The Journey: Forty Days of PromiseCelebrating the Legacy of African American Christianity
Day Thirty-Three: Empowering the Flock
Welcome to day thirty-three of our forty-day intercultural journey. From Martin Luther King Day to the end of Black History Month we are focusing on The Journey: Forty Days of Promise—Celebrating the Legacy of African American Christianity.
Day Thirty-Three: Empowering the Flock[1]
Perhaps the founding fathers’ greatest legacy was that they did not endeavor to leave a personal legacy, but a corporate one. Ministry was not about themselves, but about empowering and equipping the flock to do the work of mutual ministry (Ephesians 4:11-16). Truly they were fathers—birthing a family of shepherds.
Their corporate legacy produced fruit. Because of their examples, African American pastoral care has not simply been about what the pastor does for the flock, but has involved the mutual one another ministry of the flock. “What, then is this distinct emphasis that makes a black perspective in pastoral care and counseling unique? It is the corporate nature of pastoral care and counseling in the black church. . . . The term corporate means that the care of the individual is the function of the whole community, rather than the function of the pastor or any other specially designated person who possesses specialized skills.” On the “old ship of Zion,” there are no passengers, only crew members.
Entering the Great Family of Holy Freedom: Equipping for Family Life
On April 11, 1862, Congress passed a bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. Rev. Payne, then Bishop of the Second Episcopal District of the AMEC, visited President Lincoln to implore him to sign the bill. When Lincoln signed the bill five days later, Payne authored Welcome to the Ransomed to equip newly freed African Americans.
Using as his yardstick the Apostle Paul’s mentoring of Timothy as Timothy pastored the saints at Ephesus, Payne explains the duty of the laity. “But foremost of all the duties which he enjoined upon the Ephesian ministry and laity were those of making ‘Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men.’”
Having stated the duty and quoted the verse, Payne painstakingly exegetes who to pray to, what to pray for, how to pray, and with what attitude to pray.
Their prayer lives inaugurated, Payne then guides them in the use of their new freedom. “Enter the great family of Holy Freedom; not to lounge in sinful indulgence, not to degrade yourselves by vice, nor to corrupt society by licentiousness, neither to offend the laws by crime, but to the enjoyment of a well regulated liberty. . . Welcome to habits of industry and thrift—to duties of religion and piety . . .” As a wise father, Payne teaches his children how to appropriately use their newfound freedom and growing responsibility.
His counsel ranges from the sublime (“We entreat you to never be content until you are emancipated from sin”) to the mundane (“Work, work, work!”). His advice is practical and culturally sensitive. “Permit us, also, to advise you to seek every opportunity for the cultivation of your minds. . . . Rest not till you have learned to read the Bible.
Payne reserves his most ardent counsel for parents. “But of the children take special care. Heaven has entrusted them to you for a special purpose. What is that purpose? Not merely to eat and to drink, still less to gormandize. Not merely to dress finely in broadcloths, silks, satins, jewelry, nor to dance to the sound of the tambourine and fiddle; but to learn them how to live and how to die—to train them for great usefulness on earth—to prepare them for greater glory in heaven.”
Payne exhorts faithful parents to pass the baton of faith to faithful children who would continue the spiritual relay. In this he follows Paul’s ministry plan. “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Learning Together from Our Great Cloud of Witnesses
1. African American founding fathers empowered the flock by birthing a family of shepherds. Specifically, what can church leaders today do to equip equippers?
2. What can you do to equip other believers?
[1]Excerpted from, modified from, and quoted from Kellemen and Edwards, Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. Purchase your copy at 40% off for only $10.00 at www.rpmministries.org.
