“I feel like I’ve made some new friends!”

“I learned some really important things about people I thought I already knew.  It was great!”

“I am really excited to have been able to talk about this issue with people I care about in a safe environment.  Thank you for hosting this conversation!”

These are the kinds of comments and responses we heard from folks who took part in our initial Healing Conversations about race and ethnicity last spring.  We are now preparing for our second conversation, which will take place on Sunday evening, September 29 at 6:30 PM here at Wellspring.

The idea for these conversations has arisen out of the ongoing deep divisions and noise around the issues of race and ethnicity that we find in our culture at large.  Many of us find this very disturbing and long for an atmosphere to share our own personal journeys around these issues and to learn from others as they share their stories.  The goal is to listen and to learn from one another.  There is no political agenda or “company line.”  We simply want to get to know better the people we are worshiping with on Sunday morning and to learn how our experiences of race and ethnicity have shaped our identities and our faith journeys.

At our upcoming Healing Conversations #2 we plan to continue from the good start we had in the spring.  But, you don’t need to have been at the initial conversations to take part in the second one.  Everyone is invited.  We will gather in the café at 6:30 PM for dessert and then we will enter into guided conversations about how to approach differences in others and about our expectations when we have the occasion of exploring a conversation or relationship with someone who comes from a different racial or ethnic background.

I hope you can join us!  You might make some new friends!

Blessings,

Pastor Rick