GA Moderator Speech

Psalm 34:1–8 ESV

1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

PS34.1

Fathers and brothers I am extremely humbled and privileged by the opportunity to serve our church as moderator of the Assembly; the first African American moderator. Thank you. I have a confession to make. I’ve been in the PCA since 2002. First, coming under care as an intern in Potomac Presbytery and Mt. Zion Covenant Church, under the pastorate of Rev. Kevin Smith. I was ordained in 2007 by Chesapeake Presbytery when we planted City of Hope Presbyterian Church. And for most of my years in this church I have struggled to greet any court of this church with the phrase “fathers and brothers.” “Brothers,” yes, but, “fathers,” no. That began to change for me only over the past few years as I became aware of Black presbyterian fathers in American Presbyterianism.

One of those fathers, Rev. Matthew Anderson, took charge of the Glouster Presbyterian Mission in Philadelphia, PA in 1879. He was wrestling over the decision to plant a Presbyterian church in that city for “the colored people.” The year before he arrived he said he had a pressing invitation from the American Missionary Association to lecture in England and Europe on their behalf along with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. He wrote,

“But we refused, choosing rather to labor humbly but independently at home than conspicuously but servilely abroad.”

He continued,

“As we thought of these opportunities which we let slip and looked at the little dingy place of meeting in the second story back room in Milton Hall, and the little poor and almost childish audience we asked ourselves over and over again, ‘Were we not silly for coming to Philadelphia, to take charge of a mission, which could present no better outlook than this?”

“Is this the ideal church which had been pictured to our imagination when preparing for the ministry?” “Is this the vast audience which we were to address?” “and are these the intelligent, industrious, and enterprising people which we had seen in imagination?” “Have we not been exceedingly silly to let so many golden opportunities slip of the fields which were commensurate with our ambition and ability for this poor sterile field, the Gloucester Mission?”

How many church planters over the years have gone into the mission field and asked, “Is this it?” “Is this what we get to do with all of our seminary training?” He would indeed decide to plant what would become Berean Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia in 1880.

Rev. Anderson drew some conclusions along the way as to the hindrances and opportunities in planting this church. Two things he mentioned that I want to highlight.

The apathy of the Presbytery had to be overcome by arousing them to the importance of the work. Mission work had so long been neglected among the colored people that the Presbyteries had almost lost sight of them, and they were very ignorant as to their real wants and condition.

The apathy of the colored people also had to be overcome. In saying that we saw a demand for the establishment of a Presbyterian Church among the colored people, we do not for a moment mean to imply that they were anxious and eager to have a church planted among them and were standing ready to do all in their power to sustain it, not by any means…There was a demand for the church, but…it was demanded by the condition and wants of the colored people. They themselves, were for the most part indifferent,…not so much toward the establishment of this particular church, but towards the Presbyterian Church generally, and this prejudice was inherited, being associated in their minds with the church which encouraged slavery, also as being cold, aristocratic, pharisaical, and which had no use for the Negro more than to use him as a servant. This spirit would have to be overcome before there would be any marked success.

This spirit would have to be overcome. This reticence and apathy toward the Presbyterian Church would have to be overcome, said Rev. Anderson.

Last week I was sitting with Dr. Lloyd Kim in his office at MTW. And as he prayed to open our meeting time, he confessed at least two times in that prayer that there are no accidents. God is on the throne. He rules and he reigns according to his good pleasure. He is sovereign over the affairs of this world. It has often felt to me as though I was Presbyterian by accident. I have experienced that reticence and apathy Rev. Anderson wrote about in the early 1900s. But there are no accidents!

As I look back over my life, growing up in Christian home, rejecting the faith during my teen years, becoming a radical Black nationalist during my college years, being changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ as a young husband and father at NBBC in Washington, DC, to developing a divine discontent with the racial and ethnic polarization in the churches in America, to being called to the ministry in an overwhelmingly white denomination, there are no accidents! 21 year old Irwyn would look at 49 year old Irwyn with disdain. Because if 21 year old Irwyn could conceive of being a Christian it would only be in an all Black church. But there are no accidents. So, I can say with the saints of old, “I may not be what I wanna be, but thank God I’m not what I used to be!”

God has always had a witness that the Presbyterian Church was his church. Rev. Anderson talked about the apathy of the colored people towards the Presbyterian Church because they were living in the midst of intense racial separation supported and encouraged by Presbyterians. I’ve felt the reticence as I learned that history and experience its aftermath, the fact that only 1% of our pastors are Black. But Fathers and brothers, and sisters, there are no accidents!

I’m delighted to serve as a pastor in this branch of Zion because it’s where God has called me. It’s where he’s called me to press in and pursue my passion to see the ministry of reconciliation demonstrated in the local church by the gathering of people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities. That this practical, on the ground ministry of reconciliation is the natural outworking of our covenantal theological commitment.

It is my joy to be a pastor in the PCA. I might be representative of 1% when it comes to my ethnicity, but by the grace of God, I’m part of the 100% of us here in this church called by Jesus Christ to love the Lord our God with everything, heart, soul, mind and strength. And to love our neighbors as ourselves; called by Jesus to bear witness to the mystery of the gospel - that he reconciles contraries and brings them together into a mystical union that practically works itself out in their loving, serving, and submitting to one another.

The apostle Paul made a prayer request for and a charge to the diverse Roman church in . He said, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then he charged them with these words, “Therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you into the glory of God.”

Yes, I may be the first African American moderator of the PCA GA, and it’s notable; historic even. But, fathers and brothers, the charge remains the same. “Welcome one another, the way Christ has welcomed you, into the glory of God.” May this be the tenor of our church. May this be the tenor of our gathering...