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BLACK PIONEERS IN A WHITE DENOMINATION

An overview of Mark D. Morrison-Reed’s book to assist in assessing how the UUA can build an effective
African-American UU congregation
by
John T. Crestwell, Jr.

I wish there were a more up to date book that profiled the achievements of African-Americans in the Unitarian-Universalist faith, but there is not. I do know, from many conversations I have had with UU colleagues, that there are a few African-American success stories, not reflected in Mark D. Morrison-Reed’s book, published in 1984. It would be good to see just how many Black ministers, since the eighties, have come into our fold, but more than that, how many have built significant UU congregations, not as associates or co-pastors, but as Senior Pastors.

The word “significant” stands out to me. And in our world, it is important to be semantically clear! I shall define success based on what the AUA appeared to perceive it to be in the 1920’s through the 1950’s, as reflected in Morrison-Reed’s book. Success as a UU preacher is building a congregation that is self-reliant, self-sufficient and charitable to the UUA. In laymen’s terms, the church must not need the UUA to survive. This may not fit your definition of success from a religious perspective, and it may seem to be a bit secular, but as an entrepreneur, life-long businessman, and theologian, I understand clearly that the church and corporate structure are one in the same when it comes to monetary mechanics. Spirituality is important in the life of the church, do not misconstrue my thoughts, but sound business practices (not polity)—let me be specific, being monetarily effective is essential in being seen as “successful” or “unsuccessful”.

I met with my District Executive, Richard Speck, and he was very interested as is the President of the UUA, William Sinkford, in seeing more Black liberals join us. Dr. Speck shared with me that he attempted to start a few African-American churches but they all failed. Ever an optimist, he said he would continue analyzing the situation. The D.E. had even, like Rev. Lewis McGee in Morrison-Reed’s book, done research on what it would take to build a successful Black UU church. At the time, he was awaiting the results.

It is obvious from viewing our website and monthly magazine that the UUA wants more Black preachers, members, and churches. Since our failings in the 60’s, there has been a collective “White guilt” to make-good on the dissension and mistakes that occurred during the Civil Rights era. I will attempt, in this brief analysis, to give the UUA a simple plan to build a successful African-American congregation. Using African-American history, my life as a Black man, Christian theologian (now UU candidate for ministry), and businessman, I will attempt to reconcile a problem that continues well into the 21^st century.

Morrison-Reed’s book becomes a vital tool in understanding the African-American mind, as well as the AUA’s mindset as it relates to the UUA today. His book gives us a picture of two preachers, one considered a success, Lewis McGee, another a failure, Egbert Ethelred Brown. What will it take from a mental, physical and spiritual standpoint to build a significant, successful African-American UU congregation? Let us see…

YOU MUST KNOW BLACK RELIGIOUS HISTORY

The Black mind struggles with, as W.E.B. Dubois put it, “double-consciousness.” There is a struggle within all African-Americans with Africa and America. Specifically, a Black person must accept his/her place as disinherited and acculturated. Paul Laurence Dunbar wrote, “We wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,” referring to the human condition slaves and early American Blacks endured. But, perhaps, a deeper meaning is that as African-Americans there is a conflict with living a White reality, within a White dominated culture, as a Black man or women from a distant land you don’t even know. In essence, an African-American is displaced. He/she cannot relate to America or Africa in full, only in part.

From my perspective, this “double-consciousness” dilemma began on Goree Island, where African chiefs brought and housed captives from African civil wars to be sold to Europeans. The island served as an entry/exit for Europeans to the mainland of West Africa. It sat just two miles from the coast and was a convenient “doorway” for the selling and buying of human souls. Here, slaves from various tribes, exited their homeland through what is known as “the door of no return.” ¹ It is properly named. For when an imprisoned African turned to see the doors close, it constituted the end of his/her African life past and present, and began many long nights of oppression under European masters.

After crossing the Atlantic, the days were no better for Africans. Now forced to cultivate the land for their masters, they made “cotton king” and the White man wealthy, yet there was no recompense for their forced labor except scraps from the swine, the rape of mothers and daughters and the emasculation of fathers and sons. The psychological implications from this kind of morbid dehumanization are incomprehensible! Yet, it persisted for hundreds of years and many Europeans began to claim the African-American was a “thing” barely above the creature realm and without a past. They saw Black people as savages, heathens, creatures incapable of logic and reasoning.

