UBE Young Adults Told to 'Claim Their Heritage'
Episcopal News Service. March 20, 1992 [92073]
Nearly 100 representatives at the second annual regional conference of the Union of Black Episcopalians (UBE) young adult caucus were challenged to confront the needs of African Americans in the Episcopal Church and the wider society.
"I believe this conference was a landmark event of the church...because it marked the point where our generation of young adults realized more than ever the importance of the role they play in the life of the church today and in sustaining the church for the future," said Jennifer Baskerville, who served as chair of the design team for the February 14-16 conference at Trinity Church in New York City.
"This gathering affirmed the conference theme that 'Young Adults Are the Church of Today and Tomorrow,' and therefore must be included in every aspect of the church -- from service as evangelists and stewards to full participation on national, diocesan, and local commissions and committees," said Bertie Ray III, UBE young adult national spokesperson and caucus convener.
In a keynote address to the conference, the Rev. Martini Shaw of Chicago drew upon biblical imagery to suggest that "our church is ill." Shaw referred to the image in I Corinthians comparing Christians to organs in the body of Christ. He said that young adults must not be "inoperative organs" leading the "church to remain ill and unable to deal with its problems."
A series of challenges was put before the participants. Defining empowerment as "recognizing that you can control your own destiny," Dr. Gloria Brown, staff officer for the Coalition for Human Needs and Economic Development, stressed that young adults "have the energy and imagination to change."
The Rev. Nathaniel Porter, the Episcopal Church's partnership officer for Africa, said that "young adults can make a difference" but also warned that if young people do not take full advantage of the power they have, "they are not being true to themselves or their baptismal vows."
Bishop Orris Walker, Jr., of Long Island, encouraged young adults to "dream dreams, ask questions, and live into those dreams." Walker, one of the church's few black bishops, asserted that the African-American community has a significant heritage of resources for leadership. "The resources of the community to make changes are in the community," Walker said.
Wende Marchal, a grassroots activist and cofounder of Action for Community Empowerment, drew on examples of successful neighborhood action programs in New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta, and asserted that the church can be a springboard for social transformation.
"The conference affirmed the need for young adults of African heritage to claim their culture and heritage and to bring it fully into the life of the church," Baskerville said. "Inherent in that is the recognition of our social responsibilities to the church and the world," she said.