June 2020 — pg. 3
History, Equality and Unity
For the last two years before I moved from the Chicago area to
Indianapolis, I attended the St. Charles Free Methodist Church
(now known as Main Street Church) that was founded in 1860 as
one of the first Free Methodist congregations. An 1878 church photo
reveals the congregation had multiple African American members at
a time when most U.S. churches were segregated.
This is the photo I would like to reflect the history of Free
Methodism. After all, the Free Methodist Church (which publishes
this magazine) launched shortly before the Civil War with freedom
from slavery as one of its key principles, and the St. Charles photo
captured a commitment to multiracial inclusion.
Of course, diversity in the church isn’t just a matter of black
and white. Four women began discussing their faith with Asian
immigrants in the early 1900s, and their ministry led to the
denomination’s Pacific Coast Japanese Conference that is now a
multiethnic movement known as the PCJC Network. Today our
denominational Board of Administration is the most racially and
ethnically diverse it has ever been, and we have several African
American superintendents along with the African Heritage Network
and the Red Latina (Latin Network).
However, to quote the Board of Bishops-endorsed “Racial Unity”
position paper in this issue of LIGHT + LIFE, “the Free Methodist
Church regrettably recognizes equality and unity have not always
been prioritized or attained by Free Methodists.”
When I look at photos of Free Methodist annual conferences and
other regional and national gatherings from past decades, almost
everyone has my pasty skin tone, and I wonder what happened
during the decades following the St. Charles photo.
As a boy in southern Illinois, I knew only one African American
family in a Free Methodist Church — Gene and Patrean Alston and
their son, Paul. I knew that Gene was an administrator in the Alton
School District and an assistant pastor at the Alton FMC (the next
closest FM congregation to the church my family attended). I didn’t
know at the time that Gene Alston was the first African American
graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary or that he was not offered
a lead pastor position in the Free Methodist Church following his
1961 graduation.
Alston, who died in 2005, is celebrated now as a beloved figure
in our denomination’s history. He became a Christian as a boy at a
Free Methodist mission in Washington, D.C, and the Peach Orchard
Christian Retreat Center and Campground in Maryland is now home
to the Dr. Gene R. Alston Memorial Camp Museum. Howard Olver,
Alston’s friend and fellow pastor, wrote, “He endured discrimination
at the hands of his own church and denomination without bitterness
or resentment. In fact, he loved the Free Methodist Church and gave
everything of himself that the church would accept.” (Visit fmchr.
ch/hsnewsletter to read more from Olver and others about Alston’s
legacy.)
What would have happened if the Free Methodist Church fully
recognized and utilized the same leadership gifts in Alston that
brought him success as an educator in the public school system? How
can we ensure that “endured discrimination” won’t be a description
of what happens now and in the future within the Free Methodist
Church – USA?
Along with the position paper running as our Focal Point article,
this issue also offers the wisdom of Bishop Keith Cowart and his
pastoral successor, Derrick Shields. African Heritage Network
Director Robert Marshall looks at what the book of Jeremiah reveals
about “God’s comprehensive plan for us.” Pastors Soo Ji and Joe
Alvarez share their perspective as a Korean-Canadian and Mexican-
American couple doing ministry amid the diversity of Riverside,
California.
I’m thankful for a local church (John Wesley FMC in
Indianapolis) that welcomes people of many ethnicities. Together
we’re currently mourning that COVID-19 claimed the earthly life
of a wonderful saint, Mary Singleton, one of the congregation’s
first African American members and the grandmother of Senior
Pastor Myisha Uni Cunningham who leads Raven-Brook Recovery
Church in Jackson, Michigan. I’d like to dedicate this issue to all Free
Methodists past and present who have worked to open the church to
people from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Revelation
7:9) while living “in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16).+
By Jeff Finley
Jeff Finley is this magazine’s
executive editor. He joined LIGHT
+ LIFE in 2011 after a dozen years
of reporting and editing for Sun-
Times Media.
/hsnewsletter
/hsnewsletter