Race Relations in a Majority Black Town - Resurrection Emporia

by Harry K. Zeiders

What is it like to minister in a majority black town during the nation’s current plague of racial strife?  This is a town where the majority of residents live on welfare; a town some websites call the poorest town in Virginia; a town with high rates of social dysfunction, school truancy, and work absenteeism.  This is former slave plantation and Jim Crow country. This is a town where many local businesses still close on Wednesdays because that was the day the slave train pulled into town and the town closed shop so that everyone could go inspect the new wares on display.  More than Charlottesville, more than Richmond, perhaps more than any other place in Virginia, Emporia would appear on the surface to be a place ripe for violent protests.

But this is also a town where black and white pastors have been holding monthly prayer meetings with the white chief of police and the white county sheriff for the past five years.  This is also a town where the white ministers’ association finally integrated and voted in a black pastor as its vice president three years ago.  This is a town where black and white churches have been co-leading community revivals for the past three years.  This is a town where black and white pastors started founding a chaplaincy for the local police department and sheriff’s office a year ago.  Emporia is a town that God has been preparing for 2020.

As a result, when black and white pastors held a drive-in service on race relations earlier this month, it was peaceful and joyful and centered on the Word and work of the Triune God. The best part for me was getting to hear a fellow pastor share some reflections on what it was like to grow up as a young black man in Richmond.  The evening was so good, that at the end when one of the leaders announced we would hold another drive-in on race next month, everyone honked their horns.

The Rev. Harry K. Zeiders is the Rector at Resurrection Church in Emporia, VA.

What Do You See?

Photos taken at Ascension before COVID-19

What Do You See? 

Now that’s a striking question that God asked the prophet Jeremiah (1.11). In his case, it was an almond branch, and again later, it was a spilled pot. In both cases, those simple things plainly visible to Jeremiah’s eyes were indicators of what the Lord was doing and preparing. It does us well to set our own hearts to the Lord, with His question in our own ears. We look, and we listen. 

Palm Sunday marked the two-year anniversary since Church of the Ascension began public worship here in the panhandle of West Virginia. In the past two years, there have been many things we have “seen,” but to name just a few: marriages restored and new ones created, missionaries sent around the globe, faith renewed and lives reconciled, week-long evangelistic campaigns held at the county fair, and a new generation of disciple-making disciples formed and sent by the Lord. 

We’ve become something of a house for other ministries: international missionary care, care for people in need, regional intercessors, and state ministry networks. Our congregation is composed of 25 or so families and has 70 people involved in monthly ministries. Those are not the “giant” numbers the Lord quickly gives some churches, yet He asks, “What do you see?”  

†           I “see” that He has made a church unlike anything else in our four-state region. There was never a Charismatic renewal here. Indeed, I still am asked what an “Angeli-can” is, and since I’m often dressed in clerics, there is a bit of shock in Pentecostals who see a Priest laying hands for prayer, blessing, or deliverance. 

†            I “see” both the “now” and the “not yet.” I’ve been working on a 2050 vision that creates a mid-Appalachian network of churches, missions, and ministers who embody the whole of the Tradition. That is the “not yet,” but right now, there are a few churches and ministers across West Virginia using the 2019 BCP in their independent churches, praying the Morning and Evening office, and more. 

†           Right now we are seeing that Ascension is a caring for those in physical need through Renewed Life Ministry, and for missionaries across the globe through Forget-Me-Not-Ministries. We see now marriages put back together. We are about to have our fourth infant born in the church. We see growth in new families attending, families growing, and people receiving things they thought impossible. 

†           Right now, one person has been recommended for Holy Orders, one more is beginning local discernment, and another is preparing for seminary. 

†           Right now, we have seen a multi-media presence develop online so that we have 125 subscribers on YouTube. Thousands of people weekly view our page, stream our services, and join us for Morning and Evening Prayer on Facebook. We even got a call-out twice from Anglican Ink! 

†           Right now, a family found our website and online ministry clips from Tennessee. They had lunch with me a few months ago because they are selling their home and moving this way, but they wanted to find a good church before they moved, and they picked our new congregation! They’re charismatic Presbyterians. They closed on their new home here two weeks ago. 

It’s difficult to stop sharing the “now” for one reason – there are so many good testimonies! It is far too easy to only look at our inability to gather as a new congregation for our regular events. While it is on a much smaller scale, we did just finish renovating our sanctuary space to seat 100 people – new floor, monitors, chairs, Holy Table – and we’ve only been able to meet in the space once. However, in this difficult time, I’ve watched something that every Pastor hopes to see among the people: love for one another. The care and concern members of this congregation are giving and receiving one to another during the pandemic is a witness to me of their shared hope in Christ. 

We are only celebrating two years. Yet we are truly celebrating two years. Many of your churches and ministries have similar testimonies and praise reports. The Lord is at work in our midst, as His people. Jesus is still standing among the lampstands, holding the stars in His right hand, speaking that two-edged sword. If you think about this western DOMA outpost, pray for us. Thank the Lord for the “now,” and ask Him to keep moving us into His “not yet.” Ask Him to open our eyes to see as He does. We will pray the same for you. 

Same Prayers, Different Day

A recent blog post from the Franconia/Springfield Church Plant, helps to answer a common question:

“Are we being faithful and authentic by praying written prayers?”

In addition to answering this question, The Rev. Morgan Reed reminds us that during a pandemic, believers are connected in a unique way when daily praying from the same Book of Common Prayer:

In this pandemic, I believe this Book of Common Prayer forms the rule of prayer that our hearts need to order what feels unruly and ever changing. It teaches us how to come to God in grief and lamentation, in repentance, and in authentic joy for His great acts of salvation. This season is forming us into one of our core values, which is to live the kind of life outlined in the Book of Common Prayer. Growing as a disciple of Jesus does not stop during a pandemic and although we cannot be in physical proximity together, we can share a prayer life.

Read more here.