#MLK50Conference: Christians Press 'Racial Unity' as 'Gospel Issue'

A diverse gathering of Christians was to unfold this week in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago. The event, dubbed the MLK50 Conference , was organized to motivate Christians to embrace the belief that “racial unity is a gospel issue.” King was assassinated at 39 on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. He was in town to advocate with the city’s aggrieved sanitation workers for economic justice—his new focus after helping to secure the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act in 1964 and 1965, respectively. King cited the workers' demand for economic justice in his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech delivered at Mason Temple (of the Church of God in Christ) the night before he was murdered. Ordained into the clergy at 19 at his father's Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia, King always tied the tireless march for civil rights for Black Americans to what he believed about God and the Bible. While he demonstrated nonviolence and spoke of agape love , his opponents resorted to violence and hate speech. Some Southern White Christians used the Bible to argue against desegregation, inter-racial marriage, and their belief in White supremacy. King had hoped moderate White Christian leaders who shared his biblical beliefs about justice would steer their people toward embracing racial justice for their Black brothers and sisters. However, his famous “Letter From a Birmingham Jail, " written in 1963 in response to a "call for unity" by eight White religious leaders from the South (including one rabbi and one Roman Catholic bishop), revealed his ultimate disappointment with White moderates. He described them as “more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice” and paternalistic for wanting to "set the timetable for another man’s freedom.” Several predominantly White Christian denominations have acknowledged their failures on racial justice, past racism, and hostility to Black Americans and other minorities over the years in official statements and by promoting non-White leaders. Among those denominations is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), founded in 1845 due to a rift with Northern Baptists over its desire to commission slaveholders as missionaries. More recently, the SBC publicly faltered last June over the crafting of an official condemnation of the "Anti-Gospel of Alt-Right White Supremacy" before eventually doing an about-face and adopting the resolution. The SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is one of the two main organizations behind the MLK50 Conference; the other organization is The Gospel Coalition, co-founded by John Piper, recently criticized for saying that women seminary instructors should not teach men preparing for the pastorate. The SBC claims more than 15.2 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide, while The Gospel Coalition is described as "a fellowship of evangelical churches in the Reformed tradition." Although inspired by King’s work in the Civil Rights Movement and his devotion to his faith, the MLK50: Gospel Reflections From the Mountaintop conference seemed acutely focused on addressing White Christians' sins of the past and impacting the mindset of today’s Christian on social issues involving race. The MLK50 Conference pulled together an ethnically diverse and influential group of 63 men and 12 women from across the nation to preach and teach on such matters as "The Church's Mixed Record on Civil Rights," “Equipping the Next Generation to Embrace Gospel Diversity,” and “How Pastors and Leaders Can Shape Their People's Hearts for Racial Unity.” Among the dozens of panels and talks planned for the reported 3,600 registrants was one titled “The SBC and Race: Problems and Progress”—focused on the beleaguered denomination’s troubled history with racism and its gestures of repentance for its racist roots over the years. Faithfully Magazine emailed several questions about the event organizers' aims to the MLK50 Conference's media representative. Daniel Darling, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission's vice president for communications, took the time to answer some of our questions. There are a lot of speakers planned for the MLK50 Conference, based on the event website. What kind of Christian traditions/denominations are (represented) among them and how did organizers go about deciding who should be invited to participate and present? We are honored to have speakers from a variety of historic Christian traditions and denominations. We extended invitations to voices we felt were best equipped to help us think through issues of racial unity and racial justice. We were helped by an advisory group, consisting of leaders from around the country, who helped shape the programming and the selection of speakers. We also worked closely with local Memphis pastors and leaders to ensure we were hearing from important local voices. Who is the intended audience, if you will, for this conference? Who do organizers hope will attend or watch via simulcast? Our desire is for pastors, church leaders, and church members to listen and learn from the diverse group of pastors, leaders, and speakers who will then work intentionally in their local churches and local communities toward racial unity. We hope attendees will be challenged, afresh, to see racial unity as a gospel issue and to repent of ways in which we have been silent or indifferent to the burdens born by many of our minority brothers and sisters in Christ. Due to the ERLC being a sponsor, the MLK50 Conference may be strongly linked to the Southern Baptist Convention, in some minds. What do you say to those who may be troubled by the SBC’s record on race and remain skeptical of the conference’s aims? We feel it’s important for Southern Baptists to continue to confront our own sinful history of racism. We have made important strides, including a resolution of public repentance in 1995 and many similar resolutions since. And yet we acknowledge that we have work yet to do in terms of seeing the kind of racial unity in our churches that we see displayed in Revelation 5 and 7 in the kingdom of God. This conference is important to help equip Southern Baptist pastors and church leaders to listen and learn and be equipped to work toward racial unity in their local congregations and communities. Racial unity is [a] gospel issue. What are the tangible outcomes organizers are aiming for? Our hope that all those in attendance will be encouraged toward gospel consistency on issues of human dignity like race. We hope the Spirit of God falls afresh on our gathering and changes hearts and minds. We pray for public repentance and a desire to work against both individual racism and systemic racism and for churches to begin to model in their congregations what we see in the future kingdom of God. The MLK50 Conference website and related materials place a strong emphasis on racial unity. Will there be direct advocacy for racial justice during the conference? I ask in light of ongoing police and gun violence impacting Black communities, and mass incarceration, health, and education disparities disproportionately impacting Black Americans and other minorities. We will be addressing all of these systemic issues in both main stage and breakout sessions. We believe that unity and justice go together. We hope those who attend will learn and listen and begin to understand the way racism is not merely an individual issue, but part of sin’s corruption of systems as well. In the ERLC article “6 special features of MLK50” by Phillip Bethancourt, corporate prayer and lament is listed, which he writes will include “repent[ing] of our failures in the past.” Can you mention what some of these “failures” might be? Who is the call for “repentance” aimed at? Do White Christians carry any particular responsibilities in regard to “failures in the past?” We believe this time of lament and repentance will be powerful and important as those of us in the majority culture reflect on the ways we have been complicit in the harm caused to our minority brothers and sisters. We hope this time of repentance leads to a new spirit of gospel unity in our churches. The MLK50: Gospel Reflections From the Mountaintop conference was to take place April 3-4, 2018, at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. The conference was also made available via a livestream at http://mlk50conference.com/livestream .

