BLeach

Blended Churches

I recently did a podcast interview with Dick Hardy of The Hardy Group about building blended churches.  This is something I'm passionate about and something we really want to continue to pursue here in Metro Detroit.

If you're interested, check it out here at the Everything but Preaching podcast!

Championships and Community

Well, it's official.  The Stanley Cup is making its return to Hockeytown!  I'm excited for several reasons.  For starters, now I'll be able to go to bed a little earlier:)

Whenever one of our teams makes a playoff run, it's amazing to watch the effect they have on our city.  Championship teams bring people together from different racial backgrounds.  People celebrate from the suburbs and the city.  The wealthy cheer.  People with less money wear their jerseys.  Championship teams build community.

It seems to me that community happens almost spontaneously when a group of people with a common goal raise their voices for the same team.

Jesus Christ is building a championship team.  He's closing in, not on the Stanley Cup, but on a victorious return to earth.  Meanwhile, with expectation, His Church cheers His arrival from our unique, local, strategic positions.  We have a common goal to seek the welfare of our cities.  And we have even have a theme song of praise to our King.

Today I'm excited about the Wings.  But my experience with championship community won't end with the parade.  I'm a part of a blended local church.  We belong to a global movement. 

And our team is making a run.

Leroy Barber on Building a Blended Church

I enjoyed a question and answer time with Leroy Barber.  Good to ask him some questions as an African American leader about how I, as a young white pastor, can work for racial reconciliation.

Some of his responses:

• Value personal relationships to avoid taking a "token approach" to reconciliation
• Don't lead out of guilt.  You'll especially be tempted toward guilt because of your benefits from white privilege.  But guilt doesn't motivate. 
• When a blend does begin to build, look for new vehicles to express it.  Give it fresh art, new music, and new literature.  Tell the story to your community.
• White leaders need to take the cape off.  We're not here to save the day.  Instead, our best contribution is by simply becoming part of the "beautiful community."

Our Segregated City::2

On Monday the Detroit News ran an article arguing that many metro blacks feel isolated in the suburbs.  If you live in Metro Detroit, I'd really encourage you to take five minutes to read it.

This article made the same claim as the one I referred to in my last post.  Metro Detroit is the most segregated city in America. 

The article also quotes Pamela Dalton, a single mom.  She doubled her mortgage payment to move with her kids from a four bedroom house in Detroit to a two bedroom flat in Grosse Pointe.  Her reasoning?  "I'd rather deal with racism then a drug dealer."

Ouch.

In light of my message this past week one of the faithful black members in our church reminded me that minorities might feel suspicious when a white pastor calls for racial reconciliation.  I feel sensitive to that.  I think some white pastors have called for diversity from a colonial mindset, thinking that if they could create room for minorities in their churches then they could really help them. 

In light of the struggles in our city, I see myself starting from a different place.  I'm trying to help my white brothers and sisters.  I'm trying to help them in the same way some others helped me, to resist pointing another finger and to look in the mirror.  Together we can take ownership of our role in creating segregation, and be proactive as we work for change.

The cross really works.  The churches of Metro Detroit have an opportunity to prove it.

Our Segregated City

Yesterday I wrapped up our fall series of DNA messages by sharing the vision behind our fifth core value.  Racial reconciliation has been central to our dream since day one.  We're not all the way there yet, but we're on our way.

A few years ago the Detroit News sponsored a study of the most recent US Census numbers.  They came to the conclusion that Metro Detroit is the most segregated city in the country.  Of cities with more than 100,000 residents, Livonia is the whitest in the country.  And Detroit has the second largest majority of African Americans of any city in the country.  Actually, about nine out of every ten African Americans in Metro Detroit live in five communities (Detroit, Highland Park, Southfield, Pontiac, and Inkster). 

As American history will show, segregation is costly.  Segregation makes it more difficult for minorities to get good educations and high-paying jobs.  But segregation hurts the church most.  It mutes our message.  Why would anyone believe the cross can reconcile them to God if it doesn't even reconcile us to each other?

For those of us in Metro Detroit who believe the cross does reconcile, leading the country in segregation statistics is unacceptable. So we're accepting Jesus' call to the ministry of reconciliation and committing ourselves again to becoming a blended church.  We're standing against segregation and provoking change by pursuing personal relationships across racial and social lines.  And we're moving toward the day that Metro Detroit shows up at the opposite end of the list.

Sam's Story

Tonight I got to listen to Sam Huddleston share his story.  Sam serves as a leader for the Assemblies of God in Northern California.  When he was ten years old God spoke to him while watching a news report detailing the arrest of several hundred black demonstrators during the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama. 

While watching that report he made a promise.  If I ever have a chance to show the world that blacks and whites can do something together, I'm going to do it.

His life hasn't been without some detours, including a five-year prison sentence.  But today he's keeping his promise and living his dream.

