“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” – Romans 12:15
Most, if not all, white suburban pastors simply cannot relate to what is required to pastor an African-American, inner-city church during these times of COVID and social unrest. This is understandable. The ministry context is completely different. Your backgrounds are completely different. The challenges, physical health issues, perspectives, access to health care, and sense of community and family are completely different.
There is just a difference between exposure and experience.
INJOY Stewardship Solutions is currently conducting a four-week series entitled The Other Side Of The Giant: Beginning To Look Ahead. Each week, INJOY Stewardship president and CEO Joe Sangl interviews one of America’s leading pastors to get their thoughts on the challenges brought on by 2020 and more importantly, begin looking ahead to a brighter ministry future.
Bishop Walter Scott Thomas of New Psalmist Baptist Church
Today’s guest was Bishop Walter Scott Thomas of New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD. This great church had a pre-COVID weekly attendance of over 6,000. Bishop Thomas is one of our nation’s greatest leaders and most brilliant thinkers. During their conversation, the love Bishop Thomas has for his congregation permeated his discussion about the church’s approach to building community through technology, reaching people with the Gospel, and helping bring hope to a destabilized community.
The following are 60 comments from Bishop Walter Scott Thomas during his interview with Joe Sangl which illustrate The Challenges Many African-American Pastors Are Facing As They Lead Their Churches Amidst COVID-19 And Social Unrest. These are a must-read for anyone in ministry or just wanting to understand the plight of inner-city pastors during these times.
- “(My antena about COVID) went up in February.”
- “I thought we would have a two-week problem.”
- “I’ve been a pastor 45 years. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
- “The virus attacked us and we had to respond on a variety of levels – programmatic, physical. There was a deeper burden the church faces – the emotional burden of connection.”
- “Proximity plays a role in the sense of belonging and fellowship. Being close to people enables us to bond to people.”
- “How do we create bonding when we are not together? How do we create digital reality, a mixture of physical and digital?”
- “If they could see them (online) they could transcend the distance. I had to make it a phygital reality (physical presence and digital).”
- “The chat room becomes the primary space for this phgital reality.”
- “Oxytocin is released in our brain when we are together.”
- “What makes us a strong church is not the budget or a building but the bonding.”
- “Every service (on Facebook Live) is live (not taped).”
- “The church is different than interacting with content. It is about absorbing the content so it can transform you.”
- “People are not joining a digital church. They are joining a digital church that releases oxytocin that makes them want to know this Christ.”
- “In April I said we’ve got to bring new members into this experience.”
- “I can’t get to the funerals because my highest and best usage to the church is to stay alive.”
- “One of the principles I’ve built my life on is trusted advisors.”
- “My faith is in God. It’s not in opening and closing.”
- “When I realize I couldn’t get good data from government and government sources, I went back to my trusted advisors.”
- “I could see Congress was in no way ready to tackle this pandemic.”
- “I have a huge amount of elderly people in my church.”
- “We’ve chosen to wait even longer (to open).”
- “Very few of us have state memberships. We have community memberships and we don’t have transference information on our community.”
- “A zip code is broad and doesn’t give you the breakdown of our sub-community.”
- “The majority of my church is African-American. They have less access to health care.”
- “We tested 300 people (on the first day of COVID testing) for free.”
- “We tested 3,000 people or more. We try to test 300 or more every day we test.”
- “When the government shut down last year, we learned there were people in need who we never thought would be in need.”
- “I thought the corona despair was rough. The scenes in the streets were destabilizing.”
- “When you see images of black men dying coupled with white persons accused of the crimes going to McDonald’s or going home for months… I saw in my own congregation a level of hurt and despair that corona was not able to take.”
- “We are not just licking our wounds. We are trying to teach people how to make change happen.”
- “We are encouraging everyone to find a political home. Not just Democratic or Republican. But one who is advocating the change you are hoping for.”
- “Change has to take place and this is the moment.”
- “We sit in the company of God (people at the church during worship services) and we feel safe.”
- “All the years when our churches were burned our safeness was shaken.”
- “This virus does not care what color you are… but it knows how to take you down.”
- “The church is where people come to church to feel safe. I can’t open and have people who cry because of the death of loved ones, cry because of death in the church.”
- “We will open as a seed. It will become a harvest over time when we are gone.”
- “We have overestimated people and underestimated God. This is His church and He operates through His people.”
- “God has found a way to keep us solid.”
- “There has to be some shackles removed that are preventing us to dream.”
- “God has used the pandemic to show us what He has never shown us before.”
- “What kills most dreams is they get unthought.”
- “God gives so many of us just the idea and says to go make it happen.”
- “This is a surprise to us but not to God. He knew all of this was going to happen and prepared us.”
- “He does plan to grow us through this.”
- “Don’t wallow in your shortcomings. Guilt is unproductive.”
- “God is teaching me something. Let me slow down and learn something.”
- “We feel our cup is not runneth over but running low.”
- “I’m not hesitant to call persons when I’m down.”
- “This is the will of God concerning me. He is not going to answer. He is waiting for me to answer.”
- “This virus-environment is the perfect opportunity to become the person we were meant to be. Our hiding places are gone.”
- “We have the opportunity to deal with us.”
- “The giant is an obstacle in a journey you were already on.”
- “We are developing people to be evangelistic apart from them bringing people to hear from me on Sunday.”
- “We are a church where connections are made. I see our people knowing why connections are important… and how to become a connector.”
- “The value of conversations. Everything starts with a conversation.”
- “Most churches are trying to figure out how to get out content. Content won’t change hearts. It’s for the head. You change hearts by engaging people in conversations.”
- “It’s the giant that makes leaders aware and see the resources God has given the people they are leading.”
- “Corona has taught me God has provided all of our needs according to His riches in glory.”
- “People are looking for where they find both conversation, Christ-comfort, and the content of the Kingdom.”
What is one quote you read from Bishop Thomas which gave you a different perspective on pastoring an inner-city church?
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