> Commission on Religion and Race 

Eden Seminary professor tells MMC ‘words can create worlds’ (Press release, 2/14/12)

Martin Methodist College
Contact: Grant Vosburgh, Dir. of Communications (gvosburgh@martinmethodist.edu)

Dr. Leah Gunning Francis speaks at annual Convocation on Religion and Race

PULASKI, Tenn. – As a young girl, she heard the adage that “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you,” but as she grew into adulthood, Dr. Leah Gunning Francis learned that was not completely true.

“Even as a child I knew there was something illogical about that familiar refrain, but it was not until adulthood that I came to understand how sticks, stones and names have the power to hurt the body and bring sullenness to the soul,” she said. “Fortunate for me, my childhood world was filled with words of affirmation, hope and love, so the occasional zinger from a peer didn’t do too much damage, I don’t think. But what about people whose worlds are dominated with negative and dehumanizing words. What kind of world has been created for them?”

Gunning Francis was the keynote speaker at Martin Methodist College’s annual Convocation on Religion and Race, held Jan. 24. As assistant professor of Christian education at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, she is a passionate teacher, drawing on her marketing experience, pastoral leadership and academic training to creatively equip graduate students for transformative leadership in congregations and society.

But standing at the podium in the Curry Christian Life Center on the Martin Methodist campus, just eight days after the national holiday celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, she had a single focus and a powerful message: words and the different types of worlds they can create.

“Ask any advertising executive, seventh grade English teacher, psychologist or speechwriter, and he or she will elaborate on the nature and scope of the power of words, and the meanings we attach to them,” she said. “Words can persuade, influence and inspire. Words can heal. Words can hurt. Words can empower. Words can oppress. It is no wonder the writer of (the biblical book of) James cautions us to listen more quickly than we speak, so that our actions and words might correspond with God’s idea of righteousness. We can bless and praise God, yet curse those who are made in God’s image? My brothers and sisters, the writer goes on to say, this ought not be so.”

Once that truth is established, she told the Martin Methodist students, faculty and staff assembled for the convocation, a larger question comes into focus.

“So instead of diminishing the effects of words with the sticks and stones logic, what if we took seriously the claim that words create worlds, and ask ourselves, ‘What type of world are your words creating?’ In our classrooms, are our words subtly reinforcing antiquated patterns of exclusivity, subjugation and indifference? Or do they open the way for the classroom to become a sacred space where critical thought, exchange of ideas, and construction of new realities can take place without diminishing or devaluing anyone in the room? What about our common spaces on campus and out and about town? Do our words create a world that is conducive and healthy for all people, or only a select few?”

Dr. King, she reminded the audience, dreamed of a different world than the one facing the United States during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s, and he chose his words – both those he said and those he chose not to say – carefully, with the hope that his words would help create that world.

“What if we, through our words, embodied the type of world we long for, hope for?” Gunning Francis asked. “What if we, like King, mustered the courage to dream a world where love was the order of the day, and peace and justice were inextricable bedfellows? We may not be about to always influence discourse in the public square, but what worlds do our words create in our homes, among our friends, on this campus, in this town?

“Are our words creating a world where God’s tenets of faith, hope and love can take on flesh in ways that transform us, and the world we inhabit? Or do they regularly contribute to the promulgation of indifference, prejudice or even despair? Do we believe that our words have the power to create a pattern of action that inspires a new reality?” she added.

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Music ministry that's making a difference (from TNUMConnects 4/7/11)

Though still in its infancy, Crossing The Divide Music Ministry has already crossed numerous denominational and cultural boundaries to impact communities across the country. From undergraduate students and university professors to neighborhood senior citizens - Georgia to Nevada; from Methodist ministries to Catholic Diocese, Baptist, Episcopalian and Unitarian Universalist congregations alike, the response to Crossing The Divide’s powerful message of love and reconciliation has been the same: “Excellent,” ”thought provoking,” ”inspiring,” ”beautiful," ”courageous!,” “A much needed message, Thank you!”

Psalmist and speaker Connye Florance along with husband, pianist, and arranger Kevin Madill, having just mounted the music ministry outreach in June of this year, say they are “blessed and inspired” by the overwhelmingly positive response to “Crossing The Divide.” “We’ve reached and impacted communities of faith in three different UMC Conference jurisdictions already,” says Florance. "People are coming away from the music and message feeling hopeful and grateful. It is wonderful to experience.”

Having gathered the support of congregations and colleagues from within the UMC’s Tennessee, North Georgia and California/Nevada Annual Conference regions, “Crossing The Divide” Music Ministry is now hoping to gain national attention and support from the United Methodist Church, which embraces April as “Celebrate Diversity month.”

The inter-racial couple’s musical message of “learning to love across the boundaries” not only supports and uplifts diversity but gently extends the palm of healing love and reconciliation to one of America’s most difficult issues - racism. “We’ve come a long way since lynching of southern Blacks, Indian massacres and KKK marches were everyday news. But hate groups are still springing up in our country like weeds. Nearly 200 chapters of the KKK still exist in thew U.S. There is a subtle campaign brewing to 'stop the hate' - we’re hoping to ignite a strong campaign to 'spread the love.'"

