Preacher Woman

On a typical Sunday morning, people come from far and near to attend All Souls church. People are smiling, excited as they rush in to the sanctuary, eager for service to begin. The minister who stands at the pulpit is overjoyed by the amount of people present to hear the word. The sermon is a message full of insight, challenges, and mostly love. The minister wraps the congregation with a tight spiritual hug so that they not only hear the words but feel them as well. This minister is Rev. Cheryl M. Walker.

Born to Dorothy and Charles Walker II in 1956, Rev. Walker was raised Muslim, with her two sisters and one brother, and lived in Harlem’s Lower East Side. She attended public schools and later graduated from Stuyvesant High School. Leaving Harlem for the first time, Walker attended Springfield College in Massachusetts, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1977.

The experience away from home proved to be life changing. Walker gained not only the knowledge needed to be successful in the real world, she also learned herself. Away from the constraints of Islam, Walker was free to accept that she was a Gay African- American woman.

After college, Walker quickly landed her first job at Liberty Mutual, working in loss prevention. A few years later, she transitioned to the burgeoning field of technology.
At the time the field was called electronic data processing. The work was dominated by women and was presumed to be a clerical function. Later working at AT&T, Walker used punch cards to create the company’s computer system.

Her career in technology lasted twenty-five years, peaking at Meryll Lynch where she served as VP of Technology. Although her position offered the challenge that she loved, Walker found her work unfulfilling. Deep within herself, she knew this wasn’t to be her life’s work. In 2001, Walker walked away from her lucrative title, negotiating a career retirement. She would now pursue her true calling- the ministry.

Walker attended Union Theological Seminary and became an ordained Unitarian Minister in May 2004. Currently, Rev. Walker is the Associate minister at the Unitarian Church of All Souls. The congregation on Manhattan’s Upper East Side does not reflect the Harlem community where Walker grew up. The congregation is mostly white, with less than a third being people of color. However, Walker finds it easy to relate. She speaks to their heart and hopes- that if need be that their minds will change.

My interview with Rev. Walker, Nov. 13, 2007

What is the best part of your job?
There are a lot of things that I really love about my job so it’s kinda hard to say the best-but the things I love about my job end up in one category; touching peoples lives- in two ways. One of my two favorite ways is on Sunday morning, when we are in church together and we sing, and I preach- I love to preach. The other part, and I’m not sure which one really weighs number 1 or 2 anymore- is when people are in my office crying and sharing the hardship of their lives. There is a saying “A burden shared is a burden halved” so when they come in my office their burdens are heavy and when they leave they are lighter.

Growing up Muslim and living in Harlem, how did you discover Unitarian Universalism?
It wasn’t easy- umm a friend of mine who I worked with on wall street- we started out in the industry together- said to me I think you would really like my church. She started explaining a little about Unitarian Universalism and I’m like yeah right. I went to service and it was thought provoking and I was very impressed with the openness of the congregation. But it really wasn’t enough to attract me. The same friend, two months later, invited me to a different UU church. She said the preacher was an African American woman. I walked into the sanctuary and hanging from the rafters was a 6 ft banner representing the world's religions. They were all around the sanctuary and there is a visual statement about that. It was saying something that I was trying to say in my own life for some time. Each one of them had some truths but no one of them had “the” truth. After the service, I met with the minister. I went back the next week, and the week after that, and three years later, I became a member.

How did your life as a Muslim prepare you for becoming a minister?
It did not. I sometimes think that had I grown up something other than a Muslim the idea of ministry would have come to me sooner. The idea of women clergy is unknown in Islam today. Growing up where that’s not an option for women in some ways shut a door that I might of walked through sooner. Being a woman, particularly being a lesbian woman, doors were closing in the faith of my childhood. So in some ways it did just the opposite. On the other hand it did give me a particular grounding and strength. Growing up in as a Muslim in the 1960s and 70s, we were very much different. There was something very powerful about us walking through Harlem, through the projects going to mosque. In particular, a black family in America, we were in our presence, challenging all the structures of white supremacy (by) just walking down the street. In that respect, it did give me an incredible grounding of my own worth.

What aspects of Islam do you still practice?
I eat like Muslims- so there are foods that I will not eat. I was just recently asked to have a potluck in my house and I don’t have potlucks in my house. The reason is because I can’t trust the food that you’re bringing into my house. If you bring something that’s not halal into my house and use my plate, I have to then destroy the plate. So quite honestly, I really like my china. I do take the habit of prayer with me- praying five times a day reminds you of your relationship to God. I dress modestly, my skirts are at the knee or just a little above. I fast during Ramadan, not every year-when I am feeling least connected to the holy I fast because that practice will bring me back in touch to God.

What are the unspoken responsibilities associated with being a Black Female Gay minister, in a male led and predominately white congregation?
To speak truth to power. When I’m in the room they think about things they don’t think about. My being here- being unapologetic about being a woman, about being black, about being gay- forces people to think outside of their comfort zone. I often don’t like to preach on racism- it’s not my problem –it’s my challenge. But at times it becomes so clear, so obvious that if nobody is gonna say something, I will stand up and say something. When Katrina hit, I had to address the issues of class and race that are playing out in front of you on your television everyday. (Addressing the congregation) And what people are you going to do about it? What I didn’t know is that they would respond and are still doing so today.

When did you come out and how?
Umm, I came out to my parents when I was a junior in college. I may have come out to myself and friends before then. It happens in stages. My parents were visiting me at school and I gave my mom a letter and told her to read it when she got home. Of course she read it out loud to my father during the drive home and they got into a car accident. Nothing major. I knew that she was not surprised. I think most parents of gay children aren’t surprised-they’ve known, they just don’t want their children to tell them. My father and I stopped speaking for three years. I was my father’s favorite. He said some really harsh things. I said Dad if you can’t accept me then I won’t- you did not raise me to accept anyone to speak to me the way you just did. Finally he just gave up -he said he missed me. I’m glad it happened before he died.

Do you have a desire to get married and have children?
I’ve never really wanted to have children-I love being an Aunt, I love sending them home. I would like to live in a country where my partner and I would be allowed to be married-yes.

When do you write your sermons and where do you draw inspiration from?
I start writing my sermons at 2 am on Sunday morning. I start to think about the sermon well before then. It’s really a process of (questions I ask myself) what do you wan to say, what do you want them to feel, come away with, think about, whatever-what transformation do you want happening in the room. Sometimes it’s a mood that I’m sensing in the congregation-that something needs to be spoken. Sometimes it’s dictated by the season of the year- if it’s Christmas you gotta talk about Christmas. I get inspiration all over the place- Karl Bart always said ‘You should preach with a bible in one hand a newspaper in the other.’

What is UU to you?
At it’s best, Unitarian Universalism is a community of faith walking together yet unagreed on the most basic issues of faith- we have everybody in the room from Godfather to ain’t no God at all, and everybody in between. We can worship together, sing hymns together, listen to the sermon and not break out into World War III. This is what makes us a light unto the nations of the world- we can do it, why can’t you? Because in the end it doesn’t matter whatever faith you profess- it matters what you will do with it.