St. Mark’s hosts guest speakers and a party for Black History Month

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

The parish of St. Mark’s was abuzz with activity all through Black History Month. A different guest joined them for each Sunday service — Dr. Joy Mighty (see story in the March issue of Crosstalk), Yolande Parsons, Camille Isaacs-Morell and Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada.

The final service on Feb. 26 was followed by a festive lunch that included Bahamian sweet potato bread (lovingly baked by Father Julian Campbell) and other delicious dishes from Haiti, Ghana and Nigeria while everyone was serenaded and danced to the music of the reggae band Trinity, led by Nedley Pitt. You had to be there to enjoy the food and music, but Crosstalk can share a sampling of excerpts from the guest homilies and a few of the sights and smiles.

Archbishop Linda Nicholls Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada

It is an honour and humbling to be invited—especially as I am a white, privileged woman in a position of leadership whose only experiences of non-inclusion have been based on gender and even that in the midst of strong social movements towards gender inclusion.

However, I do come as a person of faith—a faith we share together that is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ—and it is from the heart of that faith that I speak to the challenges we—as church and society—face in changing the travesty of racial discrimination. …

[In the early years of her ministry] I moved back to a community on the outskirts of Toronto—and was struck by the fact that all the people of colour sat around the edges of the church—never in the centre of the nave. Few were on the advisory board—they were faithful, regular attenders of worship; contributors to the parish but not often in leadership. I wanted to change that and began to discover the systemic nature of barriers—that no one articulated out loud—but were noticed and felt deeply.

A faithful family with Caribbean roots came to me one day and asked if I would bless their brand new van. They were so excited about this new vehicle in their family—and said that their previous beat-up car had seemed so out of place in our parking lot that they parked a couple of blocks away and walked to the church. I was mortified that somehow our community had exuded that kind of exclusion— not intentionally—but by all the unspoken signals that we were an upper middle-class church where some had privilege and others did not.

Since then—I am learning to see the power of those unspoken attitudes that permeate our lives. And with them the unseen privileges that those of us who were in the majority or at least in power of institutions and government have enjoyed. …

I cannot speak to or know the full experience of BIPOC people in Canada. I am committed to listening to your stories of pain and of faith. I can be alert to the ways my own heart and mind have been shaped by biases and attitudes that must be challenged and changed. I can be alert to the ways that our Church has not welcomed diversity; promoted the gifts and leadership of those who have made Canada their home. I have asked the House of Bishops to assist me in nominating leaders in our Church from communities not currently represented—I have asked that Synods choose their delegates to General Synod to represent the fullness of their community. I ask the BIPOC community to continue to critique and challenge us to do the work that is needed and to be willing to step into the opportunities for leadership—and be bold in demanding them. …

We are created for community— for each other—as partners in the Gospel—as siblings in Christ for the Good News. We have not yet lived into its fullness, but I pray we are on the road towards it.

Yolande Parsons Community builder

…When I immigrated to Canada as a young lady, over 40 years ago, I encountered racism for the very first time in my life and having no point of reference on how to deal with that, I chose to become involved in the community. First to educate myself and then, by extension, to educate my community on how to navigate life in a predominantly white world. …

Community organizing was key to my understanding that this new reality as a Black woman in a predominantly white country was not going to be easy. There would be many factors stacked up against me and over which I had no control, Black and female, to name the obvious.

Thankfully, the Black community in Winnipeg, back then, was tight-knit and quite progressive. In the early 80s, we were the first community in Canada to establish a Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, and among one of the first to organize marches in support of the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African jail. As a young girl, it was invigorating to be part of such a movement. ….

In their book, Victorious in Defeat: The Loyalists in Canada, Professors Wallace Brown and Hereward Senior said this: “The Blacks’ greatest success was religious organization, by which they developed as a distinct and separate community.”

The history of the Black Church in Canada mirrors the same racism that was happening in society.

When Black Loyalists arrived in Nova Scotia in 1783, the Church of England, immediately ensured there were White Anglican Loyalists to assume the positions of prominence within the church, relegating the Blacks to second-class status.

