I spent my morning in dialogue with a colleague from a different denomination. The two of us have been working together on a couple of different ministries, boards, and coalitions for the past couple of years. Our conversation this morning was about envisioning where it is all leading us.
We are both white "imports" to a land that is has a very "living history" sort of feel of the "deep south". The area we live in still has many inhabitants struggling with the consequences of forced de-segregation. And the churches have simply not de-segregated, despite what has happened in other areas of civil society.
Yet, there is a growing movement in the county, not just among those of us who have moved there in the past 40 years, but increasingly among those who were born and raised there, to pursue not only de-segregation, but also reconciliation.
Thus, our vision involves the Southern Maryland Action Coalition, as well as some of our partners, to serve as a model of how this can be done. We are composed of a variety of churches from various denominations, and we have worked at being truly diverse. We have men and women, clergy and lay, black and white all working together and sharing the vision and the work-load. The grand vision is that we continue to strengthen our work with one another while also teaching and modeling racial reconciliation and anti-oppression in the church and the community. We hope that in so doing, we will be building a strong foundation to address other systemic issues in the county that often stem from covert (and in some cases overt) racism.
There is still much planning to be done and many details to be worked out, but I am growing more and more excited about this.
In the mean-time, I will be spending my Sundays over the next few months visiting a variety of churches in the county (both "black" and "white") and starting the process of growing and expanding our relationships. I appreciate your prayers in this effort.
We are both white "imports" to a land that is has a very "living history" sort of feel of the "deep south". The area we live in still has many inhabitants struggling with the consequences of forced de-segregation. And the churches have simply not de-segregated, despite what has happened in other areas of civil society.
Yet, there is a growing movement in the county, not just among those of us who have moved there in the past 40 years, but increasingly among those who were born and raised there, to pursue not only de-segregation, but also reconciliation.
Thus, our vision involves the Southern Maryland Action Coalition, as well as some of our partners, to serve as a model of how this can be done. We are composed of a variety of churches from various denominations, and we have worked at being truly diverse. We have men and women, clergy and lay, black and white all working together and sharing the vision and the work-load. The grand vision is that we continue to strengthen our work with one another while also teaching and modeling racial reconciliation and anti-oppression in the church and the community. We hope that in so doing, we will be building a strong foundation to address other systemic issues in the county that often stem from covert (and in some cases overt) racism.
There is still much planning to be done and many details to be worked out, but I am growing more and more excited about this.
In the mean-time, I will be spending my Sundays over the next few months visiting a variety of churches in the county (both "black" and "white") and starting the process of growing and expanding our relationships. I appreciate your prayers in this effort.
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