Alban at Duke Divinity School at Durham, North Carolina, United States for Monday, 18 December 2017 "PRACTICAL WISDOM FOR LEADING CONGREGATIONS: How do we make a lasting impact in a culture of instant gratification?" - Alban Weekly
Madonna and Child by Fra Angelico
Faith & Leadership
How do we make a lasting impact in a culture of instant gratification? AS COMMUNITIES OF FAITH, WHAT DO WE DO THAT CAN ENDURE 500 YEARS?
ARTS & CULTURE, VISUAL ARTS, LITURGICAL SEASONS, CHRISTMAS
Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: How do we make a lasting impact in a culture of instant gratification?
This Christmas, what are we as church leaders painting, praying, preaching, proclaiming or prophesying that will endure for another 500 years? Are we conveying the hope of the Christ child that keeps us alive despite the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us?
Artist Makoto Fujimura describes visiting the Fra Angelico (1395-1455) exhibit at the Met one December. As he gazed at Angelico’s “Madonna and Child,” he says he had to close his eyes. What he saw on the canvas was so powerful that he felt overwhelmed, so that he physically staggered.
In his book “Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture,”(link is external) Fujimura writes that as he gazed at the painting, the “five-hundred-year question” popped into his mind.
“What is the five-hundred-year question?” he writes. “Well, it’s a long-term, historical look at the reality of our cultures that asks, What ideas, what art, what vision in our current culture has the capacity to affect humanity for more than five hundred years? ... If our decisions matter and make ripple effects in the world, then should we not weigh what we say and do in light of the five-hundred-year question?”
Many of us know the company Seventh Generation, whose plant-based household products take their inspiration from the indigenous tribal wisdom that every decision made should be considered in light of its effect on seven generations hence. But 500 years from now? That seems harder to get our minds around.
In addition to this unusual timeline, Fujimura acknowledges our fragile place in the world today, noting that future-oriented thinking has been clouded by our “capacity to blow ourselves up a thousand times over.” Apocalyptic movies and literature witness to a mood of despair in which there is no future. Many millennials are deciding not to have children.
Yet the power of Fra Angelico’s vibrant and luminous “Madonna and Child” endures.
Fujimura notes that the artist learned his craft in the church. At 20, Angelico entered the Dominican order, which trained him as an artist’s apprentice, recognizing and cultivating his great gifts. Were he alive today, Angelico likely would have to find a different path. “The church is not the first place a creative genius would look to be trained in art,” Fujimura notes.
Ouch.
And it’s not that the artist lived in happier times; Europe was devastated by the Black Death, hunger, political assassinations and a church in turmoil. Yet Angelico’s “Madonna and Child” reflects a hope and a faith that still illuminate and empower the Christian message, centuries later, and cause at least one viewer to stagger.
Have we lost our ability to ask questions of longevity? The five-hundred-year question is “the opposite of the Warholian ‘fifteen minutes of fame,’” Fujimura writes. “It’s also a question I raise to my teenagers, whose culture celebrates immediate gratification, also seeking after ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’”
This Christmas, what are we as church and church leaders painting, praying, preaching, proclaiming or prophesying that will endure or inspire for another 500 years? Are we conveying the hope of the Christ child that keeps us alive despite the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us?
And how are we modeling for the young what enduring hope looks like in difficult days of violence, flood, fire, famine, political turmoil and anxiety? What images of our faith are we painting that will cause the young to stagger in awe? And what church programs are we leading that will train our young people to become the creative geniuses God intended them to be?
For inspiration, we can look to programs such as Mowtown, a lawn care company created by the Rev. Matt Overton that offers the youth of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, Washington, a chance to engage in social enterprise and learn life and job skills through the church.
