Undivided
In the first few months of the global pandemic, as the world was on hold, the dreadful murder of George Floyd by an American police officer occurred. This was a watershed moment, a tragedy that shook the world and sparked displays of outrage and protest under the banner of Black Lives Matter.
King’s is a very diverse church. Our community was in shock, with the reflected trauma reverberating in many peoples' lives. Following George Floyd’s death, I spoke about some of the issues being raised in a Sunday message rooted in Ephesians 2, which reminds us that Christ is the great reconciler. I was also invited to join a local Facebook Live discussion, hosted by Pastor Mike White, who leads a thriving black majority church in Lewisham. I believed it was important to speak into the moment and, with Pastor Mike in the chair, we had a helpful, thought-provoking and occasionally forthright discussion. I particularly enjoyed meeting Dr Selina Stone for the first time that evening .
One of the things I said to my church back in summer 2020 was that we are committed to the journey of building a diverse church, as we have been for many years. During my time leading King’s I have visited David Anderson’s church in Baltimore, USA, and Simon Pettit’s church in Cape Town, South Africa, to see what we can learn from them about building a diverse church. In 2008 we ran our Gracism series, based on David Andersen’s book of the same name, and in 2017 we addressed the subject again with the Invited series.
I believe we have learnt a lot over the years. However, we have so much more to learn and act upon, and while the profile of Black Lives Matter fades from the headlines, I remain committed to the challenges and opportunities that building a diverse community brings. That is why this term at King’s we are returning to the issue of race and justice with our next nine-week series, Undivided, which we started last Sunday.
As many of you know, in addition to leading King’s, I also lead the Newfrontiers Apostolic Fellowship, a group of leaders from many different countries and cultures, including Kenya, South Africa, Dubai, USA, Russia, UK, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ukraine, India, and many others. At the last count we were involved in over 90 nations across the globe. I am endeavouring to make some steps on the issue of diversity in this world also:
• We are intentionally increasing the diversity of the Newfrontiers trustee’s board and our Newfrontiers Together Team.
• We have set up a task team to look at the issue of diversity across our apostolic fellowship.
• My friend Tope Koleoso, Senior Pastor of Jubilee Church, Enfield, and I are hosting a day’s training next March for our UK based apostolic teams.
These are small steps, but it is important we are taking them.
Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to read George Yancey’s recent book, Beyond Racial Division, which we are recommending as part of the Undivided series. I would also like to recommend a theology and ministry day taking place on Saturday 8th October, at City Church, Bermondsey, for anyone who’d like to learn more about how we can build churches that are genuinely reconciled around issues of race. The day will be led by Owen Hylton, who was a pastor at King’s for many years and now leads Beacon Church in Brixton. Owen is also the author of Crossing the Divide and leader of The Reconciled Church Group. More information can be found in the video below.
