Black clergywomen 'reconcile the waters' on Atlantic cruise
9/22/1998 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn NOTE: A photograph is available with this story. By Linda Green* MIAMI (UMNS) - Black clergywomen of the United Methodist Church took a symbolic four-day journey through Atlantic waters to pay tribute to their foremothers and to affirm their collective and individual ministries.
More than 70 black clergywomen paid their own way to Miami and the Bahamas to become part of "reconciling the waters." On a Sept. 14-18 cruise through waters that first carried their ancestors to slavery, the clergywomen proclaimed freedom and God's power in their lives.
Under the umbrella of "The Voices of Our Foremothers Hear the Liberation of Their Daughters! Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters," the Black Clergywomen of the United Methodist Church returned to the Bahamas, the site of the first gathering of African-American clergywomen in the denomination.
The second annual meeting was held on the water, to give the clergywomen the opportunity to honor and pay homage to those foremothers from Africa who crossed the water during the Middle Passage, and to those who died in the same waters, said the Rev. Linda Lee, immediate past chairwoman of the black clergywomen's group. Lee is superintendent of the Detroit East District of the Detroit Annual (regional) Conference
"We are here because God has brought us to this place, for our nurture, our healing, our encouragement, our empowerment, our reconciliation, for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit," Lee said. "God has brought us here for renewed hope, renewed faith, renewed wisdom and new power" to enable black clergywomen to return to their places of ministry "to be the spiritual warriors God has called us to be."
In remembrance of their ancestors being transported in the bowels of the slave ships, the clergywomen went to the deepest part of the cruise ship to conduct a reconciliation service. Weather conditions prevented the service from being held on the beach, a service that would have been reminiscent of the slaves embarking on their voyage across the Atlantic.
A "Blessing the Waters" service, written by the Rev. Joyce Harris-Scott, depicted female slaves throughout chapters in their lives. One story followed a young woman at the age of innocence hailing the majesty of Africa, its radiance, its splendor and color, to her being captured and arriving as a slave. Harris-Scott, chairwoman of the annual meeting steering committee, is pastor of Central Avenue United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Mo.
Clergywomen, dressed in the colors of Africa -- red, black and green -- took the audience through the slave capture, bloodshed, the crossing of the ocean, the auction block, bondage and finally liberation. They described how many women with their babies dived overboard from the ships rather than face slavery.
A moving experience for the clergywomen occurred during a ceremony in the belly of the cruise ship. After several women had offered tribute to their ancestors and had testified how God was working in their lives, the doors of the room suddenly burst open and a gust of wind moved through the crowd.
In a roll call, the women paid tribute to the God who led Harriet Tubman, founder of the Underground Railroad; to the God who endowed Sojourner Truth, a women's suffrage pioneer; to the God who gave fortitude to Mary McLeod Bethune, founder of Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Fla.; to the God who called Bishop Leontine Kelly, founder of the black clergywomen's group; and to the God who called each of them "to liberate and be reconciled for the ministry of Jesus Christ."
Throughout the meeting, the unique struggles that African-American clergywomen face in the denomination were highlighted. Those who are undergoing difficulties were affirmed and given the support of their clergy sisters. Some participants had been called ineffective preachers, others had been told their preaching was lacking, and others had faced character assassination. For four days, the women prayed, worshiped, fellowshiped, played and "re-created" themselves in order to take on the issues facing them at the door of a new century.
Harris-Scott told the women not to become like the oppressor during difficult times, but "to nourish and save each other because we our sister's keeper, whether in America, Africa or the Caribbean." She encouraged her clergy sisters to bless the waters that had been "used as a curse" and "become reconciled to each other with the power and presence of the Living God."
In addition to services of affirmation and healing, the clergywomen discussed their desire for African-American clergywomen to become episcopal candidates and to be elected as bishops. Other areas of dialogue included the impact of the denomination's appointment process on African-American clergywomen, as well as networking and providing pastoral support to each other in their ministries.