For me, this is where Black religion began. It was formed and organized amidst turmoil and ignorance. Once the acculturated influence of European Christianity comes into the historical framework, you have a most unique creation. What the slaves found in the “White man’s religion” were stories of struggle and victory, like Moses and Joshua defeating the Egyptians and Canaanites, respectively. They felt a connection with the “chosen people’s” plight. The story of the resurrection gave them hope that this life was not a waste, that it had meaning. They saw Christ’s suffering as their suffering. Struggle was a precursor to freedom.²

The slaves wanted to express themselves as we all do, but were forbidden by their masters to practice religion. That did not stop them. In the midst of the evergreens or miry clay, a marvelous thing happened —the “invisible institution,” which is considered by many to be the slave’s covert church in the woods in the “still of the night.” Here slaves found solace in their ability to fellowship and praise their God, hoping for a brighter day when freedom and justice would manifest. They preached, testified, sang (over 4,000 spirituals developed), shouted, they let go, making peace with their present conditions and mortality, while some made plans to revolt. This invisible church, so to speak, was a spiritual and social organization that helped Blacks maintain their sanity in a very insane situation. For me, this psychological tie Black slaves had to Christianity and African religious practices is noteworthy.

Melville Herskovits, famous European sociologist, created something called, “The Myth of the Negro Past.”³ He refuted the popular claim in the 30’s and before, that Blacks had no cultural ties to Africa; that due to systematic assimilation, Blacks had no history other than that of American history. He found, through scientific research, that Blacks were very much “joined at the hip” with their African legacy and he noted that their worship practices and many customs were very similar to those practiced in Africa. A Black sociologist, E. Franklin Frazier, concurs, adding that the Christian experience is also a major part of the African-American’s social and spiritual make-up.⁴

If my Black history lesson is accurate, and Herskovits and Frazier are correct; if the majority of the Black identity, morality, self-esteem, social identity, God-consciousness is formed by the Black identity with Africa and the church, then a UU congregation and worship service, made up of mostly African-Americans, must have elements that help Blacks relate historically, socially and culturally to the Black plight. Knowing about Channing, Emerson, and Thoreau is beneficial, but there must also be space provided in worship to recognize religious liberals, like Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, W.E.B. Dubois, Paul L. Dunbar, Whitney Young, Martin L. King, Jr., and Cornell West, to name a few from the past and present, on a regular basis. Again, to effectively build a spiritually and fiscally sound Black UU church with “staying power”, some facets of the Black Christian heritage (not Christology per se) must remain; there must be an Afro-centric “flavor”, a “tie that binds” the congregation to the “invisible institution”. I believe Black spirituality is not exclusive to Christianity but has its base in African religious practices.

Morrison-Reed, in his book, provides us with additional thoughts regarding why Black religious liberals still need essentials in worship that relate to African-American’s religious history:

“The dominant motif in the black American experience is the struggle for freedom: freedom from slavery, freedom from political and economic bondage, freedom of self-determination, and freedom to participate fully in American life.”⁵

C. Eric Lincoln, Black Historian, expands Morrison-Reed’s idea:

“What Black Americans are now in search of is the reconstruction of an alternative circuitry that avoids the embarrassment of their association with American Christianity and re-establishes their connection with the faith through new understandings of God’s will for man (humanity) and man’s (humanity’s) willingness to assume responsibility for his (her) dignity and his (her) destiny on earth.”⁶

Continuing my point, a worship service that does not give the African-American parishioner a feeling of history, a feeling of dignity, as defined by Morrison-Reed and Lincoln above, will fail. The “double-consciousness” factor means elements of Europe and Africa must remain. If there is no inclusiveness in the worship approach though and the service is “too White” so to speak, then the effort to find and keep Black people as members of a UU church will be fruitless. There will be meager attendance at best.

YOU MUST KNOW YOUR TIME, PLACE, AND CIRCUMSTANCE

There are specific reasons why Egbert Ethelred Brown failed (according to the AUA) to build a successful Unitarian church; and there are reasons why Lewis McGee succeeded.

Brown was attempting to build a Unitarian church during the 1900’s - 1930’s amongst the Black poor, in Montego Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, and later in Harlem, New York (a much better audience). McGee started a Unitarian church in the late 1940’s to early ‘50’s in Chicago, Illinois amongst a more progressive, upwardly mobile African-American population.

Brown was up against history in Jamaica. In 1865, there had been a peasant revolt called the “Morant Bay Rebellion”⁷ and by the late 20’s and into the 30’s, the country was a “Crown Colony” of Great Britain. Certainly, Jamaicans could not trust a new religion spear-headed by more White men; they had the Catholics, Methodists and Baptists already. After failing in Jamaica, he moved to New York with hopes of developing a UU church with more support from the AUA. No such support was given.⁸ Nevertheless, Brown was active in New York during the “Harlem Renaissance” within a city with over 200,000 African-Americans, but was not in good standing with the AUA. The market for building a church was ripe, but his window of opportunity was small, due to lack of financial resources. Not long after, the “Great Depression” hit America, which was certainly a time when people needed hope, but they needed the security of the familiar, not a new religion. When seventy-five percent of Americans spent their entire income on food, shelter and bits of clothing, there is no room for something else.⁹ Brown’s opportunity ended.

