By Pastor Robin Fillmore
From August 31 to September 2, 2024, clergy and laity of the
Susquehanna Conference embarked upon a Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope in the State
College area. This was the second Pilgrimage hosted as an expression of the
Conference’s Commission on the Beloved Community.
On this journey, the participants heard from compelling
storytellers who spoke of the injustices faced by BIPOC persons (Black,
Indigenous, and people of color) in the past and present day. The intention for
holding these annual events is to explore and reflect upon the geography,
history and stories of the people they are called to serve—stepping transformed
together into a future that is faithful.
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As they traveled through the State College District, they
heard first from Kathy Pletcher, an enrolled tribal member of the Band River
Bend of Lake Superior Ojibwe and local activist on issues supporting Native
Americans on the Penn State main campus and in the community. A guided tour
through the Palmer Museum of Art introduced the participants to the work of
local indigenous artists, which was followed by a panel discussion with Penn
State faculty member, Drs. Tony Leach, SeriaShia Chatters and Darrin Thornton
on the racial history of “We Are” for Penn State and how this identification is
being lived into currently. The first day's events ended with a spectacular
musical presentation by Essence of Joy, a choral group of Penn State students
offering sacred and secular music derived from African and African American
choral traditions.
The second day began with worship at Albright Bethune UMC,
where the pilgrims heard stories of this yoked congregation between
predominantly black and white churches. They then traveled to nearby Bellefonte
to learn of the area’s history as a stop on the Underground Railroad, the work
of residents following the Civil War for school desegregation and racial
justice with Matt Maris, a local historian. The day concluded with a
presentation by Bruce Teeple who spoke on the history of the KKK throughout the
region.
The pilgrimage concluded in State College with storytellers Divine Lipscomb, who had been formerly incarcerated and went on to graduate from Penn State and serve as the first African American Council Member in the State College Borough and Leslie Laing, who has worked to bring justice for Osaze Osagie, a young Black man who was killed in 2019 by police while experiencing a mental health crisis.
Throughout the Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, there was time for reflection and discussion grounded in the work of Trevor Hudson’s book A Mile in My Shoes. Hudson speaks to the concept of pilgrimage as “coming as pilgrims, not as tourists; as learners, not as teachers; as receivers, not as givers; as listeners, not as talkers.” Throughout this journey, the organizer’s prayer was that through this pilgrimage, all participants would experience together Hudson’s path of Encounter—Reflection—Transformation.
While learning of the area’s history was important, these
Pilgrimages of Pain and Hope also provided an opportunity to grow and sustain
the body of Christ. On the journey, the participants foster a community of
support that nurtures each other’s courage to live and enables them to lead
others in the call of God to dismantle systems of racism, proactively building
the Beloved Community together.
For more information, contact Pastor Robin Fillmore, RFillmore@susumc.org, 570-392-9092.
