Give Me the Mountains: (On Religion in Appalachia)

// / / // TT*. =lJ ÎJ& CV ^ ÍSeW (On Religion in Appalachia) by Lee Morris When controversy flared between the herdsmen of Abraham and Lot over grazing rights, like many religious folk after them they resorted to the spatial solution— they decided to part company (Genesis 13: 1-13). Abraham gave Lot first choice on. which area of the land he desired to settle in, and opportunistic Lot quickly chose the luxuriant Jordan Valley and left the rough, barren mountains of Bethel and Hebron to Abraham. When Abraham gave his nephew first choice on the land, he was as much as saying: "GIVE ME THE MOUNTAINS." Abraham knew Lot well enough to foresee that Lot would choose the easy life of the Jordan Valley instead of the hard life of the mountains. Although the mountains of Appalachia are very different from those of Palestine, we of these our mountains could choose another area for our life and work; but we have said: "Give me the mountains." Perhaps we chose the mountains because of their natural majesty, their beckoning horizons, each different yet similar, their challenge to our strength and daring, or our dreams of "the simple life." Maybe we sensed a divine Abrahamic calling to be blessed and to bless others in the mountains—where biblical accounts reveal God acting most decisively. (Can you imagine Moses going down into the bottom land to get the Ten Commandments or Jesus giving the Sermon on the Marshes?) What Kind of Religion For Appalachia? We are here in Appalachia, for one or more of such reasons; and many of us do Presented in part to the Conference on Private Efforts in Appalachia, June, 1980, sponsored by the Appalachian Center, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, Loyal Jones, Director. 28 sense the servant-calling, the nature of which both prevents us from "tootin' our own horn" and prompts us to make "no uncertain sound." Question: HOW do we bless others in our mountains? More specifically: If we had all the needed resources, just what kind of religion/church would we seek to establish in these mountains? Would we, as one possible course of action, establish a church from among those denominations already present all over Appalachia, as listed, for example, in CORA's Atlas of the Church in Appalachia (Knoxville: Commission on Religion in Appalachia, 1971): DENOMINATION NUMBER OF CHURCHES United Methodist Church 9067 Southern Baptist Convention 8158 Catholic Church 1767 United Presbyterian Church, USA 1525 American Baptist Convention 1186 Lutheran Church in America 966 Presbyterian Church in America 872 United Church of Christ 629 Episcopal Church 551 Disciples of Christ 473 Church of God 467 Church of the Brethren 270 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod 165 American Lutheran Church 102 Mennonite Church 85 Reformed Church in America 11 Friends United Meeting 6 Such a "denominational church" would have some measure of a "toe hold" in the mountains already, would be identifiable in its beliefs and practices, would have some programs tested by experience. However, this listing of "denominational churches" does not include such churches as the Holiness Pentecostal, United Baptist , Old Regular Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Church of Christ, the Adventists and others, because of a lack of printed and/or accessible records. Yet these "sectarian" (or "folk") type churches *- have a very long-standing and strong influence in Appalachia , especially rural Appalachia. Moreover, many people in Appalachia (up to 72.9% in Eastern Kentucky) 2 who would claim to "have religion" or to be "a believer in God/Christ" do not belong to any church. So the question: Would the establishment and exercise of a "denominational church" be the most effective to bless the people? Second: A possible course to pursue could be: Ask the authorities. (Of such 29 authorities there seems to be no end!) Take, for example, Rev. Jack Weiler, a student of religion in Appalachian who has also served as Pastor for many years in the mountains and until recently as Minister-at-Large, Presbytery of Ebenezer, Hazard, Kentucky. Rev. Weiler writes: If we say that the indigenous church meets the culture and its needs, let us ask if it really does. Does it meet the radical needs, the root needs, or does it just meet people...