As time passed, it became apparent to me that an African-American would be needed on the staff if we were really to do anything significant. My background had left me woefully ill-equipped to deal with these intricately difficult conditions.
The first time Karen and I invited the Cuff family for dinner, we visited Lincoln Park Zoo with all the kids before returning home together for the meal. Since we parked the car by the rear courtyard, we naturally went in the back door. I’ve had no history of being compelled to use back doors because the occupants of homes or businesses considered me to be socially inferior, but Abraham has. It was not until much later that we realized what a social gaff this had been. Fortunately, Abraham entered the front door enough after that to realize we didn’t care which entrance he used, only that he came.
I have been stretched and opened since we first began this inner-city phase of our ministry. My contacts with African-American pastors and social workers and ghetto dwellers have been multiple.
Karen privately conducted an intense study on the causes and structure of poverty, but there are still innuendos and implications which are beyond both of us because we have never experienced the humiliations. I have come to the conclusion that there are many things 1 will never be able to understand because I am not black. I must simply accept them because my black friends say that they are so.
Our congregation was very open to hiring an African-American man. Because we were so young, much of the prejudice and inhibitions an older group might have demonstrated in the late 1960’s simply did not exist, or if they did, were being dealt with by the individuals who held them. We wanted an integrated church. That seemed to be one of the distinct advantages of an urban work—the possibility of ministering to different races.
So Ka Tong, Larry, and I began looking for a new partner in ministry. We talked to several fellows of varying ages and soon began to realize that finding a qualified man, evangelical in his theology, who is truly black in a conceptual sense, was not the easiest task in the world. The details were all covered with each applicant—salary, vacations, expenses, etc.—and when each one left, we would all laugh together knowing that though we talked big, there were really no funds to begin with.
It was Larry who came into the office one day and said, “There is a young black in his last year at Moody who is quite militant. His name is Mel Warren, and maybe we ought to talk to him.” Mel came for the interview, his hair curling tightly into a natural, and wearing a. dashiki. His awareness of the problems of his people had been developed through experience and study. After he shared his experience of finding God while stationed with the Air Force in Spain, he expressed his sincere present desire to serve Christ.
There was no question in our minds but what we had found the person for whom we were looking. The big question was how we were going to underwrite a part-time salary.
Our funds were low and some of our regular givers had just transferred to the Zion Church, making it necessary, therefore, to raise the money from outside sources. Again, we began praying and making contacts, and within four weeks the support had been raised. Our congregation approved of Mel. The only static seemed to come from Larry, who wondered if our new staff member would please cooperate and grow some “soul” sideburns.
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