Models for Class Reconciliation in the Church

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Models for Class Reconciliation in the Church
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Three Options Biblically for Churches

• Be a lower-class dominant church
• Be a multi-class church
• Must work toward genuine class reconciliation
  within the church
• Only possible if church can develop a critical
  mass of the poor and if the pastors will use
  their power to offset natural class tendencies in
  society
• Be a Middle/Upper Class Giving Church
• Give one-third of tithe to churches and
  ministries that primarily serve the poor and
  oppressed

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Lower Class Focused Church Models Pentecostals

• Unique Role Church culturally of the poor
• Class Background
• Ministry of the poor
• Church culture strongly fits with class culture
  of the poor creating self selection
• Class identification through policies
• Control over education to avoid class
  assimilation
• Raise leadership from within
• Class Access
• Very little access to upper classes to
  redistribute resources, and Is financially
  dependent on lower classes
• Somewhat promotes gaining class access to
  individuals with a distrust the spiritual effect
  of classism of educational instructions
• Class Consciousness
• Does not promote Class Consciousness

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Lower Class Focused Church Models Salvation Army

• Unique Role ministry with the poor to get
  resources to the poorest
• Class Background
• Ministry with the poor
• Mission strongly focused on transferring
  resources to the poor
• Class Identification through policies
• Control over education to avoid class
  assimilation
• Raise leadership from within
• Class Access
• Amazing level of class access to upper classes to
  redistribute resources, but can be financially
  dependent on upper classes
• Somewhat promotes gaining class access to
  individuals with a distrust of the spiritual
  effect of classism of educational instructions
• Class Consciousness
• Does not promote Class Consciousness

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Lower Class Focused Church Models Urban Black
Churches

• Unique Role Ministry of the urban Black
  community
• Class Background
• Ministry of the poor, with the poor and to the
  poor
• Mission focus on Urban Black community makes
  class an inherent focus
• Class Identity
• Maintaining racial identity will often maintain
  class identification if they remain in
  lower-class dominant churches
• Education in classist institutions can cause loss
  of class identification even while maintaining
  racial identity
• Class Access
• Strongly promotes upwardly mobile in class access
• Is often financially dependent on middle/upper
  class Black community
• Class Consciousness
• Strongly promotes racial awareness, but does not
  strongly promote distinct Class Consciousness

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Lower Class Focused Church Models Latin American
Liberation Theology

• Unique Role Politicalchanging political systems
  of exploitation
• Class Background
• Ministry to the poor and with the poor
• Lower classes often self select increasingly to
  Pentecostalism because it often is a better fit
  with culture
• Mission strongly focused on changing systems
  that perpetuating poverty
• Class Identification
• Strong theology to maintain class identification
• Class Access
• Strong level of access to upper classes through
  Catholic church to affect political systems, but
  can be financially dependent on upper classes
  through Catholic church
• Language is often middle/upper class language to
  influence systems
• Class Consciousness
• Strongly promotes Class Consciousness through
  theology

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Church-Based Workers Movements

• Unique Role Economicchanging economic systems
  of exploitation
• Class Background
• Working class (lower, lower middle and middle)
• Mission to address economic issues for the
  working-class
• Class identification
• Very strong control over education to avoid class
  assimilation
• Promote language, dress and culture of working
  class to maintain class identity
• Class access
• Movements are often led by middle-class that
  maintain their class identification with the
  working class and poor
• Do not promote mobility out of blue collar jobs
• Class Consciousness
• Very strongly promotes Class Consciousness

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Lessons from Lower Class Church Models

• Class Background
• Lower classes self-select to groups that fit
  their culture
• Cultural fit is more important than being
  politically for the poor
• Class Identification
• Lower class identification is often done through
  organizational structures and culture than
  through an individual process
• Class Access
• Gaining class access while maintaining class
  identification is difficult unless you manage the
  educational process
• Class Consciousness
• Often the political environment will not tolerate
  promoting Class Consciousness
• Class Consciousness becomes more possible and
  necessary as you gain class access

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Lessons from Church Models Understand Your Role
in Class Reconciliation

• Pentecostals
• Ministry of the poor that fits its class culture
• Salvation Army
• Transferring resources from upper classes to
  lower classes
• Black Churches
• Race-centered ministry of/with the poor and/or
  transferring resources from upper classes to
  lower classes
• Latin American Liberation Theology Churches
• Ministry to change political systems affecting
  the poor
• Christian Workers Movements
• Ministry to address economic issues for the
  working class

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Lessons from Church Models Class Consciousness
and Being Apolitical

• Upper class groups often paternalistically judge
  lower class groups that are apolitical
• Frequently it is politically unsafe for lower
  class groups to be political due to extreme
  oppression
• Latin American History (political volatility)
• McCarthyism in the USA (suppression of Class
  Consciousness)
• Being political and being class aware often go
  together
• Important to recognize that being political and
  class aware is usually done by those gaining
  class access while retaining class identification
  because of increased power to cope with hostility
• Should respect lower class groups perspective to
  determine this for themselves based on their
  unique role
• But recognize that political situations do change
  and may require re-evaluating apolitical
  traditions

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Being a Multi-class Church

• Unique Role Equalityministry with the poor on
  equal level
• Requires commitment to at least do ministry with
  the poor
• Ministry to the poor in a multi-class church is
  inherently paternalistic
• Most common in ethnic churches
• Must work toward genuine class reconciliation
  within the church
• Need critical mass of lower-class church members
• Requires pastors that are willing to use their
  power to offset class dominance tendencies

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Power in a Multi-class Church

• There will be overwhelmingly strong tendencies
  for upper classes to dominate in multi-class
  churches
• Leadership, culture, worship, values, resource
  allocation, program priorities, etc.
• Pastors must use their power to offset tendencies
  of class dominance
• Need pastors that identify with the poor for be
  able to see their perspective for this to be
  possible
• Need critical mass of leaders with a lower-class
  identity to make this possible
• It is better to follow the giving church model
  than to do the multi-class model poorly (where
  power is not balanced between classes)

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Being a Giving Church

• Unique Role resourcesgiving resources to
  ministries of/with the poor
• Many churches will not be able to generate a
  critical mass of lower classes to be able to
  serve them well (geography, cultural barriers)
• These churches should follow the Biblical model
  in Deuteronomy and give 1/3 of the church income
  to lower-class dominant organizations
• Lower-class dominant organizations will be able
  to meet the poor in their own cultural context
• Important to not use giving to control
  organizations because that can impose upper class
  values
• Encourage relationship building with partners,
  but do it without exercising control

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Comparing Models of Class Ministry
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Marxism vs. Pentecostals Indigenous Values
Who has more indigenous values of the poor
Pentecostals or Marxists?
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Marxism vs. Pentecostalism
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Summary of Marxism

• Marxism is the logical conclusion of applying
  dominant culture values to the situation of the
  lower class
• Objectivity, materialism, detached, analytical
  tools of academia lack cultural values of the
  lower classes
• Significantly devalues the subjective culture of
  the lower classes
• Marxism promises material benefit at the cost of
  the soul of the culture (requires cultural
  assimilation to the above dominant cultural
  values)