of the rampant obesity plaguing our clergy, our conference is promoting “Health as Wholeness” in an attempt to make us better pastors, as well as cheaper employees to insure.

Day 3: Legislating, Reporting, and Questioning

I know the reports on pensions and health benefits are necessary, but to echo Lance’s assertion, “heavens, they’re boring.” At least that boredom was countered by the enthusiasm and excitement our youth always bring in their youth moment. We have weird, crazy, spunky youth, and every year they get the biggest applause of the entire week. I love our youth and the commitment we make to including them in our Annual Conference.

Lisa came up for the day. We also had one of the young adults in our congregation spend the day with us, as he wanted to see what AC was all about. Well, they got to see the boring BOPHB reports, but they also got to see us debate some legislation. I will share some of the more interesting legislation here, without opinion – but many of you can probably guess where I stand on these.

RS 103 and RS 104 – Immigration Reform
Both these resolutions suggested we encourage the government to make immigration reform. Some thought it would be going too “soft” on illegal immigrants, others thought the current immigration laws and actions are inhumane. We passed them both.

RS 702 – Studying Homosexuality
To paraphrase this resolution, we affirm that there are a lot of United Methodist resources congregations can use to study homosexuality, and we encourage churches to study this important issue as a means of opening dialogue. We voted it down, meaning we are against encouraging churches to use the plethora of denominational resources to study an uncomfortable issue.

P 74 – On Evolution and Intelligent Design
Just a few quotes from this petition, since I wouldn’t know where to begin paraphrasing it:
“WHEREAS, the theory of evolution has not been proven as factual truth.”
“WHEREAS…the theory of evolution carries with it an attendant philosophy and set of applied social principles that teach moral relativism, self determinism, and the ultimate resignation to meaninglessness and death that are incompatible with Christian theology and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
“WHEREAS, [accepting the United Methodist stance that affirms evolution is a foundational scientific truth means] implicitly rejecting the authenticity and authority of Holy Scripture, declaring the Bible fundamentally in error, proclaiming God and Christ liars, making salvation in Christ meaningless and robbing the church of its foundation for evangelism and discipleship.”
“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Western PA Conference of the United Methodist Church petitions the General Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2012 to:
1) Reject the theory of evolution and affirm both Creationism and Intelligent Design as both Biblical and truthful.”
2) Reject the notion that cosmological, geological, and biological evolution is ‘foundational scientific truth that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests.’”
There was more to this petition, but these were the foundational elements of the document. We very narrowly voted it down, meaning we want to keep the current UM stance on science and evolution as is.

RS 1002 – Clergy Housing Study
We finally updated our “Living and Working Conditions of the Pastor” standards for the first time since 1991. We added internet and a basic cell phone plan to the list of utilities to be provided at the parsonage, and recommended air conditioning. We also formed more stringent standards on making the parsonage handicap accessible. An amendment was proposed by one pastor to remove cell phone and cable TV from the list of basic utilities, as these are luxuries. It was defeated. Another amendment was proposed to give recommend 2 days off per week for pastors (it had been one day). It passed pretty easily.

Saturday evening was Ministry Night, where we celebrated the ministry of the laity, of the local pastors, and of the clergy. We again recognized the years of service given by our retirees, and the historical questions were asked to the incoming class of ordinands and the incoming class of provisional members. The mantle was passed from the retiring class to the incoming class. Bishop Will Willimon preached a wonderful sermon.

Day 4: Ordination and Returining Home

Sunday morning was the ordination service. Many people I know were ordained or commissioned, including a long time close friend, Matt Johnson. We were groomsmen in each other’s weddings, and we both love United Methodist polity and legislation more than almost anyone else. I’m glad that we are now officially colleagues in ministry, and look forward to being ordained in the same class in 2011.

As always, Annual Conference was many things. It was a time of joy and celebration, and a time of heartbreak over some of the decisions made. It was a church family reunion with hundreds of people I know. It was a tiring week, magnified by sleeping in a non-air conditioned college dormitory. We worshiped, sang, celebrated our common ministry, heard excellent preachers, debated difficult issues, and debated not-so-difficult issues. We shared in the excitement of a championship hockey team over stacks of pizza. We prayed together and played together. We became one body for just a few days, then dispersed again for another year of connectional ministry throughout the mountains and valleys of Western Pennsylvania, where we will ignite and sustain a passion for Christ among all people. May it be so.

Bishop White in the House

Last night, Lisa and I traveled to First UMC of Pittsburgh for a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the General Commission on Religion and Race. Quick history lesson for those who aren't Metho-dorks like me (Lance, Ogle, and Jill, you can skip this part):

In 1968, the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) in the United States was divided into 5 regional jurisdictions and one racial jurisdiction (the Central Jurisdiction). Thus, we were a segregated church, with 5 essentially "white" jurisdictions and one jurisdiction of all the African-American churches. That year, the MEC and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) were talking merger, but the EUB's did not want to merge with a segregated denomination such as the MEC. There had been talk of desegregating our church, but many leaders (in both "North" and "South", mind you) kept dragging their feet on the issue. The merger with the EUB forced the issue, and we desegregated our church (in 1968!!!) by eliminating the Central Jurisdiction and reassigning the CJ churches into the existing regional jurisdictions.

Naturally, many leaders in the Central Jurisdiction feared that the elimination of their jurisdiction would diminish their voice and leadership capability in the denomination. As one way to give racial and ethnic minorities a powerful voice and maintain a high level of leadership in the denomination, the General Commission on Religion and Race was formed. The purpose of the GCORR, as stated on their Web site, is "to challenge and help the denomination’s agencies, institutions, annual (regional) conferences and congregations to achieve full, equal participation of its racial and ethnic minority constituencies in the total life and mission of the Church. The Commission strives to accomplish this task through education and advocacy and by reviewing, monitoring and supporting The United Methodist Church’s efforts to ensure racial inclusiveness and foster racial justice and reconciliation."

Now, 40 years later, we celebrate the work this Commission has done and anticipate the work it has yet to do as we struggle to become the fully inclusive church God commissioned us to be. Our service last night featured retired Bishop Woodie White, who is currently the bishop-in-residence at Candler. I had him last semester for a class on the Methodist Church and Race, and have heard him preach numerous times. And let me tell you: last night, Bishop White "brought the Word!", as we used to say at Candler after hearing any exceptional sermon.

It was a joyous occasion, one where I was able to hear one of my favorite preachers, reminisce on my journey at Candler, and worship with clergy and laity in my own conference. It was the first real "blending" of my two church lives: Candler and Western PA Conference. It reminded me of how blessed I am to have my life touched by Woodie White over the last few years, and how blessed I am to be surrounded by "so great a cloud of witnesses" in my own conference who constantly ask about how my ministry is going and offer their prayers for me and Lisa. More importantly, I am blessed to have these brothers and sisters here at home who share in the struggle for justice in all forms as we boldly step into the future.

Bishop White is awesome. There, I said it. He is a great preacher, wise professor, and just a swell guy, if I may say so. But you know why he's really awesome? Because Bishop White has the courage and the passion to serve our God, who is truly an Awesome God. And for this reason, we have hope for the future.

And for those of you wondering, of course this service was over well in time for us all to get home to watch the Steelers game. Ye of little faith, why did you doubt?