“What I’m offering is a process that [invites] them to engage fully, in a way that treats them equally, gives them more dignity,” Overton said. “I want kids and young adults to leave Mowtown knowing what their gifts and talents are, how to hold down a job, and knowing what they’re good at. … Maybe they’ll respond in faith, or maybe not, but at least I’ve blessed those teens’ lives with the ability to sustain themselves. The culture around us values security and job experience for their kids, and I want to provide an environment where we do that with grace and love.”
Mowtown does what L. Gregory Jones calls “overinvesting in the young.” When we overinvest in the young, we proclaim our hope in the future. We train and educate young people to envision a stronger future, supported by the church.
Poet Lucille Clifton, like Fra Angelico, offers us a glimpse into the young Mary. In Clifton’s poem “mary’s dream,” Mary considers carefully the angels’ message to her:
For those of us who don’t paint like Angelico or write like Clifton, we witness to our faith when we do our daily, embodied work faithfully and well. When we plant bulbs, care for the sick, plan a reunion, create rich compost, make space in the refrigerator, vote carefully, attend a school board meeting, and rise the next morning and do it all again, then we proclaim our faith in the hope of the incarnation. Our lives and work stand as a testimony to the faith that will endure another 500 years and into eternity.
“Those who are called to be children of God (see Romans 8) are to exercise their creative gift to become vessels of God’s Holy Spirit, to partake in the creation of the New Order,” Fujimura writes. “If we are saved for both the new heaven and the new earth, then we had better begin ‘storing up treasures’ by bringing eternal grace into our ordinary, earthly days. This is what Fra Angelico’s works attest to, and when we enter into his world, we, too, are filled with hope of things to come.”
ARTS & CULTURE, VISUAL ARTS, LITURGICAL SEASONS, CHRISTMAS
Gretchen E. Ziegenhals: How do we make a lasting impact in a culture of instant gratification?
This Christmas, what are we as church leaders painting, praying, preaching, proclaiming or prophesying that will endure for another 500 years? Are we conveying the hope of the Christ child that keeps us alive despite the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us?
Artist Makoto Fujimura describes visiting the Fra Angelico (1395-1455) exhibit at the Met one December. As he gazed at Angelico’s “Madonna and Child,” he says he had to close his eyes. What he saw on the canvas was so powerful that he felt overwhelmed, so that he physically staggered.
In his book “Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art and Culture,”(link is external) Fujimura writes that as he gazed at the painting, the “five-hundred-year question” popped into his mind.
“What is the five-hundred-year question?” he writes. “Well, it’s a long-term, historical look at the reality of our cultures that asks, What ideas, what art, what vision in our current culture has the capacity to affect humanity for more than five hundred years? ... If our decisions matter and make ripple effects in the world, then should we not weigh what we say and do in light of the five-hundred-year question?”
Many of us know the company Seventh Generation, whose plant-based household products take their inspiration from the indigenous tribal wisdom that every decision made should be considered in light of its effect on seven generations hence. But 500 years from now? That seems harder to get our minds around.
In addition to this unusual timeline, Fujimura acknowledges our fragile place in the world today, noting that future-oriented thinking has been clouded by our “capacity to blow ourselves up a thousand times over.” Apocalyptic movies and literature witness to a mood of despair in which there is no future. Many millennials are deciding not to have children.
Yet the power of Fra Angelico’s vibrant and luminous “Madonna and Child” endures.
Fujimura notes that the artist learned his craft in the church. At 20, Angelico entered the Dominican order, which trained him as an artist’s apprentice, recognizing and cultivating his great gifts. Were he alive today, Angelico likely would have to find a different path. “The church is not the first place a creative genius would look to be trained in art,” Fujimura notes.
Ouch.
And it’s not that the artist lived in happier times; Europe was devastated by the Black Death, hunger, political assassinations and a church in turmoil. Yet Angelico’s “Madonna and Child” reflects a hope and a faith that still illuminate and empower the Christian message, centuries later, and cause at least one viewer to stagger.
