Some black ministers are openly welcoming gays
BY DAVID CRARY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
? In one-on-one chats and resounding sermons,
I the Rev. Kenneth Samuel is trying to lead his 6,000
| strong congregation on a path few black churches
? have trod: wholehearted acceptance of lesbians and
gays.
After convincing himself that homophobia
should be combated as zealously as racism, Samuel
severed his Victory Qhliich's links with black- and
I white-led Baptist organizations. He plans to affiliate
I next month with the liberal United Church of Christ.
' Grateful for Samuel's encouragement, some
! gays and lesbians have risen takadership posts at
the church in Stone Mountain, Ga? sut many con
gregation member! remain dubioiM of the changes.
"We're still working through It," Samuel said.
1 "You can't just gel, up and say, OK, that settles it.'
I'm trying to get the message out there that any kind
? of exclusion of persons - based upon their color,
! their gender, their sexual persuasion - is wrong."
Within the diverse spectrum of African-Ameri
can churches. Victory Church is a rarity.
While some new, alternative churches have
formed in recent years, only a handful of established
black churches - mostly in big cities - have sent a
clear welcome message to gays. Most black minis
ters, like many of their white counterparts, believe
the Bible condemns homosexuality.
The coolness toward gays remains widespread
even though many black churches, overcoming ini
tial reluctance, have enlisted in campaigns to fight
AIDS. In a newly released survey of more than
2,500 black gays and lesbians, 54 percent said their
churches or religions view homosexuality as
"wrong and sinful."
"Sunday sermons preaching against our very
existence are still commonplace," wrote the authors
of the Black Pride Survey.
Donna Payne works with black churches as a
field organizer for the Human Rights Campaign, a
national gay-rights advocacy group. She describes
homophobia in those churches as "a silent disap
proval, sending a message to black gays and les
bians that they're not welcome."
"There are no policies in the African Methodist
Episcopal Church that acknowledge that," she said.
referring to one of the largest black denominations.
"It's not something they would write down, so
there's not something there you can challenge."
Though some white denominations are more
explicit in their condemnation of homosexual activ
ity, churchgoing white gays and lesbians generally
have more options than their black counterparts in
finding an accepting church, Payne said. The result,
she said, is that black gays often stick with the
churches they were raised in - even if anti-gay sen
timent occasionally surfaces.
'To separate from that, and just try to be gay;
means you're into a whole 'nother world that you're
not familiar with, the white gay world." Payne said.
"It's so different, you'd rather go back and hold on
to your African traditions."
An African Methodist Episcopal minister in
Boston, the Rev. Ray Hammond, contended many
black churches are becoming more welcoming to
gays even though the pastors - himself included -
balk at approving their sexual relationships,
i O "If the church is going to be true to its biblical
roots, it cannot endorse the lifestyle and cannot
endorse same-sex marriage." Hammond said.
Hammond, who switched to the ministry after
earning a medical degree at Harvard, has engaged
his Bethel AME Church in the fight against AIDS,
both at home and in West Africa. He acknowledged
that some black churches were slow to join the anti
AIDS crusade, but said this was often due to a gen
eral skittishness toward sexuality rather than out
right disdain for gays.
"There obviously is homophobia, in communi
ties of color like anywhere else, and it needs to be
rooted out," he said.
But Hammond complained that some gay-rights
activists are quick to allege homophobia in cases
where black ministers speak out against same-sex
marriage.
'Too often, in the gay rights movement, when
you disagree on issues, you begin the name-rail
ing," Hammond said.
For the Rev. Kathi Martin, acceptance of gays
came too slowly to the African Methodist Episcopal
Church. The daughter of a minister, she became
pastor of an AME church in Decatur, Ga? in 1994.
but left the denomination three years later after her
superiors scolded her for sanctifying a same-sex
AP Photo/Gregory Smith
Rev. Kathi Martin speaks during the invitation with members of her fiock at a United Church
of Christ service in Atlanta. Martin, who is a lesbian, became a pastor for the UCC and start
ed her own congregation, the God, Self and Neighbor Ministry, in 1999.
union.
"They told me, 'You're ahead of your time,'"
she said. "It was my choice to leave. Fighting
against a denomination is not my thing."
Martin, a lesbian, became a pastor for the Unit
ed Church of Christ and started her own UCC-aflfil
iated congregation in Atlanta in 1999. Most of its
members are gay blacks who were uncomfortable in
traditional black churches.
"The church has always been a safe place for
black people," Martin said. "For gay and lesbian
African Americans, to feel that this is a place where
you're not welcome, it's painful."
While Martin draws no more than 70 or 80 peo
ple to her weekly services, worshippers by the hun
dreds attend each of two Sunday moming services
at Samuel's Victory Church. Both ministers preach
the virtues of tolerance.
For Samuel, who has a wife and daughter and a
doctorate from Union Theological Seminary, reach
ing out to gays is a way to revive the comiiiitment
of black churches to social justice. He contends that
homophobia in the black community is an out
growth of racism.
