Bits from Beth

June 9, 2026

 

Dear Friends,

The world changed on April 15, 1947. The stars did not fall from the sky nor did the sun stop in the middle of the day. It was an ordinary event – a baseball manager signed an outstanding ball player. It had extraordinary consequences. The manager was Branch Rickey. The player was Jackie Robinson. Branch Rickey represented all-white professional baseball. Jackie Robinson was African-American. If you are not familiar with this story, check out the movie “42” which dramatizes this event and its consequences. Some people have difficulty watching the film because we tend to forget about the price many people paid to create a country where all men are created equal. And we forget the shame our history carries with its bigotry.

 

Branch Rickey referred to himself as a “Bible-thumping Methodist.” He was a graduate of a Methodist college, Ohio Wesleyan, where he returned to coach in his early career. In 1913, the baseball team travelled to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame. That night, the lone black player on the team, Charlie Thomas, was denied a hotel room. Rickey finally shamed the clerk into allowing the young man to stay in Rickey’s room, sleeping on a cot. When Rickey returned to the room that night, he found Thomas sitting on his cot, rubbing his skin. “If only I could make it white,” he said. From then on, Rickey was convinced that God wanted him to do something about segregation.

 

When Rickey’s career finally put him in a position to do something, he did but he could not do it alone. He wanted another Christian. He preferred another Methodist. He found both in Jackie Robinson. During their first meeting, Rickey read from the Sermon on the Mount:

"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." Matthew 5:38-41

 

It would take more than the signing of a contract to end discrimination in major league baseball just as it will take more than integration to end the racial animus that has crippled our nation’s future. It will take someone willing to be the example set by Christ. It will take a church who is willing to endure the criticism, the sneers, and the rejection by many without becoming defensive or giving in to cynicism. Jackie Robinson broke through by displaying incredible courage and grace when he was "put in his place" by people who should have known better.

 

My family is from Union County where I grew up in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. When our school integrated, it was the Christian churches in town that began a campaign of re-segregation. These churches built Family Life Centers so their sons would not have to play basketball with the black boys at school or the Boys Club. One church started its own school. Then white flight began to the neighboring all-white communities.

 

When I came to Camden eight years ago, I immediately noticed how divided we were as a town. I started reading history and discovered how little I knew about the hope buried in those words, “all men are created equal,” and I pledged a part of my ministry to try and find areas of mutual trust. I discovered there were walls and power structures everywhere to keep things the same. If we are going to build trust, it has to come from a different place – our ministries. We build trust with our neighbors at Sue’s Table and at the Food Pantry. We learn their stories – health issues that keep people from steady work, transportation issues that makes getting to work difficult, and childcare issues, especially when a child is sick. I went to court and learned that our justice system does not work for everyone. I was treated like “one of them” because people did not know me and made assumptions. For the first time in my ministry, I bought a clergy collar. I wanted to stand with my neighbors of all races and say that they deserve human dignity.

 

Jesus gave people dignity because he understood their stories. He knew the events that led up to a woman becoming a prostitute or a blind man becoming a beggar. He knew that those with leprosy had contracted the disease through no fault of their own and yet, without a miracle, those people would spend the rest of the lives exiled outside the city walls. The Arkansas Food Bank is partnering with us because our volunteers know how to treat people with dignity and humanity. We will not just be handing out food but will provide resources that might help keep a child in school and a household healthy. God works in such mysterious ways. We rarely comprehend what God is doing when we are in the midst of a crisis but we retain our absolute hope that the Spirit is at work and we need to continue to minister to our community with grace. The future is bright.

 

Thank you for allowing to be your pastor for the past eight years. When Rev. Ed Kilbourne was here doing his evangelism Adult Sunday school, he made a comment to me that I will never forget. He said, “Beth, there is a difference between what I do and what you do. I go place to place to tell the same stories and teach the same lessons. You hear the stories. You know the stories. You will carry those stories with you long after you retire.” I cherish your stories and will carry them with me and cherish them always.

 

Grace and peace,

Beth