2015考研英语阅读开启黑人牧师时代

　　WHEN Fred Luter, the pastor of a largecongregation in a flood-damaged section of NewOrleans, assumes the presidency of the SouthernBaptist Convention at its annual meeting inJune, it will not be the usual passing of the batonfor Americas largest Protestant denomination. MrLuter, who is black, will become the standard-bearer of a group with a long history of racism.

　　弗雷德.路特是新奥尔良一个遭受洪灾破坏街区的大会牧师，在美南浸信会六月年会上接任会长，这将是美国新教最大教派领袖一次不同寻常的交接，路特这个黑人将成为这个有着悠久种族歧视历史教会的旗手。

　　Prejudice coloured the SBC from its very founding in 1845, as a breakaway sect from theanti-slavery Baptists of the north. During the civil-rights struggle, although the conventions leadersendorsed integration, most Southern Baptist pastors and most of their flocks were reliabledefenders of white supremacy.

　　作为抵制农奴制度美北浸信会的独立分支，美南浸信会从1845年成立之初就披上了歧视的色彩。 内战过后，南方的浸信会黑人大部分都离开了美南浸信会。 在民权斗争期间，尽管教会领导支持黑人加入，但南方的很多浸信会牧师和教会组织都坚持维护白人的优势地位。

　　In 1995 the convention formally apologised and promised to make amends. In recent yearsit has passed a series of resolutions requiring its churches to include more black members andto appoint black leaders.

　　1995年，该教会做出正式道歉并承诺做出改善。 近年来，教会已经通过了一系列要求教会招募更多黑人会员以及任命黑人领导的决议。

　　Mr Luters accession will be the most visible sign yet that Southern Baptists are makingprogress on this front. And progress is necessary. They may be Americas second-largestgroup of Christians after Catholics16m strongbut their numbers have levelled off, andhave probably even waned a bit. If the denomination wants to flourish, it will have to findnew members among minorities. It is slowly doing so: whereas in 1990 95% of SouthernBaptist congregations were white, only 80% are nowadays.

　　然而路特的当选显然说明南方浸信会已经在这方面取得进步。 进步也是必不可少的。 该教会有望成为美国仅次于天主教的第二大基督教会，但是他们的教友数目最近有持平的趋势，甚至可能有所下降。 美南浸信会要想发展壮大，必须在少数人群中寻找新会员， 这种行动已经缓步开展： 1990年时南方浸信会成员白人占95%，而今的白人只占80%。

　　Their next leader is a living embodiment of that shift. Mr Luter took over Franklin AvenueBaptist Church in 1986, when the congregation had dwindled to a few dozen because itsmostly white membership had fled to the suburbs. Mr Luter built it into a mostly blackgathering that had 7,000 members when Hurricane Katrina struck, in 2005. The church, whichstood in nine feet of water after the storm, has been rebuilt; its flock nownumbers about 5,000.

　　教会的下任会长就是这一转变生生的体现。 路特于1986年接管富兰克林街道浸信会教堂，当时该教区信徒数目已缩小到了几十人，因为很多白人会员已经逃往郊区。路特一手把该教区发展光大，到 2005年卡特里娜飓风来袭时，该教区已经有7千名信徒了，大多是黑人。教堂因飓风进水达3米，已经重建。现在的会员已接近5000人。

　　Yet Mr Luters rise to the presidency of the organisation is more than a matter of symbolism.He is a true-blue Southern Baptist who inveighs against gay marriage and abortion from thepulpit, but also displays a gift for passionate, humorous preaching that has its roots in hispast as a street minister. This has made him an inspiring speaker at previous SBCconventions. The man who first suggested his candidacy, Danny Akin, president ofSoutheastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, told a reporterthen that he believed Mr Luter would be elected on merit, regardless of race or colour. But,he added, he gives us an opportunityto say something about who we want to be.

　　然而路特升职为会长不单是形式上的象征。 他是一位坚定的南方浸信会信徒，在讲坛上常常怒斥同性婚姻和堕胎;他还展现了幽默热情的布道天赋，作为街道牧师他的天赋展露无遗。 这也让他成为以往美南浸信会集会上振奋人心的演说家。 首位推举他为候选人的是Danny Akin，北卡罗拉威客森林南方浸信会神学院的院长，他告诉记者:路特的当选是因为德才,与种族肤色无关。 但他补充道，他给我们一个机会...告诉世人我们究竟想成为什么样的人。