"We've had to deal so much with the implica
tions of black male castration, economically, politi
cally and socially," he said. "The black community
has tried to compensate by being homophobic. We
have so few black men eligible to lead, to provide
for families, that we need to make certain we don't
lose any more to same-sex unions."
Once his own thinking on the matter crystalized,
Samuel went to work on his congregation, preach
ing that "we are not being untrue to our faith by
affirming all people." But he remains a step ahead
of many members of the church.
"We've not gotten to the point where we can
celebrate same-sex unions." he said. "I'd be ready
for that today, but the people aren't there yet. We
still have a way to go."
McMillan graduates with Ph.D. from UNC-CH
FROM STAFF RETORTS
After winning acclaim and
praise as a much-loved teacher in
the city-county school system,
Fefecia Piggott McMillan left her
classroom
several years
to pursue a
longtime
dream - a Ph.
D
Sunday.
McMillan,
who has been
The Chroni
cle's commu
nity correspo
dent for near
ly 10 years,
graduated
from the Uni
versity of
North Caroli
na at Chapel
Hill, becom
ing one of
only a small
percentage of
African
Americans to
earn a Ph.D.
this year
She defended her dissertation
on April 8. It is titled "Locating
the Neo-Black Aesthetic: Play
wrights of the North Carolina
Black Repertory Company React
to the Black Arts Movement."
The Black Rep is a Winston
Salem-based theater company.
McMillan worked extensively
with the company's founder.
Larry Leon Hamlin, and other
playwrights who have worked
with the company while complet
ing her dissertation.
Hamlin. UNC Board of Gov
ernors Chairman Ben Ruffin,
state Rep. Larry Womble and
many others paid tribute to
McMillan Sunday evening during
a celebration held at the AKA
House at Ivy Arms. At the cele
bration. McMillan's often ardu
ous journey to obtaining her
Ph.D. and her lifelong dedication
to learning and young people
were recalled by many.
McMillan is a member of
Emmanuel Baptist Church,
where she has served as the pres
ident of the Youth Council, a
teacher and a member of the Sun
day school department, and a
member of
the Spiritual
Choir.
Additional
ly, she was
a student in
? the Kemet
School of
Knowledge
who even
t u a I 1 y
became the
director of
. the Kemet
I Academy, a
I Christian
I Afro-cen
* trie Sum
f mer Youth
Camp. Hav
ing accept
ed Christ at
an early
i age, she
w a n t s
young peo
ple to know
that "God is a friend that really
has your back."
McMillan has already built a
fine career record. She has
worked as an English and jour
nalism teacher at Mount Tabor
High School for more than 10
years, where she founded the
Ebony American Society, the
Gospel Choir, a sign language
choir and a drama ensemble. She
was also a technical writing
instructor. SAT prep teacher, and
track coach until she chose to take
a leave of absence from the class
room to pursue her Ph.D. in
African-American literature.
McMillan has won many
awards. Her journalism staff at
Mount Tabor High School won a
first-place ranking from the
National Scholastic Press Associ
ation in Chapel Hill. Also, she
won the Southeast Regional
Excellence in Teaching Award
from the National Council of
Dr. Felecia P. McMillan
Negro Women in 1996. the Terry
Sanford Award for Creativity for
the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School System, the
Human Relations Award. Teacher
of the Year at Mount Tabor, all
from the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County Schools. The Winston
Salem Utban League honored her
with the Outstanding African
American Female Award in
1993. In 2001, she was recog
nized by the YMCA Black
Achievers Program and the
Methodist Churches of America
for her coverage as a representa
tive for The Chronicle.
She has also tutored students
through the Alpha Kappa Alpha
Sorority's SAT preparation class
for three years. She is a member
of the Phi Omega Chapter of the
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
and of Meridian Chapter 308 of
The Order of the Eastern Star
organization. She was also the
first director of the William C.
Sims Learning Center in Happy
Hill Garden for two years. She
has presented more than 200 pro
grams on African-American poet
ry, history, music, drama, fashion
and African American culture for
various churches, civic groups,
fraternal organizations and aca
demic groups.
Education is the cornerstone
of her development. She com
pleted her B.A. in English educa
tion at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill; her mas
ter's degree at North Carolina
Agricultural and Technical State
University. She has taught fresh
man composition at UNC-Chapel
Hill, N.C. A&T State University
and Winston-Salem State Univer
sity. She has also helped N.C.
A&T State University to create a
concentration in technical writing
that will begin in the fall of 2003.
She is the daughter of the late
Benjamin Howard Piggott and
Mae Clarida Piggott. She has
three brothers - Ben, Ronald and
Kermit - and one sister. Marcia.
Her daughter. Reynita McMillan
.is 12 years old. Her nieces, Asha,
Brittany, Chelsea, and Monica,
are also special blessings to her.
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by
Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is
published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle
Publishing Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston
Salem, NC 27101. Periodicals postage paid at Win
ston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
INDEX
OPINION A6
SPORTS B1
RELIGION B4
CLASSIFIEDS BIO
HEALTH ; C3
ENTERTAINMENT C7
CALENDAR C9
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