Sunday, February 19, 2006

Willow Creek Community Church in the News

Willow's own Alvin Bibbs is featured in the most recent edition of Today's Christian (a division of Christianity Today.) You can read the entire article here:
Crossing the Divide: Even in the church, race divides more than it unites. Here's how to build a bridge.

The article features this handy sidebar:

5 Ways to Bridge the Gap

If you're not quite ready to sell your house and move to a new neighborhood in the name of racial reconciliation, there are still intentional steps your family can take. Bibbs, Emerson, and Pitts offer these practical suggestions:

  1. Pray. Pray for God's guidance in how you need to actively participate in bridging the social divides in our country—and the church.
  2. Expand. Access your circle of influence. How many people of different ethnic backgrounds do you have a close relationship with today?
  3. Go. Visit a church whose members are racially different from you. If you go with a group, spread out and mingle.
  4. Welcome. Invite acquaintances of a different race into your home for dinner or a small group. Let your children participate in these relationships.
  5. Connect. If you attend a suburban or rural church, encourage your church leaders to partner with urban churches in ministry and fellowship. If you attend an urban church, encourage your leaders to connect with suburban or rural congregations.


I especially like the part about including your children. Dialogue among adults is all well and good, but the kind of insidious segregation we have today will never end as long as our children spend their formidable years isolated from people different from them.

3 comments:

Crystal Starr said...

Thanks Kim for putting up the button!! =o)

Friar Tuck said...

thanks for this news

Kimberly Cangelosi said...

Your welcome! The article is actually a lot better than the bit I included here but I was being lazy and this bit was easiest to cut and paste.