“My house is over a million, and I don’t want that crap next to me.”
This quote comes from a 2010 Charlotte Observer article during debates over the then-proposed affordable housing development in Ballantyne. The quote also opens the Souls of Our Neighbors documentary.
This week, leaders from local Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Jewish, Universalist, Muslim, Episcopal, and Mormon churches gathered to view and discuss the film in an Interfaith Liaison Gathering.
With the recent announcement of a new affordable housing project in Elizabeth, Maria Hamlin of Mecklenburg Ministries opened the evening with the question, “How can we as a faith community help to ensure that this is handled differently than Ballantyne?”
It was a question that invited vigorous discussion after the group viewed the film and admitted their surprise over the facts. Most shocking to the collective group was the statistic that only 1 in 4 homeless children will graduate form high school. Many were also unaware that employment was a requirement for residents of affordable housing.
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The hope of Xchange Sermons is that swapping pulpits is just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
In this third year of the campaign to inspire reconciliation among people of different beliefs and backgrounds, there is mounting evidence that relationships are flourishing long past the last words of a sermon. Among the 60 participating congregations, Temple Beth El has established an annual, gospel-infused Sabbath service each January honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the cause of racial harmony. Piedmont Unitarian Universalist and Friendship Missionary Baptist churches are planning a partnership to include worship, fellowship, food and programs on healthy living, including nutrition, yoga and meditation. Click here to learn more about Xchange Sermons and how you can get involved. The program runs through May.
There is no more powerful illustration of an abiding friendship than the one that binds Greater Providence and Mint Hill Baptist churches. The former, on Milton Road, is predominantly African American. The latter, on Matthews-Mint Hill Road, is white. The story of their coming together rises above the racial divide that sparked the relationship.
Back in 1995, after a racially tinged act of violence sparked unrest in that part of Mecklenburg County, Revs. Fred Gibson of Greater Providence Baptist and Lee Proctor of Mint Hill Baptist met at a clergy breakfast meeting. Their conversation went from “Nice to meet you” to “Let’s start working together.” All these years later, the work continues on several fronts.
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Video and report by Rid Creative Media
Some learned English as a second language. Some are former refugees just hearing English for the first time. The FACE Project (Friendships Across Charlotte Ethnicities), the brainchild of Amber Schrenkel, brings together elementary school students in a fun social setting, in hopes of stimulating new friendships.
The idea is to help kids look past their differences and focus on a common experience. A Crossroads Charlotte A.C.T. (Achieving Community Today) project winner, the FACE Project took the kids ice skating and the result was pure magic.
At first glance, it looked like any other Sunday morning in the pews at Providence United Methodist Church: A largely white congregation gathered to worship God – very friendly and slightly older, which is typical now for mainstream, moderate congregations in Charlotte and beyond.
But what was different on the pulpit on this Sunday (Jan. 15) told the story of Xchange Sermons, and the story of anything-but-average houses of worship willing to take a stand for reconciliation. On this weekend honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Providence United Methodist welcomed the pastor and choir from St. Mark’s United Methodist, an African American congregation on Clanton Road. At the start of this third season of clergy of different beliefs, color and cultures swapping pulpits, the message of Rev. Paul Milton rang out in an extraordinary way: “Have you heard the voice of God?” he preached to 650 at the two morning services. “When God calls you by name, He will say, ‘Yes, you can.’ ”
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Interfaith Liaison Gathering at Myers Park Presbyterian's Outreach Center
Posted: February 10th, 2012 Amanda Pagliarini
