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Black Pioneers in a White Denomination
Portraits of racism in liberal religion tells the stories of two pioneering black ministers. Includes accounts of some of today's more integrated UU congregations and biographical notes on past and present black Unitarian, Universalist and UU ministers.
280 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1984
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July 1, 2023
This book is important to me in trying to assess where thing stand in Unitarian Universalism today and how we can realistically diversify our congregations. This discussion will necessarily be general and miss many nuances.
The first chapter, Two American Faiths, compares what he calls Black religion (the generalized religious experience of Black Americans) with Unitarianism. Both emphasize freedom, but Black religion emphasizes freedom from the struggle, spiritual freedom, while Unitarianism emphasizes individual intellectual freedom. But "In neither of these situations are the active qualities of the spiritual and the intellectual brought to bear upon the reality of this world."
The second and third chapters discuss the two black pioneers of the title. Egbert Ethelred Brown was an early Black Unitarian minister who founded a Unitarian Church in Harlem and struggled to find support from the national organization (American Unitarian Association), which certainly would not install a black minister in a white congregation and only grudging provided small support to his effort in Harlem. This was in the early 1900s. He answered a key question - why he became a Unitarian. As he described it, when, as a boy, he was reciting the creed at his Episcopal Church in Jamaica, "The strangeness of the Trinitarian arithmetic struck me forcibly - so forcibly that I decided then and there to sever my connection with the church which enunciated so impossible a proposition." He then discovered Unitarianism that very day on a visit to his Unitarian uncle. Many years of study took him to Meadville. He was viewed as pushy, difficult, and unrealistic by the AUA powers that be.
The other Black Pioneer was Lewis McGee, who was installed as the first minister of the Free Religious Fellowship, a predominantly black Unitarian church in Chicago. He was a true gentleman, warm, non-aggressive, and loved by many. He had trained under Unitarians and Humanists. At the end of WWII, he impressed a prominent Unitarian minister, but that minister later said, "I did not encourage him to think that there is much opportunity for a Negro minister in our fellowship." Instead, he worked to create the interracial Free Religious Fellowship. Struggling with racist responses, he nonetheless succeeded with the Free Religious Fellowship, which exists today as All Souls Free Religious Fellowship.
Chapter 4 assessed "How 'Open; Was the Door?" for both pioneers. The author wrote that both Brown and McGee "diminished God's role and instead of relating Unitarianism to the full black experience - including spirituality - disassociated themselves from black emotionalism and overidentified with Unitarian intellectualism. Thus, they both lost a significant element of the black community. Then came Howard Thurman, "combined intellectual freedom with spiritual freedom,"
making the church "a worshiping community first, and never a forum [as Brown had done]." He also emphasized the church's role in inspiring its members through worship and fellowship to "take personal responsibilities for social change."
Chapter 5, Integration Where it Counts, asks, "How can the liberal faith and black religion enrich one another?" Oversimplified, Unitarian brings the essential elements of intellectual freedom and commitment to reason, while the Black church brings the spiritual element.
Chapter 6, "Where there is no vision, the people perish," argues for a vision in what is to some a godless religion. "Our challenge today is to develop a vision that is grand enough and hopeful enough to accept what the present has brought us and what the future shall bring us." In short, it is a vision of "culturally diverse congregations, each adapting religious liberalism in its own way."
n Chapter 7, How Open is the Door, How Loud is the Call?, the author relates his own beginnings in Unitarianism and discusses the difficulties in becoming multiracial. He identifies five common ingredients in Unitarian congregations successfully attracting black people: (1) his successful models were all in large urban areas, (2) a large black middle class is necessary, (3) the minister and congregation need to be visibly and vocally concerned with issues of race relations and justice, so the church can be seen to be concerned about the African American agenda, (4) Successful congregations intentionally took specific actions to open their doors, and (5) success took time. He notes, though that "the only denominations whose values are to the right of black denominations are conservative Protestants." Given that and the strong community ties of black churches, many black people simply will not come. But some will respond to a liberal faith. Also, Unitarians tend toward intellectual style of worship, while the lack experience is more emotive. He urges Unitarian Universalists to account for these differences as they seek a more multicultural congregation.
The first chapter, Two American Faiths, compares what he calls Black religion (the generalized religious experience of Black Americans) with Unitarianism. Both emphasize freedom, but Black religion emphasizes freedom from the struggle, spiritual freedom, while Unitarianism emphasizes individual intellectual freedom. But "In neither of these situations are the active qualities of the spiritual and the intellectual brought to bear upon the reality of this world."
The second and third chapters discuss the two black pioneers of the title. Egbert Ethelred Brown was an early Black Unitarian minister who founded a Unitarian Church in Harlem and struggled to find support from the national organization (American Unitarian Association), which certainly would not install a black minister in a white congregation and only grudging provided small support to his effort in Harlem. This was in the early 1900s. He answered a key question - why he became a Unitarian. As he described it, when, as a boy, he was reciting the creed at his Episcopal Church in Jamaica, "The strangeness of the Trinitarian arithmetic struck me forcibly - so forcibly that I decided then and there to sever my connection with the church which enunciated so impossible a proposition." He then discovered Unitarianism that very day on a visit to his Unitarian uncle. Many years of study took him to Meadville. He was viewed as pushy, difficult, and unrealistic by the AUA powers that be.
