Princeton Seminary Chapel - Friday, October 27, 2023  

transcript below video

What kind of Christianity?

In 1974 Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, asked this very question. She said:

What kind of Christianity would allow white Christians to deny basic human rights and simple dignity to their siblings of color?

What kind of Christianity?

This is the same question Dr. William Yoo asks in his most recent book. This seminary professor and historian faithfully and diligently brings to the surface some of the disgusting underbelly of the presbyterian church. He shines a light on the putrefaction that the denomination, my denomination, the denomination of this seminary, has tried to ignore and erase. Through extensive research, Dr. Yoo shows the history of the PCUSA’s complicity and active engagement in chattel slavery and its longstanding participation in the sin of anti-blackness

And Princeton seminary is not exempt from this history. The very men who founded and formed this seminary, like Hodge and Witherspoon, actively disregarded abolitionist efforts and intentionally supported slavery. These men, and most of the denomination along with them, placed indulgence and convenience over the basic dignity and humanity of others. Profit over any sense of justice.

Near the end of his book, Dr. Yoo writes the following. (This is a long quote, which I know is in bad homiletical taste so apologies to the entire preaching department) He explains:

Because some of us cannot imagine that white persons, American citizens, and Presbyterian leaders could have been guilty of such evil, one incorrect contemporary explanation for past crimes and sins is to assert that these white Presbyterian ancestors had a ‘lack of theological imagination.’

He goes on to say:

Princeton Theological Seminary recently concluded that the founding leaders of the institution opposed abolition and supported the American Colonization Society because they could not envision a racially just and integrated society. But Black and white Presbyterian abolitionists, including Theodore S Wright—THE MAN WE NAMED OUR LIBRARY AFTER—provided a blueprint for such a society. Wright’s vision for Black liberation was in full view of white leaders at Princeton Seminary, and they intentionally chose to dismiss it.

Let me read that last sentence again.        

Wright’s vision for Black liberation was in full view of white leaders at Princeton Seminary, and they intentionally chose to dismiss it.

What kind of Christianity would allow this—would condone or support this??

Now friends This question, What kind of Christianity, isn’t a question that can only be asked about the past. This question MUST be asked about the present too.

And, I have to wonder, will future historians write similar indictments about us? As they uncover all of our documented sins and trespasses against neighbor that will be kept in a climate controlled archival room in the library, will they shake their heads in sorrow and anger? Will they say of us as they have of our Presbyterian ancestors, that “[We have] No other God but Money, nor religion but profit”

So I ask us today, What kind of Christianity do we have here? And what kind of Christianity do we want to have here?

As some of you might know, SPJ—Seminarians for Peace and Justice—alongside several faculty members has been working for years to make the seminary’s endowment transparent. While many other institutions of higher learning have made the source of their income public, our seminary has not.

Some of you at this point might be thinking to yourself, “Sarah, please for the love of God don’t get into this. Don’t talk anymore about investments and finance and ROIs and IRAs and all the other confusing financial acronyms. This is a seminary, not the London School of Economics.”

And I get that I get that.  It’s not fun, sexy or exciting for most of us to talk about institutional endowments and investing and money management. It’s confusing and not what I thought I’d be spending time on in my 20s.

But, this is something we need to think about and reflect on. Because that money comes from somewhere. And as our scriptures tell us, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

We say that we are a Christian community--yet our money—the very money that funds my scholarship and the salaries of our beloved professors—may very well be coming from the oppression and exploitation of the most vulnerable in our society. Money from investing in fossil fuels. in prisons. In weapons manufacturing. Money that comes from the ravenous machine of empire and death. Of all that is counter to the Kingdom of God.

So I think we are at a cross roads. Will they say of us “No other God but Money, nor religion but profit” Or will they say “well done good and faithful servant”

will we continue the sins of our denominational and institutional ancestors? Or are we willing to really get a foretaste of the kingdom of God in the here and now by enacting justice and mercy?

Will we embrace death? Or will we embody the concern and love for neighbor and friend that Jesus modeled for us through his life, death, and resurrection.

On this communion Friday I ask us to reflect on What kind of Christianity we want to have here, today. On this communion Friday, as we come together as one part the body of Christ, I invite us to reflect on how we can honor the body’s other members—especially those who have become victims of our collective avarice. And may this communion, this service, be the beginning of us declaring that our God is not money but in fact Jesus Christ—the author and perfector of our faith. Amen.