After a grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, chose not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown, many ministers are conflicted over what to say about this painful intersection of the judicial system and race. For many reasons, pastoral care among them, this is not a time for silence. Here's to faithful speech in service of justice and the gospel of peace. – Paul
I am writing this piece just hours after the grand jury’s decision was announced. Each night before we sleep, my wife and I pray the Lord’s Prayer together. Tonight I couldn’t get through it without weeping.
I cried for Michael Brown who was supposed to be a college freshman. I cried for his parents. I cried for Darren Wilson who will live the rest of his life associated with this tragedy. I cried for the deep anger of the thousands of protesters around the country—an anger that I feel in part. I cried at the fact that I don’t feel my children are safe as young people of color. I cried at how in anticipation of this night, gun sales in the Ferguson area went up 700 percent. And I cried at how so many preachers would just preach from the lectionary or preach a safe sermon on gratitude this weekend—and not mention Michael Brown or Ferguson or the thousands of people who feel unsafe.
I’m preaching this Sunday. As are many of you. Those given the profound opportunity that is presenting the Good News know the weight that speaking to souls carries. Those who draw from the Word of God know the deep seriousness of this calling and task. What an honor. What a blessing. A blessing that should be approached with a tremendous amount of humility and reliance upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
The best preachers in my life begin the discernment process as to what to preach on with the prayerful question: What would you have me preach on, Lord?
If I may invite you to add one more question to your sermonic preparatory prayer this week, it would be, Lord, should I preach about what has happened in Ferguson, Missouri?
Pray about it. And if you feel a call to it, I want to strongly encourage you to be strong and courageous, and to be obedient. For this is a tremendous opportunity for you to let God bring hope and healing through your words.
Guilt and anxiety
Most people in our country don’t do a good job of talking about race. This holds true for many pastors. For some it’s a lack of experience or expertise that holds them back. Others have anxiety about offending someone. Some hold a guilt that hinders us from ever addressing it. And still there are those pastors that simply think that the pulpit is not the appropriate place to discuss hot button social and political issues.
If you don’t feel like you have the vocabulary or knowledge to talk about race, say that. That’s a great place to start because most people don’t. But we can all name the fact that this is a painful moment in our country. And we can all pray about it. We may not be ready to talk, teach, or preach about the complex history of race relations or the deep challenges experienced between people of color and the police, but we can lead our congregations into the conversation. We can speak to God’s love for all of us. We can speak to healing, and hope, and love. Chances are that there are individuals in our churches who actually could help facilitate fruitful dialogue around issues like this.
The silence hurts deeply. Many preachers are so concerned about not offending someone with their remarks that they end up offending others with their silence.
But as an African American who sat through Sunday services week after week with no mention of the killing of Michael Brown or (before that) the killing of Trayvon Martin, or any of the high profile cases of the last few years, the silence hurts deeply. It makes a pastor look tone deaf at best, and uncaring at worst. Many preachers are so concerned about not offending someone with their remarks that they end up offending others with their silence. Any preacher whose work is guided by popularity or public opinion is not being Spirit-led. And to be led by anything else while in ministry is very dangerous.
I have from time to time come across individuals who have held a guilt (for their actions, their attitudes, or simply because of their being white) that it was nearly impossible for them to enter into a conversation about race. It was just too painful or too demanding.
There is an older gentleman at my church with whom I served on a committee a few years ago. I had noticed his discomfort with me and it seemed like he was avoiding me. A few weeks into our work he asked to speak with me outside. He shared how for much of his life he had used the N-word, told racially insensitive jokes, and had held racist assumptions. After navigating through the very mixed emotions, I found that his courage and his humility deeply blessed me and allowed us to have a far deeper friendship bond together. Our hugs after worship and our shared times in prayer have meant the world to me. He was brave and his breaking through guilt allowed for real growth and far more fruitful ministry on our committee. Imagine what it could do for a church?
The courage to care
Many preachers say that sermons are not for current events or political statements, but rather for an exposition of scripture. I hear that. But the reality is these same preachers make statements about many other hot button issues quite easily (abortion, marriage, poverty), but not race. It’s difficult for me to imagine the Sunday after a nation has gone to war, a preacher not mentioning that, although their entire congregation is anxious about it. Or during a major health epidemic that is touching each family, how could a church not mention that? It is likely that every person in your church has been thinking about this and feels something in regards to Ferguson.
It is likely that every single person in your church has been thinking about this and feels something in regards to Ferguson. It's a pastoral care issue.
I’m not sure anyone is looking for a pastor to denounce the decision of the grand jury in Ferguson to not indict Officer Darren Wilson. Instead, many are simply hurting, upset, confused, and anxious. It’s a pastoral care issue. And to not somehow address this in either the sermon, the post service conversation or at least the prayer time, is to miss a chance, indeed a calling, to care for your congregants.
We’ll soon be in the Christmas season where we take special notice of Jesus coming down to be with us in our human experience. We would do well to follow this incarnational example of love through our preaching. Or at least to try.
May God speak through you this coming Sunday.
The Rev. Charles L. Howard, Ph.D., is University Chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania
