I met a former peace intern who said that I would be unpacking and digesting my summer for years to come. Now that I have spent two months back in the real world, and have started talking, preaching, and writing about my experience.
That has become extremely clear and accurate.
The experience has changed me, my theology, my activism, my preaching, and my expectations of the church in the times we are heading towards so abruptly, which has led to this call in to the Disciples of Christ. Not a call out because, as my grandmother says, a call in means I love you enough to not let you walk around looking a mess. And disciples, we need to stop walking around looking a mess.
Claiming to be an anti racist church with little more than one poster of reconciliation ministry in our newsletters. Claiming to be a movement of wholeness in a fragmented world that is scared to name those fragmentations. Systematic racism, homophobia, transphobia, and more. This is a call-in to say, let's be intentional. Let's be the church we claim to be.
Let's diversify our outreach, the books we read, the conversation partners we listen to, let's remind people that the table is not ours to board off, not ours to exclude from invitation to. But ours to pull chairs at.
This workshop is a step into that. I don't claim to be the voice of a race or the solver of all problems; I don't even claim to be an expert on this topic. My grandmother has already told me things I could have said and added to this work. But I claim to be trying to throw my hat in the ring and saying this is my attempt to add to this takeaway what we think it needs.. I offer this as a framework, a starting step, a loving call in on what we as disciples can be, are called to be. So for everyone reading this, whether I met you this summer or I will meet you in the future. Welcome to the block party, you peacemakers.