Beautiful Togetherness

Sf Gate

The Rev. George Cummings looked out over his congregation in the Laurel District of Oakland and saw white faces sitting next to black ones. Piedmonters sat next to Oaklanders.One of the most intractable racial divides in America – the self-segregation of churches – was being bridged before his eyes.

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“The God who calls us to be together, calls us to oneness,” said Cummings, pastor of Imani Community Church.

“Amen,” said someone in the crowd.

“We are not always there yet, but we are on our way,” said Cummings, who is black.

“That’s right,” said another voice from the pews.

Cummings’ church and Piedmont Community Church decided that they would come together as one people. They will worship together periodically. They’ve started to mix into each others’ Bible studies. Their choirs sing together. Their children have gone on a mission trip together to Tijuana. On Sunday, May 3 and May 17, they had ceremonies affirming their covenant with each other.

Piedmont Community Church is predominantly white, as much as Imani is black. They are only 10 minutes apart by car, yet before this relationship began, neither pastor had been to the neighborhood of the other’s church. All sides see bridging the divide as bearing fruit. Read More

My heart was blessed by this article. Seeing the Kingdom of God uniting and overcoming racial/ethnic barriers is satisfying to my soul. What is wonderful about this situation is the fact that churches are literally 10 minutes from one another, thus the potential for collaboration and eventually integration is there. I am sure that if they decided to integrate permanently there will be culture collisions, but those tensions would be growth pangs that lead one another towards Godliness.

Shallow differences of style and preference often get in the way of us being true community together.

One of the congregation members made a wonderful comment to bookend this article.

Jan Hunter, an Imani member, said doing the right thing sometimes means feeling uncomfortable. A few years ago, the Imani congregation christened the child of a lesbian couple. It was a first for many in the congregation.

“I don’t know what we thought was going to happen,” said Hunter, 54, who is black. “Everyone was happy. Lightning did not strike.”

She said it was probably uncomfortable for some to worship with people they’d had prejudices about – in both directions. But, she said, “You have to start somewhere.”

“Doing the right thing sometimes means feeling uncomfortable”; simple and profound. We are a comfort seeking culture one of the ways this is manifested is the continued racial and socioeconomic segregation of our churches (and neighborhoods).

One of the most important elements of this article is that these are old churches. They aren’t church plants by young folks who see the need for multi-cultural congregations. While new plants are beneficial, there is something rich in reconciliation when churches change directions and acknowledge the ills of their separation. These two churches have histories, they existed for years. The fact that they are willing to understand the biblical call for unity, acknowledge the social rift between ethnicities and humble themselves is simply incredible.

I am encouraging my church to participate in this type of relationship. We live approximately 30 minutes from any church that is not predominately white,  so whatever relationship we form will not be one that leads to one integrated local church. But, racial reconciliation between Christians can most definitely be done . Churches can learn to worship and serve with those “different from them”, understand the needs of different communities and become a larger body of Christ.

Huntington, Indiana has a dark racial history and although things have changed there are mutual negative perceptions between he minority communities in Fort Wayne , Marion, and Huntington.  If something can occur it will not only mend the brokenness with the church, but within our communities.

Oil Change & God

I had to get an oil change today. While sitting and waiting I was reading My Freshman Year. The book is incredibly engaging, but that isn’t the purpose of this post.

The purpose is what happened as I was leaving.

I went up to the register to pay and the guy asked if I had the Toyota truck. I said “yes” and he went on to list what the price was. I heard “tire rotation”, which was not in my original order, but I figured that it was okay if they had included a tire rotation – I need one.  I paid the man and went out to my car. As I began to pull out, I was surprised to see the guy running out of the office.

The guy stopped me and said that he charged me for the wrong vehicle. When he said Toyota truck he meant the Tundra that was also in the garage not my RAV4 – which people often call a truck. When he saw me get into a silver RAV4 he knew something was wrong. I was amazed and blessed by two things.

First, the man was honest. He could have easily just let me go. But he stopped me and made sure that the mistake – on both of our parts – was ratified. Honesty is often seen as a personal action. You are honest because you are supposed to be; it isn’t good character to be a liar. But honesty also influences others. To be honest is to be in community to love those around you. Honesty is a personal virtue with dramatically public ramifications.

Second, he showed the patience of a reconciler. Instead of being frustrated that I misunderstood him, he simply gave me cash and took most of the blame on himself. It was probably more my fault than his – especially because I am a little out of it today – but that didn’t matter. For this guy, it was his responsibility to make things right.

Something went wrong in the relationship between me, the patron, and him, the seller. In order to fix the problem this guy took on as much responsibility as possible. He didn’t shirk responsibility or say it was my fault; my actions weren’t the issue. This is the essence of reconciliation, of returning to right relationship. Be it familial, social, racial, gender-based, spiritual or otherwise, the tendency is to wait for the other person to move or to make one’s actions contingent upon someone else. But true reconciliation cares so much about the other person and the relationship that ones actions are incredibly even sometimes ridiculous gracious.

I am glad I was shown honesty and patience today as a simple oil change turned into an example of Christ -likeness.

