4 years ago — December 3, 2018
[The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)] must acknowledge the transformative life and ministry of Katie Geneva Cannon (the first black woman ordained by the Presbytery of Catawba in 1974). …
To understand Cannon’s ordination and ministry is to understand the context of her early life. … Born into a large religious family in the racially-segregated South, she was shaped by both the faith of her family and community and the evils of Jim Crow segregation. Reflecting on her childhood, Cannon recalled: “Using the notion of sin in my catechism class as a lens, I wanted to know what wrongdoing my kith and kin had committed that made it a crime for me to swing on swings, slide down slides and build sand castles in sandboxes in tax-supported public parks where white children played. I wanted this good, loving and forgiving God to help me understand the entrenched reasons why my signing up to participate in the Kannapolis city-wide spelling contest was a life-threatening transgression.” …
She discovered that the theological truths of her mother, grandmothers and women of the black church and community were unexplored valuable treasures for theological study and teaching. She minded the narratives of enslaved women and the rich literary work of black women authors and found jewels of theological reflection that helped generations of women survive and employ ethics of liberation.
From “She dared to say yes” by Rev. Robina Winbush, the first Black woman to serve as associate stated clerk of the PC(USA) and as director of ecumenical relations.
