Covenant News
New Racial Righteousness Curriculum Available
CHICAGO, IL (February 18, 2005) - Nineteen facilitators recently were trained in the new School of Racial Righteousness (SRR) curriculum offered by the Department of Christian Formation of the Evangelical Covenant Church.The training program is available to local Covenant churches willing to invest a weekend learning more about race and ethnicity issues in an effort to move toward personal and corporate change based on principles of biblical righteousness.
"I strongly believe that taking steps toward racial righteousness, both
individually and as a community, is not an optional piece of
discipleship, but is a critical dimension of our Christian formation
journey," says Doreen Olson, executive minister of Christian Formation.
The new curriculum reflects a collaborative effort by Christian Formation, the executive vice president's office and Covenant Ministries of Benevolence. The recent training event was co-led by Debbie Blue and Ginny Olson.
"When I returned from the racial righteousness training, I was deeply empowered to follow the call I have to be an ambassador of racial righteousness," states Bernard Franklin, a SRR facilitator from Kansas City, Missouri. "Our spiritual renewal should permeate society just as salt provides seasoning and as light illumines darkness. Christians who have experienced the transforming power of Christ should be stabilizing, strengthening pillars in society, and they should act as agents of change in the face of racial and ethnic hatred and indifference."
The curriculum is an interactive experience designed to move participants from knowledge about racial righteousness to a deeper place of personal awareness, responsibility and action, Blue says. The eight-hour learning experience weaves together worship, personal reflection, video clips, biblical reflection, small group discussion, shared communion and creative learning exercises. It is built on the foundation of Revelations 7:9 that depicts people from all lands and languages coming together to worship the one true God. The school is designed to be led and experienced in a cross-racial setting - two co-facilitators from different racial backgrounds lead churches from different racial backgrounds (or a church that already has multi-ethnic members) through the study material. Relationships and personal experience are important focal points of the curriculum.
"I am excited at the opportunity to be a facilitator and a promoter of racial harmony within my church and within my conference," says facilitator Carolyn Rose, from Royal Palm Beach, Florida. "God is doing a mighty thing in the Covenant and I'm honored to be included."
Facilitators bring a diverse collection of professional and personal experience to the teaching task. Trained facilitators and their respective conferences include:
- Central Debbie Griffith, Wilson Herrera, Darryl Jones, Joan McPherson, Carolyn Poterek and Peter Sjoblom
- East Coast Mary Putera
- Great Lakes Dick Lucco
- Midwest Bernard Franklin, Eunice Johnson, Sharon Cairns Mann, Rick Mylander and Caroline Walles
- North Pacific Lisa Hutcherson
- Northwest Liz Mosbo VerHage and Mona Harris
- Pacific Southwest Ali Hasan
- Southeast Carolyn Rose and Deric Gilliard
Churches interested in participating in a School of Racial Righteousness training program should contact the Department of Christian Formation by calling 773-583-0220 or emailing the department at Christian.formation@covchurch.org.
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