questions of the bishops and other panelists. Marshall
noted that racism isn’t just an issue in the street, but it is a
systemic problem that affects every American institution
including the church.
In response to a question from Marshall asking if there
are degrees of racism, Bishop Linda Adams said that one of
the commitments that came out of the General Conference
2019 resolution on racism and “the worth and value of
all persons” is “to recognize and learn that structures are
a huge part of the issue, so we’ve been trying to educate
ourselves.” Adams shared that she and the other bishops
recently read an article in The Atlantic by John Rice,
the founder and CEO of Management Leadership for
Tomorrow, about “The Difference Between First-Degree
Racism and Third-Degree Racism.” Adams explained
that third-degree racism, such as redlining in real estate,
includes “benefiting without even meaning to, without
even knowing I harmed somebody, and yet the system has
advantaged me.”
Bishop Matt Whitehead said that although discussing
racism can be uncomfortable, “as believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, as Free Methodists, we are called to have this
conversation, and as you’ve probably heard me say before,
it’s not a conservative issue. It’s not a liberal issue. It’s a
gospel issue. It’s a Jesus issue.”
Whitehead said that “one of the challenges, particularly
for those of us in the White majority, is that we have
thought only of first-degree racism. ... I think we need to
broaden our definition and understand, by God’s grace,
that we have to see that this is a significant issue.”
Cowart said that to see beyond first-degree racism,
people can be part of a diverse community with deep
friendships that allow people to “speak deeply into each
other’s lives.” He emphasized that the Spirit calls us to
humility. “We really do have to come to the point where
our greatest desire is to be open and softhearted before
the Lord and before one another — to say our love for
one another is greater than our pride, our ego, our lack of
understanding.”
pg. 18 — lightandlifemagazine.com
Charles Latchison, a superintendent of the Free
Methodist Church in Southern California and the lead
pastor of Light & Life West Church, said, “I really love and
appreciate the whole matter of a deep call of the Spirit to
humility. These are exceptional times, and there needs to
be a surrender like we’ve never engaged before, and I think
we could not be in a better season to be able to do that.
... You cannot have enough quiet time during quarantine.”
Latchison said that when he began attending the African
Heritage Network’s meetings, he heard pastors’ stories
about conflict, misunderstanding and not being considered
for positions in their conferences. “They would cry. It was
the only place we could really be as expressive without any
consequences for complaining and being angry.”
Michael Traylor, a River Conference superintendent,
pointed to research by Michael O. Emerson and Christian
Smith that found “not only were evangelical churches
separated by race but that oftentimes White evangelical
self-identified conservative Christians had a difficult
time understanding the systemic or structural means of
almost everything. ... I also think that has pervaded our
theological lens.”
Traylor said some pastors focus on simple theological
statements in Scripture without looking at the cultural and
structural issues that Jesus and the apostles were trying to
address. “Part of the thing that we need to do is to work on
equipping our pastors and our leaders with this — for lack
of a better word — theological imagination that allows you
to see Scripture in all of the different levels in which the
Word shares.”
The leaders discussed that some Christians emphasize a
skewed or incomplete version of history that leaves out the
experiences of many people, and we may not realize that
holiness should include changing our culture.
“The lens through which people of color see the history
of the church and the history of the country is very,
very different,” said Amelia Cleveland-Traylor, a River
Conference superintendent and a member of the FMCUSA
Board of Administration.
“The church has been called to change the nation.”
— Fraser Venter, superintendent of the Free Methodist Church in Southern California
and the lead pastor of Cucamonga Christian Fellowship
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