Church

Growing up, I remember this funny little thing we would do in church. It went something like, “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors to see all the people.” There was even a cool hand choreography that went along with it. Whenever the adults weren’t looking though, we would joke and change the position of our hands so that the last phase goes “open the doors but where are the people?”

At the time, we thought we were funny, but this tour has made me come to realize that our joke was all to relevant a parallel to the church at large during the Civil Rights movement. This might seem like an odd statement, since certainly the church was at the heart of the movement in one sense (so many ministers and churches served as the leaders and meeting places for the movement). I believe it was at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute today, however, that one of the speakers stated that there were about 60-70 churches who actively participated in the movement in Birmingham. In total, there were about 300 church in the area…that’s about a 20% participation rate if I have the numbers right, which is by all account a failing grade.

I have this constant, nagging question festering in my head…where were all the other churches in all of this? If we are the Body of Christ, are we not to show compassion to our brothers and sisters in need? How did this message of love and dignity fail to mobilize the broader church to act?

I read part of Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” again today and was struck by not only his eloquent and moving argument, but also by the very fact that he had to write this letter in the first place! We must be aware of our Christian heritage to ensure that we do not repeat the sins of our past, to stand when God has called us, and speak when we see injustice. I pray that I will have the courage and wisdom to stand up for what is right when my generation is faced with the evils of inequality.

“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail

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