Category: church
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Gospel, Justice, and Multi-Ethnic Churches
This year I’m participating in a multi-ethnic church coaching cohort with the incomparable Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil. During a recent conference call we discussed different models of multi-ethnic church ministry. The mosaic model (my label) assumes a blank surface on which the diversity of God’s kingdom can be expressed. Cultural diversity is necessary in order for…
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“A story that’s bigger than ourselves.”
Nick Liao has written an article for our church website showing the peril churches face when the stories and histories of the black Christians are ignored. Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813. Like the scores of black women who anonymously labored under the institution of antebellum (pre-Civil War) slavery,…
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The 1919 Chicago Race Riot
On Sunday we began a new sermon series, one I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve called this collection of four sermons The Beloved Community, borrowing a phrase made popular by Dr. King. Beginning on Sunday our church started looking at the beauty of God-intentioned diversity and how quickly it turns towards disparity and…
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Church Planting Lessons: Vulnerability
This is the third in a series of posts about what I’ve learned about multi-ethnic church planting as we near the one-year anniversary of New Community Covenant Church in Bronzeville. You may be interested in parts one and two. I’ve added a photo or painting from Bronzeville in each of these posts. I’m not sure…
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Church Planting Lessons: Relational Networks
This is the second in a series of posts about what I’ve learned about multi-ethnic church planting as we near the one-year anniversary of New Community Covenant Church in Bronzeville. Part one can be found here. Two years ago I knew two people in Bronzeville. As I became more involved with our church planting efforts…
David W. Swanson 