A List of Racial Justice Readings

 In Sunday's sermon I mentioned that reading is a great way to learn about our role in racial justice.  I said I could give you a list. Well, here it is.

 Books I have read about racial justice with the church in mind.

 1. Trouble I've Seen -  By Drew G.I. Hart 

2. Deep Denial - By David Billings

3. God Loves Justice - By Jessica Nicholas

4. The Color of Compromise - By Jemar Tisby 

5. Rediscipling the White Church - By David W. Swanson

6. Witnessing Whiteness - By Kristopher Norris

7. How To Fight Racism - By Jemar Tisby

8. Jesus and the Disinherited - By Howard Thurman

Books I have read about racial justice without the church in mind.

1. Between The World and Me - By Ta-Nehisi Coates

2. The Sum of Us - By Heather McGhee

3. Just Mercy - By Bryan Stevenson

4. Slavery By Another Name - By Douglas A. Blackmon

5. How To Be An Antiracist - By Ibram X. Kendi

Books I have yet to read but have heard great things about.

I'm Still Here - By Austin Channing Brown

White Fragility - By Robin DiAngelo

Reading While Black - By Esau McCaulley 

Who Will Be A Witness - By Drew G.I. Hart

 

Here's What I'm Reading During Covid 19

Now that we have finished reading and discussing “God Loves Justice” I thought I would share the books I have been reading during the pandemic. God Loves Justice is an important book and if you haven’t had the chance to read it I hope you will once you can get a copy. This year I set a goal of reading 30 books.  For me that is a goal that is doable but takes some effort to accomplish. So far, I have read 11 books and with the baseball season delayed, I have a good shot at making my goal. Here is a look at what I have been reading during the pandemic.

I checked out two books from the Herndon Library right before the pandemic closed everything down. I keep a list of books people suggest. Both books came off that list.  Lucky for me the library suspended returns. It took me a while to get through them.  It’s not that the books were bad but my schedule was turned upside down with meetings the first few weeks of Covid19.

One of the books from the library was “The Newcomers” by Helen Thorpe. This book was recommended to me by Exodus World Service, the refugee resettlement organization the youth and I worked with in Chicago last summer. In “The Newcomers”, Thorpe tells of her experience spending a year and a half in a high school English as a Second Language Class.  The class was made up of teenage refugees who had recently resettled in the United States. She shares powerful stories of the struggles and challenges refugee’s face once they resettle in their new country. I strongly believe these are stories that need to be heard!

I also checked out “The Blue Sweater” by Jaqueline Novograte. Novograte lives in Northern Virginia and is the founder and CEO of Acumen. In High School she donated a blue sweater to a local clothing ministry and years later saw the sweater on a young child in Africa. She uses this story to share her experiences of trying to help empower the poor around the world.  Her experience with working with the poor offers a lot to teach us about how to properly end poverty. She makes a very compelling case that we should all pay attention to. 

After finishing my library books, I started looking around my office and home for books I never finished.  Right on my office desk was Adam Hamilton’s latest book, “The Walk” so I started with it. In “The Walk”, Hamilton shares five spiritual practices Christians should follow and easy steps to make them a part of your everyday life. As a church we read Hamilton’s “The Way” a few years back. I might rate “The Way” as a better book but I think “The Walk” is a practical and helpful read I would recommend to everyone. 

Currently, I am reading “The Divine Dance”, by Ricard Rohr and “Reading Romans Backwards” by Scot McKnight. Both are preacher type books but if you are up for a challenge you might enjoy them.  My stack of unfinished books is embarrassingly high so I have a lot to read during the pandemic.  This should help me reach my goal.

Now, please share! What are you reading?

God Loves Justice Week 6 Final Chapter

This is Holy Week and our goal was to read "God Loves Justice" during Lent.  If you have finished great job! If you are not quite done let me encourage you to continue reading because I believe this book has a lot to teach us.  I hope you and I will continue to grow in learning to love what God loves and God loves justice! The last video of our class is below.  Thank you for being apart of our study!

