MEETING WITH YOUR RESPECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Explain to your leadership how you have arrived at this area of interest.

(In mycase, it is  a Session, but it would enrich the process to have some churches from other traditions.)

Note Barna’s poll suggesting that two-thirds of churches and 43% of society think the church should help address the divisions of racism in our churches and society.

Some research suggests that many young people choose to leave the church because they don’t see the membership being willing to live in accordance with the faith they proclaim.

Next, share the consensus of your clergy gathering.

IDENTIFYING CONCERNS

Recognize that your leadership will have some concerns about how the membership will respond to an emphasis on how our faith speaks to the racism in both church and society. They also are called to offer spiritual leadership to this part of the Body of Christ, so invite them to identify with you the concerns that might have to be confronted.

Ask them to write three sentences, each of which identifies a concern that members of their church might have about becoming involved in addressing racism as a church.

Share each person’s three statements and form a cumulative list of the whole. (no discussion at this point, just form the shared list.)

Then, ask them to individually form three faith statements that speak to why faith might urge their church to seek to address racism in church and society.  Again, without discussing, listen and format a cumulative list of the statements.

Once the cumulative lists are formatted, share, compare, and discuss the possibilities of such a shared ministry.

DEMONSTRATING POSSIBLE CHURCH MINISTRy

Share with them the other churches who are also interested in participating in this spiritual journey  Discuss both the fun and stimulation of this shared adventure within the ONE BODY OF CHRIST.

A brief video that explains the process further.

Inform the members of all participating churches that each church will see the cumulative results of each church’s membership. So each church can see how they compare & be challenged by the differences.

Inform the membership that they each will soon receive a couple of brief surveys of your membership with some questions about our understanding of both the nature of church and faith as it considers what the Gospel has to say with respect to racism. Explain that this is part of a several church program. The cumulative results of each church, without individual names attached, will be shared The discipline of “Active Listening” will shape  the discussion. This discipline will be further defined below.

Then, the churches will engage in an adaptation of the Truth and Reconciliation process developed in South Africa to deepen our understanding.

This will involve a process described below in having some Black Christians share their experience of racism in their lives from early to present experiences.                           

Having experienced both of those sets of stories, the group will begin to explore how together they can begin to re-write the story of faith, addressing racism as ambassadors of reconciliation.

Here is a link to a longer video that explores the process in more detail.

Having read this and watched the videos, feel free to contact me to share your question. Of course, if you feel this is a good idea, it will grow in impact and spiritual power if it is implemented by several clergy and their churches.

Steve                          steve@smccutchan.com