Ethnic Diversity in UnDiverCity – A taste of diversity

My wife and I are getting around to the restaurants here in Huntington, Indiana. Pizza Junction, which is downtown, offers a strong selection of pizzas and toppings and a great environment. Ugalde’s offers a local alternative to Applebee’s or Chili’s, but not as polished (which can be a good thing) and not as expensive. Copper Kettle, another downtown restaurant, offers a surprisingly inviting atmosphere (I have only had breakfast so I can’t say much food-wise). Great Wall is the compulsorily Chinese restaurant, although pretty generic in its buffet-style, the selection was wide and the fried rice was not orange.

While my wife and I enjoy food, what has interested us in Huntington’s food selection – as well as incited us to continue to eat out – is the ethnic diversity that can be found while dining. Great Wall is the only place in Huntington that we know we will see someone like us (well, like my wife). Although to some it may seem odd, there is something comforting for an ethnic minority to be able to walk into a room and realize that they are no longer the minority – or at least that there is better representation. The sense of, “you are like me” is extreme. It is something of a non-geographical ethnic enclave; we are drawn to one another.

There is a Mexican restaurant next to the Chinese restaurant and although the feelings aren’t quite the same as when we walk into Great Wall, they are similar. In the case of the Mexican restaurant, it is simply the appreciation of something minority. They are like us, even though they are not like us.

Mexican restaurants aren’t the only place where we have the opportunity to rub shoulders with Latinos/Hispanics. Like many towns/cities, many restaurants have Latinos/Hispanics as cooks or as buspeople. While it frustrates me that this reality is rooted in the fact that Latinos/Hispanics aren’t likely to be hired in others jobs, especially better paying jobs, it is an object of excitement when I see someone of some pigmentation behind the counter.

Surprisingly, when we ate at Ugalde’s there were a number of Latinos working both in the kitchen and as servers. I say surprisingly because my first inclination was that Ugalde’s was going to be a local joint where my presence would attract crooked necks and concentrated stares (which has happened); a part of me was a little anxious. As I reflect on my initial reaction, my assumption based prejudices are revealed. Even though I hadn’t experienced the restaurant I “knew” what it was like. Obviously, it was simply one of those rural “white” restaurants where those certain type of “white” people ate. While my assumptions were based in experience, it remained a prejudice and stereotyped view of small town white folk and small town businesses.

While there are no soul-food restaurants in Huntington, I am most likely to see black folk when I go out to eat. Some friends and I went out to Los Amigos, the other Mexican restaurant. As we entered we were welcomed by a brother!! He was as surprised at the tint of my brown skin as I was at his. He welcomed me with the ceremonial (not all black people do this) black handshake (which varies depending on who you are meeting; really, it’s the art of going with the flow) and made sure that I had everything that I needed. We were both thankful to not be the only one.

The unexpectant waiter isn’t the only black person I have run into while satisfying my hunger. I have seen a combination of about 10 black people – including bi-racial children – in restaurants. All in all, I have seen only about 18 or so non-Huntington University-affiliated black folk, in Huntington, so 10 is a fairly considerable number.

Ethnic diversity is scarce in Huntington, but at least I know I can get taco, some fried rice or a Philly cheese steak and have some diversity on the side.

The Jesus Response

I apologize  for posting on Christianity & Homosexuality again, it has simply been an issue on my mind recently.

A few months ago, a report came out in which Ray Boltz, admitted that he has been struggling with this sexual identity and that he was in fact, homosexual.

While I was in my undergraduate studies at Taylor University – Boltz’s daughter, Liz, was also a student – Boltz played his farewell concert at Taylor University and I personally traveled down Botlz’s barn/studio in Muncie, Indiana to hear several artists perform. I had the opportunity to meet Boltz several times. He was a normal middle aged musician, with a collection of guitars, and a sleek, black Harley Davidson that would make even the most pious preson envious. At the time I did not suspect that he was struggling with his sexual identity, but in reality, he already determined that he was homosexual.

I am taken aback when he publicly came out. It just wasn’t something I was expecting. I personally don’t believe that homosexuality is Biblical, but experiences that I have gone through have also given me a perspective that earnestly, in practice and in theory, believes that those who are homosexual can be wonderful, loving, kind and even Godly people. I know that that is messy; I struggle with how someone can live I life that is remorselessly rooted in sin, yet still exhibit Godly characteristics. But the reality is that, it happens (we often acknowledge this to be so with other sins, why is homosexual actions as special case?)

I admit that I have not been keeping up with how the Christian community has responded, but pray that Christianity’s response has been and will be one filled with the complexity of love – maintaining the integrity of the Bible, while offering humble friendship.  As Christianity continues to deal with the issue of not only homosexuals, but homosexuals who also claim Christian faith, I pray that God will give us discernment, strength, and humility.

In a related subject, Bryan Loritts, pastor at Fellowship Memphis in Memphis TN, recently gave a challenging and humbling sermon about what the Christian response – Jesus’ Response – to homosexuality should be. Don’t listen if you want a sermon that will make you feel good. Listen if you want a sermon that will push you the think and behave more like Jesus Christ.