Q&A with Rev. Tim Ahrens: Who are Columbus' geniuses of social justice?
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
What drives faith-based leaders to work towards social justice? How do they define “social justice,” and how do their family and life’s struggles shape who they are?
These are some of the questions that Columbus-based Rev. Tim Ahrens explores in his new book, "The Genius of Justice." It is at once an homage to, and a character study of, 53 (mostly) faith leaders from across the country — including 15 from Columbus — whom Ahrens interviewed and whose stories are interwoven throughout the book.
“Over a lifetime, I had met or knew of some remarkable people of faith who had done the work of social justice, and I was curious about how they became who they were,” Ahrens said on a recent morning at his office at the First Congregational Church Downtown. “I began to look at (these) people differently — as geniuses, as not just having exceptional abilities or qualities, but something special that kept them going in the work that they did for justice.”
Ahrens’ office − which he will vacate in November next year (he recently announced his retirement) − is adorned with a casting of the Rev. Washington Gladden, a predecessor of his at First Congregational Church. Gladden was a nationally known leader of the “social gospel” movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among other things, Gladden campaigned for workers’ right to unionize and against racial segregation, and he inspired not a few of the “geniuses of justice” featured in Ahrens’ book.
The following Q&A interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: What is a "genius of justice?"
Answer: To me, the question of justice centers around something the religious scholar Walter Brueggemann has said: Justice is the work of figuring out what was taken from whom, and returning it to them.
Everybody thinks, oh, my gosh, that's a definition for reparations. Well, yeah, it is actually repairing the breach — that's a biblical command. When God creates the world, in Genesis, he then turns the world over to us to be stewards of, and we blow it. God's whole motivation for guiding the people of God from that point on is to say, ‘You got to fix this, you got to get this right!’
As I’ve written in the book, a genius of justice leads with justice. A genius of justice sees a person who others have not seen — she hears the person who has not been heard. A genius of justice is humble, yet focused. A genius of justice is merciful in their kindness.
When the book started out, I had about 10 people in mind, and then it then it was up to 25, and by the time I was done, it was 53.
Many of them resisted the name “genius.” They would say the work of justice is collective work — it is always done together. I said, “OK, it's my word, not yours. But I'm still gonna call you a genius, because that's how I see you.”
Q. Tell me about a few of the "geniuses of justice" from Columbus?
A. The Rev. Dan Clark is the leader of Faith in Public Life in Ohio, and he’s a pastor here at the United Church of Christ now. Dan is what I call an amplifier — he helps other people's voices get heard, like Horton in the story of Horton Hears a Who.
There’s Minister Adrienne Hood, who is now running for city council and whose son, Henry Green V, was gunned down by Columbus police some years ago. She has this deep, soulful faith that keeps her in the fight every day.
Terry "Nunnie" Green is a young man who has started the organization for young people in Columbus, Think Make Live Youth, and he established the Social Justice Awards that are given out every autumn.
There’s Dr. Amy Acton, (former) executive director of Rapid 5 and former medical director for the state of Ohio during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s in a chapter on outliers — people who come at what they do not from a faith community, but more out of a deep sense of right and wrong.
Similarly, there’s Marty Kress who worked at Ohio State University and for NASA for years, who started water projects in Africa.
There’s also the Rev. Jeffrey P. Kee, senior pastor at New Faith Baptist Church of Christ, who is like a brother to me.
And Columbus Police Lt. Melissa McFadden is another one. Like Frank Serpico who called out corruption in the New York City police in the 1970s, Melissa has called out the Columbus police department for its racism and its mistreatment of women and men in the force.
Q. What patterns did you notice in your interviews with the "geniuses of justice"?
A. I wasn't looking for a patterned response. But what I would hear would be stories about prayer, about how meditation influenced their life, about their growing up. And particularly with the African American folks in the stories — every one of them had stories of personal and familial oppression as Black women and men in America.
Q. You acknowledge in the book that most of your "geniuses" come from the Judeo-Christian communities. What do you think are your potential blind spots?
I think this book is an incomplete work, but I'm glad we got 53 geniuses, and not just 10. I would say there are blind spots — including my friends in the Muslim community, the Sikh community, the Hindu community, the Buddhist community. I'm pleased with the older voices, whose voices will be stilled in the not-so-distant future, but there's a need for more young voices. I also don't have enough voices from the new American community, the immigrant community, the refugee community.
Q. Recently, you were involved in the "no" campaign related to Issue 1. Other faith leaders campaigned on the "yes" side. What did you say to people who think that faith leaders should stay out of ballot measure campaigns like that?
A. You're wrong.
In the past, I’ve worked with Catholic Church, very conservative Pentecostals and evangelicals on other ballot measures, facing down gambling and the casinos. We were all shoulder to shoulder on that. When it came to Issue 1, we were on opposite sides.
What’s very powerful about the freedom to speak out on ballot measures is, we’re not talking about campaigning for a candidate, we’re talking about a belief system. It goes back to core values.
Peter Gill covers immigration, new American communities and religion for The Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at: bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Q&A Rev. Tim Ahrens: Who are Columbus' geniuses of social justice?
