Race Problems Need More Than Pep Talks
Diocesan Press Service. February 7, 1964 [XVIII-4]
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN., --- Moralizing pep talks from the pulpit and reasonable lectures in conversation are not enough to dissuade racially prejudiced persons, an officer of the Episcopal National Council told 500 at the Minnesota State Pastors Conference here Jan. 20-22. The Conference was sponsored by the Minnesota State Council.
The Rev. Daisuke Kitagawa, executive secretary of the Division of Domestic Mission, stated that clergymen must try to view the current racial crisis in perspective and deal with its basic causes rather than only dishing out instant brotherhood in Sunday sermons.
Because modern man faces a hostile and largely unfamiliar world in which many of the structures and groups that once gave life meaning have broken down, his sense of insecurity forces him to create an "in-group" for self-identification. In order to maintain this, he then has to defend his "in-group" against "strangers," particularly if they are different ethnic groups, Dr. Kitagawa said.
"Such a person is virtually incapable of loving anybody, including himself," the former head of the World Council of Churches' Secretariat on Racial and Ethnic Relations said. "This indeed is the root of many of the problems of human relations in our society."
The Japanese-born Episcopal priest suggested three areas in which pastors can help their congregations face the racial crisis:
PREACHING --- Instead of "moral exhortations to abide by the Supreme Court decisions .... or pep talks for social action..." the pastor must continually preach the "good news", the Gospel of reconciliation. He must lead his congregation to see that it is part of the Church's ministry of reconciliation in race, as in all other areas of life.
COUNSELING --- The pastor's central task here is not to correct or reform but to help people accept the reality of living with persons of other races instead of escaping into a secure fantasy world where only "me and my kind in my little corner" exist.
ACTION --- In this area the pastor must realize that he is ineffectual working alone. Instead of conducting a private crusade, he must work "behind the scenes" with his congregation, other pastors and other groups to create a community climate which is receptive to change and in which men of different races can talk to each other.
In his lecture on preaching, he further stipulated that the pastor must not avoid the racial issue since it is both a part of the context of life today and an ethical issue which the
Church cannot ignore. But he stressed that sermons dealing with race should be a normal part of their ministry and not saved for Race Relations Sunday.
The heart of Christian preaching on race relations, Dr. Kitagawa said, should be that "God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself"' and that "Christians are called on to participate with Christ in the midst of racial tensions to bring the estranged world of man back to Himself. . ."
Turning to counseling, he said that the aim of counseling in race relations, as in all Christian counseling, "should be to help each counselee to be true to himself . . ." and to face the reality of a multi-racial world.
Since most people who are prejudiced think the problem lies outside of themselves rather than inside, the first job of a counselor is to help them to see the nature of the problem. This can best be done, Dr. Kitagawa said, in some form of group therapy.
"A group of Christians coming together in the presence of God, in humility and determination, with the Bible in one hand and the daily press in the other. . . to discover what God wills each of them to do in reference to the current racial crisis in obedience to His Gospel -- such a group is what I call a therapeutic community and is needed in every congregation."
The pastor's role in action on the racial problem is to act as a catalyst, a "behind the scenes" agent, he said.
He noted that this kind of action is less exciting than going on a freedom ride to Mississippi, but in the long run it may be more effective.
Dr. Kitagawa cautioned that any kind of action on race relations needs to be preceded by sound study and should never be done hastily under the compulsion of "pent-up resentment" or "intensified bad conscience. "
Action taken in any local situation, he stressed, should be kept in the perspective of the total Christian community and should be "ecumenical, inter-confessional, and inter-racial. "