Have we lost our ability to ask questions of longevity? The five-hundred-year question is “the opposite of the Warholian ‘fifteen minutes of fame,’” Fujimura writes. “It’s also a question I raise to my teenagers, whose culture celebrates immediate gratification, also seeking after ‘fifteen minutes of fame.’”
This Christmas, what are we as church and church leaders painting, praying, preaching, proclaiming or prophesying that will endure or inspire for another 500 years? Are we conveying the hope of the Christ child that keeps us alive despite the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us?
And how are we modeling for the young what enduring hope looks like in difficult days of violence, flood, fire, famine, political turmoil and anxiety? What images of our faith are we painting that will cause the young to stagger in awe? And what church programs are we leading that will train our young people to become the creative geniuses God intended them to be?
For inspiration, we can look to programs such as Mowtown, a lawn care company created by the Rev. Matt Overton that offers the youth of Columbia Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, Washington, a chance to engage in social enterprise and learn life and job skills through the church.
“What I’m offering is a process that [invites] them to engage fully, in a way that treats them equally, gives them more dignity,” Overton said. “I want kids and young adults to leave Mowtown knowing what their gifts and talents are, how to hold down a job, and knowing what they’re good at. … Maybe they’ll respond in faith, or maybe not, but at least I’ve blessed those teens’ lives with the ability to sustain themselves. The culture around us values security and job experience for their kids, and I want to provide an environment where we do that with grace and love.”
Mowtown does what L. Gregory Jones calls “overinvesting in the young.” When we overinvest in the young, we proclaim our hope in the future. We train and educate young people to envision a stronger future, supported by the church.
Poet Lucille Clifton, like Fra Angelico, offers us a glimpse into the young Mary. In Clifton’s poem “mary’s dream,” Mary considers carefully the angels’ message to her:
winged women was saying
“full of grace” and like.
was light beyond sun and words
of a name and a blessing.
winged women to only i.
i joined them, whispering
yes.
Mary’s affirming “yes” in the poem, like the luminous image in “Madonna and Child,” witnesses to an enduring faith. “The arts are a cup that will carry the water of life to the thirsty,” Fujimura says. “It’s not the water itself; it’s the vessel.”For those of us who don’t paint like Angelico or write like Clifton, we witness to our faith when we do our daily, embodied work faithfully and well. When we plant bulbs, care for the sick, plan a reunion, create rich compost, make space in the refrigerator, vote carefully, attend a school board meeting, and rise the next morning and do it all again, then we proclaim our faith in the hope of the incarnation. Our lives and work stand as a testimony to the faith that will endure another 500 years and into eternity.
“Those who are called to be children of God (see Romans 8) are to exercise their creative gift to become vessels of God’s Holy Spirit, to partake in the creation of the New Order,” Fujimura writes. “If we are saved for both the new heaven and the new earth, then we had better begin ‘storing up treasures’ by bringing eternal grace into our ordinary, earthly days. This is what Fra Angelico’s works attest to, and when we enter into his world, we, too, are filled with hope of things to come.”
Christians, culture and power
ARTS & CULTURE, SOCIETY
Andy Crouch: Christians, culture and power
Christians don't like to talk about power. But cultural power -- the ability to create -- is something all people are meant to have, says writer Andy Crouch, author of Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power.
Christians often focus on the negative aspects of power -- power as coercion, for example. But Andy Crouch, author of “Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling,” redefines power as the ability to create and introduce a new cultural good. For Christians, the exercise of power means helping people fulfill their God-given call to be creators of culture, he says.
A senior editor at Christianity Today International, Crouch has served as executive producer of the documentary films “Where Faith and Culture Meet” and “Round Trip” and was editorial director of the Christian Vision Project. His writing has appeared in “Best Christian Writing” and “Best Spiritual Writing.”
Crouch is a classically trained musician and received a master’s of divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology. He lives with his family in Swarthmore, Pa.
“Culture Making” won Christianity Today’s 2009 Book Award for Christianity and Culture and was named one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly, Relevant, Outreach and Leadership.
