Category Archives: Diversity

Issues relating to diversity in the church

The demise of the front porch

Posted on October 11, 2011 by andre

The front porch a historical symbol of our connectedness and community the front porch and die. In fact it might already be dead. Used to be that you couldn’t go to the south and find a house that was built … Continue reading →

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Why is Sunday morning America’s most segregated hour

Posted on October 6, 2010 by andre

A recent study reinforces the reality that the church has a long way to go to address issues of diversity. Here are three important observations from the research by Kevin Dougherty who used be a professor at Calvin College here … Continue reading →

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Give Us Your Lavishly Rich, Your Xenophobic | CommonDreams.org

Posted on July 24, 2010 by andre

Immigrants. Taking our jobs and public assistance. The cause of all our problems.But it’s not true. We’re blaming people who are struggling day-by-day to survive on their own or support their families, while we applaud a system that allows a … Continue reading →

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Obama ran and won, I believe my kids can fly

Posted on November 5, 2008 by andre

I couple years ago the theme song for the mixed action cartoon movie with Michael Jordan was Space Jam was I believe I can fly. African American kids all across the country sang that song with visions of becoming a … Continue reading →

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why race matters – on the precipice of the dream

Posted on October 28, 2008 by andre

I was listening to NPR (my favorite radio station) earlier today and someone described receiving this text message from a friend. Rosa sat so Martin could walk Martin walked so Obama could run Obama is running so our children can … Continue reading →

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My Struggle with New Monasticism God’s Politics Blog

Posted on September 26, 2008 by andre

God’s Politics: A Blog by Jim Wallis & Friends. Here is a great blog addressing some of the issues I have about the way some proponents of new church movements approach what they do in relation to people of color. … Continue reading →

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Sankofa racial reconciliation bus tour

Posted on September 24, 2008 by andre

          In one Thursday afternoon in August after a drive from Grand Rapids to Chicago I boarded a bus with about 40 other people and started out on my first Sankofa journey. Sankofa (looking back to move forward) is a … Continue reading →

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alan hirsch in grand rapids

Posted on September 10, 2008 by andre

Today I got the chance to here Alan Hirsch talk at Grand Rapid Theological Seminary. These folks are constantly bringing some good people into town to stimulate conversation all across the theological spectrum of thought. This is a good thing. … Continue reading →

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the bigot in my brain

Posted on August 1, 2008 by andre

 NPR had a great segment yesterday on the hidden (racial) prejudices we all carry. The author of an article called the bigot in my brain and the developer of a test of hidden prejudices suggested that all of us carry a … Continue reading →

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reflections on political history

Posted on June 7, 2008 by andre

Last night as we watched the events unfold that ended the Democratic primary process and gave Barack Obama the nomination, the reactions of my family stick in my mind. My son (who favors Obama a bit according to his peers) asked … Continue reading →

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