Joe Holland on race, church, and the GOP

 

 

A number of people have asked us whether they should leave their congregation because the pastor, rabbi or imam loves Trump or hates Trump. Often, a person who has decided to attend a religious group of a different ethnicity is faced with this dilemma because the political division seems like a reinforcement of ethnocentrism.

If someone came up to a leader of a congregation with a complaint that he or she felt uncomfortable by the politics of the congregation or its members, how would you respond? In many cases, we have found that the concerns of the congregants are just shrugged off by religious leaders as not important, racist, or immoral. Some say that shrugging off complaints seems disrespectful and continues a sort of racist way of talking with each other.

We ran excerpts from a front-page article in The New York Times that raised the question of whether African Americans should leave White pro-Trump churches, which may be fundamentally racist.

The Times’ question could also be thrown at African Americans who remain in the Republican Party. Should they leave the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass?

We decided to lay down these questions on the doorstep of Joe Holland, an African American who is running for the GOP nomination for Governor of New York. He is also a pastor at Bethel Gospel Assembly and well-known as the Harvard-educated lawyer who went to work among the homeless in Harlem.

The New York Times story said,

In the last couple of decades, there had been signs, however modest, that eleven o’clock on Sunday morning might cease to be the most segregated hour in America. “Racial reconciliation” was the talk of conferences and the subject of formal resolutions. Large Christian ministries were dedicated to the aim of integration, and many black Christians decided to join white-majority congregations.

Then white evangelicals voted for Mr. Trump by a larger margin than they had voted for any presidential candidate.

Christians of color, even those who shared these policy preferences, looked at Mr. Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants, his open hostility to N.F.L. players protesting police brutality and his earlier “birther” crusade against President Obama, claiming falsely he was not a United States citizen. In this political deal, many concluded, they were the compromised. Some started to leave the ethnically integrated, though predominately White churches.

One who exited was Charmaine Pruitt, who left her Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas megachurch in the Fall of 2016. That was when she concluded that it was not, ultimately, meant for African American people like her. She has not been to any church regularly since.

 

Question to Joe Holland: Are you familiar with an exodus, quiet or otherwise, from New York churches because of political divisions after the election of Donald Trump as president?

Holland: I did read the article. And was quite interested in some the conclusions that the article drew.

The article talked about African Americans in churches which are predominately Caucasian churches and in which Caucasians expressed an unwavering support of President Donald Trump. And that was the basis of the discomfort.

In churches where you have that type of demographic makeup, where there are pro- Trump statements and a pro-Trump mood, I can imagine that some African Americans attenders may feel  a need to leave and seek a different kind of environment.

I have not observed such a situation first-hand, because I attend a predominately African American and African Caribbean church in Harlem. There has not been any exodus there. Nor have I talked to people who have made such an exodus.

Question: Are the White members of your church feeling uneasy because of a backlash among African Americans against Trump?

Holland: We do have White members, and they are in the distinct minority. However, we have a pastor, Bishop Carlton Brown, who is somebody that looks at the political arena and assesses it, I believe, in a spiritual way. He has not made any statements or taken any actions regarding Trump that are to the level of making people uncomfortable.

Question: What should African Americans like Charmaine Pruitt do when they feel very uncomfortable going to churches that have many Trump supporters?

Holland: The first step should be to go to the leadership of the church and communicate the discomfort. She should communicate her thoughts and feelings to find out if her views are heard and respected. This is Biblical. Jesus said if you have something against a brother or sister, you need to go that person to deal with that problem.

It may be possible for someone like Charmaine to open up some hearts and minds, and let them see how limited and off-putting their approach is. That could be a difference maker for peace in the city and healing in the church.

If one’s views are rejected off-hand and there is no real communication, then after prayer and really seeking the Lord to make sure you have done everything you can before moving on, then there are other fellowship options in New York where a comfort level can be gained. The bottom line here is to make sure to let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is Heaven. You want to do this a spiritual way so that you act in truth in love. This usually results  that you can then reach people with ideas and attitudes that they hadn’t considered. 

Q: If the Trump people listened carefully and fully considered Charmaine’s views,, they may still be for Trump. So, should she then leave?

Holland: I would ask her at that point to examine her own views. It is important, and once again it is Scriptural, Jesus says, take the plank out of your own eye before you deal with the speck in your brother’s eye. You want to make sure that your position is not an overreaction to the political environment and that the relationship that you have at that church with your brother and sister in Christ is not strong enough to pray and work it through.

We are in the family of God and whatever differences we have, our relationship should be powerful and vibrant enough to overcome those issues that divide us.

It is work, spiritual work. You may have to pray and fast and go into fellowship for intense discussions.

If you don’t see any kind of coming together, then the division might be too great. Then, you should feel free to go.

Q: Chanequa Walker-Barnes, a professor of practical theology at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, claims that the African Americans that are leaving the White churches  is a signal about something really bad.

“It said, to me,” she told The Times, “that something is profoundly wrong at the heart of the White church.”

Do you think that Professor Walker –Barnes is correct, that there is something wrong with the White church?

