FAITH forum 7B REFLECTIONS


Reconciliation is lesson from ‘riveting’ new book


BY BISHOP WOODIE W. WHITE UMR Columnist


She was simply known as “Kitty”


and later as “Miss Kitty.” Many Methodists remember her as the young, unnamed slave woman at the center of the 1844 General Conference debate concerning Bishop James Os- good Andrew of Georgia, and the ac- cusation that he owned slaves. Methodist church law prohibited the owning of slaves by bishops. The unresolved


controversy resulted in the southern dele- gations of the church withdrawing and es- tablishing a new de- nomination in 1845, which they named the Methodist Epis- copal Church South, distinguishing it from the Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1784. This is familiar history for many


Bishop Woodie White


United Methodists today. Less familiar are the details of the alleged owner- ship by Bishop Andrew of the young woman known as Miss Kitty. For some this history is still a matter of concern, as I have recently discovered. In the community of Oxford, Ga.,


some 30 miles outside of Atlanta (Ox- ford being the town in which Atlanta’s Emory University was established as Oxford College) the story of Miss Kitty and Bishop Andrew has been kept alive and in a sense has caused unre- solved and sometimes unspoken ten- sions between African American and white citizens. It is no surprise each community has its own narrative of the relationship between Miss Kitty and Bishop James Osgood Andrew. A riveting new book, The Acciden-


tal Slaveowner: Revisiting A Myth of Race & Finding An American Family, written by Mark Auslander, currently associate professor of anthropology & museum studies, and director of the Museum of Culture and Environment at Central Washington University, in Ellensburg, Wash., looks in depth at the story. Dr. Auslander was a professor at


Oxford College (still a division of Emory), in Oxford, Ga. There he be- came acquainted with the ongoing controversy of the two narratives re- lated to Miss Kitty and Bishop An- drew. His interest and scholarly


inquisitiveness led him to his study of not only this relationship, which had caused the division of a denomina- tion, but also the nature of slavery, es- pecially in Oxford and the surrounding community. In the course of his work, he began


to wonder about how Miss Kitty had spent her adult life. Where were her de- scendants? The Accidental Slaveowner answers these questions and more. In February of this year, I was a


part of a round table discussion and worship service held one Sunday af- ternoon in Oxford’s Old Church, a revered historical site that also is im- portant in Georgia Methodist history. It’s close to the cemetery where Bishop James Andrew and Mrs. Catherine (Miss Kitty) Boyd are buried. Gathered were community leaders


as well as members and leaders of the United Methodist Church. They had come to seek healing of a wound still open after more than 150 years. The little church was filled to capacity. Some stood outside, unable even to find standing room in the church.


‘As I looked


about that simple sanctuary I saw many with tears…’ I was seated next to another mem-


ber of the round table, a descendant of Bishop Andrew, and only a few feet away sat two great-great-great-grand- daughters of Catherine Boyd. Seated close to them was Bishop Mike Wat- son, current leader of the North Geor- gia Conference. As I looked about that simple sanctuary I saw many with tears streaming down their cheeks. “Amens” punctuated the service. I thought about so much that win-


ter afternoon, mostly Miss Kitty, and those enslaved so long ago. But I thought as well about those who held others in bondage. And the desperate need for reconciliation in the world. You will want to read The Acciden- tal Slaveowner for the rest of the story!


Retired Bishop White is the denomination’s Endorsing Agent for Chaplain Ministries and bishop- in-residence at Candler School of Theology.


Methodist history does matter BY CHRISTOPHER M.


SHOEMAKER Special Contributor


If I am to be honest, I must begin


my response to Dr. Magruder’s recent thought-provoking column (Reporter, Oct. 14) by agreeing with him. The United Methodist Church has become far, far too concerned with numbers and measurements. We are so concerned with the


“business model” of the Church that we have, indeed, lost sight of what it means to follow Jesus. No argument whatsoever. Our recent conversations have become so bogged down with concern about our future financial support and who is holding our clergy “accountable” that we have completely forgotten that God is the answer to those very questions. I also agree with


him that we cannot live in our past; but, unfortunately, my agreement with Dr. Magruder must end here. While we should not allow ourselves to stare at our history with transfixed gaze, we should not abandon it—good or bad—for the empty prize of imagined relevancy. Jesus didn’t rename Simon “clay”


Chris Shoemaker


or “sand,” but Peter … “rock.” Peter (and the other disciples) would repre- sent what is timeless, not what changes with the whim of the world. I interpret Dr. Magruder’s article as suggesting we throw out the existing


church and create something new. I cannot imagine a bigger mistake.


Should we transform to fit the present age, knowing that the present age will someday become the past and leave us to contemplate change yet again? Or should we simply become so flexible and amorphous that we constantly reinvent Christianity? Shall we vanquish tradition and


experience and stand before Scripture with human reason alone? To me, these questions seem to be the next stations on Dr. Magruder’s line of thought. While we have committed dreadful


sins in the past, we believe in a God who embraces repentance and for- gives sin—be it individual or collec- tive. According to Dr. Magruder’s proposal, it’s almost as if our past faults and failures are so great we that need to commit denominational sui- cide. Nothing could be farther from the reality of grace. As for Methodism’s failure to stop


essentially all armed conflict in the last 50 years, not even the self-immo- lation of Buddhist and Quaker paci- fists—though shocking and horrific—could stop the Vietnam War. I can’t help but wonder if Dr. Ma- gruder is suggesting that the main purpose of his “New Methodism” should be to oppose war. I would also remind that while


United Methodism (and its direct an- cestry) is largely Anglo and middle- class, “Methodism” as a whole is a beautiful tree of many glorious hues. Here in America let us not forget the CME, AME and AME Zion churches, the latter two branches being very


nearly as old as the trunk itself. Dr. Magruder states: “Let’s stop


comparing our present to our past. Our context is different from those other places and eras.” Is our context really that different? People are still struggling with the


deadly burden of sin. We are still tempted away from God by every con- ceivable distraction, and still search- ing for freedom and release from worry and fear. And we’ve been fight- ing and killing each other since Gene- sis, not since Vietnam. As I look through the gallery of


history I see the same painting over and over again. Different artists and different colors—but the same pic- ture. We’re not special and different because we live in the present age. It doesn’t help to trade American excep- tionalism for generational exception- alism. We were, are, and will be human beings in need of a savior. While Dr. Magruder’s final ques-


tion, “What does it mean to follow Jesus here and now?” is a good one, it’s not the question. The question is: “Do we believe God is real?” If we do, then we need to get moving and serve in faith as Wesley (yes, Wesley) taught us: with a balance of solid Gospel evangel- ism and Christ-centered, loving serv- ice. If we don’t believe God is real, well, then we do have a lot to worry about.


The Rev. Shoemaker is pastor of Cuthbert UMC, in Cuthbert, Ga., adjunct professor of religion at Andrew College, and vice president of the Southeastern Jurisdiction Historical Society. Contact him at


pastor@cuthbertumc.com


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UNITED MET HODI S T REPORTER | NOVEMB E R 4, 2011


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