McGee was in America in the late 1940’s and ‘50’s, in a major Black metropolis, during a time when Black scholarship and want for civil rights were culminating in protests, that went well into the sixties. Blacks were even more discontent, as they faced McCarthy’s rhetoric. Communism gave many Blacks a new way of understanding how society could or should operate. War was reality. This, combined with continued racism and segregation, sent many Blacks looking for new ways of expressing and acting upon their frustrations socially and spiritually. This was a good time for McGee to build a Unitarian church.

Brown never built a substantial following in Jamaica and depended too heavily on the AUA for his personal finances. He became a burden to the association and lost his posture and personal appeal by being so desperate. This crushed a modest effort in Harlem. The AUA was not interested in his work any longer. However, Brown continued despite the obstacles because this was his life’s goal. There was no other place left for him to go after leaving traditional Christianity. Nonetheless, after losing the respect of the AUA, Brown was distraught when realizing that he was being “weeded out” so to speak:

“I was surprised, disappointed, disillusioned as I faced a standard of judgment which declared that the failure or success of a religious venture was based on the number of members enrolled and the amount of dollars collected. Such intangible considerations as the emancipating power of our message and the evidence on all hands of the effects of its leavening influence weighed not at all.”¹⁰

I’m not shocked as Brown was. I admit I have the advantage of knowing history here, but from my perspective, church planting projects are nearly always measured by the number of members they produce and how self-sufficient they become. What other tangible measurements are there? The AUA showed collective guilt in dealing with the Brown situation. I don’t blame them. I don’t see pure racism here. I see a business decision. “Do we want to continue placing dollars into a man who failed us in Jamaica? If yes, this is charity from here on out. If no, pull funding (with love) expeditiously!” I believe this was the mindset. Morrison-Reed writes:

“Their (AUA’s Cornish and Eliot) view of blacks was so limited that they never seriously believed that Unitarianism could be grasped by them. This attitude undermined Brown’s mission from the outset.”¹¹

I disagree in part. Sure cultural supremacy and paternalistic mentalities are always issues Blacks face, but I would say that the AUA fully supported Brown (at least they felt they were sincere) in his first two ventures in Montego Bay and Kingston. Spiritually speaking, they were wrong in pulling out of Jamaica and not supporting him in Harlem. But from a business standpoint, they were wise given the time, place and previous results from their pilot projects. In sympathy to Brown, the AUA did not physically support him much with mentors, possibly due to distance limitations. He had no choice but to pretty much go it alone. Perhaps this is why after Brown’s persistence, the AUA continued to compensate him with small amounts of money.

McGee developed a following quickly when he started the Free Religious Association (later called the Free Religious Fellowship- FRF) and as a result was given much support. Twenty plus years separated Brown and McGee’s start-ups. This is significant and I agree with Morrison-Reed that times had changed and more progressive minds were ready to hear a liberal Unitarian message. Also, the AUA was ready to venture into Black culture again. Additionally, McGee had help. He was in America and could call upon the vast resources around him and north in Boston. As an example, McGee was hired by the association to see if starting a Unitarian church among Chicago’s 275,000 Blacks in the South Side was feasible. Morrison-Reed says, “McGee had the foresight to look before he leaped and to know that a substantial report would help to legitimize denominational support.”¹²

The FRF grew swiftly and never depended, long-term, on the AUA. They gave back to the community and association. They fit into the Unitarian way, relatively smoothly. Therefore, understanding why history records McGee a success is rather simple... He was a progressive preacher and shrewd church-businessman who lived in a different era than Brown, with a much better list of prospects to call upon. He was more rational in his approach. He led with his mind and not with his heart.

Concluding this section on a miscellaneous but important note, what must also be mentioned is that Brown was a dark-skinned man who had very “African” features (page 30). McGee was light-skinned and resembled a look that represented popular White culture (page 112). His features were more European. In the Black community even today, many have been brainwashed to believe that people who look like McGee are more credible, professional, and more knowledgeable than their darker, more African counterparts. This is an ever-present and ongoing problem where one thinks the “more White” you look the better off you are. My mother shared with me a disturbing saying she and her friends learned growing up: “If you’re Black, get back. If you’re Brown, turn around. If you’re White, you’re out of sight.” This is indeed a pervasive sickness rooted in slavery. The point is that Brown’s features may have subjected him to this prejudice by the AUA and potential members, whereas McGee most likely benefited from his “look”.

