“First” and “Second” Churches

I’ve spent most of my life within some expression of the Christian Church—first, in the Baptist Church and then in the Methodist Church.  In the military I was categorized as a Protestant Chaplain, as opposed to a Catholic Chaplain or a Jewish Chaplain.  But, chaplains are meant to be chaplains to all—of any faith or of no faith at all.  I preferred this ministry of being a priest for any and all far more than my ministry within the confines of a congregation, and still do.  With the exception of one congregation with a few African Americans, all the congregations I served as a pastor were white, just like the one I grew up in.

Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote:  “A racially segregated church is in my judgment wickedly unchristian any way.  To profess devotion to the task of winning all races and nations to Christ and then to shut out those thus Christianized from our fellowship is downright apostasy.”  I don’t think any person who takes the Christian faith seriously can argue this point.  Martin Luther King, Jr., once said, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.”

When I was 14 years old, I invited my friend Tony (Tony and his sister were the only black students in our public school) to the youth fellowship meetings at my church.   No one objected.  But when I invited Tony to attend Sunday morning worship with me, one of my former “Sunday school teachers” came to me and said something to this effect:  “This is the First Baptist Church; there is a Second Baptist Church in his neighborhood, which is where your friend belongs.”  I shall never forget that encounter nor the reactions of others in that congregation to Tony’s presence.  So, one might ask, why did I continue in the church?   That’s a good question.  Perhaps like Peter, I was led and carried where I did not want to go (John 21:18).

“First” and “Second” churches—“Third” and “Fourth” churches abound—a “wickedly unchristian” situation.