I laughed as Sam spoke.  I clapped.  I wrote.  Most of all, my heart pounded.  One of my ministry dreams is to serve young black church planters as they start and lead blended churches.  Could you imagine how the landscape of Metro Detroit would change with fifteen or twenty new churches bridging color gaps? 

Now that's a goal I could give my life to:)

Vince Gregory

I had a great time today getting to know our Oakland County Commissioner.  Vince Gregory has served Southfield, Berkley and Lathurp Village since 1998. 

As he shared his story I realized that cities face alot of the same challenges as most churches.  It seems like a good idea for three neighboring cities to pool resources, share buildings and save money.  But it's easier said than done.  Change, regardless of its potential for forward movement, seems to be most acceptable when my toes aren't the ones being stepped on:)

I also loved Vince's thoughts on diversity in Metro Detroit.  The more conversations I have around this topic the more convinced I am that a blended church in our city would carry more weight for the cause of the gospel than one-thousand sermons.

Good to meet a community leader who's so down to earth and encouraging.  Thanks for building me up Vince!

The Other Drinking Fountain

It turned out to be a nice coincidence that my Bible reading plan brought me to John 4 on MLK day.  It seems to me that Jesus made it a point to drink from the wrong well:)

The gospel has always had a context.  Jesus had a unique message for Samaritan villages.  My context happens to be one of the most segregated cities in America.  So I'm convinced that a genuine expression of Jesus in Metro Detroit has to build bridges across racial and social divides.

I'm struck by the assumption the Samaritan woman made about the nature of worship.  In her mind worship was something that divides people.  Samaritans have one mountain and the Jews have another.  But Jesus had a different perspecitve on worship.  Worship doesn't highlight our differences.  It emphasizes our common love for Him.

Seems to me that Jesus would smile if our weekend worship services were less segregated and more like this!

Be blended:)

Rewriting Our Story

One of my personal values that I hope is becoming a corporate value in our church is diversity.  I believe that every city has the potential to be renamed.  In our case, Detroit is named for racism.  Race riots are a part of Detroit's story.  Blatant color lines have been drawn in our region between communities like Redford and Livonia.  So one of the most obvious opportunities for the church to incarnate Jesus here is by confronting racism and modeling healing through blended Jesus communities.

My own opinion is that racism is America's original sin.  We like to think that slavery is history.  I guess technically it is.  But for anything to be history it has to first of all be included in the story.  And no matter how far we advance socially our story as a country begins with racism.

Maybe that's why comments like the ones that Seinfeld's Kramer recently made continue to elicit passionate reviews.  And if you've got some time, check out this post from Malcolm Gladwell exploring how these kinds of comments muddy the waters of racism. 

But there's a lesson in the media firestorm.  While our story is history it is also just one offense away from being revisited. 

That's why it's not enough to simply point out the problems with the old story.  We can't stop until we've written a new story.  And who could possibly be more qualified to write it then devoted followers of a revolutionary Savior who demolished social, gender and racial barriers?

If becoming a church that looks like heaven connects with the Jesus' imprint in your heart I encourage you to check out the blended church network.  It's still in the formative stages.  My friend Scott Hagan is one of the voices influencing this movement to informally connect churches with a heart to be blended.

My Friend and His Fro

I'm learning that in God's value system place is secondary.  People are primary. 

When God leads us to a place, He's probably thinking of a face in that place.  Bible College taught me that.  When I felt God leading me to Central Bible College I figured it was because he wanted me in Missouri.  Looking back I think His leading had more to do with people who would be there. 

As a student I was drawn to one of my professors.  His name was Ron Bradley.  He's a mentor.  He valued students, and I was drawn to that.

So I asked Brother Bradley if I could spend some time with him.  It started out okay.  I wanted to learn and Brother Bradley had alot to teach.  But it seemed surface.  Incidentally at that time, alot of my relationships seemed surface.

It all turned at lunch one afternoon in the cafeteria.  We were eating and talking but both of us could sense we were missing our hearts.  I'll never forget that lunch.  I journeyed to a place of transparency that was unique for me and our friendship has meant the world to me ever since.

We used to talk alot about prejudice.  As my first African American mentor, Ron Bradley introduced me to a value that I now hope will shape the rest of my ministry.  We dream of building Church of the King to be a blended church.  In 35 or 40 years when I hang up my spikes, I dream of leaving behind a trail of lead church planters who represent every ethnic persuasion in our city.  I feel like God wired me for this.  At least I know it makes me passionate.  I just didn't know it until God awakened the dream through my friendship with Ron Bradley.

Ron Bradley has preached at our church every July the last 4 years.  He was with us yesterday and delivered a practical teaching about loving God.  Then last night I got to spend the evening with his family.  We talked and dreamed and laughed and cried.  Good times:)

By the way, while our friendship is current, his fro is not.  The picture at the top is not for public redistribution.  I could only get away with posting it because I'm pretty sure he doesn't read my blog:)