Freedom House Church did not seem all that free this weekend.
Makeda Pennycooke, the church’s executive pastor of operations, sent an email to church volunteers asking that “only white people” greet worshippers at church services. The email said that leaders anticipated an increased number of visitors in the coming weeks, and that since “first impressions matter,” the church wants “the best of the best on the front doors.”
An outraged church member received the email and sent it to a local news station. The controversy even more disturbing is the fact that Pennycooke is a black woman, while senior pastors Troy and Penny Maxwell are white. Nonetheless, the church’s request was hard to misinterpret. ”We are continuing to work to bring our racial demographic pendulum back to mid-line,” Pennycooke wrote. ”We would rather have less greeters on the front door if it means that the few that we have will represent us the best.”
It sounds as if Ms. Pennycookes' desire is to increase the white demographic at the expense of African-Americans parishioners.
Freedom House, a diverse church in Charlotte, North Carolina has already apologized for the incident. “The email was sent by one of our longtime pastors in an attempt to emphasize that our greeting team reflect the racial diversity of our entire congregation,” a church spokesperson wrote in a statement. “However, she admitted it was a mistake to over-emphasize any specific group and sent an apology email within 24 hours of the original email going out.”
Freedom House has four services every weekend. Five values drive its mission, according to the church website: “We are an equipping church (Ephesians 4:11-13); a relationally healthy church (Matthew18:19-20); an excellent church (Daniel 6:3); a leadership church; and agenerous church (Proverbs 11:24-25).”
If anything, the incident serves as a reminder of another biblical passage, Apostle Paul’s teaching that the Christian gospel breaks down all barriers between humans. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female,” he wrote in the New Testament book of Galatians. “All of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
Here is the full statement and apology from Freedom House regarding the incident.
One of our longtime pastors, in keeping with our church’s desire to be inclusive and intentionally reach out to all races, noticed our front door greeting team was no longer reflecting the racial diversity of our entire congregation, and she wanted potential visitors to see people like themselves upon entering our church. However, she made an error in judgment in requesting all white greeters at the front door, going overboard in placing emphasis on any one race over another in trying to highlight diversity within the greeting team. She admits this was a grave lapse in judgment and is sincerely sorry for her actions. She immediately apologized and has asked our forgiveness. She and senior pastors have made themselves available to meet with any church members who want to discuss this situation with them, and have communicated their true heart in this matter to be a church welcoming and inclusive to all. Freedom House believes in a diverse relationship within its membership, reflecting the larger community in which the church resides, doing life together as a church representative of everyone culturally, ethnically, economically, and generationally.
It is entirely possible that Ms. Pennycookes' intentions are not as dubious as they seem. But given the fact that she referred to the white greeters as "the best of the best", and then goes on to say that they in fact, represent them the best, tells me that her intentions were not misinterpreted at all.
Self loathing is nothing new in the African-America community. In fact it is a subject that is rarely discussed, talked about, or acknowledged. But it does exist. Media imagery, and cultural conditioning have fueled a self hatred within the Black community that you would be hard pressed to find in any other. The constant bombardment of a westernized or European standard of beauty that is the anthesis of all things that are not African-American has planted in deep seeded disdain in many within the community. Notice Ms. Pennycookes association with being Caucasian and being the best. Her behavior also speaks to an effort, whether realized of not to appease her white associates by choosing some of their own.
During slavery there were house negroes, and field negroes. The house Negros thought of themselves as better, simply because they worked in the "slave masters" house, and had a close association with him. So much so that these particular slaves often treated the field negroes just as bad, if not worse than the "slave master". Especially if he sensed that it pleased him.
The sad reality is that long after slavery, there is still a "house negro" alive and well in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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It is ashame that people today our people still have ignorant belief that white is better. I found out recently that there are over a million graves of Africans that were killed by whites back in the eigthies over five hundred of them children. A major brand name company built a textile factory on top of the graves. This company paid the African workers twelve dollars a month. This is in the eigthies. Twelve dollars a month to work on top of their families graves. I will never buy that name brand sneaker again. Some of these athletes should look into the companies they represent.
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