Points to ponder

Make a list of 3 to 5 things you have learned from reading God Loves Justice.

Where do you feel God leading you in living out Justice and righteousness?

How can our church help you live into a life of loving Justice and righteousness? 

God Loves Justice Week 5

Today we dicuss chapters 13, 14 and 15 of God Loves Justice.  Thank you for sticking to the work and I look forward to your comments.  Here's the video.

Points to Ponder

1. I like Nicholas' explanation of Meekness, “being Meek doesn't mean that you become weak or a doormat..It means strength under control.  It describes those who don’t trust their own power. “

Who is an example of true meekness in your life?

What other explanations of the beatitudes stand out to you?

  

2. Nicholas says;

“I think many of us Christians have been trained to be passive toward injustice, because we have been trained to respond to suffering with intellectual reasoning. And when we find that reason, that is enough for us to explain away our own role in bringing change.”

What are some examples of how we respond to suffering with intellectual reasoning and fail to help?  What are some steps to change our response and move to help those in need? 

3. What areas of your everyday life need your attention in living a just and righteous way?

God Love Justice Week 4

Here we are again! Thank you for reading and staying with the work of justice.

Please view the video below for our discussion and join the discussion in the comment section below.

Questions to ponder

1. What are stories in the gospels that display the Kingdom of God as works of righteousness and justice?
2. How is God inviting you into the story of God’s kingdom to live out justice and righteousness to bring Shalom ?
3. Where do you think God is “launching” our church in the work of Justice and Righteousness?

Next week we will discuss Chapters 13-15  It’s a little longer read.

God Loves Justice Week 3

Hello Friends,

Let's keep on reading! Below are my reflections on Chapters 7-9.  Please watch the video and comment with your questions, answers or thoughts!

Questions to Ponder:

What are some actions and changes we need to make to move from understanding

the poor as people to simply “take care of”  and view them as people who need to

be seen, heard, respected, and treated as equal?

When you look at the description of Job’s life, what are some of the qualities that

you want said about how you live your own life? How can you start building those

habits?

What about our worship practices are pleasing to God because they reflect justice?

What about our worship practices might irritate God because they deflect from

justice? 

Share a part of the reading that taught you something about justice.

Next week we discuss chapters 10-12.

God Loves Justice Week 2

Thank you for coming back to week two of our discussion of God Loves Justice! I'm glad you are reading with me and that we are discovering more and more about what God loves. Watch the video below and please comment if you can!

Reflections and comments: 

Think about and share an example, story or someone you know that displays our new understanding of Justice, Righteousness and Mercy.

What stands out for you in Chapters 3-6?

Do you have any questions about what we have read?

Next week we read Chapters 7-9

God Loves Justice Week 1

Hello Friends,

Thank you for joining me on this journey of discovering biblical justice. You can see my reflections on the first couple of chapters of God Loves Justice in the video below.  

If you haven't done so already please add you email to the blog! You can add your email in the box to the right that says, email address.  I have been using our Constant Contact email lists to send reminders about the blog but I may not do so every week.  

Please comment so I'll  know you were here!  I hope you have enjoyed the reading so far!  

Questions to ponder

1. What are stories from your own life that have urged you, pulled you, shaped you or called you to help those in need?  (you don’t have to call it social justice if you don’t want to:)  

2. I want you to think about the invitation Nicholas gives us in Chapter 1. 

“My goal is to extend the same invitation to you in the pages ahead. Whatever your current political opinions are, keep them. All I want to do is to challenge you to go deep into what God says He loves and allow God’s love for these things to transform your heart so you too can love what He loves.”

1. What, if anything, makes you hesitant to study social justice?
2. What, if anything, excites you about this study?
3. Have you been surprised by anything you have learned so far?

3. Preaching, teaching and pastoral care are part of the everyday work of a congregation.  If God loves justice should the work of justice also be a part of the everyday work of a congregation?   What might that look like? What changes need to take place for justice to be an everyday part of our work? 

