Racial Harmony Group

The first mtg. of the Racial Harmony group will be on Feb, 19th, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM, in room 405. At that time the group will decide on whether to meet once or twice a month. We will be affiliated with the Small Group Ministry program.

In his book, THE SOUL OF POLITICS, Jim Wallis asks, "What is racism?" He defines it as prejudice plus power. "The task for white Americans is to examine ourselves, our relationships, our institutions and our society for the ugly plague of racism. He states that the "Nation's original sin of racism must be faced in a way that we have never really done before. Only then can America be rediscovered. "

Please join us in this exciting task.

For questions or to register call Mary Kapper at (330) 836=4361

The other day I followed a link to a blog post by Rev. Sean Dennison titled, "Returning to the Table Again and Again" I won't try to summarize his post; you need to follow the link and read what he had to say. His post led me to a sermon by Martha Niebanck titled "Breaking the Rules" .

In his post Rev. Dennison talks about the difficultly of having conversations about topics like racism, discrimination and diversity. I have to admit that I have often found myself personally uncomfortable with these topics, and I've "left the table or avoided dinning" there at all. But several members of our Social Action Committee pushed for the formation of this group, and brought Bill and Jeannette Avery to talk with us about the Racial Harmony Group they formed at First Unitarian Church of Cleveland. Their enthusasm and willingness to come to the table encouraged us to form our own Racial Harmony Group starting with a small group ministry within our own church. Jeannette passed away last May, and I could not help but think of her when I read Martha Niebanck's tribute to Marjorie Bowens-Wheatley.

I hope that our newly formed Racial Harmony Group will grow and invite members of our congregation and others in our community to "Return to the Table Again and Again."