"It is no honor for me, after 10 years of retirement, to be the only woman of any color in the episcopacy," said Kelly, who is the only African-American female bishop in the denomination.
Kelly was elected bishop in 1984 and retired from active service in 1988. As she described the trials and triumphs she endured to be elected, she encouraged the women to be righteous in calling the denomination to accountability toward becoming the church of Jesus Christ in every way. "The Council of Bishops needs some strong black women," she said.
Kelly also was the preacher for the installation service for new officers of the black clergywomen's group for 1999-2000.
"When God connected Harriet Tubman to people, she didn't know that he was weaving a pattern," Kelly said. "God will use the most unlikely person to make things right."
Jesus came to bring the law of God up to date, Kelly said. She told the women that they are needed to help God bring about change.
"This ministry is a blessing and a serious responsibility," the bishop said. She urged the new officers to make Christ known in their witness and in their work.
Elected to a one-year term were: chairwoman, the Rev. Lydia Waters, pastor of Crossroads United Methodist Church, Compton, Calif.; vice-chairwoman, the Rev. Joyce Harris-Scott, pastor of Central Avenue United Methodist Church, Kansas City, Mo.; administrative secretary, Charlotte Abram, associate pastor at First United Methodist Church, Omaha, Neb.; recording secretary, the Rev. Joyce Wallace, pastor of Conant Avenue, Detroit; treasurer, Sharon Adams, pastor of Epworth/Mt. Pleasant, Gastonia, N.C.; chaplain, the Rev. Cynthia Belt, pastor of Gambrills-Mt. Tabor United Methodist Churches, Severn, Md.; clarifier, the Rev. Beverly Wilkes, pastor of Grace United Methodist Church, Springfield, Ill.; and archivist, the Rev. Martha Orphe, executive director of the Ward Youth and Family Services, Pittsburgh.
The Black Clergywomen of the United Methodist Church organization is the result of a 1988 black clergywomen's consultation. From that first meeting, an African-American Clergywomen's Steering Committee under Kelly's leadership was formed. In 1993, the group came together behind issues of justice and advocacy for black clergywomen. It joined forces with Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) to become a clergywomen's task force.
After a vote to dissolve the African-American Clergywomen's Steering committee was taken during a national BMCR meeting in 1994, concern was raised that an organization for all black clergywomen was needed. In 1996, the current group was organized, and the first annual meeting was held in August 1997. The organization develops and supports opportunities for the inclusion and empowerment of black clergywomen at all levels of the United Methodist Church. The denomination has about 400 black clergywomen.
The association is open all United Methodist clergywomen of African descent: elders, deacons, local pastors, diaconal ministers, seminarians, undergraduate students, retirees, and affiliates. The women support the group through their payment of dues.
During the cruise, the clergywomen remembered the Rev. Mary Juliette Cebrun, who died in 1997. She was known as a trailblazer for African-American clergywomen and served on the executive committee of the organization. A stole was made in her honor to be worn only by each president of the group. The Rev. Joyce Wallace was named keeper of the stole.
Resource people for the group included Bishop Jonathan Keaton from East Ohio, chairman of Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, and David L. White of Nashville, Tenn., former staff person at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship. Also providing leadership were the Rev. Alfreda Wiggins, pastor of John Wesley United Methodist Church, Baltimore; the Rev. Renita H. Thomas, pastor of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Conley, Ga.; the Rev. Rosetta Ross, professor of Christian ethics at Atlanta's Interdenominational Theological Center; the Rev. Linda Hollies, associate council director for outreach ministry in the West Michigan Annual Conference; the Rev. Sherry Townsend, associate director of education and teaching ministries, Texas Annual Conference; the Rev. Tallulah Fisher Williams, superintendent of the Chicago Northwestern District, Northern Illinois Annual Conference; and the Rev. Rosa Clements, pastor of Werner United Methodist Church, Cleveland.
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*Green is news director of the Nashville, Tenn.,-based office of United Methodist News Service.
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