By Walt Garlington
The journey of the African diaspora in the United States to find a religious home has been a winding and circuitous one, from tribal practices to Western Christian denominations to Islamic ethno-nationalism. With essay appearing at the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, my recommendation that they consider the Orthodox Church as their home will be unsurprising. Nevertheless, my justification for that will come from what may seem an unlikely place: the life and influence of jazz virtuoso and Southerner John Coltrane.
He was born in High Point, North Carolina in 1926, the son and grandson of black Methodist preachers. Crushed by the loss of both of them in 1938, he clung tenaciously to music (specifically the saxophone) as a way to cope with it all. His service in the U. S. Navy in WWII gave him access to G. I. Bill education funds, which he used to take musical classes. From then on, his life was dedicated to music. He became addicted to heroin in 1948 but quit “cold turkey” in 1957 by turning to God for help: “In the liner notes of A Love Supreme, Coltrane states that in 1957 he experienced ‘by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music.’” From then on, his musical achievements soared to brilliant heights. His albums, like his religious life, began more and more to absorb elements from many different cultures, becoming more universalist/transcendent/ecumenist in their style. His life was sadly cut very short in 1967 due to liver cancer, thought to be a result of his heroin use earlier in life.
But though his life ended, his influence did not. Some have been profoundly impacted by him. Franzo and Marina King are two such people. They describe their encounter with Coltrane as a religious experience, which led to other unique developments:
Two years before his untimely death from liver cancer in 1967, a young San Francisco couple heard him play — and their experience was literally religious.
They founded a spiritual community inspired by his music and 50 years later, they’re still preaching that gospel at the Coltrane Church in San Francisco.
Franzo and Marina King were already jazz fans on the night that changed their lives. This was back when San Francisco was the Harlem of the West, and the Fillmore District was packed with places to hear jazz. On the couple’s first wedding anniversary, in 1965, they went to hear John Coltrane play.
They managed to get seats in the front row. And that night, they say, the Holy Spirit walked out with Coltrane onto the stage of the Jazz Workshop.
“I think we were both slain in the spirit,” Franzo King recalls. “It was like getting caught up in a rainstorm. And we didn’t know if it was going to bring a flood or flowers.” …
On that night in San Francisco, the Kings say, they experienced an awakening, thanks to Coltrane’s horn. They call it their “sound baptism.”
John Coltrane became their Christ, their God. His 1965 album “A Love Supreme“ became their central text, and “Coltrane consciousness” became their guiding principle.
The Kings saw the Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — in the titles of the first three sections of A Love Supreme: “Acknowledgement,” “Resolution” and “Pursuance.” And they perceived the Trinity in the three building blocks of Western music: melody, harmony and rhythm. …
The Kings eventually met Coltrane’s widow — the musician Alice Coltrane. They came to regard her as their guru and became members of Alice Coltrane’s own religious community, the Vedantic Center, which was based on her interpretation of Hindu beliefs. The Kings even recorded Hindu devotional songs with her.
But that oneness began to unravel; there were theological splinters. In 1981, Coltrane sued the Kings for using her late husband’s name and likeness. The lawsuit was later dropped. But the publicity spurred an invitation to the Kings church to join the African Orthodox Church (AOC), a denomination of principally Black American adherents that was founded in the early 20th century by Black Episcopalians who were put off by racism in the dominant church.
As a condition of joining the AOC, the Kings had to reduce John Coltrane’s rank from God incarnate to patron saint. Franzo King — now known as Archbishop F.W. King — agreed.
In September 1982, Coltrane was officially canonized as a saint by the AOC. But in talking to the clerics at the Coltrane church these days, you hear a panoply of perspectives.
“We recognize that John Coltrane is a saint, because we have been born anew in the spirit of the Lord, and baptized in that anointed sound,” Archbishop King says. “We don’t worship him, and we don’t exalt him. We recognize him. When I grew up in that sanctified [Pentecostal] church, everybody that had been saved is what we would call sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost. The Pentecostal church wasn’t waiting on a bunch of Roman cardinals to get together and count miracles.” …
Every week, visitors from all kinds of backgrounds and around the world come to worship services, which include a monthly guided meditation through A Love Supreme and weekly Masses that feature mid-service jazz jams.
