A Journey to the Promised Land

Almighty God hath been pleased to make you slaves here, and to give you nothing but labor and poverty in this world, which you are obliged to submit to, as it is in His will that it should be so.  If therefore, you would be God’s freemen in Heaven, you must be good and strive to serve Him here on earth.  

If you want to raise this issue with the members of the official board, I will recognize you and give you the privilege of the floor, for this church is run democratically.  But I think I ought to tell you what I shall do the moment you are through speaking, -- When you have concluded your remarks, before I allow anyone else to speak, I am going to ask five men to follow me in a period of prayer for you, that the prejudice which is poisoning you, may be extirpated, and that you may become an honest-to-goodness Christian.  And this I guarantee -- that you are going to be prayed for as you have never been prayed for in your life before -- and I think God will answer those prayers quite promptly.

Segregation laws had forced the Right Reverend Clinton Quin, the diocesan bishop and Bishop Hines, to split their time between the two racially separate gatherings at the banquet preceding the Diocesan Convention. “Stop this ludicrous and unfair practice”, Hines demanded, “and either schedule one common meal or have no banquet at all”

Black Episcopalians have demonstrated the authenticity of their religious commitment by their persistent struggle to maintain their racial identity in a larger church body that has not readily until recently acknowledged their presence…  Black Episcopalians stand in the same relationship to the whites in the Episcopal Church as the total black community stands in relationship to the White America at large.

For conscience’s sake we Black Episcopalians must understand that we are legitimate, not only in the eyes of our brothers and sisters in the so-called black denominations but to Episcopalians as well.  It is important since the church needs us more than we need it.  Black members help to keep the church honest, to give substance to the firmly held dogma that we are church and not a sect.  A separate black church is no serious alternative.  

Not least of all the problems is the apparent failure of the West Indian to appreciate and respect the agonies and injustices, which white people have for so long perpetuated against black people of this country, which have rightly created an angry people who have a strong sense of urgency about recovering God-given rights at all levels in American society.

Your last chance – Go home Nega

Doubtless he meant Nigger.  A note bearing this message of hate was found, Sunday morning in a light-pink envelope that had a large K surrounded by many small ones. The envelope was stuck to a four-foot wooden cross set up on the lawn of a Negro family’s home at 118-18 235^th Street, Cambria Heights. William Henry Durham got up Sunday morning, took his daughter Gail Antoinette, 6, to the garage through a rear door and drove her to Sunday school.  As Mr. Durham returned to their home, he saw the wooden cross on the lawn in front of their home.  

We were really at an impasse.  True, we raised $651,582 and we had secured a loan of $125,000 from the Episcopal Building Fund.  But we were still “hungry” and in the wilderness; we needed another $450,000.  Could God rain manna from above once more?  Could God provide water from the rocks as it was done in the wilderness?  “Yes!” is the answer.  A resounding yes too!  “Out of the clear blue sky,” at a time when I least expected it.

Members of the construction firm worshiped with us on one occasion. We note in the Old Testament story how Joshua sent spies into Jericho before he invaded the country.  We did not use any spies, but evidentially, spies were used on us for I wonder in hindsight if the construction firm did not have an ulterior motive from our first contact with it.  The subsequent events recorded in this narrative show how the construction firm, which seemed genuine initially, turned out to be fraudulent.

The question before us on that morning was whether or not the recent excavation undermined the foundation of the existing building?  Reassured that the building was safe we proceeded with caution like Joshua and his followers to cross over the River Jordan.

A few weeks before the dedication of the new sanctuary, someone used a garbage bag that was left on the sidewalk of the property overnight for garbage collection to set the roof on fire.  Like all the hurdles we encountered, God was in the midst, for the garbage bag was not completely burned and the timber was hardly scorched.  It was like the burning bush, which was not consumed as mentioned in Exodus chapter 3. 

In the previous chapters and in particular, the second, “The Exile,” we noted the plight and gruesome sufferings that blacks endured through slavery, racism and segregation. We observed the tensions between blacks and whites and also between African Americans and West Indians.  If we are going to be the ‘living stones’, that Peter speaks about, we have to move beyond our hurts, and repair the bridges.

While our predecessors did the groundwork in the community, the one who really laid the foundation was Jesus Christ.  This is why the church prevails notwithstanding the desertion of others.  God transcends race, ethnicity, culture and conflicts. &nb