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DISCIPLES JUSTICE ACTION NETWORK
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SPECIAL DJAN INTERVIEW WITH OUR NEW GMP
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SHARON WATKINS on DISCIPLES and JUSTICE
In your past ministries, which justice issues/concerns have had the highest priority in your reflections and your work?
Throughout my life, issues of racial justice have had high priority in my reflections. Growing up in a racially diverse neighborhood, attending high school in a school that was majority African American, spending two and a half years in Congo as a young adult have given me a perspective on the pervasiveness of racism in our society and our church. The recent coverage of Katrina has brought home again just how much work we have to do to make our society look anything like the realm of God.
My reflections have also varied depending on the place of my ministry. As pastor of a small rural congregation in the 80’s, economic justice and farm issues caught my attention. Foreclosure of farms due to falling land values caused untold human misery during those years. At the same time large corporations were buying up land. With their large scale operations they were not only dominating the market but also using up ground water and poisoning what was left, making it undrinkable for local farm families who were still trying to survive in an increasingly hostile economic environment. In more recent years, the congregation I served did discernment on the role of gays and lesbians in the church. |
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In your current ministry as GMP, which justice issues do you feel should be prioritized by the church as a whole?
Issues of racial and economic justice will still have high priority in the next years. As a church, we have committed ourselves to becoming an anti-racist, pro-reconciling community. As GMP I expect to help us continue on the trajectory we have set.
As a church with international partners, we see the need for a global perspective on economic justice. Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly. Our international partners, as well as many of our brothers and sisters right here in the US and Canada, remind us that abundance is still only a dream for many.
Until God’s vision is realized, economic justice will need to have our priority attention. We also need to continue our process of discernment on the role of gays and lesbians in the church. The integrity of our discernment will be important in how we as church move forward together. |
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In their formulation of the marks of a true church, Disciples include "a passion for justice." How do you envision this passion manifesting itself in church activities during your tenure as GMP? How do you see it institutionally supported?
Through Reconciliation Mission and the anti-racism task forces being formed in regions and various church institutions, we will continue to make progress in our church-wide efforts to address issues of racial justice. I believe that following Katrina we will all be drawn into questions of racial justice at a deeper level than we have seen in many years.
As a church, and with guidance from Disciples leaders in the Convocation, NAPAD, Hispanic Ministries, the Black Ministers Fellowship, and our many churches in communities of color, we will do our best to contribute, both prophetically and programmatically, to this very necessary national discussion.
Various areas of our church life will continue to help us address issues of economic justice. DOM, DHM and Week of Compassion only begin the list. The Office of the General Minister and President looks forward to working with projects like the Disciples Center for Public Witness at National City Christian Church, grassroots groups like DJAN and DPF, regional and congregational groups working on justice issues, and ecumenical and interfaith coalitions in which Disciples leaders and activists are involved.
Internationally, nationally, regionally and congregationally, it is important that justice always be an integral part of the life and witness of the church. Acts of justice are not just something we do. They come from who we are, as we seek to embody the wholeness of the human family as God intended. |
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Is there anything you would like to say specifically to the individuals and groups that are working on peace and justice issues within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)?
One of our gifts as Disciples is that we are the unity people. We have had, from our very beginnings, an understanding that God created all humanity as one family. We have understood that anything we do to divide that family is contrary to the will of God. Disciples first made this witness in the face of the theological divisions brought over to these shores from Europe. We unfenced the communion table, took down the bars of doctrine and creed, and opened the ministry to the priesthood of all believers.
In our time, we seek with God’s help, to heal other divisions – of race, nationality, language and class – and of social doctrine. These divisions run deep, but Disciples continue to seek the oneness of the human family as God intends. Our passion for justice comes from who we are as a people with a profound vision of unity for all God’s children.
As we move into a reality of ever greater diversity, it will be important for us to make the theological connections as we seek to build bridges – and more – seek to live as one family. It will be important for us to join in prayer and dialogue as well as action, in order to discover where the partners are for the actions we must take.
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Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN)
East Coast Office: 1040 Harbor Drive, Annapolis, MD 21403
Midwest Office: 4733 S. Woodlawn, Chicago, IL 60615
West Coast Office: 395 Mantelli Drive, Gilroy, CA 95020
Southwest Office: PO Box 35887, Tulsa, OK 74153
Director: Ken Brooker Langston
Minister of Justice Education: Larry Sweeney
Newsletter Editor: Pam Mason
Web Manager: Stephen Lord
DJAN Co-Chairs: Nancy Hunt Wirth and James Demus
DJAN Founders: May and Harvey Lord
Email: disciplesjustice@comcast.net
Phone: 410-212-7964
Fax: 1-443-782-0273
Web: www.djan.net
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