Academic

Religion, Race and Riverside

By Charlton Copeland

When I lived in New York City over a decade ago I lived on 21st St.  Without any thought, every Sunday I ventured north to Harlem for church.  I usually made a deal with myself?if the No. 1 train came along, I would go to Riverside Church, and if the No. 2/3 train came along, I?d take that as a sign to go to Abyssinian.  For me there were few substantive differences in these historic churches, as each had a long-standing reputation as a beacon for a socially responsible (and progressive) Christianity.  They differed more in form, Abyssinian being the more lively church, which seemed more in keeping with my black church roots and evangelical sentiments.  I ended up becoming a member at Abyssinian, and credit it with setting the fire for me to attend Divinity School.  Nevertheless, I continued to be a fan of the Riverside Church, and its historic place in the progressive narrative of 20th century American Christianity.   The pulpit at Riverside has been the home of some of the leading preachers in the 20th century?including, Harry Emerson Fosdick, William Sloan Coffin and James Forbes.  It was the church in which Martin King publically broke with President Lyndon Johnson over the Vietnam War, exactly one year before his assassination.  Riverside was built in the 1920?s during a struggle between so-called progressives and fundamentalists, and funded by the oil wealth of John D. Rockefeller.  Such is often the relationship between liberal Protestantism and ?the establishment.?  After 18 years as its senior pastor, James Forbes, Riverside?s first black pastor, retired.  During this time there have been more than a few controversies about the direction in which he was leading the congregation, the substantial increase in the number of black congregants, and the financial management.  During the last decade, some reports suggest that Riverside has gone from being 60% white and 40% minority to 60% minority.  These changes notwithstanding, it was a surprise to a few people to find out that Riverside?s search committee had unanimously nominated a young, black preacher?Brad Braxton?to succeed Forbes.  Braxton is a child of the black church, a preacher?s kid, and has served as pastor of an historic black church in Baltimore.  But, as is keeping with the times in which we live, he was accoutrements of an ultra-elite education?a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia, a Rhodes Scholar, and a PhD in New Testament from Emory, and inclusion into elite religious circles?teaching New Testament and preaching at Vanderbilt Divinity School.  Yesterday, the congregants of Riverside Church voted to affirm Braxton’s appointment as its sixth pastor.  But why is this interesting?  There are a few things that this appointment signifies to me as someone who follows religion and the black preaching tradition.  First, it signifies a courage on the part of the congregants at Riverside Church to embrace the challenge and opportunity that Braxton?s candidacy brings.  After the ways in which black prophetic preaching has been vilified in the mainstream media this year, it might have been easy for Riversiders to declare themselves happy with the racial milestone that had been reached during the 18-year ministry of James Forbes.  In many ways the challenge in so many institutions for increased inclusion is not between those who want racial or ethnic minorities or women, and those who want none, but rather it is between those who fear what it might mean to have two blacks in a row, or two women in a row, and those who do not.  What might it say about what we?ve become?  ?Does it make us a black church?? ?Does it make us a gay faculty?? Does this make it a female job??  This is a hard temptation to resist, even many well-meaning people. Second, this appointment is significant because Braxton?s is not a colorless faith.  He is outspoken of the particularity of his Christian experience, and has written wonderfully about the meaning of racial and ethnic particularity within Christianity.  For it, many have attempted to brand him as an afro-centrist?another bad word in these times.  And the courage to declare that racial reconciliation, both within and without Christianity, does not require a rejection of difference is important for all those whose goal is more authentic human community.  The challenge here might be the ways in which we police whether or not we hired the “wrong black,” or “wrong woman.”  Here, again, I commend Riverside’s courage.  Finally, it?s important to me because Braxton is an open, avowed “progressive evangelical.”  This identity must be reclaimed by progressive Christians who have ceded evangelical identity to the radical rightwing of the Christian community.  Saddleback conferences, Sarah Palin the mainstream media, and Rick Warren?s congregation notwithstanding, evangelical Christianity need not be a gay-hating, lily white, poverty-ignoring, status-quo-maintaining affair.  Evangelicalism can be a muliti-racial, multi-generational, multi-orientational, world-claiming, culture-challenging affair.  Here’s to the courage that such communities will need for the journey. 

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Full post as published by BlackProf on September 15, 2008 (boomark / email).