Since news of a sex scandal involving prominent mega church pastor Bishop Eddie Long surfaced earlier this week, the Black Church has been in a tailspin. Though still disheartening, had just a few circumstances in this case been different, it would have been a little easier for the Church to digest. Had the accusers been women, this may have simply been the tale of a pastor with a roaming eye or a woman scorned. But that is not the case. The accusers, who speak candidly of Long’s victimization, are men- opening the tightly sealed can of worms that is sexuality, homophobia and the Black Church. A sensitive topic, the Church is now forced to confront an issue from which we have unnecessarily dodged. But is this the true issue at hand?
While, on the surface, this unfortunate situation sheds light on a subject too long ignored in the Black religious community, it also brings questions of leadership and accountability to the forefront. In the coming weeks and months, the legal aspect of Bishop Long’s scandal will be resolved. However, that will do nothing to heal the wound that has been inflicted on the credibility and integrity of the Black Church and those who lead it. Indeed, the Church has suffered a severe hit. But our recovery is dependent upon what we do now. The Church has seen scandal before. Be it sexual or financial impropriety, we have already been here. Unless we’d like to be here again, it is imperative that we conduct the self assessment that will lead to us exposing our flawed systems of practice and strengthening ourselves if our survival is desired.
So, let’s talk.
This need not be the traditional sugar cookies and watered down fruit punch Sunday afternoon meeting held where nothing gets resolved because people, tired from being in service all day, are ready to go home. This can’t even be the conversation that follows the standard “leadership talks for an hour and leaves five minutes for Q&A” format we see in congregations almost everywhere. No, this needs to be lengthy, uncomfortable, emotional dialogue that gets to fundamental problems, root causes and potential solutions. Action items, commitments to change and concrete steps to implement that change should be the outcome of such a gathering.
Yes, it will be necessary to speak to notions of class, gender, sexuality, leadership and fiscal responsibility and our questions should focused. In this dialogue, we should raise inquiry such as: Who are we and where are we? What do we teach and what do we believe? Who do we help and how do we help them? What do we spend and what do we give? Who have we healed and who have we hurt? What do we have and why do we have it? Who leads us and why do they lead? And even through creating the freedom to be allowed to ask and answer those questions honestly, our probe should go further:
What, if anything, has the modern day Black Church accomplished?
Why does the treatment of those who live alternative lifestyles by the Church completely contradict the love that saved the Church?
Why is our leadership no longer morally, professionally and financially accountable to membership?
Why does there remain a substantial difference between the economic prosperity of the Church and the economic poverty in the communities in which the Church is located?
Why do misogynistic practices remain that continue to sexually objectify women and neutralize their potential to be greater leaders within our faith?
Why has the Church not taken a more active role in assisting Black youth overcome the insurmountable odds they face?
Why has the Church not adequately prepared the next generations for leadership?
When did the Church become a business and no longer a social service agency?
Why did the Church abandon the liberation theology that freed us to embrace a prosperity gospel that is enslaving us?
This is not everything that needs to be asked and answered; the list of questions could become exhaustive. People want answers and deserve them. We can no longer move forward in the blind faith that God will make provision while we do not question how the resources we already have are being allocated. The cost has become too great to ignore our social responsibility to the community that has shouldered us. The treatment of women, children, gays and others by the Church has led to unconscionable pain and we must finally be held accountable. The Church must admit that in our quest to redeem the sinner, our own sins became great.
I would hope that the leaders of the denominations that govern our churches use this as an opportunity to create this kind of national dialogue. It is my desire that clergy come together locally to have citywide discussions and even create channels of communication within their own congregations. To ignore such a clear clarion call for conversation and change suggests that, as a collective, the Black Church remains unconcerned with our perception or believes the problems brewing within our walls are either trivial or nonexistent. Either position is not only destructive but perpetuates the agony many have suffered in silence for far too long.
No one knows how this particular situation will be resolved; neither do we know when we begin to learn of the many other instances of questionable activity that are occurring in congregations everywhere. What is known is that if we do not begin the honest conversation on where the Black Church is, where we are going and how we stand in our own way, we will never fully realize the potential of what we could become. And the far reaching consequences of such negligence are inconceivable.