"God has provided us with an effective way to re-open communication. That’s the main thing.” Florance and Madill are both professional musicians who have taken their love of jazz into the realm of “Christian inspiration.” The couple joined the United Methodist Church just after they married in 1997. As active members of Ernest Newman UMC in Nashville, TN, both serve as Administrative Board members and associate ministers of music. “Crossing The Divide” Music Ministry brings the beauty of scripture, poetry, stories and personal testimony together with an engaging and inspiring collection of hymns, original and familiar songs to create a “powerful message of love” in an outstanding one hour concert/dialogue presentation.

The touring ministry is available for booking at churches, colleges and conferences across the country. “One of those most faith-filled experiences of a lifetime” - Katheryn Mitchem, Deaconess (retired).

> DOWNLOAD Crossing The Divide press kit

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UMC pastor recounts both dangers and opportunity during Japan quake (from TNUMConnects 4/5/11)

Washington, D.C. | March 29, 2011  --  The Rev. Oscar Inere's thoughts are never far from Japan; thoughts that bring him to the same conclusion, that God is with him at all times, and always in times of fear.
 
The Filipino pastor rode out Japan's devastating 8.9 earthquake on the third floor of the Narita airport on March 11. "I was coming in from Manila on my way to San Francisco. I was supposed to be at the airport for two hours." Just before 3:00 p.m. the massive quake hit, centered some 370 miles away in the northern coastal city of Sendai, turning Inere's two-hour wait into 15 hours without food, water, or sleep. "The earthquake was so strong. We felt dizzy even when the shaking stopped. And at night we couldn't sleep because [we expected] another shock to happen."
 
The Rev. Inere was seated in an area watching a young child dash playfully in front of him, and thinking of a young grandson he had left hospitalized in Manila. He remembered the sense of fear he had, not knowing the 11-year-old's prognosis, and then being jolted back to reality by the sounds of screaming. The young girl who seconds earlier had been playing was now on the floor crying. YouTube videos taken at the airport show ceiling fixtures swaying (WATCH), people seeking cover (WATCH) wherever they could find it. "One thing I told the Lord when I left the Philippines. He could take my life if he cured my grandson. When the earthquake started I told myself, if this is the time, then let my grandchild live in exchange of my life. I had no fear then. And that is why."
 
The Rev. Inere is a member of the board of directors of the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR). Six days after the quake, he shared his story with board members during a morning devotion at Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. "God calmed me, directed my path. I [could] see people panicking, crying. Most of them are screaming, lying on the floor. I say to the lady next to me, to try and be calm, that no one can help when you panic, and that it is only the Lord that gives you strength. I said that, realizing that I don't hear anyone talking about God at that time." Inere says he talked to as many people as he could. "I told them to sit and find a safe place to stay. I told a woman with four children to lean against a post and get her young children under chairs and not to move. I smile at them, so they can forget for the time being, this shocking moment. It was the first time since birth that I encountered such a dangerous moment in my life."  Asked where the courage came to help rather than instead of seek his own safety, and Inere said the commission he serves provided the reminder. "In GCORR we are always talking about the lives of people. We are doing this ministry to uplift the lives of people, especially the marginalized, the poorest of the poor.  I wonder when there is no one who will take care of them what will happen to our society. That's why I have the courage to serve.  I was talking and serving to help them, even now face their reality and know that they are all children of God."
 
When it became dark, Inere says he had to call on courage for a different reason. "We had no access to food. Once the earthquake was over, stores and restaurants closed inside the airport. We had no food, no drink for 15 hours. Late in the day one of the Narita employees began distributing cookies. When I asked for one he refused me. He told me the cookies were only for children. I watched him walk away, and continue distributing the cookies to adults. I became so angry I almost shouted." Inere was asked why he became angry. "These are employees of the airport, they had something they could have given to help me. They gave it to white people. But because I am Filipino and an old man, they refused me. But God is good. I believe that the Lord gives me more courage to face this and to be calm."
 
Laddie Galang, a member of the Filipino Caucus to the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists helped shed some light on Pastor Inere's frustration. "We Filipinos are often treated as second class citizens in Japan. The main export to Japan from the Philippines now is said to be overseas workers, domestic workers. Most are college educated, but in Japan, they are looked down on." Galang believes the discrimination Rev. Inere felt is rooted in a deeply held notion that "White people are to receive preferential treatment, in any situation. Even among Asians there is a hierarchy present."
 
He says his encounters with people in the airport were all a blessing and carried him through the ordeal. When he arrived in San Francisco, Pastor Inere says the reality of the disaster was being played out on TV screens in the terminal. "It was the first time the shock of what I was a part of became real. I could see the damage," says Inere. "And again, I am thinking of the goodness of God."

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