In an interview with Faith & Leadership, Crouch shares his thoughts about power and why it’s the subject of his next book.
Read more from Andy Crouch »
Faith & Leadership 5
ARTS & CULTURE, SOCIETY
Andy Crouch: Christians, culture and power
Christians don't like to talk about power. But cultural power -- the ability to create -- is something all people are meant to have, says writer Andy Crouch, author of Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power.
A senior editor at Christianity Today International, Crouch has served as executive producer of the documentary films “Where Faith and Culture Meet” and “Round Trip” and was editorial director of the Christian Vision Project. His writing has appeared in “Best Christian Writing” and “Best Spiritual Writing.”
Crouch is a classically trained musician and received a master’s of divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology. He lives with his family in Swarthmore, Pa.
“Culture Making” won Christianity Today’s 2009 Book Award for Christianity and Culture and was named one of the best books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly, Relevant, Outreach and Leadership.
In an interview with Faith & Leadership, Crouch shares his thoughts about power and why it’s the subject of his next book.
Faith & Leadership 5
5 cultural shifts that affect the church
CONGREGATIONS, GROWTH & RENEWAL, NEW FORMS OF CHURCH
Carol Howard Merritt: Five cultural shifts that should affect the way we do church
In this article from 2011, a pastor and writer says that it's probably good that most churches aren't wrapped up in the latest fads. But there are cultural shifts congregations and church leaders need to track and respond to sensibly.
Churches aren’t the most culturally savvy places. I know that some congregations are still fighting about whether they should be singing “contemporary” songs, which were written in the 1980s. Or they’re wrestling over the use of PowerPoint, which can be tiresome for people who have endured two decades of PP board meetings.
It’s probably good that most churches aren’t all wrapped up in the latest fads. We don’t have the cash to keep up with most of it, and if we do, we’re probably better off spending that money on feeding the homeless rather than making sure the youth room has the newest flat-screen TV.
But there are cultural shifts that congregations and church leaders need to track and respond to sensibly. Here are five of them.
1) Finances. Younger generations are not faring well in this economy. They didn’t do so well when the rest of the country was booming either. Why? Younger generations face high student loan debt, high housing costs and stagnant wages (if they’re even able to get a job). The shame they bear matches our debt load, and they feel like they need to get their life together before they go to church.
Are people ashamed of their monetary situation in our congregations? Is the first thing that comes out of our mouth at coffee hour, “So, where do you work?” Can we think of another question, like, “So, what keeps you busy these days?” Do we introduce new members by highlighting their shiny resume? Are we realistic in our giving expectations with young adults?
2) Work hours. People who go to mainline churches are wealthier(link is external). Or wealthier people go to mainline churches. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. We don’t know what comes first. But young workers know one thing: many people in their 20s and 30s work retail or in the service industry. The blue laws faded long ago, and you don’t get Sunday mornings off unless you’re management.
Do we have opportunities to worship or engage in the community beyond Sunday morning? In the future, is Sunday morning going to be the best time to have worship services? Can we use new technologies to podcast our services so that people can stay connected when they can’t make it on Sunday?
3) Families. People marry and have children later in life. Some people say that adults in their 20s and 30s are just extending adolescence, having fun in their odyssey years, or they’re too commitment-phobic to settle down. Yet, we’re a society that expects financial stability before a couple gets married, and many younger adults can’t manage financial stability.
Does our church leadership operate with rush judgments that condemn the character of emerging generations? Do we expect “young families” to come to our church? Do we have space for single folks or people who don’t have families? Do we expect people to enter our doors two-by-two?
4) The Internet. Church leaders have a lot on their plate. Many don’t think they have any time for Facebook or Twitter. They may still be working with the misconception that the only things people are blogging about are what sort of breakfast they had on Tuesday (although if you’re reading this, you probably realize that blogs are good for more than personal over-sharing). But there’s no way to ignore it any longer. Even if a church leader shies away from the web, people may be talking about you on Google Map reviews or Yelp(link is external).
