A Theology of Global Concern
By Rev. Dr. Herman O. Kelly, Contributing Writer
The tradition and history of the AME Church have been a church that cares and has a concern for the least among us. Our hearts should be hurting and bleeding as we see children caged like animals and parents with pain in their eyes because of separation from their children. Our concern as a Zion has always reached across oceans and ethnicity.
Our mantra has been Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Richard Allen, our beloved founder and first elected and consecrated bishop walked the streets of Philadelphia during the yellow fever epidemic to bring comfort to the sick and afflicted. He and others put their health and wellbeing in arms way. This is our theology. This is our ministry of concern.
As a pastor in the AME Church, I live by the mantra of helping the least among us. A few years ago in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we saw young brilliant minds being excluded from STEM camps because of the cost. Sister Linda M. Kelly, a STEM graduate from Grambling State University and a career STEM helped us organize a free STEM camp for young people in the community. Our first few years, the ministry grew and now we are housed in the Leo Butler Community Center. Our local city councilwoman, Mrs. Tara Wicker, partnered with us to make a difference.
We must never forget our theology of concern for the least among us. What should we do to make an impact in the present global situation?
First, we must educate our congregations and give them information regarding our response to the global society. We must remember and appreciate our tradition of response and concern. In the Eighth Episcopal District, led by Bishop Julius H. McAllister and Mother Joan McAllister, we have a Disaster Relief Ministry. It is in place to respond to all global concerns, locally and internationally. We were grateful for the assistance given to us in our time of need. This is a theology of global concern.
Secondly, we must be concerned regarding the recent and unsettling gun violence in our communities. We should co-partner with groups like MOMs, a group concerned with gun control in our nation. We must be witnesses against more guns in our communities. Be involved and stand up for justice.
Lastly, we should remember that we are called to make a difference. Our children must see us being concerned for others. I thank God for parents who always move to make a difference in the world. They worked in the community and our Zion. They gave me a wonderful pattern to be concerned with least among us. Once, a gentleman fell sick in a local department store. My mother, a registered nurse, began to assist the person. My response was to ask, “Mother, why are you always helping people?” She said to me, “Son, one day you may fall sick at a store and hope someone will help you.” What an epiphany. What a witness. I remember those words, and they are forever printed in my spirit.
