Grace, Race & Reconciliation - Sam Beard

At Trinity Park, our vision is to proclaim Christ in redemptive community among neighbors and nations. But if you’ve been in community with others unlike yourself, you know that it can be intimidating and confusing. When I visit someone’s house, do I take my shoes off, or leave them on? Should I bring a gift? If I don’t provide food, will my guest be offended? Should I greet my brother or sister with a hug, or should I respect their personal space? While all of these can be individual preferences, we also see many things that can be shared across cultures. Through the lens of another’s culture, we can see a whole new viewpoint of the God who created us. And when we fall too deeply into our own cultural silos, we risk conflating our culture with God’s truth.

Here at Trinity Park, we hope you have an opportunity to be in community with people from different cultures than your own. But we know that this can create friction. We are all sinners who can fall into the temptations of partiality. Furthermore, we live in a country that has a history of discrimination, exclusion, and erasure of experiences of people other than the majority. These are topics that require a great deal of grace, for our only hope of reconciliation is through the blood of Christ, who has broken down the dividing walls of hostility. We strive to be a church that is on earth as God’s kingdom is as it is in heaven - where those from every tribe, nation, and tongue come together to worship the Lord. To remove the stumbling blocks that will happen when dealing with a church of many peoples, we have a Grace, Race, and Reconciliation team.

In the past, we’ve partnered with Mt. Zion church to do several book studies. As we enter into the new year, we are looking for ways to include more voices in the conversation. All of us have our own unique perspectives to offer, so if you are interested and would like to hear more, or join in the conversation, we are meeting February 18 after church to pray, discuss ideas, and discern where the Lord is leading us next. If this is a new concept to you, or even one that you may have some issues with, please feel free to reach out to Sam Beard,  or one of the pastors, elders or members of the Grace, Race & Reconciliation team. Finally, regardless of whether you join us or not, we’d love your prayers - that the unity of Christ might be on full display in his body.