Race Forward
A conversation on race and faith leading to advocacy and action
Sundays, 10 a.m., beginning September 13th
As our nation and culture struggles mightily with issues of
race relations, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church hosts a year-long congregational
and community conversation on race and faith, leading to advocacy and action.
The Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton, has
invited everyone in our denomination to participate in a live web-cast
conversation on the complexity and implications of racism on August 6th at 8
p.m. (CDT): (http://elca.org/webcast?utm_campaign=home%20page&utm_source=elca.org&utm_medium=banner)
The Pew Forum recently released a study on racial diversity
in religious denominations, and our own denomination is listed at the very
bottom, as perhaps the most predominately white denomination in the country.
This fact alone illustrates the importance of an intentional conversation on
race and faith in our church (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/07/27/the-most-and-least-racially-diverse-u-s-religious-groups/).
Prior to the beginning of the class, consider reading some
of the works in the included bibliography. During the year, consider reading
one or more of the books (from which we will be reading brief excerpts) with
your small group or book group. Attend a
community event on race, such as the Nightbird Books discussion of Ta-Nehisi
Coates' book (https://www.facebook.com/events/737166059725678/).
Finally, if you can't attend on Sunday mornings (perhaps you
are graciously volunteering to teach Sunday school or have another conflict),
we will be recording each of the Sunday morning events and streaming them for
folks to listen to later. If there is sufficient interest, people can also
organize their own small group gatherings to discuss these resources on their
own at a time that works for them.
The fall schedule:
September 13th: The ELCA Race, Ethnicity and Culture social
statement
September 20th: Guest panel from the Cisneros Foundation
September 27th: Discuss
excerpts from On the Run by Elizabeth Goffman or Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me
October 4th: How can we do more than just talk?
(individually)
October 11th: Guest panel with multicultural leaders in
Fayetteville
October 18th: The ELCA Criminal Justice social statement
October 25th: Discuss excerpts from The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander and The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
November 1st: How can we do more than just talk?
(congregationally)
November 8th: ELCA Social Message on Community Violence
November 15th: Guest panel with police officers/prosecuting
attorneys
November 22nd: Discuss excerpts from Redeeming a Prison Society by Amy Levad
November 29th: How can we do more than just talk?
(communally)
December 4-6th: Focus weekend with Jennifer Harvey, author of Dear White Christians
December 13th: Summary conversation reviewing what we have
learned
December 20th: Christmas break
Schedule will resume in the winter, spring with new topics
such as Islamophobia, Latino ministries, and more.
Bibliography:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/magazine/our-demand-is-simple-stop-killing-us.html?_r=0
Race: A Theological
Account by J. Kameron Carter
The Cross and the
Lynching Tree by James Cone
Bonhoeffer's Black
Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance by Reggie
Williams
Name Your Link
Name Your Link
On the Run: Fugitive
Life in an American City by Elizabeth Goffman
Dear White Christians:
For Those Still Longing for Reconciliation by Jennifer Harvey
Redeeming a Prison
Society: A Liturgical and Sacramental Response to Mass Incarceration by Amy Levad
Stand Your Ground:
Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas
Sister Citizen,
Melissa V Harris Perry
Between the World and
Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Warmth of Other
Suns, Isabel Wilkerson
To Kill a Mockingbird,
Harper Lee
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