Q&A with the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II,
Director of the PCUSA Washington Office for Public Witness
By Alan F.H. Wisdom, Special to The Layman, May 27, 2010
Alan Wisdom of Presbyterian Action for Faith & Freedom conducted this interview in an e-mail exchange with Dr. Nelson. Below are excerpts from that exchange. Nelson’s responses are unedited and printed as they were submitted.
J. Herbert Nelson II
What have you learned from your experience as a pastor?
Liberation Community Church (LCC) in Memphis, Tennessee is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with a mission to evangelize the poor and address the root causes of poverty. I served as Organizing/Founding Pastor from 1998 – 2010. The members of the congregation were primarily classified by the U.S. government as below the poverty level. Many were among the working poor. Our ministry focus was developed around the plight of poor children and their families. Therefore we maintained a significant community based ministry with various partners in an effort to eliminate both the systemic and spiritual barriers that persons faced.
I learned that the real experts in the ministry were those who struggled to overcome spiritual barriers such as addictions, incarceration, self-doubt, lifelong pain abusive relationships and poverty. Their resilience despite the struggles was a testimony to a life of faith that was not defined by structured religion, but instead learning to believe in both God and themselves when there was seemingly very little hope of a vibrant future. I appreciated the opportunity to Pastor this small church with persons who struggled to know Jesus Christ amid their daily personal and systemic challenges. Our focus on spiritual transformation through community and faith building became keys to assisting persons who were often distanced from family life. Our challenge was build trust so that living faithfully in the context of a loving community was possible. I believe the PCUSA Washington Office faces some of the same challenges with respect to building networks of experts both within and outside of the PCUSA to assist us with understanding and implementing public policy engagement on behalf of the General Assembly.
Our work requires building “on the ground” networks among Presbyterians who are already engaged in intentional communities of activism and advocacy. My experience in community organizing in Pastorates in Greensboro, North Carolina and Memphis is based on a concept that I call Community Kingdom Building. Community/Kingdom Building is an intentional focus for me both now and throughout my twenty five years of ordained ministry. I believe that a relational approach to ministry is vital to the work we are called to do for Jesus Christ.
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What have you learned about politics as a result of your involvement with groups inspired by the civil rights movement?
My work with faith based justice organizations serves to strengthen my reading and interpretation of scriptures and the life of Jesus while offering an opportunity to work in transformative relationships with suffering people. These organizations are not simply inspired by the civil rights movement. They represent people of various faith traditions who believe that the cause of justice is rooted in both our particular and collective faith traditions. Therefore, a myriad of political issues are addressed from a theologically led justice perspective. The unique quality of these organizations is that opportunities to hear various theological perspectives arise often through dialogue, study and praxis.
Since ecumenism and interfaith prophetic work is connected to my passion to engage justice, it is imperative for me to respect “the otherness of the other.” We sit at many tables in our advocacy work in Washington. I have learned to appreciate the various expressions and actions that are driven by a desire to love one’s fellow human being. I believe strongly that our approved General social policy will not be fully realized without the assistance and partnerships of our ecumenical and interfaith partners.
Would you like to say something about your involvement with the Covenant Network?
I served as a member of the Covenant Network Board of Directors for two years and preached at several Covenant Network Conferences. I follow the ministry of Jesus who invited persons rejected by religious, governmental and social institutions despite the legal and communal implications that could have caused his own banishment from the community.
My participation in the Covenant Network of Presbyterians is consistent with my belief that God calls all men and women to the ministry in the Church of Jesus Christ. For the past twenty-five years of ministry I have advocated for the poor, dispossessed, disinherited and devalued of our society so that they will be included in the work of faith. One of the greatest challenges that I faced in my ministry was helping some Presbyterians understand that there is enough room in the Presbyterian denomination for a church that evangelizes poor people. The room in the church is created by the love ethic of Jesus Christ. Similarly, this same love ethic applies to persons who are lesbian and gay.
I interpret the scripture of the wheat and weeds (Matthew 20:24-30) to be a reminder to us that judgment is God’s business and not ours. Reformed faith clearly indicates that judgment is left to God in matters of both life and death. Therefore, our attempts to pre-determine the mysteries of God rather than faithfully living through the mysteries as trusting servants of the coming Kingdom has shaped our becoming a single issue denomination. Furthermore, the intentional categorization of human beings in order to define one’s status, life and future outlook is a destructive force when it inhibits personal interaction grounded in God’s love.
How would you define the mission of the Washington Office?
Our mission is to advocate for the public policy approved by General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We are led primarily by the Holy Spirit as engage ecumenical, interfaith, Para-church, denominational and activist organizations to assist us in our advocacy. Our influence and authority given through the life, death, and burial of Jesus Christ is used to assist congress and the President to hear the calling of the PCUSA and others on public policy matters that affect the lives of God’s people. The Washington Office has used a myriad of ways to accomplish this work since 1946.
I believe that our principles are guided by our faith. We are called to be creative and imaginative regarding the work of the Lord God. I vowed at my ordination as a Presbyterian Minister to “serve the people with energy intelligence, imagination and love.” It is for this reason that I tend to focus on the assets that are present rather than scarcity. We have a great staff that managed this work for two years without a Director. I am amazed when encountering persons in ecumenical, interfaith and political circles and they share with me how highly valued and respected our work has been over the years. We assisted in the passing of the health care bill that will insure an estimated thirty-two million people access to health care who did not have it before. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has advocated for healthcare in Washington for the past sixty years.
The recent General Assembly Mission Council study of the Washington Office stated, “The Washington Office remains poorly understood and supported by much of the church and a source of controversy within it.” What do you
see as the reasons for this situation? What should be done to address the problem?
Historically, the Presbyterian Church as other reformed denominations possessed an enormous amount of power with the White House and Congress. However, our political standing has diminished over the years, because the climate of politics has changed in Washington. Today, politicians want to know if we have an identifiable political base that can turn an election. Although there are many Presbyterians leading justice movements throughout the country, it is apparent that we are not organized. Therefore, Presbyterian activist, and justice participants are usually identified with brands other than our own.
We must begin organizing Presbyterians who are currently working on issues such as immigration, human trafficking, women’s rights and others so that we are connected to justice advocates in local communities. This challenge demands our presence outside of Washington and into the lives of people who share a concern for the work that we engage. My church and community organizing background will be utilized to build alliances with churches and groups concerned about the work of justice, while educating others who are not knowledgeable of the Washington Office and its mission. In instances where partnerships are possible we will work together and learn from one another.
Prophetic work is controversial work. Jeremiah was thrown into the stock room by the temple priest for proclaiming God’s truth about the people. The people did not want to hear the word of the Lord, because of the implications upon their lives. Nevertheless, Jeremiah was still called to preach the word of God. The priest was compliant and compromised by the will of the people and not the words of the prophet. Therefore, he punished Jeremiah with incarceration in the temple stock room. Finally, when the priest let Jeremiah out from his temple incarceration and told him to stop proclaiming the word of God. Jeremiah responded that he could not stop proclaiming the Lord’s word although he tried, because it was “like a fire shut up in his bones.” Jesus was also controversial and suffered death upon the cross. Both of these persons hold in common their willingness to speak truth to power on behalf of the Lord God. When the General Assembly approves controversial policy, we are called to advance the policy in the halls of political power, both in the denomination and in Washington. Therefore, the prophetic role of our work creates controversy by its very nature.