Is your congregation keeping up with its online presence? Are you googling your church and finding out what people are saying? Are you using Facebook for pastoral care? Are you staying in contact with emerging adults who move away for education or jobs?
5) Politics. A new generation is exhausted from the culture wars. Many people growing up in the last few decades had a difficult time keeping “Christian” and “Republican” in two separate boxes. Emerging generations look at poverty, the environment and war as complex issues, and many younger evangelicals are less likely to vote on pro-life credentials alone. Many young Christians who grew up evangelical are trying out mainline congregations.
Is your church leery of evangelicals who grew up non-denominational or without any religious affiliation? Do we expect people to have the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed memorized before they attend worship? Do we make snide comments about people who “don’t even know what it means to be Methodist (or Presbyterian or Lutheran)”?
There are many shifts occurring in our current religious and cultural landscape. Have our churches thought about the larger changes in an emerging generation? We can become much more effective in reaching out to a new generation if we do.
Read more from Carol Howard Merritt »
Faith & Leadership
CONGREGATIONS, GROWTH & RENEWAL, NEW FORMS OF CHURCH
Carol Howard Merritt: Five cultural shifts that should affect the way we do church
In this article from 2011, a pastor and writer says that it's probably good that most churches aren't wrapped up in the latest fads. But there are cultural shifts congregations and church leaders need to track and respond to sensibly.
Churches aren’t the most culturally savvy places. I know that some congregations are still fighting about whether they should be singing “contemporary” songs, which were written in the 1980s. Or they’re wrestling over the use of PowerPoint, which can be tiresome for people who have endured two decades of PP board meetings.
It’s probably good that most churches aren’t all wrapped up in the latest fads. We don’t have the cash to keep up with most of it, and if we do, we’re probably better off spending that money on feeding the homeless rather than making sure the youth room has the newest flat-screen TV.
But there are cultural shifts that congregations and church leaders need to track and respond to sensibly. Here are five of them.
1) Finances. Younger generations are not faring well in this economy. They didn’t do so well when the rest of the country was booming either. Why? Younger generations face high student loan debt, high housing costs and stagnant wages (if they’re even able to get a job). The shame they bear matches our debt load, and they feel like they need to get their life together before they go to church.
Are people ashamed of their monetary situation in our congregations? Is the first thing that comes out of our mouth at coffee hour, “So, where do you work?” Can we think of another question, like, “So, what keeps you busy these days?” Do we introduce new members by highlighting their shiny resume? Are we realistic in our giving expectations with young adults?
2) Work hours. People who go to mainline churches are wealthier(link is external). Or wealthier people go to mainline churches. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing. We don’t know what comes first. But young workers know one thing: many people in their 20s and 30s work retail or in the service industry. The blue laws faded long ago, and you don’t get Sunday mornings off unless you’re management.
Do we have opportunities to worship or engage in the community beyond Sunday morning? In the future, is Sunday morning going to be the best time to have worship services? Can we use new technologies to podcast our services so that people can stay connected when they can’t make it on Sunday?
3) Families. People marry and have children later in life. Some people say that adults in their 20s and 30s are just extending adolescence, having fun in their odyssey years, or they’re too commitment-phobic to settle down. Yet, we’re a society that expects financial stability before a couple gets married, and many younger adults can’t manage financial stability.
Does our church leadership operate with rush judgments that condemn the character of emerging generations? Do we expect “young families” to come to our church? Do we have space for single folks or people who don’t have families? Do we expect people to enter our doors two-by-two?
4) The Internet. Church leaders have a lot on their plate. Many don’t think they have any time for Facebook or Twitter. They may still be working with the misconception that the only things people are blogging about are what sort of breakfast they had on Tuesday (although if you’re reading this, you probably realize that blogs are good for more than personal over-sharing). But there’s no way to ignore it any longer. Even if a church leader shies away from the web, people may be talking about you on Google Map reviews or Yelp(link is external).
