GLC Pastors Experience Sankofa: A Journey Towards Racial Righteousness

On August 13, 2019 thirty-five Covenant pastors and denominational leaders converged at the ECC offices in Chicago to begin their Sankofa Experience. Sankofa is a West African word meaning “looking backward to move forward.” From the ECC website, “Sankofa is an invitation to understand race as a critical component of our Christian discipleship. It is an interactive, spiritual formation pilgrimage that equips Christians to pursue racial righteousness inside and outside the church. This relational journey traces the history of race in the U.S., and tangibly equips believers to begin living into the church’s mission to be ambassadors of reconciliation.”

Participants are paired with someone of a different race as they travel south on a bus to visit historic sites related to the Civil Rights Movement. Three GLC pastors were a part of this group: Kate Buckner, Go Pastor at Life Church Canton, (Canton, MI); Donearl Johnson, Pastor of Life Church Auburn Hills (Auburn Hills, MI) and Debbie Montzingo, Pastor of Bethany Covenant Church (Lyndhurst, OH).

“Sankofa has forever changed the way I think, love and serve,” said Kate Buckner. She added, “There’s an aspect of my heart and life that has always been in pursuit of learning and advocating for the oppressed – but my life from now on is forever changed, and I believe anyone who attends would (or should) be forever changed as well. My life will be described in before Sankofa and after Sankofa.” Kate believes it is important for all pastors to experience Sankofa. “Pastors need to attend Sankofa because the immersive experience would transform their thought processes & engagement in Racial Righteousness. What a great opportunity to boldly engage in truth & history – to see the way the church has failed our brothers and sisters of color. Seeing the failures through an honest lens could truly change the way our entire denomination develops our stance on Racial Righteousness… it would change the way we engage in care and mission. It would forever change the engagement we have in our pursuit of justice.”

Reflecting about one of the sites, Donearl Johnson said, “I read advertisements for the sale of my ancestors with ‘product descriptions’ that matched my physical profile. I recall temporarily being paralyzed by pain as I stood frozen reading a sales description for a 14 year old girl who was described to be ‘smart enough to work indoors but strong enough to work outdoors.’ It is one thing to hear and read about these events; however, it is another level of experiential learning actually being at these historic sites of the Civil Rights Movement and seeing the actual ads and signage, and meeting and talking to individuals who lived through it. He went on to say, “I am encouraged by my brothers and sisters from different ethnic backgrounds who were on this journey with me; we ate together, talked, brainstormed, processed, laughed and cried together. We resolved not to be silent, but to use our voice and influence for good. We committed to not compromise or be complicit. We became determined to stay honest and solution-focused in pursuit of becoming the ‘Beloved Community’ that Dr. King envisioned; a society based on justice, equal opportunity and love of one another. We left challenged and commissioned to live into the reality of being ambassadors of Christ and ministers of reconciliation, honoring the beauty and dignity in all of humanity.”

When asked what prompted her to go, Debbie Montzingo said, “Since joining the Covenant, I’ve wanted to experience Sankofa, but the schedule never meshed with mine. So when they opened up this pastors-only event during the week, and my schedule was open, I knew it was time to participate and learn more about American history told by the oppressed instead of the oppressor and the challenges my black and brown sisters and brothers experience every day. On the bus ride south, we watched the movie Selma. I had seen it before, but viewing it sitting next to my partner Deborah Masten made it much more concrete for me. Two days later we walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, just as Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others did just a few decades ago, and it felt like holy ground. I want to say that my tears felt irrelevant; real people suffered real injury at the hands of law enforcement, elected officials, and white citizens, including clergy and church members. If I had a right to cry, it was not for my own injury, but for the injuries of those who marched and for the failure of the gospel to transform white hearts.” Debbie shared from the pulpit on her return, “Please pray that I, as your pastor, seek the leading of the Holy Spirit to lead us into a deeper awareness of our responsibilities as sisters and brothers of those who suffer every day in ways we cannot even imagine. But also pray for yourselves, that you would be willing to tolerate the discomfort of learning things or facing things that are difficult and hard–because the image of the kingdom of God that is given us in Scripture is one in which every culture, nation, tribe, and language are gathered together at the throne of Jesus, where the dividing wall of hostility is torn down and we bear one another’s burdens, where we understand that before there is reconciliation, there must be truth-telling.”

The ECC offers Sankofa trips throughout the year, and they are open for anyone to attend. For more information please visit https://covchurch.org/justice/racial-righteousness/sankofa/.