https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dc4W91hFPw
(This link was Joel's Sunday presentation, with Joel reading the essay below).
Thoughts on repent and repair
We acknowledge we are gathering on land where Miami, Osage, Shawnee, and other Indigenous peoples have lived and labored, fought, and loved.
I walk this land for a couple of hours every day.
Since joining the reparations group at CMC I have begun to connect more deeply with this land and all that is here and what, more specifically who...
Henry Smith died last Friday at the age of 88. His obituary is HERE.
Henry started attending CMC in the late fall of 2014. We had just finished our “Difficult Passages” worship series which highlighted themes of scripture we found troubling – a follow up to our “Twelve Scriptures Project” which highlighted those we especially valued. In an...
"Redlining," as many of you know, was a common practice in the housing industry used by mortgage companies to deny loans to certain populations. You can guess which populations those were. The practice got its name from maps in loan officers' offices on which areas were outlined in red to show where it was not “financially wise” to offer loan products. These denied loan services rendered it nearly impossible for people of color in the areas to qualify for better housing in other neighborhoods or the ability to improve their current home. I don’t have to tell you how this...
Did you ever wonder how to make these Easter Eggs? Well now’s the perfect time to ask one of the Junior Youth or Robin Walton. Although I’ve had the pleasure of making them with Robin, I’m not going to let the secret out. It’s a Martha Stewart delight – yes it really did come from her magazine.
The picture is just a little sampling from one participant.
A couple of years ago I attended a panel on civil rights and fair housing issues. One panelist (“Panelist A”) was adamant that the only way to reparation and repentance would come through one-on-one conversations. It needs to start at home. At work. With our children and with our neighbors. It’s a grass roots movement that requires discernment, communion, and conversation.
While Panelist A was imparting this, Panelist B – a civil rights attorney and friend of mine – could be seen rolling his eyes and fidgeting in his chair.
When Panelist B took the podium, it became clear...