After the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Eddie Cole, Dr. Cedrick Brown and Alex Mandes of the EFCA had a discussion about racism. How should it be discussed in the church? This presentation is thirty minutes and is appropriate in the wake of the Minneapolis riots and unrest after the death of George Floyd.
“Racism is not getting worse, it’s getting filmed.”
Will Smith
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
1 Chronicle 29:11 ESV
Rodney King beating from 1992 which led to the Los Angeles riots.
Before the worst race riots in several generations erupted in Minneapolis in 2020, Eddie Cole, Dr. Cedrick Brown and Alex Mandes tackled the topic of addressing racism in the church. Eddie Cole is the former Eastern District Superintendent who is now in Minneapolis serving as the Executive Vice President of National Ministries. You can read more about Eddie in, “The National EFCA Profiles Eddie Cole the New Executive Vice President of National Ministries.” Dr. Cedrick Brown co-leads the Eastern District of the EFCA and pastors Commitment Community Church in Lindenwold, New Jersey. You can read more about Dr. Brown in, “Eddie Cole Leaves the Eastern District Superintendent Role and Accepts VP of EFCA Reach National in Minneapolis. Meanwhile the District Leadership is Split Between Tony Balsamo and Cedrick Brown as Clause B Takes Effect.” Alex Mandes leads the All Peoples Initiative inside the EFCA.
This was recorded after the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia who was gunned down while jogging. Eddie Cole, Dr. Brown and Alex Mendes tackle the issue of racism and how it should be discussed in the evangelical church. What should and should not be said and how the church is behind the ball on this issue. I listened to this while researching another post and found it quite interesting. Its timing is helpful given the racial issues that have moved to the forefront of our culture today. The conversation which is about thirty minutes long is worth your time.
Wondering Eagle 
They talk a lot about “If you know what to do and don’t do it, it’s sin.” But it’s not clear to me what I can do. They talk about not tolerating prejudice, and I don’t, but I also don’t encounter much. They talk about reading books. I guess that’s my skill set. They talk about spending time with other ethnic groups, and I don’t have much ability to do that, especially with the covid quarantine. I have one black friend at church and we have only seen each other via zoom in 3 months.
If I were in church leadership I could maybe direct my church in some good ways, but I’m not. It would help to hire a black teaching pastor, but I don’t have hiring authority, and I don’t think we have a shortage of teaching pastors. Maybe one of them will have a scandal and need to be replaced. I’m an introvert, not a public speaker or ministry leader.
My plan is to relate and behave with love to everyone I come across. These days that seems to amount to talking on blogs.
This was my prayer request at small group this week: what can I do to help racial reconciliation?
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Peter some of what I publish is correspondence and discussions for EFCA leadership and pastors. It gives insight into the discussion. A discussion like this is aimed more at EFCA pastors to give them ideas as to how to have these conversations. But I agree we are living in complicated times especially with COVID-19. For me I am listening to a lot of conversations and doing some thinking. That is just as powerful in many ways.
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