Tag: Church
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Everything I Know about Racism I Learned in the Church
During college, I volunteered for the youth ministry at a church. Every year at the volunteer Christmas party, the two white guys who worked for the ministry dressed up as “black guys from the hood” and performed an entirely unoriginal and unfunny skit that exploited negative black male stereotypes for laughs. I remember looking around the room…
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Installation Sermon
On Sunday I was installed as the pastor of New Community Covenant Church in Bronzeville. As a church planter I’ve functioned as the pastor, but the church decided this was an appropriate time to affirm their call to be their pastor. It was a special service and I was reminded of God’s faithfulness and this…
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2013 Multi-ethnic Church Conference
On Sunday afternoon I met with a leader from our church over coffee and our conversation turned to an upcoming sermon about worship. This African American woman and I discussed the many different levels of complexity when it comes to worship in a multi-ethnic church. She pointed out some of the generalizations that are often…
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Three Years
On Sunday our church celebrated our third anniversary. There’s a lot that could and probably should be said about this significant marker but, to be honest, I’ve run out of words. God has been good. That’s more than enough to capture the spirit of our celebration, but these photos may fill in some details. To…
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A New Sunday Home
For the first couple of years of our church’s short existence we’ve meet at an elementary school on the northern edge of Bronzeville. It’s been a great place for us in so many ways, including a partnership with the community at the school. The only downside was the massive rent that we paid each month,…
David W. Swanson 