File:Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mathew Ahmann in a crowd.) – NARA – 542015 – Restoration.jpg
Created: 28 August 1963

I attend a multi-cultural/multi-ethnic church in North Carolina. A friend of mine, a great friend of mine, who is a pastor there reached out to me and asked, “What do our people need from the White Pastors at [our church]?” This brotha of mine is a White man, and he is an amazing person. The fact that he even asked me this question indicates that (1) he is humble enough to realize he does not have all of the answers, and (2) he values who I am and my perspective. This is empathy and compassion folks.

Here is the letter I wrote in response to his question:

My brotha,

You asked me, “What do our people need from the White Pastors at [our church]?” and I wanted to answer thoroughly in addition to releasing a few things I have held onto. Thank you for reaching out with that question. It truly made me, and my humanity, feel valued. What makes this difficult is the lack of an ultimate solution (I know Jesus is the ultimate solution, but I want to reference something we can act on as a body).  Whatever the “correct” solution is, it is one that has multiple or repeated steps, i.e. there cannot be a one time “let’s fix it” approach. There has to be a series of attempts to heal the body.

But how do we heal the body? Continue Reading…