Today, the Coltrane church is called the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church.”
Many threads here connect to the Orthodox Church. At the outset, though, we must state that the African Orthodox Church referred to is not part of the canonical Orthodox Church but is rather a 20th-century (founded in 1918) invention of men associated with the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Some of the parishes it established in Africa were eventually united to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (which is reminiscent of a later occurrence between the Evangelical Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Antioch); those in the US remain out of communion with the canonical Church.
With that said, let us look more closely at what was said above and how it relates to Africans and the Orthodox Church. A wonderful interview in Road to Emmaus entitled “We Are Going to Live in Paradise: Orthodoxy in the Congo” with a Congolese priest, Fr. Theotimos (who was serving at a church in Greece at the time of the interview), will be our main guide.
First is the veneration of John Coltrane, first worshipping him as God, then later “reducing his rank” to a saint. Fr. Theotimos says this act of honoring departed loved ones and being engrossed with the spiritual world is deeply ingrained in the African soul:
The majority of sub-Saharan Africans, the Bantu, shared the same philosophy, focusing primarily on the supernatural: on spirits, on eternity and on love. Pre-Christian Africans venerate both the spirits of their ancestors and the supreme Spirit, which is God. Philosophically, this is like the “seminal seed” of Blessed Augustine; the impulse of the soul towards God and the otherworld that each human being carries within himself. Africans also believe in eternal life, that death is only a crossing over from earthly life to eternity. Meeting Christianity clears the existing confusion and opens the way to real faith; eternal spirits are revealed as those of the saints and angels, and the Supreme Spirit is the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. …
As a people, we believe in the spirits of our ancestors, and pagan Africans are usually aware of the idea of God as the Great Spirit. They believe in this. So, when the missionaries tell them, “Yes, this Great Spirit is God, and this Spirit became human, and that person is Jesus Christ, and whoever believes in Him and does what He says will become holy,” they understand.
I tell them, “You don’t have to call on the spirits of your ancestors anymore. You don’t know if they were holy people or not. Instead, you can call on the spirits of the saints who we know are close to God. We have their icons, and we can ask them to speak to Christ, to pray for us.
Likewise, the veneration of the belongings of those whom they revere (such as Coltrane’s saxophone mentioned above, and seen in icons of him – e.g., in the NPR story; see Sources below):
After a culture has gone through this second stage, they begin using the reposed person’s physical belongings – his hair, cup, clothes – and wearing them as fetishes to bring good luck. This is the third stage, when they begin calling on the spirit of the dead person through his objects. This has an outward Christian analogy in our veneration of relics of the saints, but in Christianity this is not because of the natural qualities of the person, but because the supernatural grace of God has manifested in him. His body, his bones, are also blessed through association with that grace. In Acts, Peter’s shadow healed people, and after St. Paul went to Ephesus, people would bring handkerchiefs and aprons to him to touch. When they touched them to the ill and possessed, they were healed.
… Don’t wear the fetish of your ancestors, wear a cross instead. Respect holy water and holy myrrh, because it will do you good. If you see a cross, make the cross yourself, because it is through the cross that Christ saved us.” They can accept this like a totem. We don’t worship the cross itself, we venerate it. We only worship Christ in the Holy Trinity. They already knew about these concepts, but in a different way, not in their fullness.
The “recognizing” of people as holy, through the works of God in their lives, rather than waiting on a declaration from the Roman Catholic Vatican, described by Abp. King, is also thoroughly Orthodox, as many Orthodox saints have been acclaimed holy by the people they lived amongst immediately after they reposed in the Lord.
Above: Historical marker in High Point, NC.
And there is another kind of recognition, a revelation about God through the works of man: “Rev. Stephens says that, for her parents, Coltrane was a vessel. ‘His life allowed young people like Archbishop King and Reverend Mother Marina to see the spirit of Christ in another way,’ she continues, ‘to see truth coming from something that looked like them, something that spoke to them in their language.’ Jazz was that language.”
Now it is a fine thing if Coltrane’s music led people to Christ, but Africans in general are finding the practices and teachings of the Orthodox Church to be even more effective toward that end. The “Road to Emmaus” journalist asks Fr. Theotimos:
In the West, though, we do hear of large numbers of Africans turning to Christianity, and you’ve mentioned whole villages converting. What is it in the African people that makes Orthodox Christianity so appealing?
