There are few things that I enjoy more than the warm
hospitality of African American churches.
The authenticity of welcome is deeply felt, and the visitor feels bathed
in the congregation’s demonstrations of gracious inclusion. During the
fellowship period, I was entrusted with a beautiful baby to carry about the
sanctuary.
Yesterday
the Reverend Debra Sermons, Francisco Litardo, and I attended First Baptist
Church, the historic congregation in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. Nearly 155 years old, it has faced the
challenges of its location, transitions in leadership, and the realities of
poverty and crime in its neighborhood.
We were there for a Central Day, which celebrated the partnership
between seminary and church. Since the
founding of the seminary in 1901, every pastor of this church has been a
Central graduate.
I was
impressed by the church’s affirmation of its young adults, youth, and
children. The pastor identified honor
roll students, promoted the youth and children in worship leadership, and
called for prayer in the altar for a distressed young woman. Surely the gifts of healing were palpable,
and the practice of encouragement is transformative for all. This verse came to mind: “Therefore encourage
one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing” (1 Thessalonians
5:11).
This coming
Sunday commemorates the Transfiguration, that event that displays the
revelation of Christ’s glory before his passion. As the Book
of Common Prayer puts us: “Grant to us that we beholding by faith in the
light of his countenance may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed
into his likeness from glory to glory . . . “ The focus on the Lenten season is
renewed discipline that we might become like Jesus.
As I
observed the interaction of the generations of the church, I perceived the
church as an incubator of transfiguration, a “lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19b). By naming gifts and identifying wounds, both
transfigured by the light of the Gospel, the congregation was crafting a
different future for these individuals and the body as a whole.
Transfiguration
Day is supremely about Jesus, but not to the exclusion of his followers. When the people of God gather for worship, we
are met by the trinitarian presence of God who connects human lives and makes
possible a transfigured future. This is
holy work that God allows a church to perform.
Thanks be to God!
Molly T.
Marshall
Central prepares women and men for seeking God, shaping
church, and serving humanity. To learn
more about our mission, continue visiting our website.
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