THE COURAGE TO LEAD By Dr. Timothy Tyler As one who served the St. Louis area for seven years, I have been reflecting on the incidents of the last few days in Ferguson, Missouri. I keep coming to the same conclusion: this is the Churchs opportunity, specifically the African Methodist Episcopal Churchs opportunity, to find the courage to lead. The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown has been a horrific and terrorizing blow to our community. It has engendered fear and uncertainty, and our people are wondering, Will the prophets speak? Will the Church step up? Is there a word from The Lord? The historical significance of St. Louis and Ferguson is not apparent to most members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but nevertheless, the history is significant. Missouri is the gateway to the West for our denomination. St. Louis has always symbolized leadership for our church. St. Paul AME Church, the oldest AME Church west of the Mississippi, has elected nine Bishops out of her walls. Thats more elected Presiding Prelates than any other congregation in our Zion. This fact alone establishes the culture of leadership of the AME Church in Missouri. The uprising in Ferguson is long overdue. The St. Louis area is one of the few major African American populated areas in the United States never to have experienced a major uprising. Back in the 1960s, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited St. Louis, he came only to preach. He didnt lead a movement. He didnt protest. He preached. We are now experiencing the shifting of history where people no longer want preaching alone. They feel the call to protest. A generation of African American young people watched in real time on CNN and Facebook as a young child was gunned down in cold blood by a yet to be named police officer. We watched as one of our babies lay lifeless in the street for four hours. The next day, church leaders gathered to pray in front of the police station. Not too long after the prayer, the preachers scheduled a meeting and left and the community began to commence the uprising. Many people criticized the actions of the protestors, but I couldnt help but feel that the response of the crowds on that night was a critique of the failure or hesitation of the church to lead, truly lead. Sometimes leading means acknowledging the anger and hurt of the people first, then, at some appointed time later, holding the proverbial prayer meeting. The courage to lead means leading in reaching healing and helping with community hurts long before the big event occurs. I contend that, if the Church doesnt take the time to encourage and give hope in times of peace, then we lose the moral authority to criticize and shame the community for how they respond in times of upheaval. There are many progressive AME Churches and Progressive AME pastors and lay people in the St Louis area. This is our moment and our time as a denomination to pick up the mantle of prophetic witness and lead. It made me proud to see AMEs protesting in Ferguson just a few days ago. As we move forward in the days ahead, lets keep up the fight. Lets protect our children, come up with initiatives to curb police violence and be the church of Richard Allen. The African Methodist Church worldwide must join in the fight in Ferguson and wherever injustice exists. I am certain that the community will not come looking for us to lead. They will not recruit or send us an invitation to lead. If African Methodism desires to survive and live out her claim to be a reconciling and liberating church, then we will have to first find the courage to lead. And then, we will have to lead.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:26:23 +0000
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