A: I hesitate to generalize about the White church. I would say that there may be certain White churches which haven’t gotten the truth of the gospel in the right place in their fellowship. Jesus is our role model. Jesus gave us a model of humility, servanthood, non-retaliation, and forgiveness. We need through the Holy Spirit to live in that role model. He gives us the power to follow his example.

If there are White churches who are not living that Christ-like example, then, yeah, there is a problem of letting the cultural, political, and economic factors override the spiritual power that identifies them with Christ and empowers them to live out Christ’s example.

Question: You are a Republican, correct?

Holland: That’s correct.

Question: So, are people in your church feeling uncomfortable with you, because it is my impression that Bethel Gospel Assembly is mainly a Democratically-inclined congregation?

Holland: I do attend a mainly Democratic church, which would be the norm for a predominately African American church in New York City. But because people know me and my leadership as an elder, teaching a new believers class, and heading up our social justice ministry, they see my service for the kingdom of God. They look beyond any party affiliation.

In the 1980s, we established a counseling center for drug addicts and ex-offenders called BethHark Christian Counseling Center. I learned that it is important to have that hand out, but it needs to be combined with a hand up. That happens when you are there on the ground to provide holistic assistance.

The food, clothing and shelter is important, but in boosting them to move ahead, you need to make sure that are getting other kinds of intervention. We provided education for their GEDs and vocational training. I started a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop to hire homeless as scoopers as a stepping stone for them getting back into the work force. Many of them were able to use that opportunity to move up the ladder.

The ministry is still around doing services though now more in food insecurity issues. But it still provides counseling. We celebrated our 30^th Anniversary a couple of years ago. I co-founded the ministry with several leaders of the church including Bishop Ezra Williams, Dr. Ruth Onukwue — now a missionary in South Africa, the associate pastor Reverend Gordon Williams, and Reverend Walter Wilson as well as the current pastor Bishop Carlton Brown.

For the first couple of years after my graduation in 1982 from Harvard Law School, I was exploring the community, visiting churches, and getting my feet wet. Then, I met Ezra Williams. He was a pioneer in so many ways.

 

Question: Many religious organizations help the downtrodden and the afflicted, what we call social service work. One estimate is that the churches in New York City provide over 2 billion dollars per year. Is that type of work consistent with New York Republican principles?

Holland: Yes, the work of churches at the grass roots is consistent with Republican principles, and as governor of New York, I would make the state social services more consistent with actual practices on the ground by faith-based and other neighborhood groups. What needs to happen is a shift of resources and activities from bureaucrats to people at the local level who are involved with their local communities. These are the people who understand what it means to uplift a neighbor in a way that will not create dependency but accountability also. You can actually help the person to move beyond the situation.

Question: In the Trumpian era, isn’t it harder for African Americans to support the GOP?

Holland: What you find is that the stereotype that gets trotted out is that the Republican Party is an anti-minority party. That is the stereotype. I reject the stereotype.

I am a Republican, because I understand the roots of the party, the history of the party going back to Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln who were at the founding era of the party. They emphasized issues of racial and social justice that were the well-spring of the Republican Party in the mid-19^th Century. I hold onto those founding values.

 

Look at the Democratic Party. It has taken the Black vote for granted and hasn’t moved into a direction that has improved the lot of poor African Americans. I think it is time for Blacks to reassess politically and take a new look at the Republican Party, at least the Republican Party that I believe in and represent.

The Republican Party is about personal responsibility, economic development, and limited government. It wants government to be deployed in ways that doesn’t displace the community but empowers the community.

Historically, when you  look at big government programs like the War on Poverty, there has been some assistance extended, but it has been done at the expense of faith-based and neighborhood organizations. These groups used to be hands-on help to their neighbors. Now, the type of government programs that we have too often ties the poorer African Americans into systems of dependency that run for generations. Unfortunately, it has become the norm in so many of our communities that there are generations — children, parents, and grandparents — that have been habituated to look to government programs as sort of permanent structures to life.

The programs that were set up to help people who were struggling were mis-designed and need a redesign.

The Republican Party too needs to go back to grass roots engagement. I am talking about a bottom up approach rather than a top down approach. We need a government that gets out of the way and shifts resources and authority to local groups for intervening into people’s lives.

I have run for governor from the very beginning on the premise that I am the most electable Republican candidate against Andrew Cuomo. The reason for that conviction is my unique profile as an African American Republican candidate who has both upstate roots {Cornell University graduate] as well as downstate network. I could hold the vote upstate and pull the vote out of New York City. None of the other candidates can do that.

 

 

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NYC-based Cuban vocalist Xiomara Laugart, jcomposer and arranger Jonathan Ragonese for a long-awaited musical offering.

An evening of sultry traditional music backed by a string orchestra, her son, Axel Laugart, and special guests.

Friday, April 13th
Sets: 7:30pm & 9:30pm
The Cave at St. George’s
209 E. 16th St (east of 3rd Ave)
Side courtyard entrance
$15 cover
Click here for advance tickets