Is your congregation keeping up with its online presence? Are you googling your church and finding out what people are saying? Are you using Facebook for pastoral care? Are you staying in contact with emerging adults who move away for education or jobs?
5) Politics. A new generation is exhausted from the culture wars. Many people growing up in the last few decades had a difficult time keeping “Christian” and “Republican” in two separate boxes. Emerging generations look at poverty, the environment and war as complex issues, and many younger evangelicals are less likely to vote on pro-life credentials alone. Many young Christians who grew up evangelical are trying out mainline congregations.
Is your church leery of evangelicals who grew up non-denominational or without any religious affiliation? Do we expect people to have the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed memorized before they attend worship? Do we make snide comments about people who “don’t even know what it means to be Methodist (or Presbyterian or Lutheran)”?
There are many shifts occurring in our current religious and cultural landscape. Have our churches thought about the larger changes in an emerging generation? We can become much more effective in reaching out to a new generation if we do.
Read more from Carol Howard Merritt »
Faith & Leadership
Why institutions matter for culture change
MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
L. Gregory Jones: Why institutions matter for culture change
MANAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
L. Gregory Jones: Why institutions matter for culture change
Charles Hamilton Houston seated at his desk in 1939. Library of Congress / Washington Press Photograph
More than two decades before Brown v. Board of Education, the dean of Howard University School of Law built a network of relationships and practices for the purpose of preparing a cadre of leaders to transform society, not simply practice law.
Could it be that underlying one of our most celebrated Supreme Court decisions is a network of relationships and practices fostered by an educational institution? That crucial determinants of a case decided in 1954 were actually established in the early 1930s, with Howard University’s School of Law at the heart of those developments?
Brown v. Board of Education is justly celebrated as one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in American history. The decision, which set a path for desegregating American schools, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson’s 1896 decision that allowed for “separate but equal” facilities for African-American and Anglo-American citizens.
Thurgood Marshall, later the first African-American appointed as a justice of the United States Supreme Court, was the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. He was a compelling orator and sophisticated legal thinker, and is justly credited for his leadership of the case.
Yet significant credit should also be given to Marshall’s mentor, Charles Hamilton Houston. Houston deserves credit for his direct mentorship of Marshall, but his impact goes far beyond that.
Marshall’s brilliance is inextricably linked to the network of relationships and practices he participated in during the quarter century between his enrollment in Howard University’s School of Law in 1930 and the Supreme Court decision in 1954. That network is Houston’s legacy and a tribute to his visionary leadership.
Houston was a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He was practicing law in Washington, D.C., in 1929 when he was invited to serve as vice dean and, a year later, dean of Howard University’s School of Law. He quickly discerned what was at stake: if African-Americans wanted to achieve equal rights under the law, African-American lawyers needed to be superbly prepared, ready to effect culture change beyond winning cases.
Houston began a multipronged strategy to ensure effective formation of African-American lawyers. He pruned the Howard Law faculty, focused on full-time students and shut down the night school, invited the best legal minds as guest lecturers, and created expectations for both faculty and students to have bold ambitions and rigorous standards. Biographer Rawn James Jr. sums up Houston’s leadership: “He enacted sweeping reforms that transformed Howard Law School from what the city’s wealthiest black residents called ‘a dummy’s retreat’ into an institution whose uncompromising rigor and singularity of purpose drew comparisons to the military academy at West Point.”
Houston knew that, like West Point, Howard Law had the lives and deaths of human beings at stake. And he recognized that, like West Point, Howard Law was doing far more than simply providing education for a particular profession: it was building a cadre of leaders for a vision of a transformed society, leaders who also were trained in skills to transform that vision into effective and strategic practice.
