The Black Church and Sexuality
It is rare indeed that people give. Most people guard and keep; they suppose that it is they themselves and what they identify with themselves that they are guarding and keeping, whereas what they are actually guarding and keeping is their system of reality and what they assume themselves to be.
—James Baldwin
For more than two decades, I’ve found myself in the midst of a continual stream of discourse both private and public regarding sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, and the practice of varied forms of Christianities in the context of African American culture and life. From the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that surfaced during the early to mid-1980s to this most present conversation of marriage equality and the political ante that has come along with the discussion, I’ve been part to some degree in the dialogue. It’s been the venue where many of my passions of a civil and social nature intersect with my religious, religious practice, and theological passions. So it is from this place that I engage in some reflective commentary about what’s on my heart and mind during this season of African American celebration (Black History Month, February, 2006).
James Baldwin’s quote sets the frame for my reflection brilliantly by naming for me a very important element that must be considered. This conversation in the context of the “Black Church” for me begins with an acknowledgment of the assumptions that are made in the name of “God and the Black Church.” Let me name just a few of these assumptions: (1) the Bible is the “Word of God,” inerrant and infallible, (2) God is not ever to be questioned in light of “His Word,” (3) God’s voice and mouthpiece of interpretation is “My Pastor or My Bishop,” who is in direct communication with God and is never wrong, etc.
The whole idea that the Bible is the first and last authority on any subject that we as human beings encounter or the notion that everything that is experienced in life has a biblical correlation explicitly, the “God said it, I believe, and that settles it” mentality is problematic. What’s troubling for me as a faith leader (pastor/bishop) is the seeming complacence of the masses of African American religious folk in the face of this unwillingness to take a critical look at some of these assumptions, the inclination toward dismissal of any other ideas, opinions, or theologies that don’t quite line up with the prevailing espoused theological articulations.
There seem to be very few places that we’ve created to have reasoned discussion and debate over some of these assumptions in our faith communities. Places where members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church can really talk to others of the same denominational persuasion. Let alone where there can be open dialogue and process around key political and social issues of our day, like the proclamation of the General Assembly of the Church of God in Christ published against same-sex marriage. As a son to the Church of God in Christ, I’ve never known the denomination to make any proclamation of any kind ever in the history of the church, no anti-poverty proclamation, no anti-war proclamation, no civil rights proclamation, no lack-of-health-care-for-the-neediest-in-our-communities proclamation. However, it has now an anti–same-sex marriage statement on record. And many are still not questioning why, and why now.
There is a train of thought that holds a major critique of the Black Church and of its homophobic treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, especially those children of African descent. There is also the critique, as well, of the long-standing pattern of leadership in the African American community exemplified in the charismatic black male preacher and the power analysis that must be understood and reimagined in fresh new ways.
I would go on to suggest that the dynamics that exist have both leaders and collective members caught up in a continual unhealthy relationship. The responsibility for those dynamics can be easily projected on to the other without a willingness to own one’s own part conscientiously. We all play a part in the way power is structured and practiced in the Black Church, and it will be up to us to do the hard work to undo the wrong of our past and present to ensure the safety of all of God’s children in our future.
As I mentioned, I have been actively engaged in the work of addressing, from a faith perspective, many of these issues within the African American experience. I have been involved with several groups of individuals who have some of the same passions for this work. Many of us have been on the front lines for a long time and have longed for settings to emerge where truth and reconciliation can be modeled and nurtured.
Issues of sex and sexuality have been used in the African American community to divide us. I see same-gender love as a religious issue as well as a civil, social, and human right. Same-gender loving relationships are one part of the social justice agenda that I support. As far as the community of faith that I serve, this is a part of our congregation’s overall mission of radical inclusivity. I believe God created everybody, and every single person in our community of faith has a right, as far as I am concerned, to include their sexual selves in their expression of their full humanity.
Where are the spaces and places that we as daughters and sons of the African diaspora can come, gather, and reason awhile about our faith and faith responses? Are we willing to go deep inside ourselves to discover sexual ethics, sexual theologies, and practices that are inclusive to all of our multiple realities? Can we create and shape these spaces in the spirit of respect and wholeness? Can we imagine ourselves as sufficient, not deficient?
Bishop John Selders, Jr., is an ordained minister serving in the United Church of Christ. He’s the pastor of Amistad UCC, Hartford, Connecticut, the Presider Bishop of the Inter-Denominational Conference of Liberation Congregations and Ministries, and is a Lecturer at Yale Divinity School. He resides in Hartford, Connecticut with spouse Pamela, their two children, and one grandchild.