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The mission of the Beloved Community Awareness Sub-Committee is to bring awareness to the sin of racism in whatever forms they present themselves including implicit policies, white privilege, Conference policies and racism in our hearts.
Celebrate Black History Month
Check out these resources to help you celebrate and honor Black history in the United Methodist Church:
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Music Videos from the Black Church Tradition (can be used for virtual worship)
Open Spaces Toolkit
To continue to be the Church, this critical moment in history we must be prepared to do the work of healing and restoration after. Open Spaces is to provide an opportunity for healing that is necessary during and after the stresses of 2020. The hope is that local churches and virtual communities of friends, families, etc. will use this material as a way to process what they are feeling at this time, listen as others share perspectives, thoughts, and feelings different from their own, and begin on a path of healing individually and communally.
We need open spaces: to feel broken, and feel safe enough to rebuild relationships. Open Spaces is a collection of prayers, Scripture, liturgies of confession and repentance, voices of clergy and laity sharing their own stories from this season, and in remembrance of baptism. This collection will be accessible to churches across our district and the Conference to be used for services or small gatherings.
Questions, contact
Pastor Ian Campbell
or
Rev. Andy Whitaker Smith
.
Click the button below to register to receive the toolkit.
Awareness 101
Awareness 101: 5 Important Things to know about Awareness
Share Your Story: Experiences with Racism
Part of increasing our awareness about racism and its lasting effects is sharing our stories. What follows are stories from members across the Florida Conference on their individual experiences with racism and lessons learned along the way. Do you have an experience to share? Click the button below to submit your story for publishing on our website.
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Not in My Neighborhood
My first experience with racism was at five years old in 1980. That’s when I began to learn that being Black was different from being White. Read more...
Why I'm Going to the George Floyd Protest
In the wake of the George Floyd killing and other murders of African-Americans, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to attend a peaceful protest Read more...
Essay on Sanford
When Trayvon Martin’s tragic murder occurred, I was serving as the solo-pastor at First United Methodist Church of Sanford. Like everyone else, I was shocked. Then, as I learned the details, I became horrified and upset. Read more...
Change is on the Way
Born 1948, in Newport News, Virginia, I attended elementary school from the first through the seventh grade and high school from the eighth through twelfth grade -- a time when I didn’t understand what being black was all about. Read more...
Growing Up Black
Writing and reflecting on traumatic events is emotionally draining. People of color often are asked to relive the pain of racism over and over again. Read more...