Reflections on #Ferguson: Creating the Urban Immersion, Part 1

Last updated on: April 29, 2015 at 7:41 pm by Guest Contributor

Reflections on #Ferguson: Creating the Urban Immersion, Part 1 2015-04-29T19:41:37-05:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Andre E. Johnson

R3 Editor

The week of January 11-16, 2015, I taught an immersion class in Ferguson, Missouri. These are some of my reflections of that week.

Last semester, I taught African American Religious Thought. The course focused on the religious thinking and interpretation of African Americans—both within and outside of the Black Church or Christian tradition. The particular offering this semester focused on published works of particular African American “theologians,” both of the systematic and public variety. In short, the class offers as a component, the religious thinking of both academic and lay theologians as they struggle to discern the sacred in and around their lives. I put particular interest on how theologies are constructed—thus creating what I have called rhetorical theology.

However, after the death of Mike Brown and the massive resistance of mainly young protesters in the city of Ferguson and across America, I decided to change the focus of the class to what I called the Ferguson Fiasco. In linking the issues and problems of Ferguson with those of the 1960’s I wrote

The issues and problems in Ferguson are reminiscent of the issues and problems in the late 1960’s….Back then, for many African Americans, the prevailing theology of the day did not speak for or to them. Today, many are asking for a theological response to the unrest and tensions in Ferguson. With this class, I hope to move it from a merely academic pursuit of theological inquiry and place student reflection within a context that begs for a theological response.

By all accounts, the class went over well. Students really engaged the readings, did deep theological reflection, and pushed their own theological boundaries. However, this is not to say that students—many of them church leaders—came to the class with some of the same questions others have when talking about Ferguson. Many of them asked about the looting, destruction of property and the “violence” of protesters. Some wanted us to address “black on black crime” while others wondered aloud what would marching and protest do anyway. While we did address those and other concerns, I kept asking the class, “What should be the theological response to the killing on an unarmed Michael Brown and how the church can help facilitate that discussion?” “Does the church have a role?” These and others questions kept us focused on their role of the church and how the Black religious thought tradition has spoken to injustices in the past. After much reflection and discussion, on the last day of class, we put together our response to Ferguson.

For our J-term semester and building upon the African American Religious Thought class, I decided to offer our Urban Theology class. Typically, classes in urban theology explore and focus on the current dynamics found in urban society that call and challenge the church to re-examine ways of ministry. In addition, it allows students to examine their own theological positions as they specifically relate to urban situations of poverty, addiction, racism, sexism, violence, unemployment, environmental toxicity, prison, and inadequate education.

I decided however, as with the African American Religious Thought class, to focus this course offering on Ferguson as well. Drawing from their particular ministry location and realizing that any authentic theology must be contextual, I expected students to examine their own theological positions through the contextual lens of the Ferguson Fiasco. In this class, among other things, we examined how an urban theology would speak to the events and happenings in Ferguson. Additionally, we also examined how people constructed the “sacred” in all that occurred in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death.

While I thought I had the making of a good class, there was something missing. I had collected many of the writings here and here on the events of Ferguson. I had selected three good textbooks that I thought would help students reflect on the happenings in Ferguson. I also thought I did a good job with assignments. In short, I thought that the lectures, readings, videos and student reflections would make a great J-term class—but something was still missing from the class. Then it hit me—we needed to be in Ferguson. In other words, this class needed to be an immersion experience. We needed to get out of the classroom and experience—as much as possible, the sights, sounds, and situations that make up Ferguson.

We needed to listen to protesters and activists. We needed conversations with pastors and church leaders who have been ministering in this situation. We needed to see the place where Darren Wilson shot and killed Mike Brown. We needed to see the burned and boarded up buildings. We needed to talk with people tear gassed and shot with “rubber bullets” by law enforcement officials. We needed to listen to guest speakers who would come to and give us testimony. We needed to stand with those who stand in the street and experience life through their eyes. We needed to see how people are coming together and standing with each other against all odds. We needed to see how those who protest still find time to relax, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company. We needed to see this and much more if this class was to be meaningful for any of us.

However, we also needed someone else—we needed a host. We needed someone to help us navigate our time in Ferguson—someone close to the situation. Someone touched and shaped by the happenings in Ferguson. Enter Deb Krause, academic Dean at Eden Theological Seminary. On the recommendation of my colleague Peter Gathje at Memphis Theological Seminary, I contacted Deb to ask about the possibility of our class meeting at Eden. I also gently asked if she or someone could just point us in the right direction to meet and listen to some of the people of Ferguson while we were there. Not only did she agree to do this, but she also arranged housing for us on campus.

With classroom space, a host, and now a place to stay, I headed to Ferguson. Little did I know just how much impact this class would have on my ministry. Little did I know just how much this class would (re)shaped my theology. Little did I know just how much this class would reorient my teaching. Little did I know just how much transformation wa
s about to happen.

To be Continued…….

Read Part 2 here

Follow Andre on Twitter @aejohnsonphd

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 22, 2015

How Secular Family Values Stack Up

Next Post

January 23, 2015 The Politics of Poverty, Race, and Religion

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Amy Steele Andre E. Johnson Book Reviews/Series Brian Foulks Call for Chapters Carol Howard Merritt Classes Conferences Contributors Crystal St.Marie Lewis Daniel White Hodge Earle Fisher Eulogy Fredrick Robinson Guest Contributions Henry McNeal Turner Institutes Interviews Joseph Boston Katherine Whitfield Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Lectures/Roundtables Natalie Bullock Brown R3 Book Series R3 Contributor Rashad Grove Readers Reflections Symposiums Teaching Traci Ellis Travis Harris Uncategorized Video

Select a Month June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 October 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz