Models for Class Reconciliation in the Church

1. Models for Class Reconciliation in the Church

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Lower Class Focused Church Models: Latin American Liberation Theology • Unique Role: Political—changing 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

7. Church-Based Workers Movements • Unique Role: Economic—changing 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

8. 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

9. 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 Worker’s Movements • Ministry to address economic issues for the working class

10. 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 group’s 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

11. Being a Multi-class Church • Unique Role: Equality—ministry 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

12. 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)

13. Being a Giving Church • Unique Role: resources—giving 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

14. Comparing Models of Class Ministry

15. Marxism vs. Pentecostals: Indigenous Values Who has more indigenous values of the “poor”: Pentecostals or Marxists?

16. Marxism vs. Pentecostalism

17. 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)