How did Houston do it? He worked closely with the NAACP on real cases, in some instances taking the lead in a case himself. He developed strong connections with lawyers and other African-American leaders up and down the East Coast, cultivating a network of relationships and practices that built remarkable capabilities in Howard Law students as well as other leaders in the broader community.
In the early 1930s, Howard Law School became the keystone of a broad ecosystem of people and organizations working to effect change. Richard Kluger describes the impact in “Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality”(link is external): “Howard Law School became a living laboratory where civil-rights law was invented by teamwork. There were probably never more than fifty or sixty students enrolled at any one time, and that was all right with Houston, who was not after numbers but intensive training of young minds that shared his dream. They all worked on real briefs for real cases and accompanied Houston and other faculty members to court to learn procedure and tactics.”
Thurgood Marshall was Houston’s prize student. He was an apprentice to Houston, and even more importantly, he was the beneficiary of an opportunity to engage in action-oriented learning as a part of the broader ecosystem. Marshall developed significant capacities while at Howard, and then remained in close touch with the school and with Houston after he graduated. Through the ecosystem fostered by Howard Law School, Marshall developed the mindset, skills and character that he would continue to nurture over the next two decades and beyond.
Marshall was a student at Howard Law for a mere three years; Houston was there as dean for only six. But the ecosystem that was created during that time became an incubator for dramatic changes in American culture. Kluger’s summary judgment of Houston’s leadership at Howard Law School is instructive: “In the six years he stayed, he both built a creditable law school and injected enormous momentum into a social movement that has not yet ended.”
Houston knew how to draw on the traditions of Howard University even as he incubated innovative approaches. He combined a demanding rigor with the skills of a diplomat, masterfully attending to both the local context and the possibilities of wider and more transformational impact.
Too often, we underplay the keystone significance of institutions such as Howard Law -- institutions that see themselves as organisms in an ecosystem, organisms of relationships (both personal and organizational) and practices that effect significant culture change.
Part of Houston’s genius was discovering that his leadership at Howard Law was more akin to being a gifted gardener than simply a technician or a politician. He aimed for culture change, and preparing lawyers and winning cases were components of that broader vision.
Houston and Marshall accomplished some change in the short term, during the 1930s. But their greatest impact, and the most significant culture change, came more than two decades later, and beyond.
Institutions matter more than we suspect for long-term culture change, especially when they are blessed with a clear sense of mission, visionary leadership, and a commitment to cultivating intrinsic relationships and practices as a part of a wider ecosystem. Can we take such a long view -- and then think and live and lead toward that now?
Could it be that underlying one of our most celebrated Supreme Court decisions is a network of relationships and practices fostered by an educational institution? That crucial determinants of a case decided in 1954 were actually established in the early 1930s, with Howard University’s School of Law at the heart of those developments?
Brown v. Board of Education is justly celebrated as one of the most important Supreme Court decisions in American history. The decision, which set a path for desegregating American schools, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson’s 1896 decision that allowed for “separate but equal” facilities for African-American and Anglo-American citizens.
Thurgood Marshall, later the first African-American appointed as a justice of the United States Supreme Court, was the lead attorney for the plaintiffs. He was a compelling orator and sophisticated legal thinker, and is justly credited for his leadership of the case.
Yet significant credit should also be given to Marshall’s mentor, Charles Hamilton Houston. Houston deserves credit for his direct mentorship of Marshall, but his impact goes far beyond that.
Marshall’s brilliance is inextricably linked to the network of relationships and practices he participated in during the quarter century between his enrollment in Howard University’s School of Law in 1930 and the Supreme Court decision in 1954. That network is Houston’s legacy and a tribute to his visionary leadership.
Houston was a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He was practicing law in Washington, D.C., in 1929 when he was invited to serve as vice dean and, a year later, dean of Howard University’s School of Law. He quickly discerned what was at stake: if African-Americans wanted to achieve equal rights under the law, African-American lawyers needed to be superbly prepared, ready to effect culture change beyond winning cases.
