Too often are poor and oppressed people (especially people of color) regarded as threats here in America, while poor and oppressed people in other countries are viewed as victims. This type of perspective is dehumanizing to people here and to people abroad. To overlook the problems here and to focus on issues elsewhere sends the message that poor and oppressed Americans problems are either insignificant, unimportant, or non urgent and at the same time it leads to the objectification of the exotic other. - Ryan Herring I experienced a version of this when I was an associate pastor in a church where I worked for 5 years. I was never allowed to preach there, although other (male) associates and a celebrity female missionary to an exotic country were invited to speak in the predominantly white congregation. I WAS invited to preach at one or the minority congregations (Asian and Hispanic) that met in our building. Those groups had Asian and Hispanic pastors but I dont recall them ever preaching to the white congregation. We also had an pastor from Africa on staff, but only as a janitor, and he was never invited to preach either. I always felt uneasy about what that communicated, both about the leaderships attitudes toward the ethnic groups that were part of our church, and about the role of women in ministry. It seemed to me that someone not welcome in the dominant culture pulpit could serve in the ethnic pulpits because both were considered second-class on some level. I hope that situation changed after I left, but I havent kept abreast on their current ministry practices.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 19:31:04 +0000
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