Racial Reconciliation Resources

Elder Statement on Race

To read, click HERE.

Our whole country has been enrolled in a Race Course. We’re in it whether we want to be or not but learning how to engage in the conversation is what we as disciples are called to do. This is not about engaging politically or culturally but rather biblically. That’s what we hope these resources will allow you to do. All our recommendations are gospel-centered, spoken and written by knowledgeable Christians, including Tim Keller and John Piper. Check out all of the resources below:

Videos

Race in America: Phil Vischer, the creator of Veggie Tales, provides a fast-paced graphic history of America post-slavery, explaining why racial problems persist to this day.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man: Emmanuel Acho—former Philadelphia Eagle and forever brother in Christ—offers wise insights and helpful advice for white people trying to understand race issues and enter the conversation constructively.

Episode 1: Emmanuel Acho

Episode 2: Emmanuel Acho and Matthew McConaughey

Episode 3: Emmanuel Acho and Chip and Joanna Gaines

Bloodlines: John Piper tells the story of the embedded racism he grew up with in South Carolina.

Racism is Real: A creative, 3-minute video depicting everyday examples of racism.

The Danger of a Single Story: A classic TED Talk by the historian, Chimamanda Adichie, explains how our lives and cultures are comprised of many overlapping stories.

The Atlantic Slave Trade: What Too Few Textbooks Told You This 5-minute TED talk provides an overview of the societal causes and consequences of the slave trade.

The Atlantic Slave Trade in Two Minutes: Over the course of 300 years, over 20,000 slave ships crossed the Atlantic with over 10 million slaves. This video illustrates them all…in 2 minutes.

Sermons and Seminars

Racism and Corporate Evil: A White Guy’s Perspective Tim Keller provides a biblical perspective on corporate and systemic evil, particularly regarding race. This talk is very helpful in understanding complicity and how a whole community needs to repent, not just the obvious perpetrators of evil.

Formed for Justice: This entire Conference, held in 2018 by Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Tim Keller), is available free of charge at Gospel in Life. Each of the sessions is worthy and helpful. I especially appreciated these talks:

Jemar Tisby: Intersections of Race and Injustice in America

Christina Edmondson: Unconscious Bias

Daniel Hill: Race, Culture, and Identity

Tim Keller: Economic Justice: A God Who Identifies with the Poor

Racism Discussion: Pastors T.D. Jakes and Carl Lentz discuss race in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Become the Bridge: Pastors Steven Furtick and John Gray discuss racism in America.

Podcasts

Church Pulse Weekly: Hosted by Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinneman, this weekly podcast addresses various issues facing pastors and church leaders. Recent episodes feature a powerful conversation with Albert Tate, the pastor of a multiethnic church in Los Angeles, and Dr. Nicole Martin, a professor at Gordon-Conwell Seminary and leader with the American Bible Society.

Albert Tate and Nicole Martin, part 1

Albert Tate and Nicole Martin, part 2

The Next Question: Hosted by Austin Channing Brown, Season 1 of this podcast is eight sessions.

Truth’s Table: (https://www.truthstable.com/podcast): Three Christian women discuss numerous issues: “We are Black Christian women who love truth and seek it out wherever it leads us. We will share our perspectives on race, politics, gender, current events, and pop culture that are filtered through our Christian faith.”

Articles

Structural Racism, by John Piper. Piper opens with this line: “My aim in this article is to reduce the instinctive, white, evangelical reaction against the idea of structural racism or systemic racism.”

Jesus, Deliver us from This Racist Evil Age, by Jarvis Williams, professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Websites

The Witness: A Black Christian Collective: This website offers a wealth of resources: “The Witness is a non-profit, faith-based media organization that engages issues of religion, race, justice, and culture from a biblical perspective. The Witness consciously draws on the expansive black church tradition to address matters of personal faith while also speaking to issues of public righteousness through blog posts, feature-length articles, podcasts, and live reporting.”

Repentance Project: featuring the 40-day devotional, “An American Lament.”

My most frequented websites: Desiring God, Gospel in Life, and The Gospel Coalition, have numerous resources to help inform the race conversation as well.

Books

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, famed lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian, by John Piper. Free ebook.

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby, historian and theologian.

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown

Trouble I’ve Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism by Drew Hart, professor at Messiah University.

Roadmap to Reconciliation: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness, and Justice, by Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, professor at Seattle Pacific University. Also look for her new book, out in August, Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now.

Many Colors: Cultural Intelligence for a Changing Church, by Dr. Soong-Chan Rah, professor at North Park Theological Seminary.

Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart, by Dr. Christena Cleveland, social psychologist and founder of the Center for Justice + Renewal.

Children’s Books

God’s Very Good Idea: A True Story About God’s Delightfully Different Family, by Trillia Newbell

ColorFull: Celebrating the Colors God Gave Us, by Dorena Williamson Books and

Courses for Group Study

Be the Bridge, by Latasha Morrison

UNDIVIDED: The Church & Racial Reconciliation

An American Lament, a 40-day devotional, has discussion questions for groups. (See repentanceproject.org.)