I did not grow up Presbyterian, and I can’t identify as a ‘cradle’ or ‘prenatal’ Presbyterian, or any of the ways that
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Racism, Belhar, and the Church in South Africa South Africa is a deeply wounded society. More than 340 years of racist colonial and apartheid rule impacted the black majority very negatively. During this period, people of colour were not allowed
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A Closing Editorial Race is a word that points to massive dividing lines in the US (and elsewhere). Lake Woebegone is a fictional creation of a gifted radio storyteller, Garrison Keillor. Among Keillor’s strengths are his knowledge of the mainline church in small towns and his genuine affection for the
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Dog-Whistling and Sin-Talk It happened most recently on a family trip to a museum. This trip was particularly special because the museum had recently accepted my wife’s fiber art piece into one of its shows. I sat outside the gallery on a balcony that overlooked the small theater that was
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Antiracism Conversations at the Congregational and Denominational Levels I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot
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United Methodist Commission on Race. Black Ministries and Latino/Hispanic Ministries – The Episcopal Church. Council for Racial and Ethnic Ministries (COREM) – United Church of Christ. Ethnic Specific and Multicultural Ministries – Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries – Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). These are a few
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In October 2014, a group from East Liberty Presbyterian Church, the Community of Reconciliation Church, and the Verona Presbyterian Church toured together the temporary “RACE” exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Following the tour, the group gathered for lunch and a moderated conversation led by the
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White privilege means waking up in the morning with the ability to decide whether or not racism will be a part of your day. Just ask people of color who teach their black sons how to interact with police so that they can stay alive. Or who listen to well-meaning
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Racism, Belhar, and the Church in South Africa South Africa is a deeply wounded society. More than 340 years of racist colonial and apartheid rule impacted the black majority very negatively. During this period, people of colour were not allowed to live where they wanted. The white minority owned more
MoreI did not grow up Presbyterian, and I can’t identify as a ‘cradle’ or ‘prenatal’ Presbyterian, or any of the ways that I have heard born-and-bred Presbyterians describe themselves in order to firmly establish their Presbyterian street cred. No, as my longtime Presbyterian pastor once told my Committee on the Preparation
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Racism kills. It dehumanizes us all, telling some of us we are less than human and rendering others of us incapable of having a decent conversation about it. It takes our best intentions and misshapes them beyond recognition; no matter what we do or what we mean to do, we
MoreIn Zora Neale Hurston’s 1928 essay, “,” she writes about her lived experience as a black woman in the South. She talks about her racial awakening, describing it as “the day I become colored.” She uses many metaphors to talk about race, including calling herself a “brown paper bag” alongside other bags
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