Sundays, 9:40-10:40 am
January 10 & 17: The ICor13 Project led by Rev. Dr. Denise Kingdom Grier, Pastor of Maple Avenue Ministries
The ICor13 Project, recently developed by Pastor Kingdom Grier, is described as “a collaborative resource to center the health, healing, and wholeness of Black people in particular. It intends to counteract the debilitating effects of the American church’s complicity in 400 years of failure to love black people. It is a healing space for Black people to locate sources, practices, and opportunities to heal the wounds of racial trauma. It offers materials, processes, and products that equip non-Black Allies and Freedom Fighters to actively practice repentance that leads to faithful participation in the flourishing of Black people.”
During these two sessions, Rev. Dr. Kingdom Grier will offer both a Bible study on I Corinthians in the context of this project and discuss the implications of this project for Hope Church and our ministry with our community.
January 24 & 31: To Achieve Our Country: Pathways to an Anti-Racist Future led by Dr. Chuck Green, Hope College
This is the last sentence of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time: “If we do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world.”
Baldwin was, by any measure, a plain-spoken realist. The Fire Next Time is a righteous indictment of American racism. And yet, it ends with a call to radical hope that lies somewhere between the audacious and the absurd. That speaks to me. If Baldwin had hope, then an older-than-I-used-to-be White guy like me has a moral obligation to hope, too. Even when it’s hard. To believe that if we do not falter in our duty, if we achieve our country, then, well, we can change the world.
But how? Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about: pathways to an antiracist future. Specific steps we can take in our spheres of influence at home, work, church, community—maybe even the world. On the first Sunday, we’ll remember where we are and why we care. On the second Sunday, we’ll roll up our sleeves and get to work.
Chuck Green is an award-winning professor of psychology at Hope College, specializing in social psychology and race in America. He has written articles on the subject, given numerous talks, and won awards for his outstanding teaching. He returns to teach a course for us during the Season of Reconciliation.