Feel free to simply ponder these questions or share your response to one or more of them in the comments section below.  You can also comment about something you discovered in the reading.  

Next week.

Next week we will discuss chapters 3-6.  That seems like a lot but it's just a little longer than this weeks.  Happy reading!!

Reading, "God Loves Justice" Intro Video

Hello Everyone. I hope you are excited about reading, "God Loves Justice" together. Below is an intro video on the study. Please watch!

Remember to add your email to my blog!!!

I will not know if you have read the blog or watched the video unless you comment.
Comment below with your favorite Bible Story. 

For next Monday read the introduction and chapters one and two.

Let's Read "God Loves Justice" Together for Lent!

Justice Formation Fellowship

As we  work to learn how to love one another I am inviting my church to be a part of the Justice Formation Fellowship.  This is a group of five churches that plan to fellowship together from time to time and engage in justice issues.  To begin the fellowship we want to read a book about Biblical Justice together. The book we have chosen is  Jessica Nicholas' "God Loves Justice, A User-Friendly Guide To Biblical Justice and Righteousness". The fellowship's plan is to have each congregation read and study the book and then gather together and share what we have discovered.  The fellowship is planned for Sunday, April 26, 2:00 p.m. at Lake Fairfax.

  I am inviting the people of FBC Herndon (and anyone on my blog who wants to join us) to read the book during Lent.  The season of Lent is a time to go deeper in our commitment to God as we prepare for the celebration of the Resurrection.  Some people give things up for Lent and some people take things up for Lent.  I invite you to take up reading God Loves Justice and join our online discussion (see pacing guide below). 

Online Discussion about God Loves Justice

I want to make our book study an online class.  Here's how it will work.  Every Monday I will post a blog about the chapters I have assigned us to read the previous week.  I'll share my thoughts, ask some questions and give you an opportunity to share what you discovered in your reading.  You can share in the comments section.  I'll post on Monday but if you don't finish the reading until Tuesday or Wednesday you can comment then.   I think this will be fun! I believe together we can learn a lot about Justice, Righteousness and how to love one another.  If you are in, comment on this blog post letting me know!

I have 5 copies of the book. let me know if you need one!   You can also buy it Here!

Pacing Guide for God Loves Justice

February 26 -  Ash Wednesday, reading begins (Okay you can start early if you want to)

March 2 - First blog post, discussion on The Intro and Chapters 1 and 2

March 9 - Blog post discussion on Chapters 3-6

March 16 - Blog post discussion on Chapters 7-9

March 23 - Blog Post discussion Chapters 10-12

March 30 - Blog Post discussion Chapters 13-15

April 6 - Blog Post discussion Chapter 16 and the Appendix

April 12 - Easter

April 26 - Justice Formation Fellowship

A January Update

Hello FBC Herndon Friends,

I want to share a couple of exciting things with you.

1.  Here is a video link to PBS' show, Virginia Currents, which features the CURE Bus Tour I went on last year.  CURE stands for Congregations United for Racial Empathy.
 If you look real hard you can see your pastor and K Scarry.

Virginia Currents Cure

2. There are two ways you can join the work I have been doing for Racial Justice!   The first is to join the CURE Supper Series where we invite people to sit around the table and have conversations about race.  If you are interested in the CURE Supper Series please email me at ssrob72@yahoo.com

The Second, is join us in the Justice Fellowship which is a new group forming this spring.  The Justice fellowship is a group of 5 churches who are going to discover, learn and get involved in Justice issues. Our first task is to read a book on justice and then share what we learned with each other.  More Information to come on the Justice Fellowship.


3. I'm leading a Silent Retreat right here at FBC Herndon on Monday, February 17.  We will gather at 9:30 a.m. to discuss and prepare for the silence. At 10:00 a.m. the silence will begin.  We will share lunch together in silence and then break the silence and debrief at 2:00 p.m.  The entire church will be available for you to explore and be silent.  Creating long periods of holy silence is a remarkable gift to you and to God. Come and see!

