ATLANTA (AP) – For decades, the neo-Gothic red-brick church where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached has been a monument to the history of black Americans’ struggle for civil rights and the legacy of an activist icon.
It took a high-risk run for the Senate and a Trump-era cultural debate to put the Ebenezer Baptist Church at the center of today’s political debate.
Its senior pastor, Rev. Raphael Warnock, is running for the Senate in one of two run-off elections that could decide which party controls Congress in the early years of President-elect Joe Biden’s administration. But Warnock’s preaching has become a focal point in the race and justice debate in the election.
His opponent, Republican Kelly Loeffler, ran attack ads using fragments of sermons that Warnock preached from Ebenezer’s pulpit to accuse him of being a far-left radical socialist who does not support police or military.
For King’s old church, the intense spotlight is not new. Its 6,000 members are accustomed to standing Sunday services only, due in large part to out-of-town visitors who flocked to the church. Still, Loeffler’s criticisms have renewed attention to a pillar of black life in Atlanta and a tradition of political activism it represents.
“The Republican attack is not just against Warnock, it is against the black church and the black religious experience,” said Rev. Timothy McDonald III, pastor of the First Iconic Baptist Church in Atlanta who served as Ebenezer’s assistant pastor from 1978 to 1984.
McDonald describes Warnock’s views as consistent with the church’s opposition to racism, police brutality, poverty and militarism. Loeffler’s attacks include selectively edited parts of Warnock’s sermon in which he condemns “police power by appearing in a kind of gangster and thug mentality” as a criticism of law enforcement practices that have historically created a barrier between departments and residents black people.
“I don’t care what you think about Warnock,” he said. “We have to defend our church, our preaching or prophetic tradition, our involvement and engagement in the community. We will defend this. “
Ebenezer is the “church of Black America,” added McDonald. “It is bigger than any individual.”
Loeffler responded, saying in a tweet last month that she was not attacking the Black Church. “We simply set out your history in your own words,” she wrote in response to Warnock.
Commonly called the “Martin Luther King church”, Ebenezer sits in the middle of a national park dedicated to the life and legacy of the civil rights icon, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists annually. Warnock’s leadership in the church is his primary credential, a position so prestigious that some note that the United States Senate is downgraded.
Warnock continued to preach while campaigning for the post – although pre-recorded in an empty sanctuary due to the pandemic. In a message delivered on Sunday, Warnock seemed to allude to the second round, telling viewers that they are “on the verge of victory” in their lives, if they accept that God has already equipped them with the ability to beat their opponents.
“When God is with you, you can defeat giants,” said Warnock, who ended the morning service by also encouraging Georgians to vote on Tuesday.
“It is very important that your voice is heard at this decisive moment in our country,” he said. “I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to say who to vote for.”
The church kept some distance from Warnock’s offering. Ebenezer declined interview requests for members of the pastoral team. Instead, it issued a statement detailing its public ministry, including social services for the poor, the elderly and people previously incarcerated and, most recently, the free COVID-19 test and flu shots.
“The Ebenezer Baptist Church embodies the mission of Jesus Christ, through acts of service that aim to feed the poor, free the oppressed, welcome the foreigner, dress the naked and visit those who are sick or imprisoned,” said the church in a statement sent by email to the AP.
Since before the abolition of slavery, the Black Church has played a role in mediating the relationship of the congregants with political power. It is not uncommon for politicians, mostly Democrats, to campaign in the pulpits of black churches. But it is still relatively rare for church leaders to move to public office.
If he were elected, Warnock would be sworn in by a small group of other ministers who served in Congress, including at least one other black pastor, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.
Last year, Ebenezer was part of some major national news events.
It hosted the funeral of Rayshard Brooks, a black man shot in the back by Atlanta police in June, amid national protests against George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May.
Warnock was an officiant for that service and the funeral in late July for Atlanta civil rights icon and congressman John Lewis, who was a member of Ebenezer.
“This church is located in the heart of Atlanta and its leadership has always opened its doors to the community,” said Daunta Long, pastor of the Church of God in Christ for seed planters in McDonough, about 40 miles southeast of the city.
Balancing pastoral duties and a national public profile is a common source of tension, noted McDonald, the former assistant pastor. Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. was not present for the voting right march now known as Bloody Sunday because he was to preach at Ebenezer for communion on Sunday, the first Saturday of the month, according to Clayborne Carson, the historian who maintains King’s articles at Stanford University.
Ebenezer was founded in 1886. His second pastor, Rev. Adam Daniel Williams, brought in his son-in-law, Martin Luther King. Sr., as assistant pastor in 1927. His son, King Jr., was a co-pastor from 1960 to 1968.
The eldest king, who served as Ebenezer’s pastor for more than 40 years, continued to lead after the murder of his son in Memphis in 1968. Rev. Joseph Roberts Jr. became Ebenezer’s fourth pastor after King. Mr.’s retirement in 1975.
Warnock, who is Ebenezer’s fifth pastor in more than 130 years, was chosen as Roberts’ successor in 2005.
Ebenezer’s members, many who support Warnock’s candidacy, say they fear losing their leadership.
“People love him as a pastor,” said Xernona Clayton, 90, a confidant of the King family and a member of the church since 1963. “I think they selfishly don’t want to lose him. They want the best of two areas: good representation in the political arena and a pastor in the pulpit ”.
“I imagine that both jobs would be full-time,” she added.
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Morrison is a member of the Associated Press race and ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.