Dialogue in Action: Gordon Student Scholars and the Civilitas Group
Posted on November 18, 2015 by College Communications in Student Spotlight.
A group of A. J. Gordon Scholars and Clarendon Scholars recently had an opportunity to engage with Christian leaders from all over the country at a gathering in nearby Boston. One of the participants, India Boland ’17 (A. J. Gordon Scholar and Pike Honors student) recounts the experience.
The shots fired on June 17 in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, reverberated across the country and shed light on an issue the Christian church as a whole could no longer afford to avoid. A known white-supremacist gunman entered a prayer service and shot innocent Christians, murdering nine and severely injuring a tenth. The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is one of the oldest black churches in the country, and has long been the source of civil rights movements. This particularly targeted crime is horrifying in every aspect, and has in many cases served as undeniable proof that violent racism is still thriving in our own communities. Many pastors across the country realized it is part of their calling to educate themselves on how to engage, defend and advocate for minority groups in their congregations. “What if they could say, 'After Charleston, we owned the pain of our collective church family?' What if they could say, 'After Charleston, we did everything we could to ensure something like this never happens again?'” asks the After Charleston website that seeks to unite Christians in the aftermath of the Charleston tragedy. Rev. Doug Birdsall, former President of the American Bible Society and the Lausanne Movement, was particularly disturbed by the events, and was haunted by the question: If black men and women aren’t safe in their own churches, where are they safe? In an environment of helplessness, confusion and anger, he sought to bring together pastors and academics from across all possible lines of division. On June 25, 2015, an incredible gathering of 24 Christian leaders of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities converged to initiate dialogue, healing and restoration. They spoke, they preached, they cried, they were vulnerable. Anger was expressed. The beginning of healing was found. Many walked in as strangers, and all walked away as friends. From this meeting, the Civilitas Group was born. [caption id="attachment_2724" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Share
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