Clementa Pinckney’s legacy: How to be both pastor, public servant

To honor the memory of South Carolina state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, his alma mater is going beyond just establishing a scholarship.

Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington is establishing a whole new track of study for students to follow in the footsteps of the pastor, slain along with eight others by a white supremacist while leading a Bible study last June at historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

“What we’re trying to do is train individuals to be leaders in the 21st century who really understand, like he did, what it means to stand at that intersection between what he did in his public work in the South Carolina government and also his church work,” said the Rev. Dr. Doug Powe, a professor at Wesley who will oversee the program.

The new track will be titled doctorate of ministry in public engagement. When he was slain, Pinckney was finishing his dissertation about the double vocation of pastor and public servant in the African-American community. He was awarded his degree posthumously at a commencement ceremony earlier this month.

The new program will be taught in Charleston and Washington. The first students to participate will begin with a two-week intensive session in Charleston in January.

“Starting off in Charleston will help students understand the context of what it meant (for Pinckney) to do ministry in a place where, until recently, the Confederate flag was still flying,” Powe said. “How it is that as a leader one can engage people saying, ‘Hey, this is problematic,’ but also at the same time engage them in a way that is faithful and loving. That challenge offers great opportunity for people to do wonderful ministry and bring about changes that are astounding.”

Students will then take courses online and in Washington before returning to Charleston in January 2018.

“Part of the reason for going back is it will give them an opportunity to reflect on what they’ve learned from the first time they were there, and how South Carolina has been moving forward in that time,” Powe said. “At that point it will be a couple of years from the tragedy that took place, and we will see if its impact will fade as people move away from it.”

While the seminary has always taught courses on public engagement, it has never had a dedicated track until now. Wesley President David McAllister-Wilson said the admissions office had already received a lot of interest from students and faculty alike.

“We’ve got to find people who can continue Clem’s work, but it will take some financial help,” he said. “One of the big challenges is that theological education has the same sort of educational requirements as doctors, but starting salaries are like a fraction, so it’s never a good financial decision. People who are in many ways as Clem was when he began are really struggling, but want to enter this track.”

Scholarships for the program will be based on need, and since the seminary does not have endowments for the new program. the school will be stretching its general funds for as many people as possible, McAllister-Wilson said.

Born in Beaufort, South Carolina, Pinckney became a pastor when he was just 18. He was in his fifth year leading Emanuel AME church, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the South, when he was killed.

Pinckney was the youngest African-American to be elected to the S.C. legislature when he joined the General Assembly at 23. He became a state senator in 2000. In one of his last actions as a legislator, he co-sponsored a bill requiring police officers to wear body cameras. The bill passed after Walter Scott, an unarmed North Charleston black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer.

“What makes this particularly important is that the things Clem focused on are everything this seminary is about,” McAllister-Wilson said.

This story was originally published May 29, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Clementa Pinckney’s legacy: How to be both pastor, public servant."