By Brenda McNeil on
8/30/2010 3:51 PM
Why I Don't Agree With Racial Reconciliation
By Jason Dewey
Were you surprised by the title of this post? Are you reading this because you can’t believe that I would make such a statement? Let me assure you that I am actually fully committed to the concept of reconciliation. My problem is with the word racial.
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By Brenda McNeil on
8/19/2010 9:43 AM
All In
By Greg Yee
I’m learning more and more each day, but it takes work - a lot of work. I’m learning that the pathway to experiencing true Kingdom community does not happen casually. I realize that it is a worldview changer and shift in life disposition. It is like the young rich ruler who asked Jesus what it took. He declared his commitment to following at least the last five commandments. He was probably a great church-goer. Yet, Jesus invited him to cash in his entire portfolio and to serve people. The man walked away sad because this was too difficult. Today, I believe that the church is stuffed with a lot of young rich rulers that keep us from Kingdom community life.
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By Brenda McNeil on
7/30/2010 11:52 PM
"For Kate"
by Erica Hunt
"What does that mean?"
"What is she doing?"
"Why is he wearing that robe?"
My daughters’ whispered questions scattered through the Mass tested my recollection of religion classes in high school and college. I quickly realized that, as a life-long Protestant, I had many more questions than answers about the liturgy, saints, prayers and chants of the Catholic Church.
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By Brenda McNeil on
7/19/2010 11:31 AM
Which one of these doesn't belong?
By Karl Ostroski
“So, we were driving by [city in Northeast Illinois] and saw all these people who don’t have jobs just sitting outside. It’s a really nice area with big houses but they let Section 8 (people who qualify for low income housing) get in there. It’s just so frustrating that those people get a nice home almost for free because they don’t work while some of us can hardly get by.”
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By Brenda McNeil on
7/1/2010 1:29 PM
Worship: Love and Unity
By Allison Ash
I once heard someone say, “Why should we change our worship style because of newcomers who are used to a different style of worship? There are so many churches to choose from, why don’t they just find one that fits their style?” This comment raises two significant thoughts. First of all, this portrays worship as a commodity to be consumed rather than a time for praise, thanksgiving, and transformation (a noteworthy discussion for another time). Secondly, this assumes that once the ways of worship are decided in a given church, newcomers are expected to assimilate into this style whether or not it reflects their history, generation, or culture. I would like to propose that instead of assimilation, perhaps the church is called to practice mutual assimilation.
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By Brenda McNeil on
6/8/2010 8:37 AM
“Reasonable Suspicion” — Race and Justice from A Biblical Worldview
By Quentin Mumphery
Rodney King, the O.J. Simpson case, the handling of Hurricane Katrina by FEMA, Bull Conner, J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, and images of southern, civil rights-era sheriffs, all point to the precarious and tense relationship that people of color in the U.S. have had with entities of law enforcement.
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By Brenda McNeil on
5/25/2010 11:45 PM
Voices Emerging from Suffering
by Carlos Ruiz
There are moments in life in which one can see clearly both the waters that have birthed you, as well as the waters that expand your horizons and take you to places of discovery and transformation. I would like to tell you a story about such a moment in my life.
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By Brenda McNeil on
5/3/2010 10:35 PM
A Unique Journey?
By Jason Dewey
Arkadelphia, Arkansas and Onalaska, Wisconsin; two small towns that were an unlikely starting point for my journey of racial reconciliation. There I spent the first two-thirds of my life growing up as a Christian where racial issues had little impact on my life and my faith. Towards the end of those years something radically changed. Almost unexplainably, God supernaturally intervened and ignited a passion within me for issues of race and justice and my life has not been the same since.
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By Brenda McNeil on
4/22/2010 10:35 AM
Dreams of a Racist
By Grace Biskie
At eight months pregnant, I had a dream my new baby boy was born. He came out with pale white skin, blue eyes & long pin-straight red hair. He didn’t look like he belonged to me at all. As a light skinned biracial black woman with an Italian mother, an African-American father and a white husband the notion that my son could look white isn’t too far off from reality.
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By Brenda McNeil on
3/20/2010 9:17 AM
Cultural Lenses
By Allison Ash
Looking at me, pale-skinned and blonde-haired, you would not know that I come from a diverse background with an African American great grandmother and an American Indian great grandfather. Though I grew up in a white neighborhood, I felt a call to racial reconciliation after learning about the issues of racism and racial injustice partly through the stories of my family members and the hardships they faced because of their race. Early on, I learned that this ministry needed to start with honest dialogue within a caring community where I would gain an awareness of my own lack of understanding and my limited cultural lens – a lesson I learned when I was the Director of Chapel at Fuller Theological Seminary.
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