By Kimetha Hill
Staff Writer
Churches and universities in the United States have a long history and a deep connection. During Black History Month, it is important to not only acknowledge this relationship, but to understand the importance of the role the church played, particularly the United Church of Christ in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and vice versa.
On Sunday, February 23, Christian Fellowship Congregational Church celebrated Black History Month with HBCU Sunday. Reverend J. Lee Hill, Jr., Senior Pastor, holds a deep passion for HBCUs, and related his own experiences to wanting to celebrate the connection between HBCUs and the church.
“I attended Florida A&M and was really involved in the gospel choir, so I always dreamed of connecting the life of the church and the celebration of ministries within HBCUs.” It was during his time attending FAMU that Reverend Hill began to connect with the United Church of Christ. “There is a deep and resounding history with HBCUs.”
Sunday morning, Reverend Hill delivered an inspiring message, preaching on the Body of Christ’s thirst – a thirst that can only be quenched by the living waters of Jesus Christ. He related the humble beginnings and struggles HBCUs faced and the UCC’s mission of social justice.
“…when we consider the struggle and fight that our people endured just so our minds could be free—and their thirst for education, equality and justice in Jesus’ Name—quenched with living water!”
The struggle to survive among HBCUs is real and continues to be one of concern today. But the relationship that HBCUs have with the UCC is imperative.
Reverend Hill mentions a recent historic conference held last fall in Cleveland, OH with the Presidents of the six major HBCUs connected to the UCC. “They gathered and asked, ‘what does it mean for us to be connected to the UCC?’” The UCC has origins from the American Missionary Association, a progressive entity that supported abolitionists, freedom and justice for all. “Today there continues to be this strong tie to the meaning for us to be connected with each other,” says Reverend Hill.
The American Missionary Association, a predecessor body of the United Church of Christ, was a visionary organization dedicated to education and racial equality. The AMA founded six colleges that continue to relate to the UCC Council for Higher Education. Those colleges are:
•Dillard University, New Orleans, LA; www.dillard.edu
•Fisk University, Nashville, TN; www.fisk.edu
•Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, TX; www.htu.edu
•LeMoyne-Owen College, Memphis, TN; www.loc.edu
•Talladega College, Talladega, AL; www.talladega.edu
•Tougaloo College, Tougaloo, MS; www.tougaloo.edu
UCC churches support their related HBCUs in a variety of ways – from monetary donations, to scholarships for member students – and supports can come from collective congregations or individuals. Reverend Hill also stresses that UCC churches support many universities, not exclusive to HBCU.
The HBCU experience is one that Reverend Hill cherishes, and reflects over fondly.
“The word that comes to mind is grounding. I remember going to FAMU, being on campus and seeing the diversity of black folks. I was utterly amazed at the different kinds of black folks. This experience shaped the ways in which I was rooted and grounded in my culture.” He continued, “That kind of grounding not only in academic, but culturally, is so important.”
Sunday’s HBCU service was also important in alerting and educating youth on the West coast to an experience they simply aren’t privy to. Reverend Hill says, “The Black experience on the West coast is very different from the experience on the East. I think it’s important for black students and parents on the West coast to know there is a place where their young African American young boys and girls can receive a cultural embrace that they wouldn’t experience here.”
There is a thirst among Black people to connect, to belong, to learn, to inspire and be inspired. In a society that is dominated with idols devoted to self-pleasing, the UCC promotes the sheading of flesh, and the living to serve others. Their foundation is one that connects with the HBCUs they support.
Reverend Hill ministered,
“And yet we live in a world today—where too often our thirsts are not grounded in lifting up people; or bringing others into freedom; or granting people liberation; or simply making somebody else’s world a better place—no our thirsts are too often self-centered thirsts.”
He says that the HBCU experience is a “place of grounding, growth, coming of age.” In Christ, we also find all of those things.
