Remember the Poor

By DON ROLLINS

As the Elder and Baby Boomer generations continue to leave us, so too some of the most influential Christian pastor-activists in that tradition’s history. But while we give accolades each time a noteworthy Elder or Boomer musician, politician or actor dies, less so progressive religious figures whose names and legacies are underappreciated in death as in life.

Two such giants have passed this year, one a Roman Catholic priest who helped pioneer the field of liberation theology; the other a visionary Methodist preacher who brought that gospel alive in some of the meanest streets in San Francisco. Taken together they offered up a muscular, unapologetic theology embraced within and without Christian communities - a theology grounded in the experience of persons in dire poverty, and the God that loves them above all others.

The Latin America of the second half of the 20th century was a roiling region of chronic uprisings, even entire wars. The atrocities inflicted on innocents as well as combatants remain some of the cruelest in the subcontinent’s history, with nearly 600,000 dead.

Catholic bishops and clerics were caught up in the bloodletting, some by choice, most not. Among the priests placed in the crosshairs was Gustavo Gutierrez, a Peruvian Dominican credited as the founder of liberation theology. Witness to so much torture and rape, Gutierrez called for a neo-Marxist rereading of scripture that would lead to a more egalitarian, compassionate society.

Gutierrez’s vision for the blessed community in Latin America was not realized before his death on Oct. 22, aged 96; but in addition to his efforts there, he incessantly wrote and lectured, advancing his core concept of God’s preference for the oppressed. His work has been incorporated by multiple anti-oppression communities, most especially those seeking justice for women, persons of color, migrant laborers and nonbinary persons.

Among those influenced by Gutierrez’s theology of liberation was Rev. Cecil Williams, for 60 years the pastor of Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. Raised in a racially segregated town in Texas, Williams was part of the small cadre of Black students who integrated Perkins School of Theology (Southern Methodist University).

Williams was called to Glide in 1964, and drew from the liberationist movement Gutierrez spearheaded. Newly installed at the White, reserved and dwindling Methodist congregation — and with regular aid from his late wife, Janice Marikitami — Williams led the transition to a true community church, preaching inclusion, updating the music and starting countless programs for oppressed neighbors and parishioners: Affordable housing, meals, clothing, healthcare, substance misuse services, AIDS/HIV testing and support, ministry to sexual minorities.

As described in a recent article from Christian Century magazine,.Episcopal priest Annalise Deal, Williams “… welcomed in the marginal people of the Tenderloin, including sex workers, drag queens, young runaways, hippies, Black radicals, drug users, survivors of police and domestic violence …”

As Glide began living into its new identity, Williams became increasingly focused on injustice beyond the Bay Area, including joining the march at Selma. As with his ministry at Glide, he remained squarely grounded in the liberation theology ethic, mentoring new ministers and leaders.

In failing health, Williams officially stepped away from active ministry in 2023. He died last April at age 94.

Gustavo Gutierrez and Cecil Williams were burdened with a vision as old as the Hebrew prophets, yet relevant as my neighborhood food pantry slated to close by year’s end. What they require of us in death is no different than at their peak powers: Remember the poor.

Don Rollins is a retired Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, December 1, 2024

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