August 2020 — pg. 17
Continuing
the Conversation
Disarming Racial Divides in the Church
by Jeff Finley
Three weeks after five African American leaders
gathered with three bishops for a Facebook Live
conversation titled “Talk, Listen & Learn Together,” the
same group of eight met online again to continue the
conversation about how to end racial division.
As “Continuing the Conversation” began, Bishop Keith
Cowart emphasized the importance of endurance as the
Free Methodist Church – USA addresses diversity in the
church.
“We must have the will to endure beyond mere talk
to real change, to action steps that will bring about real
change,” said Cowart, who also noted that diversity isn’t
limited to Black and White. “We are a multiethnic nation,
and we are a multiethnic denomination, and so it’s not that
we’re tone-deaf to the fact that it’s a broader issue.”
Cowart said other diversity issues are being considered,
but the online conversation “was initially spurred by the
recent events that very much are oriented in the Black-
White issue. Secondly, there is something very distinct and
unique about the White-Black relationship in America
that requires a different kind of conversation.”
Robert Marshall, the director of the African Heritage
Network and the lead pastor of Los Angeles Community
Church, served as the emcee for the conversation and asked
/bishops-host-fm-leaders-for-racial-unity-discussion
/bishops-host-second-racial-unity-conversation-with-fm-leaders