Race

Reflections on racial reconciliation within the church and culture

"Looking for Ways to Build Bridges"A conversation with CT editor Katelyn Beaty about blogging, books, and what's next.
"Looking for Ways to Build Bridges"
Image: Kuster & Wildhaber Photography

Fifteen months ago, this blog began with a conversation with Katelyn Beaty about my hopes and dreams for Thin Places. As I conclude this blog, we thought it fitting to have a concluding conversation as well. Katelyn and I had a chance to talk about the most exciting and most challenging aspects of ...

Nine Favorite Posts from Thin Places The best of faith, family, disability, and culture as I say goodbye to blogging.
Nine Favorite Posts from Thin Places
Image: flickr

One of the wonderful aspects of blogging is that I get to write about pretty much anything that is on my mind and might connect with readers. Over the past 15 months of blogging for Christianity Today, I've written or edited nearly 200 posts. As I wrote last week, many posts soar to the top of ...

Why I Wish Selma Had Won Best PictureEven without awards, this movie has the power to transform.
Why I Wish Selma Had Won Best Picture
Image: Elvert Barnes/Flickr

First, a brief overview in case you haven't seen it: Selma, a biopic directed by Ava Duverney, tells the story of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the historic march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital. Duverney focuses on this short period of time as a way to magnify the various ...

Dear White Brothers and Sisters: Why #BlackLivesMatter Matters to YouEric Garner and Tamir Rice did not deserve to die. A guest post by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson.
Dear White Brothers and Sisters: Why #BlackLivesMatter Matters to You
Image: velocity/flickr

In light of the ongoing civil unrest following the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the recent grand jury decision on Eric Garner's death at the hands of police in Staten Island, New York, I asked the various writers who contributed to an August blog series on race and racial reconciliation ...

A White Cop and a Black LadyTalking After Ferguson, Hands Down, a guest post by Patricia Raybon
A White Cop and a Black Lady
Image: The All-Nite Images/Flickr

First I noticed his kilt. A man in a skirt.

Then I learned he was a police officer. A California motorcycle cop. So this white man stood out for certain at a platform-building conference we both were attending in mid-November in Colorado Springs.

Then Jason Hoschouer, the man in the skirt, spoke ...

Three Months After Michael Brown's Death in Ferguson, MissouriAn interview with local pastor and professor Michael Higgins
Three Months After Michael Brown's Death in Ferguson, Missouri
Image: peoples world/flickr

Back in August, I hosted a series of guest posts about racial reconciliation within the church. As it happened, in the initial week of that series, Michael Brown—an unarmed African-American teenager—was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In the weeks and now ...

My Son's First Brush with RacismA Small Talk guest post by Helen Lee
My Son's First Brush with Racism
Image: Shutterstock

A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague Helen Lee wrote a note on Facebook about her son experiencing derogatory comments related to his race for the first time. I reached out to ask her to reflect upon what God had taught her during that experience for the Small Talk blog series here. Helen brings ...

Confession Leads to Reconciliation Leads to CommunityAn interview with Mae Elise Cannon and Soong-Chan Rah about their new book, Forgive Us.
Confession Leads to Reconciliation Leads to Community
Image: quantumlars/flickr

In the midst of the national news storm that emerged following Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, this summer, I received an early copy of Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith. This book, written by four evangelicals from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, came out in September. ...

God Hasn’t Given Up on ReconciliationSome final thoughts, and a prayer, on how to respond when racial reconciliation seems hopeless.
God Hasn’t Given Up on Reconciliation
Image: Renato Giordanelli/flickr

Earlier this summer, I decided to dedicate some time and space on this blog to the concept of racial reconciliation within the church.

It began as a modest project. I invited a handful of pastors and church leaders from different ethnic backgrounds to reflect upon their experiences within the evangelical ...

Healing Begins HereA summary of my blog series on racial reconciliation and the church.
Healing Begins Here
Image: Defense Images/Flickr

For the past month, this blog has hosted a series of guest posts offering thoughts on race and reconciliation within the church in America. I will offer my own thoughts about this series in a concluding post later this week, but I also wanted to offer an overview and summary of the posts as they appeared ...

