Changing Hearts and Minds in America's (Black) Church Communities

Last week, we experienced a watershed moment for African-American LGBTs and the black church in America.

It wasn't a million-person rally on the mall in Washington, D.C. It wasn't a sweeping new civil rights law. It was something smaller, but nonetheless profound. It was one sermon, preached by one man, in one church outside Atlanta, Georgia. Granted, Pastor Dewey Smith is a big deal. And the church where he preaches, House of Hope Atlanta, has 11,000 members and holds services in a 7,000-seat neo-Gothic cathedral.

What's profound about this semon is that a ray of light has pierced the darkness. Painful and honest words have been spoken, and the result has not been outrage from his congregation, but rather (from what we can see thus far) celebration.

Thanks to social media, Pastor Smith's message will now spread and reverberate. The conversation about gays in the African-American church will inevitably shift, if only a little.

 Whether or not we are believers, religion and organized religion affect us all. The church's influence on the larger African-American community is profound and cannot be denied.  

Will this sermon on a Sunday in July of 2015 be remembered as "the" tipping point? Probably, no. It's too soon for that. Other pastors will need to take up Pastor Dewey's message and carry it to their own flock. But I will believe we will look back on Pastor Dewey's sermon as seminal, akin to certain key acts of bravery and leadership taken by Dr. Martin Luther King and his peers. 

When I saw the video of the sermon (above) I was dumbstruck. I shook. There were tears in my eyes.  I knew something momentous had occurred. Yet, when I shared it on social media, the response was tepid. Here's an example of an exchange from my Facebook page:

• Paul Baswell i just don't get why its so important for you to change their minds? you live your way and let them 

  live theirs. its not a form of condoning its knowing were your prioritys should be. i just don't think you can change them. many are filled with hate not only for gay people but for almost anything they see as outside. plus there is far to much religious talk out side of ones community. i find much of what is presented in the media to be disingenuous manipulation.

  Like · Reply · 23 hrs
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  Ben Patrick Johnson It's important to change hearts and minds because we all affect each other profoundly through our attitudes and actions. Countless young gay people are mistreated in their own homes, abused or dismissed, in the name of God and Bible. By changing hearts and minds (something that is very much possible and doable) we can make life better for millions and diminish the sort of tragedy after tragedy we LBGT activists and care providers see on a daily basis. 
  
  As Evan Wolfson said of gay marriage, "There is no marriage without engagement." We have engaged people on that subject. Public opinion (overall) is now strongly in favor of same-sex marriage. But there are communities, like the African-American and some Latino communities, where the message is slow to resonate. One of the reasons is the stronghold of the anti-gay black (and, with Latinos, Catholic) church, where bigotry and non-acceptance is preached on a weekly basis.
  
  The solution? Work within the black (and white Evangelical) and Catholic church communities to promote tolerance and acceptance of not just gays but, as you note, traditional societal outliers of all stripe. Celebrating the words and actions of a pioneer like Pastor Dewey Smith will help us. As will efforts like the Institute for Welcoming Resources, a Minneapolis-based organization that develops programs church members can take to their clergy to help shift the message coming from the pulpit to one of inclusion vs. exclusion, empathy vs condemnation.

Today, I have been asking black friends, especially musicians, for their reaction and perspective. I'll probably update this post and include some of that in the days ahead. But I want to know what YOU think, how significant you feel the church is in current civil rights challenges for gays, Muslim-Americans and other disenfranchised groups, and how you feel we can best get the message of inclusion into America's church communities.