Keeping the Momentum in 2019
By John Thomas III, Editor
In my final editorial of 2017, “Staying Uplifted in the Trump Era,” I talked about the need for continued resistance and faith-based mobilization against the Trump Administration’s egregious policies, particularly towards immigrants, the environment, and communities of color. One of the action items was the 2018 mid-term elections. As we turn the page from 2018 to 2019, it can safely be said that there was indeed a “blue wave” where Democratic candidates won control of the United States House of Representatives, several governorships and made significant inroads in state legislatures across the country. In that wave, there was much for us to be excited about in the United States. Record numbers of women and people of color contested and won elections across the country from local to federal office. For many of these candidates, one of their first stops was an AME Church.
Of particular interest to members of the AME Church were the campaigns of Mayor Andrew Gillum and Stacey Abrams for the governorship of Florida and Georgia respectively. While neither candidate won, the momentum around them helped make major inroads into both states, galvanized new progressive voices in record numbers, and set expectations for the 2020 elections. As of January 3, the United States House of Representatives will be controlled by the Democratic Party who can articulate and present an alternative to the Trump agenda as well as flex the underused oversight mechanisms of this Administration.
Yet, we enter 2019 with reasons for alarm. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro (known as the “Tropical Trump”) won a bitter election in a campaign featuring fiery invectives against Blacks, indigenous persons, and the LGBT community. Evangelical Christians in Brazil overwhelmingly supported him and even the AME Church in Brazil was strongly divided. With the world’s fifth-largest country in the hands of a government controlled by a self-avowed enemy of “the left”, the signs are troubling.
The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, despite the credible allegations of sexual harassment combined with the injudicious outrage that he displayed as he defended himself, brings into question the true impartiality of the Supreme Court. Now with the most conservative bench in decades, issues such as affirmative action, abortion, organized labor protections, voting rights, and a host of other hot issues must be watched.
In South Africa, the most contentious elections since the advent of democracy will be contested with troubling allegations of corruption and political violence levied against the ruling African National Congress. This will be combined with widespread disenchantment with the democratic process across the country.
What role does the Church of Allen play in these times? Where do we go from here? First, we should be pleased with the overwhelming response from the Connectional church. AMEs stood up to be counted at the polls in the United States. We marched, prayed, protested, and made sure that our voice was heard—even in the wilderness. This engagement must be sustained and enlarged. We must keep organizing in our communities, pressuring our civic officials, working with our ecumenical partners, and making sure that we live out our quadrennial theme of “A Social Justice and Liberating Faith.”
While we continue to look at the world outside of the church, we must also gaze within its walls. In February 2019, our sister church–the United Methodist Church—will convene a special General Conference session discussing human sexuality and biblical interpretation that will almost assuredly result in an exodus of congregations and annual conferences. With the suspension and charging of heresy of an AME Church pastor in South Africa for LGBT advocacy, open discussions on these issues are soon to reach the AME Church. Other simmering issues will need clear resolutions. Will the General Conference deal with the mounting cost of education that is strangling the pipeline of young clergy? What about gender-parity in appointments and leadership? Also, the campaign season for the Episcopacy is now in full swing and all those concerned with the AME Church must take stock of those offering their service and who is apt to provide leadership in these increasingly turbulent times.
As always, we can turn to the Bible for our instructions and guidance. The following charge from the Apostle Paul to Timothy should be our guide: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully” (2 Timothy 4:1-6).