Christ is the Answer to Our Race ProblemThree practical, public, and personal ways for the church to lead. The final guest post in our series on racial reconciliation, by Kyle Canty.
Christ is the Answer to Our Race Problem
Image: Jonatas Cunha/Flickr

For the past month, this blog space has been dedicated to exploring the topic of racial reconciliation among Christians. I will offer a summary of all these posts on Monday as well as my concluding thoughts on Tuesday. Today I offer these empowering words about action we might take to help the church ...

Why I Don’t Want My Child to be “Colorblind”Four ways to see the beauty of the colorful world of people all around us. A guest post by Natasha Sistrunk Robinson.
Why I Don’t Want My Child to be “Colorblind”
Image: Nicksee/Flickr

“I don’t see color.”

I cringe inside every time I hear these words. In most instances, people utter them in an attempt to let me and all who are listening know that they are not racist or that they value people regardless of their race. But the statement itself devalues me as ...

On the Ground in FergusonBeauty, lament, and sitting together at the foot of the cross.
On the Ground in Ferguson
Image: Elvert Barnes/Flickr

Leroy Barber, Global Executive Director of Word Made Flesh, has been a leader within the evangelical community for over three decades. This past week Leroy joined other leaders in Ferguson in the wake of Michael Brown's death. We asked Leroy what’s been on his mind during these tumultuous ...

Want to Be Multiethnic? Get Ready For DiscomfortLiving out the gospel ideal of reconciled community proved far more difficult, and wonderful, than we ever expected.
Want to Be Multiethnic? Get Ready For Discomfort
Image:

Despite the rapid diversification of American society, the typical American congregation remains culturally homogenous. Still, there is an exciting, fresh movement toward reconciliation and healing within the church all over the country. About seven years ago, a group of us responded to the call ...

White Christians: It's Time to Stand in Solidarity With Your Black Brothers and SistersThe history that led us to Ferguson. A guest post by Christena Cleveland
White Christians: It's Time to Stand in Solidarity With Your Black Brothers and Sisters
Image: Elvert Barnes/Flickr

In 1894, black racial justice activist Ida B. Wells sounded the alarm on racial injustice, imploring white Christians to put a stop to the lynching of black people. She spoke out saying, “Our American Christians are too busy saving the souls of white Christians from burning in hell-fire to ...

Multiculturalism Beyond Photo Ops and PotlucksAn interview with reconciliation scholar Dominique Gilliard.
Multiculturalism Beyond Photo Ops and Potlucks
Image: Archives Foundation/Flickr

Dominique DuBois Gilliard is a pastor at New Hope Covenant Church in Oakland, California. He is also a board member of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) and director of racial reconciliation pilgrimages for the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. ...

Racial Reconciliation 2.0We are all called to the work of reconciliation. A guest post by Rudy Carrasco
Racial Reconciliation 2.0
Image: Ben Sutherland/flickr

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. –Revelation 7:9

Since 1990, I have ...

John Perkins: The Sin of Racism Made Ferguson Escalate So QuicklyThe Christian civil rights leader responds to the shooting death of Michael Brown.
John Perkins: The Sin of Racism Made Ferguson Escalate So Quickly
Image: AP

Five days after the start of this series, on August 9, St. Louis police shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old black man named Michael Brown. Police said Brown had struggled with an officer, while eyewitnesses told CNN he had his hands up and did not to provoke the use of force.

Residents of Ferguson, ...

Ten Books on Racial Reconciliation and the Church
Ten Books on Racial Reconciliation and the Church
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1. Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart

by Christena Cleveland

An eye-opening look inside the divisions, cliques, and conflicts of the church and the hidden reasons behind them.

2. Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical’s Inside View of White Christianity

by ...

Just Because the Door is Open Doesn't Mean I'm Welcome HereEvery church makes assumptions. It helps to acknowledge them. A guest post by Kathy Khang.
Just Because the Door is Open Doesn't Mean I'm Welcome Here
Image: Artiii/Flickr

Almost 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of America.” Sometimes we Christians want to believe that the Gospel has helped us as the Church achieve what our country has not—becoming post-racial. But, ...

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