Leading Ideas: "Starbucks, Communion, and Race Conversations | The Tardy Guest" Lewis Center for Church Leadership for Wednesday, 20 May 2015
"Starbucks, Communion, and Race Conversations" by F. Douglas Powe, Jr.
Many of us were skeptical and even downright hostile when Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, initiated the idea of “Race Together” to promote conversations about race at coffee shops around the country. Schultz was criticized by those who said “he didn’t understand the complexity of the race issue” and by those who said “I don’t want controversial conversations while ordering my latte.” We can debate endlessly the execution of his idea. But the controversy points to a need to think more deeply about our reluctance to engage in race conversations. It is easy to criticize Schultz, but what are we in the faith community doing to lead the way? Faith communities should be at the forefront of moving us toward fruitful conversations on race, not sitting on the sideline.
Communion
Most communion liturgies begin with confession. Human beings are imperfect, and acknowledging our need for pardon is important. We in the church need to confess that we have not modeled well how to have engaging conversations around race. The reasons are numerous and complex, but we can certainly think of ways the church can become a more positive model.
In communion, we talk about being a part of one loaf. Even as the loaf is broken and given away, we all are still a part of that one loaf. If we mean what we say in partaking of the body of Christ, then our connection to each other should be more than symbolic. Communion requires an investment in one another that moves beyond surface acknowledgement. For example, we may be experiencing hurt and pain in a congregation; but in taking communion together, we commit to a process of healing because we are invested in one another.
Communion is not just about my congregation; it acknowledges our investment with all other Christian believers. This investment means taking on the work of painful conversations that may very well cause us to get angry and to want to walk away. But these conversations are at the heart of what it means to be in communion with each other. Ignoring this investment cheapens our practice of communion.
In communion, we not only share the loaf, but also the cup. In many liturgies we say the cup represents the blood of Christ shed for us. Some express concern that the image of blood connotes violence; yet it is the bloodshed in recent incidents around our country that has renewed the interest in racial dialogue. The juxtaposition of the cup representing salvation and the desire to save lives from further bloodshed should not be lost on us. This juxtaposition is troubling. As Christians, we are the ones who should see with new eyes because Jesus’s blood was shed. We should be true bearers of the cup of salvation bringing healing to hurt and pain.
To be bearers of salvation, we must be willing to enter into conversations where we hear the pain others are experiencing. Avoiding these conversations means we are empty salvation bearers. It means we are not fully living out what it means to partake of the cup from Jesus. As often as we partake of the cup, it should remind us of our calling to be bearers of salvation even when it makes us uncomfortable.
Race Conversations
I am not naïve in believing that congregations who take communion seriously will suddenly engage in deep racial dialogues. I do believe, however, taking communion seriously should make us uncomfortable with the status quo in our congregations. It should give us pause to consider why we claim to be invested in one another but avoid dialogue that can move us toward deeper communion with one another.
There is no magic solution for starting deeper engagement with one another, but these steps may help getting started.
- Be willing to take a risk. While we may disagree with how Howard Schultz executed “Race Together,” we should applaud his willingness to take a risk and do something. Faith communities must be willing to take the same risk.
- Partner with another congregation for a year of conversations. Ask people to commit to converse at least monthly for the year.
- Partner with that congregation around a mission focus. I do not mean the typical model of just going into a disadvantaged neighborhood. There is work to be done in middle class and other neighborhoods. For example, partnering on environmental awareness opportunities can be done in any neighborhood.Those of us in the faith community probably should thank Howard Schultz. He provided an opportunity for us to model to others what we should do best — communion. It is in taking communion seriously that we can begin to transform the status quo and move toward more fruitful dialogues on race.
F. Douglas Powe, Jr., is a professor of evangelism and urban ministry at Wesley Theological Seminary. He also serves as managing directorof the Institute for Community Engagement at Wesley Downtown. He recently served as one of the conveners of a Wesley Seminary symposium on “Moving Faith Communities to Fruitful Conversations about Race.” A free, four-part video study resource incorporating portions of this dialogue can be accessed byclicking this link.
In an ideal world, everyone would arrive 10 to 15 minutes early for worship. They would greet five people as they walk toward the building from the parking lot. They would grab some coffee, their bulletins, and their seats, and still have five minutes to get settled before the service begins. Their hearts would be ready, and as soon as the first chord sounded, they would be standing with hearts raised to heaven.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen. We live in the real world. It’s a world filled with kids who can’t find their shoes, cars whose gas gauges are mysteriously on empty, and hairdos that just won’t behave. And these sorts of things always seem to happen on Sunday morning when you’re doing your best to make it to church on time.
When my dad was pastoring, he asked a friend why he was always late to church. “Sunday is the only day I don’t have to rush around in the morning. I take my time and let the family know we will arrive when we arrive.” He didn’t want to have to yell at his family all morning just to get them to church on time.
Most people try to be on time to the service at your church. And usually your first-time guests arrive early because they don’t know what to expect. So when leaders chastise the congregation when they show up late, you punish people who really do want to be on time. And your guests will sense an unhealthy tension between leadership and the congregation. That’s a horrible first impression to make on a first-time guest.
Am I saying your church just needs to accept that a good chunk of people will show up late? Perhaps. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try new, creative ways to encourage them to show up early. Maybe you could offer free breakfast foods before your service. Or you could put some of your best material at the beginning of your service. You could have pre-service activities for kids and their parents. There are countless things you can try that offer an incentive to show up early. But if you complain about people when they show up late, you are showing frustration, not love. Love covers a multitude of sins — even tardiness.
Jonathan Malm is author of Unwelcome: 50 Ways Churches Drive Away First-Time Visitors from which this article is adapted and used by permission. Published by the Center for Church Communications, the book is available from Amazon.
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Lewis Center for Church Leadership
Wesley Theological Seminary
4500 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20016 United States
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