Staff and leaders of mission organizations in the U.S. are overwhelmingly white. Mission conferences, though advertising ethnic diversity do not always represent multicultural or multiethnic expression because the style of the conferences is still monocultural and presented in an Anglo context. This lack of racial diversity and sensitivity hurts the cause of Christ.
So says Leroy Barber in his provocative and heart wrenching book about race and Christian mission. I found myself weeping and rejoicing, repenting and praying as I read Leroy’s accounts of the many times he and other African Americans were slighted and marginalized within mission organizations. The hidden racism that often emerged in subtle ways as African Americans were judged more harshly than their white colleagues or as funding and support dropped off just because an African American was put in charge appalled me. Even our models for raising mission support are geared toward white middle class young people, and we don’t even think about it, except possibly to bemoan the lack of diversity.
Leroy writes out of his own pain and disillusionment as a black serving and leading in ministries dominated by whites, who hold both the decision making and the funding power. He also writes as one who has found the joy of being part of ethnically diverse communities in which whites and people of colour work together to bring about change in order to more authentically reflect God’s image.
Leroy Barber offers practical suggestions on how to diversify mission Boards, mentor people of colour into leadership and sensitize ourselves to the subtle forms of racism that often exclude African Americans, Asians, Native Americans and Latinos from leadership or silence their decision making power. In the process we hurt the cause of Christ and diminish the impact of the gospel.
Red Brown Yellow Black White Who’s More Precious In God’s Sight? is a challenging but must read book for any who want to follow Christ with the intention of seeing glimpses of God’s kingdom coming into being through mission. As Leroy says:
Missions represent God’s kingdom on earth. We need to grow together as Christians to get rid of the prejudice and division that our predecessors have seemingly cemented into our ethos. (15)
He goes on to make this very sobering statement:
Missions is living the way things should be. Missions is a way of life devoted to making justice, equality, and grace prevail in broken lives, including our own. It is making shalom a reality.
What about the church? It would seem to me that the church would hold missions agencies accountable about issues of race and diversity. But sadly, the problem of racism persists within the church; therefore the church is in no position to critique others. Missions organizations that perpetuate racism and dependency are a reflection of the church’s condition. (202)
Unfortunately I know it is true. I look around at our own very white congregation and I suspect that subtle forms of racism and insensitivity to other cultures contributes. I look at my own very white organization and I wonder what subtle cultural insensitivities contribute to that too.
Yet Leroy sees hope and believes missions can help us get rid of the separation as we learn to serve together in new ways with new understandings and attitudes.
Jesus prayed in the garden before his death that we would be one people. We have a lot of work to do to become one heart and one mind. Locked into most churches is a designation or race or culture that separates, that shapes our view of each other and of God, leaving us isolated and divided. We are not the Church. We are at best, thousands of small pieces that contain strands of the Church. The Church does not have walls and designations; it is people from every walk of life pursuing the Kingdom of God here on earth. The Church is one expression of God here on earth. (203).
Leroy concludes by saying “God is at work in the universe” and I believe God is at work through Red Brown Yellow Black White Who’s More Precious In God’s Sight? encouraging all of us to listen deeply to those of other cultures in ways that draws us together into the people of God and community of God we are meant to be. I hope that like me you will not only read this book but be changed by it.
It here, its here, its here! I am very excited to announce that after months of hard work by Kristin Carroccino, we have launched A Journey Toward Home: Soul Travel For Advent to Lent.
For most of us, the birth of Christ conjures up images of a dirty stable where Jesus and his family are alone and abandoned. We imagine a few shepherds, foreigners and animals and an angel overhead but who else might have been present? A Journey Toward Home challenges readers to pose this question through daily reflections and weekly gatherings with family, friends, or church communities where all are invited to “Gather, Feast, and Create” during these months surround the birth of Christ, when we welcome God among us.
This new book walks us through the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany drawing heavily on posts contributed to this blog. Fifty five contributors from eight different countries come together to make this a rich and engaging resource
As worship curator Mark Pierson commented:
“A Journey Toward Home is not a resource book in the usual sense – there are no lists of “10 ways to celebrate Christmas.” Its a book of stories from a wide range of people. (An amazing range actually). Each story opens up the content of that day in ways that are heart-warming and heart-wrenching. Its not sentimental. The stories have substance and lead to insights and responses that are unexpected. This is a unique resource for personal, group and congregational reflection during these seasons. I will be drawing from it again and again for many years to come.
Mark Pierson, worship curator, author “The Art of Curating Worship”.
This exciting resource is available until November 5th for pre-order at a special discount price of $11.95. E-versions should be available next week.
Like Mark I think that it is a book that many of us find ourselves coming back to, nourishing our souls and drawing us into new and intimate understandings of God.
This prayer was a part of our service at church on Sunday. It was part of our Celtic weekend celebrating Saint Andrew patron saint of our church (Saint Andrews’ Episcopal)
We ended with the piping of Amazing Grace which I managed to capture in part here. It was phenomenal.
The season of Advent, the beginning of a new liturgical year starts November 30th and it is time to get ready. How serious will you be about this journey toward the manger and the birth of Christ?
In The Liturgical Year, Joan Chittister, says:
The function of Advent is to remind us what we’re waiting for as we go through life too busy with things that do not matter to remember the things that do. Advent asks the question, what is it for which you are spending your life?”
We all desperately crave more meaningful, less cluttered, lives, yet we rarely take the time to slow down and ask this question. We invite you to prepare for Advent and Christmas this year by refocusing your life on what really matters. Take time to renew, refresh and restore your priorities.
Join us November 15th at the Mustard Seed House for a contemplative retreat I will facilitate , based on my book, Return to Our Senses: Reimaining How We Pray.
Last year participants told me the retreat was not long enough so we have made full and half day options possible.
Join us for the full day and experience a morning of reflection, contemplation and inspiration that will encourage you to journey toward Christ’s birth with renewed focus and faith. Learn from the rich presentations and reflective insights of fellow participants how to deepen your prayer life and draw closer to God.
In the afternoon exercise the insights and skills you have learned to develop your own spiritual practices for the seasons of Advent and Christmas and create your own special sacred space as a focus for celebrating the season.
When: November 15th
Full-Day: 9:30a.m. – 4:00p.m.
Half-Day: 9:30a.m. – 1:00p.m.
Where: The Mustard Seed House, 510 NE 81st St, Seattle WA 98115
Cost: Full-Day: $50
Half-Day: $30
(both 1/2-day and full-day options include lunch)
Include a copy of Return to Our Senses or our new devotional resource: A Journey Toward Home, for only $10 more!
Space is limited to fifteen participants so please sign up soon. We would appreciate you helping us promote this event by downloading and sharing our flier, as well as sharing on Facebook, and twitter.
God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you sin, you cut the string. Then God ties it up again, making a knot – and thereby bringing you a little closer to him. Again and again your sins cut the string – and with each knot God keeps drawing you closer and closer.
These words, written by Meister Eckhart, a thirteenth-fourteenth century philosopher, theologian, and mystic, form the basis for our meditation this week. His imagery has stirred my imagination and I hope it will yours too.
Find a piece of string or rope or yarn and hold one end in your hand. Like me you might like to use two pieces for comparisonStretch it out across your sacred space. Close your eyes and imagine that God is holding the other end. Alternatively tie this end to an image that reminds you of God. Sit quietly for a few moments sensing the security and love that flows between you and God along that string.
Now remind yourself of something you have done in the last few weeks that has made you feel as though the “string” that connects you to God has been cut. Cut the string that you hold in your hand and sit looking at it for a few moments. Imagine that before you cut the cord it was frayed. In this case you would not just need to cut the cord but to remove the entire frayed and weakened section before creating your knot.
What is your response: How does it feel to be disconnect from God? Are there areas in your life where you feel your connection to God is frayed? Are there things that need to be removed before the knot is tied? Is there a need for repentance? Is there something else you need to do to experience God’s forgiveness?
Now tie a knot in your string. Imagine yourself, forgiven and once more connected to God. Notice that the string is now shorter than it first was, and the more complex and beautiful the knot you tie is, the shorter the string becomes. Sit and hold it in your hands. Cut or break the cord in several places and tie knots. The cord has become even shorter. Sit and contemplate it for a few minutes.
What is your response: Where has God “tied the knot” for you in the last week? In what ways do you feel closer to God as a result. Sit and appreciate your closeness to God and offer prayers of gratitude. Think about the new and beautiful patterns that have been created in your life as a result.
Knotted strings can be crafted into patterns that are often not just strong but beautiful – braids, or knotted cords, jewelry and prayer beads. Think of objects you have around your home that are made from knotted cords. If there is something special that you think of take it out and contemplate it for a while. I pulled out my collection of braided bookmarks, collected around the world. They are reminders of friends I have known and people whose pain I have shared.
Notice too that often patterns like these are created by knotting or braiding many cords together. Ecclesiastes 4:12 tells us a cord of three strands is not easily broken. Where in your life are you aware of the strengthening that others have brought to your connection with God without the need for cutting.
What is your response: Write down what you sense God is saying to you as you meditate on your string and knotted objects.
Watch the video below and think about how the knots that God has tied have become strong and beautiful patterns in your life. Now, if you have time, take another piece of string or rope and make the Celtic love knot below. Imagine this is the love of God holding your life together. Sit secure in that love and enjoy the presence of God.
Suggested music. I love this John Michael Talbot song and it makes an excellent meditative background for this exercise. It is part of a collection of meditative music so you can continue listening to your heart’s content and for as long as you have time to set aside for the meditation.
It is rare for me to do two posts on a single day but I was so moved by this prayer and the wonderful resources available from the Church of England on human trafficking and slavery that I just had to add this. The prayer comes from this excellent resource
Freedom for Worship and Action which can be downloaded as a pdf. You may not be celebrating this weekend but whenever you decid
October 15th was the feast day of Teresa of Avila. And I missed it, partly because I was so occupied with the concerns of this world, the pull of World Food Day and the aching desire to pray for those impacted by ebola. But I did not want to let the week go by without highlighting this amazing woman, so I thought that just as I started the week’s posts with a meditation so I would end it.
I have always found inspiration from the lives of those who have gone before us. Their footprints provide places for me to stand and words and prayers encourage and strengthen me as I too seek to move forward into the ways of God.
Teresa of Avila is one such person. In many ways she was a very ordinary person – struggling with some of the same life challenges we struggle with today. But out of that struggle came a rich inner prayer life that continues to inspire many today. Like the prayer abovewhich I posted on Light for the Journey on October 15th.
One of my favourites however is the following prayer which speaks to me as I contemplate how I can respond the many challenges our communities and our world face.
Read it through several times. Listen to the beautiful musical rendition at the end of the post. Allow their truths to take root in your heart. I prayed this prayer several times this morning as I considered the plight of of those infected or quarantined because of Ebola. As you read this prayer and listen to the music may you too consider what action God may ask of you as a result of reading and meditating on them
“Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world.”
Music by David Ogden
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