FR. THEOTIMOS: The most important thing is the hidden roots of Christianity that I mentioned before, the natural otherworldly spirituality in native African culture and mentality that can easily respond to the fullness of Christianity. Then, their disappointment with other Christian churches; the Orthodox aren’t involved with politics, they just come with the Word of God. Also, people see clearly that Christians in the Orthodox Church are protected from demonic forces. Finally, Africans are able to live the truth, the reality of Orthodoxy.
RTE: In what way?
FR. THEOTIMOS: The other Christians, even Roman Catholics no longer practice many traditions that the Orthodox continue, like fasting. When the Orthodox speak of fasting on Wednesday and Friday and during the four fasts, it is a major element in our spiritual practice. Fasting is a principle of Christian life because the Prophet Elias, St. John the Baptist, the Mother of God, and even the Lord Himself, fasted. Africans don’t play with fasting. I’m so sad that the Greeks, especially here in Greece, often don’t fast. When you say to an African person, “You should do this,” you who are teaching him should not do the opposite.
RTE: Why do you think it’s easier for Africans to accept the idea of fasting?
FR. THEOTIMOS: Because they used to make promises to their departed ancestors like, “If you do this for me, I won’t eat anything for two days for you.” This was a common practice for thousands of years, and was already part of the culture.
Finally, the African diaspora oftentimes feels out of place in the West where they live, a feeling expressed by Rev. Stephens:
Today, the Coltrane church is called the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church. It holds its services at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in San Francisco’s Western Addition neighborhood — after years of moving from storefront to storefront, pushed out repeatedly by gentrification.
Rev. Stephens, who serves as the church’s pastor, says their financial struggles mirror those of Black San Francisco.
“It’s a lonely feeling because the people that you used to know for the most part are not here. They’re just gone, they can’t afford to live here. I don’t even know how I’m still here, honestly,” she says ruefully.
But this, says Fr. Theotimos, is precisely what makes Africans more open to accepting Orthodox Christianity than other peoples: “This is the best question. I believe that a person who doesn’t feel at ease on earth is the right person for Paradise. This is the only truth he can accept. It was the same with Abraham. God said, ‘Leave here, go there.’ Abraham didn’t know where he was going, and we are the same.”
And, also, as mentioned above, their innate character:
… a Greek who was a true missionary: Fr. Athanasios Anthides, who went to Africa in the sixties to teach. Although he didn’t spend long in Africa, he understood its essence. When he returned to Greece, he met Greek missionaries going to Africa: “Where are you going?” “We are going to convert Africans to Christianity.” He laughed and said, “It’s you who are going to become Christian there, because before you even say a word, the African already catches it. The Africans are already Christian. They live Christianity: love, humbleness, obedience. In a few years all of Africa will be Orthodox. . . .”
For the Africans in Dixie, we say with all love and sincerity, come home, come home to the Orthodox Church, which was established in Africa by the Holy Apostles themselves in the first century. Come home to the Orthodox Church, where there is true racial transcendence through our partaking of the Holy Mysteries: “Everyone is now talking about globalization, about world unity. Both those who are for it and those who are against it say things that are right and wrong, but neither of them knows the future. As Christians, we have “globalization” already through the Blood of Christ (Fr. Theotimos).” Come home to the Orthodox Church where Europeans and Africans mix and mingle and missionize without friction.
We Orthodox in Dixie must tell the good tidings of the Orthodox Church to our African neighbors. They are ready to hear it, says Fr. Theotimos: “Just so, all of these African-Americans, Jamaicans, Haitians have all the qualifications for nostalgia for Paradise. They could very easily be caught for God, but it is necessary to preach to them.”
May God grant rest to the soul of John Coltrane and a joyful homecoming into the Orthodox Church to all the African diaspora in the South and in all the States.
Walt Garlington is a chemical engineer turned writer and editor of the website Confiteri: A Southern Perspective. This longtime Southern Baptist, then Anglican, was united to the Orthodox Church in 2012 and makes his home in Louisiana where he attends a GOA parish.
