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58.2, Collaboration, Column

On the Arts: God Is Yet Creating a More Just World

Words and Pictures by Ralph Basui Watkins

Ralph Basui Watkins, MFA, DMin, PhD, is the Peachtree Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Columbia Theological Seminary.

decending_bird_book_blue

In the beginning God created . . . and never stopped creating.

Africans were brought to America in 1619 to be subjected to the cruel and evil institution of slavery. From 1619 to 1865, the brutal system of slavery was the law of the land, and then came years of Jim and Jane Crow. For African Americans, it was God and the church that fueled our imaginations of freedom. It was our imaginations that empowered us to see ourselves as Africans and not slaves. We were not slaves, we were enslaved. We would gather together to pray, sing, testify, and preach of a God who loved us, valued us, and was on the side of the oppressed. We honor the Black theologians and Womanist theologians for codifying our theology in books. Please note: our theology was not made in books and is not meant to be studied in schools; it is a lived theology, a theology that sees God as a God of justice. It isn’t a theology that embraces the lie of separation between church and state, because it knows that the state is controlled by the church. It is a theology that knows that God is concerned about our life in the state.

Together in the Pulpit

Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock and Congressman John Lewis sit together in the pulpit.

We gather in worship and ask God to continue to create. We gather in worship to imagine a world of freedom, justice, and equality. Our preachers cross boundaries that the oppressors said they shouldn’t because they know that this crossing leads to lifting up the cross of Jesus as a tool of liberation. Our preachers refuse to be slave preachers; they are freedom preachers. I was reminded of this lived theology as worship led us to the polls to vote on Sunday, October 12, 2014, at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Congressman Rev. John Lewis was the preacher for the day, and Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock, pastor and future United States senator, was presiding. The seamless integration of a theology of liberation and a prophetic future unfolded right before my eyes as I photographed the gathering. I looked through the viewfinder of my camera and I saw the past, the present, and the future of our struggle for freedom. On this day Congressman Lewis would preach the word, and I would capture the moment for posterity.

This Sunday featured the Men’s Choir. African American men were all dressed in black suits, white shirts, and black ties for Men’s Day, an annual celebration in most Black churches that is recognized alongside Women’s Day, when the women of the church lead in similar fashion. To see this choir in sync singing the gospel was a testament in itself, a testament to who Black men really are, the ones I grew up around and see myself reflected in. On this day my camera was a mirror and a prophetic witness to who God is and how God acts.

With Men's Choir

Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock and Congressman John Lewis sit together in the pulpit with the Men’s Choir and musicians behind them.

In the middle of the worship experience, Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock dedicated a baby. It was moving to hear him speak over this child and pray for her as he lifted her to the heavens. The men in the choir looked on, and one raised his hands in affirming worship. I was reminded of the scene from the television miniseries Roots that premiered in January 1977 over eight consecutive nights. It was in episode three that Kunta Kinte raised his daughter Kizzy to the sky, dedicated her back to God, and told her the story of her African roots. I was witnessing the lived theology of my people before me that day; we were once again imagining freedom and seeing ourselves as Africans who are to be free in America.

Warnock Dedicates

Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock dedicates baby girl in worship and choir member raises hands in worship.

As Congressman John Lewis (February 21, 1940–July 17, 2020) stood to preach, he took time to look back at the future. He looked to Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock and prophesied that he was to be our next great leader. Little did we know that Congressman Lewis’s prophesy would come true in 2021 as Rev. Dr. Warnock would become a duly elected United States senator. Congressman Lewis saw, proclaimed in worship, and preached about the future of our people, a future constructed by God and led by God’s people and prophets like Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock. I believed that prophesy on that Sunday in October 2014, and I saw it realized seven years later. Seven is the number of completion.

Lewis

Warnock

Congressman John Lewis and Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock speaking / preaching at the press conference.

Congressman Lewis was clear in his sermon that the vote was our number one tool to make this world a more just place. “The exercising your vote is an act of worship; it is living out your faith.”

Opening the Doors

Opening the doors to the church as persons are invited to walk down and join the church.

The buses were loaded, and we arrived at the polling place. Joining Congressman Lewis and Rev. Dr. Warnock was the sister of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Christine King Farris (September 11, 1927—June 29, 2023). They all rode on the bus together with members of Ebenezer Baptist Church and would hold a news conference upon their arrival. They stood before the cameras and took what was done inside the church to the worldwide cathedral as they exhorted all our people to vote as an act of faith, a faith in a God who was still yet creating a more just world.

Walking in to Vote

Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Christine King Farris, and Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock walking in to vote.

God is yet creating. God is yet calling leaders to speak in the pulpit and the streets. Congressman Lewis spoke on that Sunday and pointed us to our future. We see our future in persons like Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock and in you, you who are committed to doing the will of God in the world. God never stopped creating, and God is yet making the world a reflection of the love, radical inclusivity, freedom, justice, and love of God. In the beginning God created and God continues to create. . . . Let God create something beautiful through you. You are the leader, the creative we have been waiting for, you. You are our future. You are the future creative power of a God who is on the side of the oppressed!

Warnock Distant October 12

Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock speaking to a packed church on Men’s Day and Souls to the Polls Sunday, October 12, 2014.

Warnock Closer October 12

Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock speaking to a packed church on Men’s Day and Souls to the Polls Sunday, October 12, 2014.

On Liturgy – 56.2

On Liturgy – 56.2

56.2, Baptism, Column, Liturgy

One Friday during a recent low point in our community’s COVID-19 infection rates, my husband and I bought tickets to a dinner show at an iconic jazz club in our city. The evening’s featured performer was a local musician who also happened to be a congregation member—I had not yet had the chance to meet him, and I was eager to hear his music.

On Liturgy – 56.2

On Music: Our Community Pool

56.2, Baptism, Column, Music

Remembrances of baptism liturgies are becoming more common in Presbyterian congregations. Staff and members who experience them at conferences carry the liturgies home and put them into regular rotation each year.

On Liturgy – 56.2

On Preaching – 56.2

56.2, Baptism, Column, Preaching

In keeping with the Directory for Worship, Kaela (not her real name) was presented for baptism with neither undue haste nor undue delay. She was thirteen years old, wearing her backpack and clinging to a stuffed animal as she walked to the baptismal font. Her mothers had been Presbyterian for a little over a year—they joined soon after visiting our church’s booth at the downtown Pride festival the year before.

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