Black History Month book event highlights reconciliation, celebration, education
Episcopal News Service, New York. February 12, 2008 [021208-01]
Daphne Mack
Radically welcoming people, overcoming racial boundaries, celebrating American pilgrims of the faith, and inculturation (the intersection of church, culture, and ethnicity) were the subject matters of titles featured at the February 8 Black History Month book signing held at the Catalyst Café and Books in New York City.
The gathering, co-sponsored by Catalyst and the Episcopal Church's Office of Black Ministries, invited the authors to elaborate on the premise of their work and read excerpts from their books.
The authors were the Rev. Dr. Harold T. Lewis, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and former staff officer for the Episcopal Church's Office of Black Ministries; the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, an Episcopal priest and the Cox Fellow and minister for Radical Welcome at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston, Massachusetts; the Rev. Craig D. Townsend, an Episcopal priest and associate rector for education at St. James' Church in New York City; the Rev. Christopher L. Webber, an Episcopal priest and author; and the Rev. G. Scott Cady, a Lutheran pastor and the ecumenical officer of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
"Radical welcome is what happens when Episcopal churches or any churches are able to live into the dreams that we have set out to welcome people, especially people in the margins. Whether that's people of color, poor people, gay or lesbian folks, or young adults," said Spellers in describing her book "Radical Welcome: Embracing God, the Other, and the Spirit of Transformation."
Her book is described as a practical theological guide for congregations that want to move beyond inclusiveness toward becoming a place where welcoming 'the other' is taken seriously and where engaging God's mission becomes more than just a catchphrase.
"I think a lot of churches have the experience where they really want to be inclusive, where they really want to welcome but they want to do it within the same old structures and with the same worship, and leadership expectations," explained Speller.
Townsend said his book "Faith in Their Own Color: Black Episcopalians in Antebellum New York City" began as his doctorial dissertation at Harvard University.
"But being a dissertation, it was really boring to read so I spent three summers rewriting it to give it more of a narrative state," he said.
The book examines St. Philip's Church, the first African American Episcopal Church in New York City, and its struggle to create an autonomous and independent church.
"I looked at the period of 1809-1853 which was the span of time of this process to be fully accepted as an Episcopal church," said Townsend. "Ultimately, what I tried to show was that because the Episcopal Church is a hierarchal denomination with a real focus on unity, when the question was finally put to the [General] Convention, there's no way they could have voted against accepting this congregation because they weren't really comfortable with the separation that had occurred. So in essence, part of what I try to argue in the book is that I think faith trumped racism."
Townsend said that what intrigued him as a white scholar writing about black church history is that the kind of separation experienced in his book "can't really be imagined anymore on one level" and "on another level it's still true."
"So I think it's good to lift up a story that says we're always dealing with each other, and we may as well face that reality," he said.
Webber and Cady have written together in the past. They first collaborated on "Lutherans and Episcopalians Together: A Guide to Understanding" which was published shortly after the two denominations entered into a full communion agreement.
Their latest book, "A Year with American Saints," is described as "encompassing the joy and drama of the Christian story in America" and profiles a broad and inclusive cross section of American pilgrims of the faith.
"These are people that we recognize as being of special importance to the history of American Christianity," said Webber. "Some are clergy but many are not. So you will find a variety of different fields that people served in as Christians and made a difference for our country."
Cady said the book also "spans the gamut of traditions."
Lewis' book, "A Church for the Future: South Africa as the Crucible for Anglicanism in a New Century," looks at history, race, class and culture in Africa and examines the current issues facing the Anglican Communion while looking through the history of the Southern African church and people.
"When I was in the Office of Black Ministries one of the things I tried to do was relate not only to black Episcopalians in the U.S. but [also] in the Diaspora," he said. "I think we have a kindred spirit, and a common heritage with our black brothers and sisters elsewhere in the Anglican Communion and I think this story unites us and brings us together."
To order any of the books visit: Episcopal Books and Resources here or call 800-903-5544.