4. Wednesday is our Chili Cook Off. Join us at 6:30 p.m. for fun and fellowship! 

Making Room for the Spirit

 Sunday was such a great day for our church and a powerful witness to the gospel.  Sunday, we celebrated the gift of the Spirit given on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:1-21) Pentecost, also marks the beginning of the Church. We celebrated by having a combined worship service with the three congregations who worship in our building. First Baptist Church of Herndon, Iglesia Bautista Shalom and The Persian Church of Herndon.  Worship was very different, but it was also powerful. In opening ourselves to worship with each other we learned a little about love.  I learned something about the Spirit too because of three things I saw during worship.  Here is what I observed. 

1.       I heard a lot of people say, I’m a little nervous right now.

A lot of us were nervous Sunday because we were doing something important and very different. All of the worship leaders were nervous. I was nervous about the different pieces coming together. The music leaders were nervous because they were playing in front of new people, some of whom did not speak their language. The preachers were nervous because the preaching was different, it was to a blended congregation so some of the people spoke a different language and one preacher was preaching in a language he does not normally preach from. Our choir was even nervous because we were singing an anthem, which we don’t typically do and we were singing in a new place to make room for the other congregations’ worship teams.  People become nervous when they do something that is different or important. Sunday was both.  Our willingness to be nervous means we were stepping out in faith. 

2.       I saw people being flexible.

The only way we were going to pull this off was by being flexible.  The truth is I am not comfortable with being flexible when it comes to leading worship! I had to learn to let go last week. Some of our people had to sit in different pews. We changed the time of worship. The sound techs from each church had to adjust to a whole new way of setting up the sound systems.  The preachers had to sit to preach. There were parts of the service spoken in languages we did not understand.  The Deacons had to develop a new way to serve communion.  What I didn’t hear was complaining. We were flexible and the service was beautiful. 

3.       The Spirit showed up!

 I know Sunday was Pentecost and we were talking about the coming of the Spirit, but I really felt the Spirit this Sunday and it was powerful!  I have been preaching and leading worship around Pentecost for 14 plus years, but I have never felt the fullness of the spirit like I did Sunday.  The Spirit is not predictable and its hard to describe, but you know it when it comes. I have received more positive feedback from this service then any other service we have ever done.  I think our people felt the Spirit too.

When we do important things that make us nervous and when we allow ourselves to be flexible with things we hold so dear, such as worship, we create room for the Spirit.  Where there is room for the Spirit amazing things happen.  Part of loving God and one another is making room for the Spirit.

On The Bus, a Journey of Truth and Justice

Last week I traveled with a group of clergy from Northern Virginia on a racial healing bus tour of our state.  The newly formed group is called CURE, Clergy Uniting for Racial Empathy. The tour was made up of 23 clergy and included two Rabbis, an Imam and 20 Christian ministers.  We traveled to locations in Charlottesville, Danville, Drake’s Branch and Richmond.  It was a powerful, uneasy and uncomfortable experience that exposed me to the often-silent history of our state and some of the reasons race is still a troubling issue for our Commonwealth.  The trip also gave me hope!  Hope, because some stories are finally being heard. Hope formed from new relationships with others seeking to lead the way to justice.  Some may be wondering, why a clergy bus tour around Virginia? Why take the time and what good could it possibly do?  Here’s why going was important to me.

The events in Charlottesville in 2017 and the recent news that our Governor and Attorney General once dressed in black face reveal to us that we still have a major problem with race.   We want to believe we have moved beyond the troubles of race but we haven’t.  Charlottesville proves that there are people still burning with dangerous hate.  The behavior of our elected officials shows how deeply embedded racial practices are in our culture.  With the Governor and Attorney General we are not talking about conservative Republicans.  We are talking about progressive Democrats who grew up in a culture that says it’s okay to wear black face.  We simply cannot ignore the problem of race.  We are not over it and never have been!  It also becomes clear to me that a quick fix will not solve the problem. Certainly, a three day Bus Tour won’t solve it either but it’s a start.  It’s a start that leads to a longer process of understanding our true history. The tour is a start to listening and learning from those who have fought the fight before us. The tour is a way to build lasting relationships with fellow clergy who share the burden of leading the way.

