tbc Prayer

Race Dialogue: Spring 2018

This spring series is an invitation, as one body in Christ with diverse perspectives on race, to begin an honest conversation on the reality of disparities and tensions in our communities. This series will provide opportunities to share your personal experience and stories related to race, learn more about our collective church history and context, and grow toward an embodiment of Jesus that offers healing in our divided society. During this season of Epiphany, we are launching the spring series on race with in-home Dessert & Dialogues. 

This is an opportunity to gather in one another’s homes to engage in facilitated dialogue in an intimate small group setting. We’ll have the chance to share and listen to each other’s personal experiences and epiphanies in our awareness and understanding related to race. This is an invitation for all TBC adults and youth to begin an important conversation, and we encourage you to join as you are able. Below you will find a timeline overview, and on the back of this sheet you can RSVP to attend a “Dessert & Dialogue” Group. 

If you are interested in opening your home to host a Dessert & Dialogue discussion, please email host@tbcrichmond.com.

 

NEXT STEPS

Beginning Jan. 25: Dessert & Dialogues (Session 1)

These dialogues will be hosted in homes and facilitated by church members. The focus will be on sharing and listening to each other’s individual stories and experiences related to race. Please fill out the back of this document and place it in the offering plate. Please register your top three choices via the online registration page. You will be matched with a group, then informed of the date and location.

Feb. 21 – Mar. 21: Wednesday Night Lenten Series

This Wednesday night series, on Feb. 21, 28, Mar. 7, 14, & 21, will be an opportunity for us to learn about our context and collective history as Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond, VA. We will hear members of the community share their stories, and speakers discuss the complex history and legacies of racism that will help us better understand ourselves and our faith as it relates to race.

After Easter: Dessert & Dialogues (Session 2)

Following Resurrection Sunday, a second round of Dessert and Dialogues will give us the opportunity to share what we have learned from listening to one another, from hearing the Wednesday night speakers, and from our reflections on the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection in our lives. Session 2 invites us to ask “What comes next?” 

 

RESOURCES

We are excited to move toward an embodiment of Jesus as a church by participating in this series on race with an openness to listening, learning, growing, and extending grace, all with humility and respect. To prepare for this series please take advantage of the resource list. The list is available online. Hardcopies are posted at the welcome station outside the sanctuary. 

tbc Worship & Fellowship

TBC Race Series: Resource List

TBC: Race Series

Spring 2018 – Resource List

Click here to print a .pdf of the TBC Race Series Resource List

Are you familiar with the term of white privilege? Do you believe it exists and that racism is a problem in our country and in our church? If you answered no to either of these questions, start here:

  • Seeing White podcast series by Scene on Radio
  • Deconstructing White Privilege video by Robin Di Angelo
  • Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack article by Peggy McIntosh

 

Are you new to talking about race or systemic racism? Do you understand white privilege but don’t know what to do about it? If you don’t think everything has to do with race, start here:

  • Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson
  • The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
  • The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
  • How to Talk to Your Kids about White Privilege article by Mia Quagliarello

 

Are you listening to and hearing from people of color, understand that racism is happening everywhere, and want a deeper understanding of the theology of justice?

  • Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Cone
  • Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins

 

Do you want to better understand racial dynamics in the church?

  • Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
  • Aliens in the Promised Land by Anthony B. Bradley
  • The Multicultural Church podcast series by Truth’s Table

 

Are you ready to take an honest look at the history of racism in this country and in our city?

  • Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi
  • White Rage by Carol Anderson
  • An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Oritz
  • Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America by Juan Gonzalez
  • The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
  • Richmond’s Unhealed History by Ben Campbell

 

Are you feeling discouraged or hopeless regarding this conversation?

  • Disunity In Christ by Christena Cleveland
  • Prophetic Lament by Soong-Chan Rah
  • Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle

 

For ongoing insight, consider joining the Facebook group Be the Bridge to Racial Unity. Disclaimer: There are rules for group members, including a 3-month “active listening and learning” period. From their FB group page: “Be the Bridge is a non-profit organization and a community of people who share a common goal of creating healthy dialogue about race and racialization in the U.S., with an emphasis on promoting understanding about racial disparities and injustices. The purpose of this forum is to create a safe and positive space for both learners and well-seasoned reconcilers. Our intent is to equip one another to become interracial bridge builders, or ambassadors of racial reconciliation, within our respective communities. The ultimate desire is for the church to become credible witnesses to true biblical oneness.”

 

Click here to print a .pdf of the TBC Race Series Resource List