Pulpit swap
Pastors preach to each others’ congregations on “Reconciliation Sunday”
Metro-area ministers Daniel U’Ren and Dwayne Rodgers saw unfamiliar faces when they looked out into the church pews on a recent Sunday. The unfamiliarity was shortlived. At U’Ren’s suggestion, the two pastors swapped pulpits on Sept. 30, one of several Sundays of the year that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination focuses on its Reconciliation Ministry. U’Ren, who is white, delivered the Sunday sermon to Rodgers’ mostly black congregation at Wildewood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and Rodgers, who is black, shared the Sunday message with Western Oaks Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the mostly white congregation led by U’Ren. In his sermon, U’Ren preached from Psalm 23 for his message titled “The Table is Ready.” Rodgers, 48, preached a message titled “Can We Walk Together?” based on Amos 3:3. Both ministers touched on the importance of believers, regardless of color, becoming one body of Christ. “I admit, I am not here because I have some insight to racism. No, I am here because I know about the reconciliation that comes through Jesus Christ,” U’Ren said. “I know about the love that God holds for the people of the world, and I know that love is color blind. I know that God loves everyone, even the ones that some people want to say God hates.” Rodgers said the Lord expects Christians to stand together as agents of change and transformation. “God calls for us to love our neighbors,” he said. “God’s Word reminds us to give water to those who are thirsty, to give clothes to those who are naked, to provide opportunity for those who are less fortunate,
to take care and to say that my brother’s keeper and my sister’s keeper is not determined by skin color but by belief that all of us are God’s children.”
The pastors said the swap made them excited and hopeful.
“It was very refreshing,” Rodgers said of preaching to a different crowd. “The people saw how enthused we were and that we were willing to do it, and that made the atmosphere enthusiastic.”
U’Ren agreed.
“For me, it was just a fabulous experience. It left me invigorated and excited about the possibilities for the future,” he said.
Members at both churches seemed to enjoy the opportunity to hear from a minister from a different church. And they enjoyed some lighthearted moments, too. People chuckled when one Wildewood ministry
leader, before he introduced U’Ren, told a joke referencing the obvious difference between the two preachers.
“As you notice today, Pastor Rodgers has changed colors,” the Rev. Barry Jacobs, Wildewood’s associate minister, told the crowd.
“They’re swapping pulpits. I think that’s awesome. I think it’s something that should have been done years ago,” he said.
At Western Oaks, member George Goodner said he enjoyed Rodgers’ sermon.
“The message was about togetherness. We all have to come together. It’s a great message, and he’s a great soul,” Goodner said.
Eric Gray, executive director of the Oklahoma Disciples Foundation, shared similar sentiments. He said he is a member of Western Oaks who already knew Rodgers before he visited the church.
“I think this is great. I think we need to do more of it,” he said.
Switching things up
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Reconciliation Ministry was started in 1967 when the denomination met at the annual International Convention of Christian Churches in St. Louis. According to the denomination’s website, a group of members at the gathering brought up the issues of racism and poverty that had been causing troubles in urban areas across the country. The Reconciliation Ministry was launched as the denomination’s way of making an intentional effort to address these types of issues across the country. U’Ren said the ministry took off in earnest after the death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
Currently, churches are encouraged to give a special offering to help fund programs related to the ideals of the Reconciliation Ministry. The ministry funds community organizing networks and
churchwide ministries through a grant program, along with anti-racism educational efforts.
U’Ren, 47, said he knew the denomination’s “Reconciliation Sunday” was coming up, and he wanted his congregation to establish friendly ties with a church different from their own. He said he called Rodgers, whom he had never met, and invited him to lunch to talk about them doing something together for the special emphasis Sunday. Over a meal, the pair agreed to swap pulpits, and their respective churches liked the idea.
“One of the main things I see is a dire need for congregations to come together like this,” U’Ren said. “We tend to silo ourselves with people of like mind, whether that’s color or socioeconomic status or just people who think like we do. But I thought ‘how do we mix things up and diversify congregations?’”
Both U’Ren and Rodgers said the pulpit swap is just a beginning
of what they hope will be an ongoing fellowship between their two churches.
U’Ren said several of his church members have suggested swapping choirs the next time the two ministers switch pulpits. Rodgers said he and U’Ren hope to get key leaders from their churches together to talk about ways the congregations may partner in the future.
Meanwhile, to get church members to take the idea of breaking down the barriers of race one step further, individual bags of green tea with a message to “Be Reconciled” were made available at each church. The bags included instructions to invite someone to tea, share and listen to each others’ experiences and ask the question “How can our faith bring us together.”
“Don’t underestimate what a little tea bag can do. Don’t underestimate the power of coming together at a table that has been prepared for us,” U’Ren said in his sermon.