The national office of the United Church of Christ (www.ucc.org) released an adult education curriculum in 2016 titled “White Privilege: Let’s Talk” that invites local UCC churches and their members to engage in safe, meaningful, substantive, and bold conversations on race.
In response to this invitation, Lakewood Congregational Church (UCC) has recently embarked on a year-long Adult Faith Formation program titled A Sacred Conversation About Race. LCC will be using parts of the UCC curriculum, along with suggested readings & podcasts, group discussions, and guest speakers, to explore the topic and to encourage the sharing of ideas and experiences. The goal of A Sacred Conversation About Race is to learn and understand what it means to be an ally to those who are presently disadvantaged by the system.
Sacred Conversation events began in February 2017 at LCC and have included:
Video: Cracking the Codes: Joy DeGruy “A Trip to the Grocery Store”
Rev. Alan Dicken, Carthage Christian Church (Disciples of Christ): “Empowered for Justice: Faith Communities Can Make a Difference”
Discussion on “A Spiritual Autobiography” written by John Dorhauer, General Minister & President of UCC
Discussion on “Whiteness as the Norm” – reflections on how this is evidenced and experienced in America
Discussion on “Whiteness as the Norm”, continued – visual images & symbols in church
This Light of Ours: Activist Photographers of the Civil Rights Era (Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage). This Light of Ours portrayed struggles of the 1960s and the continuing effort to bridge America’s racial divide.
An afternoon of theater at Karamu House to see Simply Simone: The Music of Nina Simone.
Movie and discussion: “I Am Not Your Negro”, a film that explores the history of racism in the United States through James Baldwin’s reminiscences of civil rights leaders Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
White Privilege in Public Education
“The Talk”: an informal panel discussion with three people of color about the impact of racism on their lives.
Movie and discussion: “Get Out!”