Houston began a multipronged strategy to ensure effective formation of African-American lawyers. He pruned the Howard Law faculty, focused on full-time students and shut down the night school, invited the best legal minds as guest lecturers, and created expectations for both faculty and students to have bold ambitions and rigorous standards. Biographer Rawn James Jr. sums up Houston’s leadership: “He enacted sweeping reforms that transformed Howard Law School from what the city’s wealthiest black residents called ‘a dummy’s retreat’ into an institution whose uncompromising rigor and singularity of purpose drew comparisons to the military academy at West Point.”
Houston knew that, like West Point, Howard Law had the lives and deaths of human beings at stake. And he recognized that, like West Point, Howard Law was doing far more than simply providing education for a particular profession: it was building a cadre of leaders for a vision of a transformed society, leaders who also were trained in skills to transform that vision into effective and strategic practice.
How did Houston do it? He worked closely with the NAACP on real cases, in some instances taking the lead in a case himself. He developed strong connections with lawyers and other African-American leaders up and down the East Coast, cultivating a network of relationships and practices that built remarkable capabilities in Howard Law students as well as other leaders in the broader community.
In the early 1930s, Howard Law School became the keystone of a broad ecosystem of people and organizations working to effect change. Richard Kluger describes the impact in “Simple Justice: The History of Brown v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle for Equality”(link is external): “Howard Law School became a living laboratory where civil-rights law was invented by teamwork. There were probably never more than fifty or sixty students enrolled at any one time, and that was all right with Houston, who was not after numbers but intensive training of young minds that shared his dream. They all worked on real briefs for real cases and accompanied Houston and other faculty members to court to learn procedure and tactics.”
Thurgood Marshall was Houston’s prize student. He was an apprentice to Houston, and even more importantly, he was the beneficiary of an opportunity to engage in action-oriented learning as a part of the broader ecosystem. Marshall developed significant capacities while at Howard, and then remained in close touch with the school and with Houston after he graduated. Through the ecosystem fostered by Howard Law School, Marshall developed the mindset, skills and character that he would continue to nurture over the next two decades and beyond.
Marshall was a student at Howard Law for a mere three years; Houston was there as dean for only six. But the ecosystem that was created during that time became an incubator for dramatic changes in American culture. Kluger’s summary judgment of Houston’s leadership at Howard Law School is instructive: “In the six years he stayed, he both built a creditable law school and injected enormous momentum into a social movement that has not yet ended.”
Houston knew how to draw on the traditions of Howard University even as he incubated innovative approaches. He combined a demanding rigor with the skills of a diplomat, masterfully attending to both the local context and the possibilities of wider and more transformational impact.
Too often, we underplay the keystone significance of institutions such as Howard Law -- institutions that see themselves as organisms in an ecosystem, organisms of relationships (both personal and organizational) and practices that effect significant culture change.
Part of Houston’s genius was discovering that his leadership at Howard Law was more akin to being a gifted gardener than simply a technician or a politician. He aimed for culture change, and preparing lawyers and winning cases were components of that broader vision.
Houston and Marshall accomplished some change in the short term, during the 1930s. But their greatest impact, and the most significant culture change, came more than two decades later, and beyond.
Institutions matter more than we suspect for long-term culture change, especially when they are blessed with a clear sense of mission, visionary leadership, and a commitment to cultivating intrinsic relationships and practices as a part of a wider ecosystem. Can we take such a long view -- and then think and live and lead toward that now?
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In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger argues passionately for congregations to reexamine what it means to be an "authentic church" in a culture where authenticity is hard to come by. He demonstrates the pitfalls of technical solutions to congregational problems and shows the way to making adaptive change. Recognizing the spiritual needs of a success-oriented society, he exhorts leaders to turn away from the story of our culture and to return to the story of the church that is grounded in Christ and the resurrection.
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Alban at Duke Divinity School
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