Racial conciliation & Justice
If you would like assistance in leading a Be the Bridge book club for your church, small group, or ministry we would love to help!
Contact Raquel to talk more.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison
Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community by Charles Marsh & John Perkins
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love by John Perkins
Generous Justice: How God’s Grace Makes Us Just by Timothy Keller
The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
The Myth of Equality: Understanding the Roots of Injustice and Privilege by Ken Wytsma
Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times by Soong-Chan Rah
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Restoring At-Risk Communities: Doing It Together & Doing It Right edited by John Perkins
Compassion & Conviction: The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement by Justin Giboney, Michael Wear, & Chris Butler
Simple Church for Community
We're exploring what it means to be church and digging into Scripture to find out together. We started by looking at God's plan from Genesis-Revelation and our role in that plan. Our first training is broken into 3 parts: God's Heart, the Priesthood of all Believers, & Phases of Movement.
This week we looked at the 4 fields as a model of Kingdom growth, & identified that abiding in Christ & walking in the Spirit are the essential source for believers for the church to grow.
This week we looked at passages to discover Who? When? Where? & Why? of church & learned a tool to evaluate What a healthy church does.
This week we looked at 5 distinctions of a healthy church.
This week we covered some brutal facts about our community, reviewed the 4 fields and how it practically applies to our context, and learned the 3/3rds model to guide discipleship or corporate worship gathering time.
This week we looked at baptism and how Jesus spent His time engaging with people and discussed how sometimes traditions can hinder church growth.
Recommended Resources:
Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods by Jonathan Brooks
Four Fields of Kingdom Growth: Starting & Releasing Healthy Churches
Bless the Block - Anacostia River Church Sermon Series
The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church: And the Causes Which Hinder It by Roland Allen
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien