There is a Remnant
By Rev. Francine A. Brookins, JD
In April of 1816, delegates met and decided to become one body under the name of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In reflecting on the gathering in his book, The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen, Richard Allen says “[W]e deemed it expedient to have a form of discipline, whereby we may guide our people in the fear of God, in the unity of the spirit, and in the bonds of peace, and preserve us from that spiritual despotism which we have so recently experienced, remembering that we are not to Lord it over God’s Heritage, as greedy dogs that can never have enough. But with long suffering, and bowels of compassion to bear each other’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ, praying that our mutual striving together for the promulgation of the Gospel may be crowned with abundance success.”
I am struck by the passion and clarity with which Bishop Allen spoke about our purpose. Those who resisted the perpetuation of segregation at the altar of the Lord when they walked out of St. George’s that Sunday after prayer were passionate about how they understood their God and what they wanted for the institution in which they would seek to work out their souls’ salvation. After the protest, they left and started practicing what they wanted to see through the Free African Society. They gathered and had heated intellectual and theological debate about how they saw the ecclesia and what form would best help the people inside it impact the world. They were passionate. They did not shy away from debate or intellectual discourse. Passion and clarity don’t always abide together; but in the formation of African Methodism, they were strategically knit together with purpose.
As we celebrate Founder’s Day 2019 and view the landscape of African Methodism with inspired eyes, we should note where there is passion and clarity. We should not shy away from intellectual and theological discourse and debate. If after we have come together, we are unable to share common ground—then like those who rose from the altar together—we should agree not to participate in one another’s oppression and allow room for people go, grow, and glow for Christ, remaining in love and charity with one another.
We are faced with challenges from within and outside the institution. We are a people born of struggle. Challenge is not new to us. From our very foundation, we have learned how to function with passion and clarity.
I’m praying and working so that we may breathe deeply and do the work needed to participate in securing our incredible future. Bishop Allen ends his little book with the words that encourage and inspire us to remember the God and the people who brought us, “The God of Bethel heard her cries, he let his power be seen, he stopped the proud oppressors frown and proved himself a King. Thou saved them in the trying hour, Ministers and councils joined, and all stood ready to retain, That helpless Church of Thine. Bethel surrounded by her foes, but not in despair, Christ heard her supplicating cries; the God of Bethel heard.”
The Rev. Francine Brookins, JD, is the pastor of Bethel AME Church of Fontana, California.
