God and Race
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $23.99
Publisher Description
A White pastor and a Black pastor, close friends who have each built racially diverse congregations, offer a model Christians can follow to open necessary conversations about race, encourage unity, and foster mutual respect to heal a wounded nation riven by racial tension and political tribalism.
For years, Pastors John Siebeling and Wayne Francis have led thriving congregations that are the embodiment of diversity; Siebeling in Memphis and Francis in New York City. Many churches and leaders have sought their counsel, hoping to emulate their success.
At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in Summer 2020, they pooled their insights and experiences to help others facilitate conversations about racism. The guide they developed is the basis of God and Race.
Siebeling and Francis examine the White-Black tension from both perspectives and answer all the uncomfortable questions we’re afraid to ask—regarding ourselves, our families, our work and relationships, and the church. Most important, they provide practical steps anyone can take to become part of the solution. Whether you are a church leader or just a caring person who wants to make a difference, God and Race provides inspiration and guidance to help you become an agent of reconciliation and change. These two wise pastors teach you how to find your voice and join Jesus in healing, to help bring our divided communities together with open minds, open hearts, and open hands.
Many Christian books on race either do not ask the hard questions or, if they do, speak as critics outside the mainstream church. Siebeling and Francis probe the meaning of racial reconciliation and reveal how the church can be a positive and effective leader to move us forward, beyond hate and injustice, to equality and love.
Customer Reviews
Excellent!!!
I like this Audiobook! I think churches need to be less segregated and more diversified. Like Martin Luther King jr said « The most segrated place in America is at the pulpit on Sunday morning ». If you look around your place of worship and everyone looks like you, how do you represent the church of God? I’m not just talking about the people that attend church only but also in leadership of the church too. I like the strategies that each of the pastor put forward as they have implemented these strategies in their own church. I realize that because the first step is to have an open dialogue with each ethnicity to understand each other. Coincidently, they also recommend to have friendship outside of your race to gain insight and perspective of other cultures besides your own. They even go as far to create a diversity group/committee in church to help navigate integration with diverse cultures in church. What I appreciated the most with audiobook is that there is two perspective, one being the White pastor John in Memphis and the other Wayne the Black pastor in NYC. Each talk to White and Black audiences with their experience and strategies along with using scripture from the Bible to illustrate their point. You don’t have to be Christian to appreciate their insights. It’s a fantastic point of view to put down your barriers to listen to each other. Loved it!