Back then, Blacks believed that if they were baptised in the Anglican Church, it would make them equal with the whites. But even after many hundreds of them were baptized, they realized that though they could attend services and receive communion, they were segregated from white parishioners and forced into galleries set apart for Blacks and the poor, and kept behind a partition.

Eventually, they were even encouraged to gather in their own homes. Since it was obvious that they were not welcome and would not receive the support of the Church of England, the Nova Scotian Blacks determined that their spiritual needs were best met by their own lay preachers and teachers. So, in segregated communities, and in independent churches they held their services, and these became important to meet their spiritual and social needs. …

I would say that it is God’s desire that we figure out how we can live together, in unity, celebrating our differences and the richness added to our lives through our diversity. Jesus modelled this throughout his earthly ministry; we see it throughout the Gospels….

And may I add my own prayer: Father, may we see a day when there will be no need to dedicate a month to Black History because every day of every month, we are celebrating ALL people, Black, white, yellow, red, because we are ALL Your image bearers, created in Your image and in Your likeness and which You declared was, Very Good! Amen!

— Yolande Parsons is the Spiritual Care Coordinator and also teaches event management at Algonquin College. She immigrated to Winnipeg in 1982 from St Vincent and began working with many community organizations, including the St. Vincent Association of Winnipeg, the Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, the Black History Committee, and the National Black Committee on AIDS. She attends Arlington Woods Free Methodist Church where she is a board member and leads the Women’s Ministry.

Camille Isaacs-Morell Business leader, volunteer and artist

Our theme ‘Black in Canada: The Narrative and the Vision’ is relevant and timely. During Black History Month we have been listening to the narratives of Black people – our history, daily experience, disappointment, and success. … The hard question that must be asked and answered is – How do we go beyond the narrative and make the vision reality?

Here are a few suggestions. These suggestions apply equally to nonBlack and Black people!

Firstly, let’s accept that Black history is not just about Black people. Black history is integral to Canadian history. We all came here in different ships, but we are now all in the same boat.

Secondly, the collective understanding of our history must lead to a critical examination of the state of things now and the definition of the ways in which we will intentionally dismantle systemic racism. We must have the courage to ask ourselves some tough questions about the possible ways we and the institutions to which we belong may be contributing to systemic racism.

• Are we prepared to examine historical precedent and current practices in organizations to which we belong?

• How do we engage during conversations about race? Are we listening and engaging in dialogue with facts, informed opinions and with empathy?

• How can we use our positions of leadership, influence, and privilege to make things better?

Thirdly, as people of faith, let’s commit to being advocates and agents of change. Some ways to do this – create and sign petitions; attend and participate in public hearings and debates; write letters to political representatives; publish articles and opinion pieces on various communication platforms; challenge organizations in which you belong to be more inclusive in their membership.

Be prepared to have uncomfortable conversations. We don’t know what we don’t know. When a racially insensitive comment is made, create teachable moments by calmly addressing the issue, and by calmly listening. Let empathy prevail by listening. Let love prevail by promptly apologizing and promptly forgiving. I’ve been in these situations in the workplace and in the church. The conversations have always started off awkwardly, but I promise you, they often end amicably, with everyone feeling relieved and reassured. You see, love always wins.

As we celebrate Black History Month and reflect on the transfiguration of Jesus, let us all be reminded that whenever love is at the core of our intentions, the will of God will always prevail. God’s will is always for our individual and collective good!

…The transfiguration message calls us to reflect on the paths we will forge during Lent as a people committed to following the way of Jesus, whose death is the greatest act of love ever committed for all humanity and provides us all the hope of the Easter resurrection

— Camille Isaacs-Morell was a foreign service officer in the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs before she migrated to Montreal in 1993 and embarked on a career in marketing and corporate social responsibility. She has served as executive director of the Alzheimer Society of Montreal and is now vicepresident of Hope for Dementia.

In the Diocese of Montreal, she was a member of the working group that submitted to the 161st synod, the Anti-Black Racism Action Plan to dismantle systemic racism in the church.