REV. PAUL PEREZ Director for Mission and Justice Engagement, Detroit Conference 

Wednesday night I had the honor of participating in a Prayer Vigil for the nine men and women who lost their lives in the shooting at Emanuel AME Church. The vigil was organized by United Methodist leaders in Detroit and was hosted at Trinity Faith UMC.

(R-l) Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey, Rev. Jan Brown, and the Rev. Charles Boayue, were among those providing leadership at the Prayer Vigil hosted by Trinity Faith UMC in Detroit on June 24. ~photo courtesy Rev. Dr. Jerome DeVine

Lament, Hope, and Love Reflections and prayers were offered by many church and community leaders including United Methodist Bishop Deborah Kiesey and representatives from the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church: The Rev. Andre Spivey, Pastor of St. Paul AME Church in Detroit and Detroit City Council-member, and The Rev. Dr. Claude A. Bass, Pastor of St. John CME Church in Detroit. The speakers offered words of lament, hope, comfort, and action. 

Prayers were said for the nine men and women who lost their lives. Many speakers raised the need to confront racism and commit to anti-racist action. Others spoke to the issue of access to firearms. All focused on God’s justice and steadfast love. The vigil ended with a balloon release organized by young adults serving in our Detroit Conference Mission Intern program. 

After the vigil, The Rev. Dr. Jerry DeVine, Director of Connectional Ministries, shared this reflection: “As we were singing some of the grounding hymns, I found myself looking at the faces of people I have been working so closely with over the past several years, people who could have been the victims of that violence, and my soul was deeply disturbed even while I gave thanks for how they have influenced my life and shared ministry with me. There is nothing abstract about racial hatred, even though racism tries to homogenize and caricature the ‘other’.” 

Many United Methodists from Southeast Michigan and beyond attended. In conversation after the vigil, attendees shared that they felt a deep need to gather for prayer and reflection and expressed their gratitude to the leaders who organized the vigil. 

Personally, the evening was a powerful and convicting reminder that there is much work to be done. It also helped to bring into missional focus two demographic changes facing our state that have been on my mind and heart over the past year. 

A More Multi-Racial Michigan First, Michigan’s overall population is decreasing year after year. Demographers project that any increases that occur in the coming decades will be among Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern communities and lead to a much more diverse, multi-racial Michigan.   The violent shooting at Emanuel AME makes it painfully evident that we do not live in a “post-racial,” “color-blind” society. Racism, unfortunately, is not vanishing with the change of generations. If many of the communities in our state are projected to be even more multi-racial in the coming years, then confronting racism and white privilege, individually and institutionally, must become a crucial task. I wonder how United Methodists in Michigan might take the lead and join together to accomplish such an urgent task. I wonder how such work can come to be understood as simultaneously growing out of our Wesleyan evangelical and social justice roots. Our denomination’s General Commission on Religion and Race points us in the right direction with their Vital Conversation Resources, but it takes the courage to intentionally put these resources into practice. How might we, together, engage in this challenging work? 

Ministry With Young People Second, each year here in Michigan and around the country more and more young people self-identify as “None” or “No Religious Affiliation.”   Dylann Roof, who committed the Emanuel AME shooting, is a 21 year old member of the “millennial” generation. What forces are at work in our society that lead young people, especially young men, who are searching for meaning, community, and a sense of self-worth to find answers in ideologies and communities founded on hatred, terrorism, and violence? Please hear me, this question is not meant to excuse the actions of Dylann Roof. I am, however, lamenting the fact the he and many other young people find the narratives and communities of white supremacy, ISIS, and organized criminal gangs so compelling.   I wonder what this reality means for United Methodists in Michigan. How might we be in ministry with young people, especially young people who live under intense social, economic, and political pressures? In what ways do our churches need to change and grow to engage in relationship with young adults who do not identify with any religious tradition but are searching for deep meaning and purpose?   For Such A Time As This? How might these two realities shape Michigan United Methodism’s missional priorities? Who is God calling us to become in this present moment? As we begin to take the next step in our journey of becoming one Annual Conference, we will all have much to ponder and wrestle with. Part of that wrestling, I believe, must include crucial conversations around racism and ministry with vulnerable young people so that we might be faithful to our call as disciples of Christ in such a time as this.