The other Black Pioneer was Lewis McGee, who was installed as the first minister of the Free Religious Fellowship, a predominantly black Unitarian church in Chicago. He was a true gentleman, warm, non-aggressive, and loved by many. He had trained under Unitarians and Humanists. At the end of WWII, he impressed a prominent Unitarian minister, but that minister later said, "I did not encourage him to think that there is much opportunity for a Negro minister in our fellowship." Instead, he worked to create the interracial Free Religious Fellowship. Struggling with racist responses, he nonetheless succeeded with the Free Religious Fellowship, which exists today as All Souls Free Religious Fellowship.
Chapter 4 assessed "How 'Open; Was the Door?" for both pioneers. The author wrote that both Brown and McGee "diminished God's role and instead of relating Unitarianism to the full black experience - including spirituality - disassociated themselves from black emotionalism and overidentified with Unitarian intellectualism. Thus, they both lost a significant element of the black community. Then came Howard Thurman, "combined intellectual freedom with spiritual freedom,"
making the church "a worshiping community first, and never a forum [as Brown had done]." He also emphasized the church's role in inspiring its members through worship and fellowship to "take personal responsibilities for social change."
Chapter 5, Integration Where it Counts, asks, "How can the liberal faith and black religion enrich one another?" Oversimplified, Unitarian brings the essential elements of intellectual freedom and commitment to reason, while the Black church brings the spiritual element.
Chapter 6, "Where there is no vision, the people perish," argues for a vision in what is to some a godless religion. "Our challenge today is to develop a vision that is grand enough and hopeful enough to accept what the present has brought us and what the future shall bring us." In short, it is a vision of "culturally diverse congregations, each adapting religious liberalism in its own way."
n Chapter 7, How Open is the Door, How Loud is the Call?, the author relates his own beginnings in Unitarianism and discusses the difficulties in becoming multiracial. He identifies five common ingredients in Unitarian congregations successfully attracting black people: (1) his successful models were all in large urban areas, (2) a large black middle class is necessary, (3) the minister and congregation need to be visibly and vocally concerned with issues of race relations and justice, so the church can be seen to be concerned about the African American agenda, (4) Successful congregations intentionally took specific actions to open their doors, and (5) success took time. He notes, though that "the only denominations whose values are to the right of black denominations are conservative Protestants." Given that and the strong community ties of black churches, many black people simply will not come. But some will respond to a liberal faith. Also, Unitarians tend toward intellectual style of worship, while the lack experience is more emotive. He urges Unitarian Universalists to account for these differences as they seek a more multicultural congregation.
November 9, 2019
The last two chapters sum it up. The long middle section is like reading a sociologist's or historian's doctoral thesis--I guess that's what it was. Anyway, I'm really interested in reading his new book and going to see him on 2/8/2009.
Re-read 10/21/2019 in preparation for attendance at Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Symposium. Some highlights:
page 53: Eliot's apparent efforts to overcome his own ignorance were consistently undermined by his prejudices. [Eliot was a White Unitarian]
page 165: Howard Thurman: it was important that individuals who were in the thick of the struggle for social change would be able to find renewal and fresh courage in the spiritual resources of the church.
page 204: minister and congregation need to be visibly and vocally concerned with issues of race relations and justice so that the church becomes identified as a people who are concerned with the African American agenda.
Re-read 10/21/2019 in preparation for attendance at Black Lives of Unitarian Universalism Symposium. Some highlights:
page 53: Eliot's apparent efforts to overcome his own ignorance were consistently undermined by his prejudices. [Eliot was a White Unitarian]
page 165: Howard Thurman: it was important that individuals who were in the thick of the struggle for social change would be able to find renewal and fresh courage in the spiritual resources of the church.
page 204: minister and congregation need to be visibly and vocally concerned with issues of race relations and justice so that the church becomes identified as a people who are concerned with the African American agenda.
August 2, 2008
I was disappointed in this book, perhaps because I had different expectations. It is a case study of a couple Black UU (well, one U, I think) ministers in two different time periods, whereas I thought it was more about racial diversity, anti-racism, and racial justice within UUism - it does touch on that, but that's not primarily what the book is about. That said, the history is important.
November 4, 2009
So far-
Morrison-Reed delves into hidden chapters of Unitarian Universalist history- two African-American ministers who strove to bring Unitarianism to their communities, while going against the grain of a denomination that that wasn't quite ready for them. A little dry at times, but still an amazing and powerful story- and I've only started!
Morrison-Reed delves into hidden chapters of Unitarian Universalist history- two African-American ministers who strove to bring Unitarianism to their communities, while going against the grain of a denomination that that wasn't quite ready for them. A little dry at times, but still an amazing and powerful story- and I've only started!
April 18, 2011
Sheds light on history and what will need to change to be a diverse UUA
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews