THIS FAR BY FAITH
A Discussion Guide for Faith-Based Communities
by Nikki Bailey

These questions are intended to help faith-based communities begin conversation about central themes of each episode of This Far by Faith.

Episode 1: There is a River
Episode 2: God is a Negro
Episode 3: Guide My Feet
Episode 4: Freedom Faith
Episode 5: Inheritors of the Faith
Episode 6: Rise Up and Call Their Names

Episode 1: There is a River

1. Is there anything that you have learned in this program about traditional African religions and spirituality that you would like to claim or reclaim in your own spiritual practices?
2. The program makes mention of the power of music in the slaves' struggles for freedom: "Singing is the key that opens the heavenly doors…." How have the messages in the music of your faith tradition helped you, your family and/or your religious community through difficult situations? How has music inspired hope in your life and/or religious community? What are some of the songs that influenced you positively and negatively?
3. In the Sojourner Truth story, the narrator tells that Truth’s mother, knowing she would be separated from her children, took them into the woods to talk to God and teach them about the sustaining power of faith. What faith lessons have you been taught? How were messages about faith and spirituality passed down to you by your parents, teachers and elders? Were you and, if so, how were you taught to talk to God? Where have you done it?
4. In the Truth story, we learned that Sojourner was enslaved emotionally, physically, spiritually and legally. Before she obtained her legal and physical freedom, she had to acquire spiritual and emotional freedom. What are some forms of bondage that you have experienced? What is freedom to you?
5. The stories of Sojourner Truth and Denmark Vesey focus a lot on God’s transforming power. What is your story? How has it changed over time? How does it compare to the stories in this program? Have you ever and, if so, when have you experienced God’s transforming power?
6. How did/does Christianity and other religious traditions of enslaved and oppressed people shape their identity? How did religion and the Bible help people to reject definitions of self that were forced on them by slavery and oppression?

Episode 2: God is a Negro

1. In this episode, Henry McNeil Turner was quoted as saying, "God will speak peace when his work is accomplished." How was the Civil War understood as a war between the forces of good and evil and between heaven and hell?
2. We learn that Henry McNeil Turner ordained women and was reproached by his superiors for doing so. What is the position of your religious institution, if you have one, on the leadership or ordination of women? Who are some important women leaders in your faith tradition?
3. We learned that some people in Turner’s time felt it wrong for the church to be too political. What role do you think religious institutions should play regarding social and economic politics? What kind of political activities is your religious institution involved in, if you have one?
4. Abraham Lincoln was referred to as a sacrificial savior of the enslaved and his death was compared with Jesus’ death on the cross. Why?
5. In describing the people he encountered in Africa, Henry McNeil Turner took note of their posture and self-image, contrasting it with the stooped posture and low self-esteem of enslaved Blacks in America. Why might enslaved Blacks in America carry themselves differently than free Blacks in Africa? What does slavery do to the mind, spirit and body?
6. James Cone says that most African Americans experience some contradiction in the Christian faith. What does he mean by that? Are there parts of the Christian faith that you find contradictory? What are they? How do you reconcile them? How did African Americans reconcile the contradictions they found in the Christian faith?

Episode 3: Guide My Feet

1. In this episode, we learn about the development of gospel music. Rev. Lena McLin, Thomas Dorsey’s niece, says, "People will always have to define the gospel song because every generation has to say what it has to say in its own way." How has the sacred music of your faith tradition changed in your lifetime? How has secular music informed the music of your faith tradition? How has music, both sacred and secular, influenced your spiritual journey?
2. Rev. Cecil Williams, the pastor of Glide Memorial Church, described his mission as "radical" leadership. How is it radical? What are the qualities of a radical leader? How can you demonstrate radical leadership in your ministry, job, home or social life?
3. Glide has made a commitment to participate in its neighborhood by being with the people who suffer the most. Rev. Williams says, "We are the church, not the walls." What does he mean by that? What do you think of, when you think of the church? What would a church, synagogue or temple "without walls" look like in your community?
4. Many Black people who had recently moved north felt they did not fit into the "silk stocking" churches. They created storefront churches in order to create a comfortable place of worship for themselves. What were the differences in worship style, class composition and music? If you have one, how is your religious institution different from or similar to "silk stocking" or storefront churches?
5. In this episode, Rev. Jeremiah Wright says, "Persons of deep faith are not exempt from crisis." A repeated theme that moves in this episode is the idea that sometimes you have to "risk everything by going to depths and danger and bring it to light," that sometime God tears you down to build you back up. How does this fit in with Rev. Williams' statement: "When you seek spirituality, that does not put you out of the world. It puts you decisively in the world, so you can begin top not only change your life, but change the lives of people who are in great need." What are the most dangerous, fearful places for you? What are some of the difficult experiences that you have confronted in your faith journey? Have those moments of crisis strengthened your faith? Has working through faith crises inspired you to change the world in any way?
6. Dorsey and Williams both experienced visions in their conversion experience. What do you make of that? Have you experienced visions of God’s plan for you or heard God’s voice in your life? If not, what is your equivalent?

Episode 4: Freedom Faith

1. In this episode, Rev. Prathia Hall tells a story about her experience on a train of racism and segregation. She says, she could hear a message in the rhythm of the train-tracks: "You’re not good enough." She talks about her father and church providing a counter-message that taught her to value herself. What are some of the negative messages that you hear about who you are? How do your family and faith communities help you to counteract those messages?
2. Much of the images and language in this episode deals with the language of racist terrorism in the U.S. How is "terrorism" defined in this film? How do most Americans define "terrorism" today? What is "terrorism" to you? Can the church ever endorse a violent response to terrorism?
3. Rev. Hall says that her father "groomed her" for the Civil Rights Movement, yet when she came of age, he forbade her to go south to participate in the work being done there. After he died, she went south as a member of SNCC and later followed in her father’s footsteps and became a minister. What were/are your parent’s expectation for your life? If you are a parent, what are your expectations of your own children? How did your parent’s expectations differ for siblings of different genders? How are they the same?
4. Black people’s faith allowed them to maintain the belief that God created all people to be equal. Who in our world is treated with less dignity and respect than others? Why? What about people who, by birth or circumstances, do not have the same abilities? What are some ways we can level the playing field? How, if we believe in a God of equality, can we live according to that belief?
5. It was said in this episode that Gandhi began to use the technique of non-violent resistance after reading the passage in the Bible, "Love your enemy." This Christian message resembled the values of Gandhi's own religious tradition, Hinduism. What other religious tradition have you learned about? How are they similar and different from your own? What messages about justice, community and faith might you learn from religious traditions other than your own?
6. Rev. Hall says that when Civil Rights activists decided to collectively defy the government’s Jim Crow laws, they arranged to meet twice a week to renew their faith and courage. What are some of the injustices your community faces? How does your community work together to defy those injustices? Brainstorm ways your church community can help to motivate and renew its faith, courage and commitment to fight for justice.

Episode 5: Inheritors of the Faith

1. In the beginning of this episode, James Cone says, "The spiritual and the political are intimately related, but the spiritual is the foundation for everything." What does this mean to you? How does your spiritual life inform your political life? How do your spiritual and political lives contradict each other?
2. Wallace Mohammed said that, when he went to prison, he was finally "free." What did he mean by that? How do your obligations to your family or religion influence your spiritual beliefs and obligations? How do you "free" or deprogram yourself from beliefs that do not ring true to you?
3. In this episode, we learn that Wallace Mohammed went back to the Nation of Islam even though he did not believe all of its tenants, because he knew the Nation would be divided after the assassination of Malcolm X. Would you deny your beliefs for the sake of some other purpose? What does it take to stay in a tradition with which you disagree or return to one in order to change it?
4. The Nation of Islam’s understanding of creation states that white men created evil, citing white racism towards Blacks as a prime example. Is this notion of creation different from your own? Do you believe that oppressed people are superior to their oppressors? How does this influence your understanding of order in the world?
5. Spend the next five minutes writing your own confession and creed. What do you believe and why? How do you practice your belief?
6. In this episode, Don Muhammad says that, from the beginning, the Nation of Islam has sought to protect Black women. From what or whom has it tried to protect Black women? Based on this episode, what is your understanding of the woman’s role in the Nation of Islam? What role do women play in your own faith tradition?

Episode 6: Rise Up and Call Their Names

1. In this episode, we learn about the Interfaith Pilgrimage of the Middle Passage. Why was this pilgrimage organized? What did the participants hope to learn or experience? What was the purpose of making the pilgrimage an interfaith experience?
2. In the episode, we discover that some of the Black participants questioned the participation of the white pilgrims, asking them: "Why are you here?" Why was this question raised? Who needs a better understanding of the Middle Passage? Who would benefit from learning more? What do you know about the Middle Passage and the history of African American enslavement in this country?
3. Think about your individual, familial and communal history. What is missing in your understanding of your origins and ancestry? How might you make a pilgrimage of your own? How can you access the parts of your past that have been lost or denied?
4. In the episode, Imam Abib Rashid says, "In the teaching of Prophet Muhammad, to have land or property or knowledge or money or anything that God has blessed you with and to not use it where you and your family and the community at large can derive benefit from is to actually incur a sin on yourself." What gifts and blessings do you have that can be used to serve your community?
5. It is said in this episode, "the power of faith transforms lives." James Cone says, " Faith arises to answer for you a meaning that seemingly escapes you." How does faith transform the lives of the people in this episode? Has faith transformed your life? Does it "wake you up"? How does faith affect and inform the meaning of your life? How does it help you overcome and face obstacles?
6. The words of the song sung throughout the pilgrimage read: "Those who have gone before us, rise up and call their names!" The pilgrims traveled with the names of ancestors, white and Black, on their hearts and minds. Why is it important to honor and remember the ancestors? How does facing and recalling the pain of the past help us reclaim the past and heal from it? Why is it important to confront racism in the past and present?