A second reason for going on the bus tour for racial healing is that we haven’t dealt truthfully with our history and it is time for me to hear some of the untold and under told stories of Virginia’s past. There is a troubling truth to our history that we haven’t owned up to.   Christy Coleman, the CEO of The American Civil War Museum says, “We will never get right with each other until we get the history right.” The right history of Virginia is that the Confederacy was not a “lost cause” but an empire planning to extend slavery into central and South America. The truth of our Commonwealth is that the University of Virginia was built to hide enslaved people from view.   Out of sight, these slaves were abused physically and sexually by the wealthy white men permitted to be students there.   The history of Virginia is that fire hoses were used in Danville too and Danville was known by Civil rights leaders to be the worst police force in the country when it came to segregation.  Virginia’s soil is full of blood.  Yes, the blood shed in the Civil War over enslavement but also the blood of nearly silent tragedies such as  Drakes Branch and Lumpkin's Jail. Places, I am ashamed to say, I have only heard about because of the tour.   There are voices of our past longing to be heard and truths that need to be told. The systems and institutions of our day are built from and influenced by the dark hidden past of white supremacy.  It is time to tell the truth!

A third reason for me to go is that Clergy are the ones who need to lead when it comes to racial justice.  In order for us to lead the way we need each other. Rabbi Holtzman, one of the Rabbi’s on the trip, shared with us that political leaders in Washington are asking for and are in desperate need of clergy to lead the way when it comes to race.  We listened to clergy in Charlottesville tell us that people were waiting to see what the clergy would do when the unite the right rally came to their town. The people were willing to follow but only where the clergy would lead.  In such times Virginia needs leadership from its clergy and to effectively lead, the clergy need each other! One of the reason’s the Clergy Collective in Charlottesville was able to mount a counter demonstration to the unite the right rally is because they already had a relationship with each other. They knew each other, they had worked together before and they trusted one another.  What better way to build a stronger connection than a multi-day bus tour.  Through hearing difficult truths, discovering hard to handle history and the bus breaking down in the middle of the road,  we truly grew together! Now that the tour is over there is still work to be done and I’m committed to the long hard work of justice! Stay tuned.

A tree at Drakes Branch similar to the one used to lynch
Richard Walker

Praise as Prelude to Love

This week I’m pondering Jesus’ command to Love One Another, John 13:31-35.  It seems such a basic part of our faith to love everyone, yet I wonder how hard it is becoming for us to love  in the political climate we find ourselves today.  It seems to me that we are being asked over and over again to tear ourselves away from those who hold different political opinions then we do. Love seems to be the last thing we want from those who are on the other political side.  How do we live faithfully into Jesus’ command to love one another when we have Donald Trump on one end and Pete Buttigieg on the other?   Both of them claim Christ.  Loving one another means we have to love both of them.  How?  I’m going to explore this in my sermon Sunday but for now I want to share where I think it all begins.  I think it begins when we answer the call to Praise!

Psalm 148 is a grand call to praise for every single piece of creation.  Everything is called into a single voice of worship to God. And the psalmist seems to point to the great differences of those who are called to join the praise. The call goes to the angels from their heights and to the sea monsters in the depths. The Sun and the moon. Wild animals and cattle, creeping things and flying birds. Old and young together and on and on.  Every part of creation is called to praise maybe because when we join the praise, we come to the realization that 1. We are not God 2. We have value and purpose just as we are created 3. So do those worshiping right beside us.  Our differences create an amazing chorus of praise that God loves to play on a loop on God celestial play list.

How do we take serious the commandment to Love one another? Perhaps it begins with praise.  When we offer praise to God, we put ourselves in a place to expand our heart. When we join the chorus of creation in praise it becomes harder to hate. Praise may not be all we need to love our enemies but it’s a good start.  You are always welcome to Worship with us at First Baptist Herndon. We gather every Sunday at 10:00 a.m.