NY MFSA Virtual Fall Banquet 2020

How to be an Anti-racist Congregation with Garlinda Burton

In October, the New York Chapter of MFSA held a virtual fall banquet featuring guest speaker Garlinda Burton, current interim general secretary and CEO for the General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR).

The evening began with a time of virtual fellowship.  As guests arrived, they were invited to share their location and what they hope to learn during our time together in the chat feature of Zoom.  An opening prayer by Carolyn Engelhardt kicked off the banquet, followed by a brief history of MFSA by Rev. George McClain, current MFSA board member and former Executive Director for the MFSA National Office.  Deaconess Megan Hale, the Program Council Representative of the New York Chapter, introduced Garlinda Burton, and the program began.  

Garlinda Burton, a deaconess in the United Methodist Church who has nearly 40 years of experience working for international agencies of the UMC began by “calling a thing a thing.”  She said that “racism is a thing, and we need to name it.”

She reminded us that the United Methodist Church is still dominated by white supremacy, and we need to name that too.  Garlinda went on to share that when churches remain silent while people of color are killed in their own homes or because of police brutality, the churches are complicit. 

“The United Methodist Church has failed to champion anti-racism for 150 years,” Garlinda said.  She invited white progressives to call out white people in our own circles.  She invited the white people present to interrupt racism in our own backyards, among our own families, in our churches, and in our communities. 

Garlinda also reminded us that to do the work of justice, we must recognize intersectionality.  She quoted the late Reverend Gil Caldwell, who spoke at our MFSA Fall Banquet just 2 years ago who said, “if you’re called to do the work, you’re called to the work of justice, not ‘just us.’”  

How do we become a truly anti-racist congregation?  

Book studies are nice, but Garlinda shared that reading books and having studies is not enough – we need to put faith into action and work for racial justice transformation.  To do this, we should focus on policies, police reform, UMC structural change, and reparations.   

We need to listen to people of color and be in places where people of color are leading the conversation.   

“This work is a call from God,” said Garlinda, “and we can’t be side-tracked by people who don’t want to get on board.”

We need to practice speaking truth, and we need to empower our young people as leaders.  Sunday worship should be a place where the community gathers to work on hunger, write letters, upgrade schools, and commit to justice work. 

Following Garlinda’s presentation, there was a time for questions where people of the New York Conference and special guests from across the connection, including quite a few deaconesses, asked questions using the chat feature of the Zoom platform.  Rev. Jennifer Berry, an MFSA steering team leader, organized the questions and led the Q&A with Garlinda.

The evening ended with a “call to action” by Ann Craig, Rev. Ed Horne, and Marisa Villareal who shared the ways in which MFSA can continue anti-racism work in the New York Conference and beyond.