[posted by Bobby Harrison]
We had our summer wrap-up at the crossing last night, and it inspired me to catch you all up on what’s been going on with this group. I was able to lead worship with both of our interns, Dazzmin and Andrew, and we also had the opportunity to let them share a bit. It’s been wonderful to put them in so many different types of leadership situations and see them lead. It’s been amazing all summer long to see so clearly how God has used them here at Fellowship North. Both of them have made a real impact on the students and within this ministry. We have certainly been blessed by and grateful for their work.
Also this summer we have been going through Talk It Out (Fellowship North’s racial unity group study) @ the Crossing. From Andrew and Dazzmin (two, clearly, very different perspectives – Andrew is a white male, Dazzmin is an african american female) to Harold (Nash) and Russell (Mason), we have been able to put several people up front that aren’t normally leading over in the Rafters. The students have been able to hear different voices and testimonies, but they have all been struck by the one singular truth that each person has laid out so clearly: that this church, that we as Christ followers, are called to be a racially unified body of Christ. There was push-back from some students early-on, maybe even resistance. But it was great to give them a venue to really talk about and wrestle with the vision of this church. We had white kids really beginning to slowly understand the privilege they live with, and black students opening up about a longing to feel accepted in and out of the church.
Last night, we decided to close out the summer by just giving students the chance to talk about how God has worked in their lives this summer. Out of 30-40 students, a good third of the group was probably African American. One by one, they each took the stage and shared how this church has really been a place they can trust, that they feel at home here, that for the first time in their lives, they have a church body that they feel is unified. Students who maybe had never spoken in public before spoke up about how God has really touched them through Fellowship North. Not just the crossing, but this church as a whole. Teenagers can be very perceptive, and they also have a great detector of phoniness. I think they really see something true and honest and sincere in what we’re doing here at FN and are beginning to rally behind this hope as well.
Taido and I both left with a real sense of hope. We both realize that this is still nowhere near where we want to be, but last night was a real slice of what this whole vision could look like. It was inspiring and I hope the story of it is inspiring for for you as well.
to mobilize a racially-unified family of God, called out as the presence of Jesus in our world, to pursue His mission: all people reconciled to God.