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It was a conversation about the Rev. Willie James Jennings’ work and his book, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race, that prompted Bishops Gregory Palmer, Michael McKee and LaTrelle Easterling to begin thinking about hosting a podcast. The ideas presented by this associate professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale were “genius” and provided a provocative and insightful glimpse into the church’s relationship with race. The bishops wanted to learn more.
A native son of Maryland, McLaren graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from the University of Maryland and taught English in the area from 1978 to 1986. In 1982, he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, nondenominational church in Spencerville, Maryland. He left higher education in 1986 to serve as the church’s founding pastor and served in that capacity until 2006.
What is the Doctrine of Discovery and why does it matter to The Unfinished Church? The Doctrine of Discovery is the disturbing backdrop for almost all of the challenges explored in The Unfinished Church. It sets the precedent both in racialized laws and national policies as well as race-based theologies. But, when we understand its profound implications and intentions, we can work to undo them and promote the fullness of what it means to be an anti-racist church.
In his ministry and in his life, the Rev. Fred Shaw, a Shawnee descendant storyteller, insists on the dignity of all people.
A pastor in The United Methodist Church in Ohio for 41 years, Shaw retired in 2010 and now serves as a storyteller, historical actor and lecturer, author, and photographer. His heritage is of the Shawnee Peckewe Sept and Raven Clan. He is on the Board of Directors of the denomination’s Native American Comprehensive Plan. Opal Lee, the grandmother of the Juneteenth holiday and a guest on the Unfinished Church podcast. wants you to take a walk.
Lee, 95, is credited with having Juneteenth made a national holiday when she began walking from her home in Texas to Washington, D.C., to ask lawmakers to honor the anniversary of the news of emancipation arriving in Texas on June 19, 1865, two-and-a-half years after other enslaved people knew they were free. Episode 2 of The Unfinished Church with Eboo Patel is focused on Examining Our Perception. This can be difficult as we all have implicit bias- an unconscious behavior can be inconsistent with conscious beliefs. Dushaw Hockett of the SPACES Project defines bias as a preference for or prejudice against a person or a group of people. There are three characteristics of implicit bias: 1.) they operate at the unconscious level, 2.) they run contrary to our conscious beliefs, and 3.) they are rapid and automatic mental associations.
Eboo Patel, who appears as a guest on The Unfinished Church podcast, is the founder and president of Interfaith America, a nonprofit organization that promotes cooperation among people of different religions. He is the author of the new book, “We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy” (May 2022).
In line with this week’s focus on examining our own assumptions and perceptions so that we might avoid projecting our cultural values onto others, these podcasts by Rev. Dr. Kendrick Weaver center us on “Paying Attention.”
Give yourself the gift of being, recentering, resetting and regrounding to better engage the journey to beloved community. These two-three minute meditations, created by the Rev. Dr. Kendrick Weaver, are centered on patience as understood in Corinthians 13: “Love is patient.”
There are eight scientifically proven practices that reduce bias and enable inclusion, diversity, equity, and antiracism (IDEA). Each podcast, we will provide resources for action rooted in this proven research. After listening to Episode 1 with Nadia Bolz-Weber on Respecting Differences, we encourage the practice of Intergroup Contact.
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