Thursday June 3rd, 10th, 17th, & 24th - 1:30pm EDT
Christianity continues to find itself at a hinge point in Canada as a number of important conversations play out in our society. Racial Justice is one of those conversations and connected to it are themes like: Critical Race Theory, the Land Back Movement, Black Lives Matter and Institutional Racism. As Jesus followers, how do we engage with these conversations our neighbours are having? What is Critical Race Theory and is it compatible with the Good News about Jesus? What does it take for churches and leaders to facilitate and experience authentic intercultural unity? Is Institutional Racism fake news or a reality we need to wrestle with? What can we do to develop cultural awareness and intercultural connectivity? What is Biblical Racial justice?
Join us in this brave, relational space for a 4-week learning experience with like-minded leaders across Canada. Together we will process this timely and vital topic together, listen, reflect on our understanding, ask good questions, consider our theology and accept the challenge to engage and pray.
If you are a ministry leader, pastor, church planter or Jesus follower looking to explore and go deeper on this vital topic, rooted in the Canadian context, regardless of ethnicity or background, this is for you.
You'll receive access to all the Learning Centre recordings for a refresher or for your own continued learning and development.
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If you aren’t able to log in to these sessions live, they will be recorded and made available afterward to those who sign up.
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Schedule
June 3rd: Why critical race theory is critical for every church - Cid Latty
Having good foundations is vital for anything we want to build and this session is all about laying good foundations. Together we'll examine Critical Race Theory and why it has been a contentious issue for some churches and denominations. We'll seek to define terms like ‘race’ ‘ethnicity’ and ‘culture’, laying biblical perspectives, we will seek to offer the underpinning for a great conversation.
June 10th: Institutional racism: fake news or reality? - Keitha Ogbogu
Michael Emerson in the book ‘Divided by Faith’ outlines there are differences of opinion as to whether institutional racism actually exists. In this session, we'll unpack what institutional racism looks like in our Canadian context and compare the statistical evidence with our definition. We'll spend time examining various systems (housing, economic, educational, and criminal) to see what the data reveals. What might our findings say about our churches and denominations? What does this mean for those seeking to follow Jesus in our contexts?
June 17th: ‘I am not a racist’: personal responsibility in a developmental continuum - Tim Tang
As ministry leaders, pastors and church planters, how can we effectively and practically implement change? The Intercultural Development Inventory is a tool through which we can develop our individual and corporate intercultural competence. We'll discuss how this tool can help in our biblically-based cross-cultural competencies and explore these supportive tools. We’ll also take a look at the various approaches to cultural difference, why this is important for us and the church, and how we can develop intercultural connectivity here in Canada.
June 24th: Let’s get practical - Cid Latty
In our final session together, we’ll consider the practicalities of moving forward. As Jesus followers looking to serve and lead well, what are the essentials for the task ahead? What have we leant so far and what can we take with us? We'll participate with other like-minded leaders to share our learnings and discuss a number of cultural scenarios that will help us work towards a set of principles and practices for our journey towards intercultural competence.
In preparing for this learning environment we recommend the following reading:
Read the introductory paper for this learning experience: ‘Why the critical race theory is critical for every church’. Click here to download. You can also read it here: https://baptist.ca/2021/02/why-critical-race-theory-should-be-critical-for-every-church/ by Cid & Alison Latty
Other books:
Divided by Faith – Michael Emerson
Critical Race Theory – Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic
Reading while black – Esau McCaulley
Diaspora Missiology - Enoch Wan
Unsettling Truths – Mark Charles, Soong-Chan Rah
Expert Presenters
There are two options to access the New Leaf Learning Centre: a monthly subscription or a one-session pass. For the monthly subscription, please visit here. To sign up specifically for this June session of the Learning Centre, please see below. All 4 weeks of the session are included in every registration.
At New Leaf, we never want finances to be a barrier to your participation. Connect with us at admin@newleafnetwork.ca and we'll be sure to add your name to the list.