Please read before you watch...

As you listen in on our conversation, please keep in mind that what you hear (and see!) aren't some pre-scripted talking points meant to represent the general stance of Grace City Portland on matters concerning race, injustice, politics, etc. This is simply an honest and unfiltered conversation between brothers and sisters attempting to grow in truth and grace as we all look to Jesus together.
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After an extended time of prayer and reflection we felt prompted by the Lord to bring a small group together for an evening of conversation around the subject of ethnic and cultural diversity within our church family. There are so many great books and talks available 'out there' to help us as Christians to mature within this particular aspect of discipleship, but we felt it essential that we - Grace City Portland - as a church family come together and have a conversation ourselves - as members of a local body.

The purpose of the conversation was to listen to each other well, while speaking honestly about the challenges (and beauty!) of being/becoming an ethnically diverse, Christ-centered church family. Our hope was (and is): 1) that as we spoke and listened to one another, the Holy Spirit would help us in such a way that the very culture of our church might be impacted for greater fruitfulness, and 2) that we would be able to model respectful, God-honoring dialogue for the rest of our church to glean from.

What we didn't achieve through this conversation was a theological consensus, or even some kind of master plan to action after all the talking was done. That wasn't our objective. What we did accomplish however was twofold:

1. We achieved greater perspective. In listening to one another's personal experiences, frustrations, fears, and dreams, abstract concepts became personal matters. For example, when Abi shared her fears regarding her brothers and the police, what might otherwise simply devolve into an ideological or political debate became real and personal in that moment. Because when we can see from our sister's perspective, then we're empowered to stand and problem-solve in solidarity with her - versus simply trying to analyze her political position (or whatever one might be tempted to call it.) Working to understand one another's perspectives helps us to fight for each other, versus simply fighting.

2. We modeled grace in conversation. And this is no minor victory. Because life is complex. Family is complex. Relationships are complex. And it's that complexity that makes them beautiful, exciting, rich and painfully difficult all at the same time. I believe that often where our relationships start to break down - whether a church community, a leadership team, a marriage, a friendship, or whatever - isn't so much to do with one individual's poor behavior or bigoted attitude (although that's definitely a problem!). Rather, it begins with our inability to work through our issues together. Instead of listening to each other, we defend our ground. Instead of taking responsibility for our own issues, we demonize the other. Instead of fighting for the relationship, we denigrate those who we are called to love into opponents to battle.

Our family conversation that night was anything but that. By God's grace we came together, and we recorded a moment that I hope will serve to encourage others. We didn’t all leave having been persuaded to view all things in the same manner. (God knows that's not going to happen!) But we did leave together, in faith, with eyes on Christ. My hope is that as the rest of our church family listens/views our conversation, they'll their see brothers and sisters talking through complex issues in a way that demonstrates the sufficiency of God's grace for family conversations.

Also, a special thank you to Jacob Valentine for allowing us to use his beautiful space for the evening! A great vibe to go with some truly wonderful people!

Sincerely,
Pastor Simon