Reformed Afro-Centrism

Editor's Note: Dr. Charles Reese is the pastor of Charlotte's Faith Liberation Presbyterian Church, one of the few ethnically and racially diverse churches in the overwhelmingly white Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) denomination. He says his theology is “solidly Reformed,” but his cultural approach is “afro-centric.” This philosophy, and his activism in the community, has been driving forces in the growth of his church from an idea to a thriving congregation. Charlotte World Publisher Warren Smith talked with him about his beliefs and how theologically conservative churches could be more accommodating of cultural differences.

Warren Smith: It is my understanding that you are the only black senior pastor in a PCA church in the United States.

Charles Reece: I am one of four.

WS: How did that come about? How did you end up in the PCA?

CR: I would have to say God has a sense of humor. I was at the cutting edge of the civil rights movement when I came to Charlotte. I didn't have any attachment to the PCA. Not to their polity or theology. So we decided became a non-denominational church. But in the process of looking for property we met an elder at Christ Covenant Church. And eventually we became a part of the PCA denomination. 

WS: How did that come about? You had to pass an ordination process. If your polity and theology was originally different, that was surely an issue. 

CR: Even though I came to Charlotte under the PCUSA [Presbyterian Church-USA], I was raised Baptist -- quote unquote black Baptist. But it's like I always say to my people: black people have always been Reformed, because there was a time when black people had no one to depend on. No government or anything. So we had to depend on God, on the sovereignty of God. So in that sense we have always been Reformed. And, yes, I had to pass a rigorous and investigative process to become a part of the PCA.

WS: Why aren't there more African Americans in Reformed or theological conservative churches?

CR: You must go back to history. By me saying that African Americans are conservative, that should not be interpreted in political terms. When we talk about conservatism we are talking about their reliance on the Word of God, but when the word conservatism gets played out in the political arena, somehow it turns into a racial thing which results in bitterness. I feel that if the Republican Party spoke to the African American party without such an attitude, then the African American community would respond to the Republican Party.

WS: African Americans voted 91% -- more or less -- for Al Gore and 9% -- more or less -- for President Bush, and yet Gore stood for abortion rights and many other things that anyone who is theologically conservative, regardless of race, would find odious. How do you explain that?

CR: Unfortunately, America votes its pocket book and not it's morality. That is unfortunate, but it's it doesn't matter who you're talking about -- black, white, Asian or Jews, black people, in America, in Charlotte.

On one hand we uplift moral issues. We're against certain things, like abortion. But on the other hand we have a tendency to look for people who represent us best. Now in the black community Republicans are seen as being insensitive. When we hear Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan make certain statements, that conjures up in our minds that this particular ideology, Republican ideology, is anti-black. So the vote is not so much against Bush as it was about history.

WS: Let's move away from politics for a moment. The whole idea of racial reconciliation is something I wanted to discuss with you. There's been a lot of talk about racial reconciliation in the evangelical church. Is their true racial reconciliation happening in the evangelical church?

CR: No, and I say that because we get racial reconciliation mixed up with cultural illiteracy. Yes, we do have a racial problem in this country and we have a cultural divide. I believe in creationism. I believe we are all one people, and that God presides over all history. But we can't dispute what the anthropologists have said, that we were originally all one race. We were all Africans. But in the ice age we got divided. That was the beginning of a cultural divide that none of us had anything to do with. 

WS: How do we deal with the history of this country in the last 200 or 300 years. Someone said to me recently that the problems we have between the races is not that the radicals on either side of the racial divide are both wrong, but that they are both right. In other words, it's true that whites have oppressed blacks and there needs to be some acknowledgement of that. But it's also true that liberal policies and “political correctness” run amok have created a new kind of enslavement of both blacks and whites. And many young whites don't feel personally responsible for the racism of the past. How do we deal with these attitudes?

 CR: I don' t think that any government entity can bring about reformation. I am not saying government can't make an impact. But if we want true reformation, it has to begin with individuals. We have a lot of whites in this world who do not even acknowledge that slavery was wrong. That is a basic moral question with us. That is like having Jews listening to someone in Germany say that the Holocaust wasn't wrong. That is ridiculous. So what we have to do, as a nation, is realize what is wrong, and we have yet to do that. You also have to be sorry for what you do. And you can't just say you are sorry; you have to be willing to change. And, of course, history has documented that those who have power do not give up power easily, and white America is very aware of that, because when the white Europeans settled this country they took power from the Native Americans. So it is not a strange concept. It is reality.

WS: Tell me a little about your church. If I describe it as “afrocentric,” do you have a problem with that?

CR: Oh, no. First of all I would say it is Christ-centered, Bible-based. And because we are Christ-centered and Bible-based, we are Afro-centric. My dream and our dream is that all churches would one day say we are Christ-centered and Bible-based and Afro-centric because that is where the gospel and the origin of the race took place. I won't live to see that, by the way, but at least we can begin the process.

WS: It is said that the most segregated hour is at 11:00 on Sunday morning, but what is the ultimate goal, to see a racially diverse Sunday worship service? Shouldn't it be to see a congregation that is spiritually healthy, and then let the race issue take care of itself? 

CR: It's hypocritical to think we can come together in a church setting when we can't come together on a school setting, on the board of education. I ran for the board of education this last election, and it's hypocritical to think we can come together on Sunday morning and Monday through Saturday we go our separate ways. So I am not currently a fan of multi-cultural, integrating -- whatever you want to call it -- of the churches. There are black people in Charlotte who do not know who they are. There are white people in Charlotte who do not know who they are. I am aware of blacks who have visited white churches, but their motives are for the wrong reason. They are trying to get into the network. It has nothing to do with the Christian gospel and everything to do with the corporate world and to me that is a sin. That's hypocrisy.

WS: Are we beginning to get over the history of race politics in Charlotte? What direction are we moving?

CR: I think race is being used as a race card now. Don't get me wrong; I do think by human nature we want to uplift our own kind. I would like to see more black teachers in the school systems, which is not to say there are not any qualified whites. I just want to see more blacks to administer African American children. Same thing for Hispanics and Asians.

But ultimately, I don't think judge or any law, or any public figure can solve these problems. Ultimately, these are spiritual issues.