LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Acts 2:1, which says, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place,” was the basis of Claudio Carvalhaes’ sermon at the Racial Ethnic and Immigrants Convocation and National Multicultural Church Conference Joint Worship Celebration and Luncheon held Aug. 2.
The worship and celebration was held in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Big Tent event, held Aug. 1-3.
Carvalhaes, who describes himself as a theologian, liturgist, performer, writer and activist, is the associate professor of Worship and Liturgy at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, Pa.
“There was a reason for all these people to be together,” said Carvalhaes, referring to those mentioned in the Scripture. They were together for the celebration of the spring grain harvest, he said, “but at that special day, something happened; and a harmless feast of grains was stirred into a harvesting of lives by the Holy Spirit.”
Carvalhaes said that the people were filled by the Holy Spirit; that it “took hold of people without asking permission … something happened to the people and on that day something changed their lives forever and changed the life of the world.”
“It is that same ‘something else’ that keeps us singing,” he said. “All of us here today, we look at each other and we are bringing ‘something else’ to this church … We – the minorities – we are sent by God to reinvigorate this church and to bring to people some fire so we can reclaim the name Pentecostals. No more frozen chosen. This is our gift to the church, to rekindle the church.”
“We are not here for a little something. We are here for something a little different,” he said. “We must carry this gift back to our communities … We go home and make things on fire there also.”
Calling the PCUSA a church of mixed togetherness, Carvalhaes said that he grew up singing Scottish hymns and praying Scottish prayers.
But, now, he said “this faith is yours, so do what you want … You and your people know what is good and what is not. This is our faith now, and we need to keep telling each other that no one owns this tradition, not me or you, not any ethnic group, but we all belong to the same thing.”
“From the margins we will speak, and we will make this church change,” Carvalhaes said, “because we are now a mixed community that is Pentecostal. We are together, and we sing things we aren’t supposed to sing … we do local theologies instead of universal theologies. We will tell the Bible stories from our own perspectives and communities, and we do believe this church can become a beloved community.”
He spoke of racism, saying that, “every time I talk about Jesus and I talk about God, I will talk about Travyon Martin …. that is the only way I can do theology, is if I remember Travyon as I remember Martin Luther King Jr.”
He said that all ethnic groups must call out each other for their own racism. “It starts here,” he said. “It starts at home and then we go out … this is our work in the name of Jesus, because we are each other’s keepers.”
Mentioning the Congressional cuts to Food Stamps, Carvalhaes said that “we cannot accept that 2 percent of the people have more money than 98 percent of our country.”
“If we are to be the beloved community and break down the systems of injustice,” he said that the PCUSA must do something to even out pastor’s salaries.
Mentioning the “royal priesthood of all believers,” he asked why his seminary students who serve a congregation struggle with making only $10,000 a year, while some pastors make $100,000 to $200,000 a year.
“We have to be equal,” in salaries he said, whether in a “rural church or a tall steeple church.” A pastor should go to a church because “it is a call, not a big package.”
“So how do we sing harmony in this church?” he asked.
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The article on the sermon by Claudio Carvalhaes at the Presbyterian Church (USA) big tent event on Aug 2 sent me into a rage alright, but not for the reasons Carvalhaes had in mind. I do not believe the story perpetuated by the media that George Zimmerman was the “son of Satan”, and Trayvon was just a little kid out way past a reasonable curfew. Trayvon was a juvenile deliquent out buying 2 of the 3 ingredients for making an illicit drug concoction, He was taller, younger, stronger, and more capabile of killing Zimmerman, than the other way around. Even Jesus said we must defend ourselves because we will be numbered among the transgressors (Luke 22:37…and He was numbered with the transgressors). George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin are both of ethnic minorities; everything about this case is tragic, Letsat least be honest about it.
Is the comment from Fred McFee meant to be parody? If not, it is a little disturbing.
Skittles and Iced Tea? In my backyard I have two of the three ingredients necessary for making a major marijuana production facility. That is, water and dirt…
And being 12 years younger than *me* might mean something physically, but being twelve years younger than a 29 year old? Perhaps one might ask oneself how many professional athletes, construction workers, or lumberjacks are 185 pound 29 years olds vs. 158 pound 17 year olds. That is also a curious definition of what is “past a reasonable curfew.” Perhaps 7:15 PM might be past a reasonable curfew in Kandahar, but I had no idea things were that bad in Florida.
If the mention of the name “Trayvon Martin” in the context of calling out racism is enough to send you into a rage, that seems not so much unlike reacting to a kid walking through your neighborhood with “f***ing punks. These a*****es always get away.”
Are you serious D? Trayvon was thrown out of HS after repeated attempts to retain him. His mom threw him out becauses she couldn’t handle him. Dad let him run loose. The sad fact is that he was a train wreck and met an unfortunate end. And do you really think Trayvon used Christianese in his every day talk. Don’t think so. As for Zimmerman, read those tea leaves how you wish, but I’d say he was overzealous in his neighborhood watch activities and it led to what happened. But overall, my take is that what happened that night is what happens when two fools meet.
As for Carvalhaes… another sign that PC(USA) will fall within 3-5 years. I’m staying because at my local level there still is great opportunity for real ministry and not this goofy stuff our natl denom engages in.
Who invited Carvalhaes to speak and why?
Martin’s background is pretty much irrelevant in the question of why a teenager about whom you know nothing walking through your neighborhood causes such a level of rage. But just to counter the typical misinformation: Martin was under a few day suspension from high school, a highly overused penalty for minor offenses and disproportionately applied. Over one third of African American high school boys are suspended at least once. – apparently in his case he had been suspended more than once for tardiness, graffiti, and for having trace amounts of marijuana in his backpack. Suggesting that going to seven eleven at 7 PM and being shot well under 100 yards from the home you are staying constitutes being allowed to “run loose” is a curious interpretation.
I don’t have any particular concern about one or the other of these people having a potty mouth, but instead that someone would apply such abusive language to a teenage about which he knew nothing. To the person passing by on the street, Trayvon Martin could have been a criminal or an over-achieving A student or something in the broad understanding of “fairly typical kid.” I would have assumed the latter, and apparently I would not have been far off.
It may be that this situation involved “two fools.” Nonetheless one of the fools was an adult and one was not, not to mention that foolish behavior is pretty typical for teenage boys. One of the fools was armed and one was not. And one of the fools stalked the other for no apparent reason while the boy was talking on his phone with a female friend.
I’m not able to see the connection between the day of Pentecost and the Trayvon Martin case. You think maybe there were social justice issues in the first -century Roman Empire? Why did the Apostle Paul simply say obey the civil authorities, if social justice is such an integral part of the Gospel message? I guess I’m just an old, not-very-bright “Fundy.”