The African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee is planning this weekend for a “Social Justice Sunday” followed by a rally Tuesday in Nashville — events one pastor said are meant to express a Christian concern for the marginalized.
Some say social justice has no place within the faith, said the Rev. Terry Ladd III of Chattanooga’s First Baptist Church East Eight Street. In fact, much of America, he said in a phone interview, is stuck in a “slave Bible hermeneutic,” a reference to a version of the Bible distributed in the 19th century to enslaved people that omitted passages that might inspire rebellion.
With the complete Bible, Ladd said, it is hard to not to see Jesus’ ministry as being directed toward the most oppressed and vulnerable. The impulse for diversity and inclusion comes not from “critical theory,” he said, but from the Bible and Jesus himself.
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An event flyer encouraged Tennessee clergy to reflect Sunday on social justice principals with their congregations, equipping them to be advocates for the weak and voiceless.
“Incorporating social justice into our worship services,” the flyer said, “demonstrates that the gospel and justice are not mutually exclusive but represent the heart of God, as evidenced from Genesis to Revelation.”
The rally to follow Tuesday in Nashville is set to involve meetings in a church and with lawmakers. Key issues, according to Ladd, include affordable housing and Medicaid expansion.
He said the collective opposed the Education Freedom Act, a proposal to dramatically ramp-up taxpayer subsidies for private school tuition that passed the Tennessee General Assembly this week and that Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign.
Critics say the measure, long an ambition of the Christian right, will undermine and draw scarce taxpayer funds from public education.
Proponents say it will give more people, including the poor, a better chance to attend private schools and foster competition that could pressure public schools to improve.
Contact Andrew Schwartz at aschwartz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.