YOU MUST KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN SEEKING BLACK MEMBERS

The FRF’s membership consisted of educated Blacks many had attended college and some graduate school:

“They were people experiencing some economic autonomy, moving toward a religion that focused on the worth of the individual.”¹³

Education and economic success changes the mindset. I would argue that the more educated one becomes the more rational the theology. McGee was extremely intelligent and well educated. As a result, he was open to Humanist ideology and converted to it. His followers reflected his personality.

All people desire to be recognized in some capacity. Our faith excels in promoting the individual. This is an asset in finding Black members who seek a place of expression in a country that mutes their voice. Yet, we still have a very particular faith. Surely, there are more than 220,000 liberal free thinkers in America! Our numbers reflect our particular nature and theological exclusivity. But, if this is who we are, than let us seek African-American members who are like us. I am a Black man with two degrees, an entrepreneur and author. My education led me to the UU faith. I have several friends who think as I do. If I am here [Prince George's County, Maryland], they could be here too!

Another example, after services at my church, my wife and I actively seek out African-Americans who visit to find out what attracted them to us. A few have joined due to our efforts. To our surprise, many say they came because they were searching for a place to worship that “fits” and somewhere that’s “not dogmatic.” I also learn from my query that most have college and post graduate degrees, and are avid readers. Many say they found us on the Internet. Clearly, these are clues as to what sort of African-Americans would be interested in our religion.

CONCLUSIONS

McGee and Brown were both successful. They made it possible for me, and others like me, to benefit from their work. Their highs and lows paved the way for Mark D. Morrison-Reed to write his book, which exposed an old problem that has gone unresolved. James Weldon Johnson’s words come to mind: “We have come over a way that with tears has been watered. We have come treading our paths through the blood of the slaughtered.” No matter your viewpoint, it is always important to pay homage to your ancestors. McGee and Brown were triumphant Black pioneers in a White denomination.

From my perspective, it is possible to build an African-American UU congregation today. Using McGee’s method of utilizing research and development is a must. It is also my hope that my simple plan provided above will be an effective tool for you. I suspect, as mentioned, that large cities with substantial upscale Black populations are good places to start. Washington, DC’s suburb, in Prince George’s County, Maryland, boasts the richest Black population in the country. Atlanta’s suburban areas also come to mind as ideal locations, but without proper research one cannot tell. Worship services should contain elements of Black spirituality. They should be “Afro-centric” and have a consistent pattern that calls the parishioner to remember his/her African-American history regularly. The church must grow consistently and give back to the Association, or run the risk of being perceived as unsuccessful if it tarries in its growth too long. Whoever starts this task must utilize sister churches in its locale for continued support and mentoring. Targeting the advertising and marketing toward “like-mined” African-Americans is fundamental in finding the “right” parishioners.

Lastly, the UUA should support such an endeavor fully. Our continued non-decision and poor decisions, from Brown to the Black Empowerment Movement, has cost us thousands of Black members over the years. We must cross this chasm by following a simple plan that is compassionate, generous, detailed, decisive and realistic. If this is done, the UUA will see a flurry of African-American UU congregations springing up all across the U.S. Let us hope that this century will not be like the last. It is my wish that our UU history will not be marred any longer by racism and discrimination, but full of love, mutuality and reciprocity. I hope the American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness will not be utopian fancies for us this century, but real, tangible and inclusive for humanity and all UU’s to embrace and hold sacred. LET IT BE SO!

REFERENCES

Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion, 1978.
C. Eric Lincoln, The Black Church in the Africa American Experience, 1990.
Cornell West, Race Matters, 1993.
Fulop & Raboteau, African-American Religion, 1997.
Gayraud Wilmore, African American Religious Studies, 1989.
James M. Washington, I Have A Dream, 1992.
John T. Crestwell, Jr., Letter to the Black Church in America, 2000.
Mark D. Morrison-Reed, Black Pioneers in a White Denomination, 1984.
Steven Barboza, Door of No Return. 1994.

¹ Steven Barboza, Door of No Return. 1994, Cobblehill Books, pg. 1-2.

² Gayraud Wilmore, African-American Religious Studies. 1989, Duke University Press, pgs. 129-132.

³ Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion. 1978, Oxford University Press, pg. 48.

⁴ Raboteau, pg. 49-54.

⁵ Mark D. Morrison-Reed, Black Pioneers in a White Denomination. 1984, Beacon Press, pg. 6.

⁶ Wilmore, pg. 5.

⁷ http://www.sweet-jamaica.com/history.htm

⁸ Morrison-Reed, pg. 69-70.

⁹ http://www.jasmts.com/1929StockMarketCrash.htm

¹⁰ Morrison-Reed, pg. 51.

¹¹ Morrison-Reed, pg. 52.

¹² Morrison-Reed, pg. 121-122.

¹³ Morrison-Reed, pg. 132.

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