#MLK50Conference: 50 Years After King’s Murder, Christians Press ‘Racial Unity’ as ‘a Gospel Issue’

Why Is There Christianity If Jesus Was Jewish?

Temple University Acting President JoAnne Epps Dies Suddenly on Campus

UMC Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño Suspended, Faces Church Trial

Just 2 Percent of US Doctors Are Latina. These Women Want That to Change.

Head of Major Black Christian Group Backtracks on Mormon Partnership, Apologizes for Causing ‘Discontent’

Christian Seminary Founded by Enslavers Thankful for Forced, Unpaid Labor

Kirk Franklin Finally Finds His Birth Father After 53 Years

Pastor Kevin Smith Is First Black Man in SBC Org’s History to Serve as Chairperson

Here’s How to Donate a Car to Charity and Write It Off as a Tax Deduction

Dr. Tony Evans Engaged to Former Pastor’s Wife and Widow Four Years After Lois Evans’ Death

Christians Plea for Prayer, Help Amid Haiti’s Surging Gang Violence

Coco Gauff Talks Faith After US Open Win: I Don’t Pray for Results; I Pray for Strength.

#MLK50Conference: 50 Years After King’s Murder, Christians Press ‘Racial Unity’ as ‘a Gospel Issue’

How the Distortion of MLK’s Words Enables More, Not Less, Racial Division Within American Society

How Race Became the Central Issue in Many School Board Elections

Nicola A. Menzie

More Features

Just 2 Percent of US Doctors Are Latina. These Women Want That to Change.

Christian Group Denounces Apocalyptic Cult Leader After Hundreds Reportedly Starve to Death to Meet Jesus

Tulsa Massacre Survivor, 109, Is Oldest Woman in the World to Release a Memoir

Most Shared Articles

From The Archive

Former Diversity Officer Sues Liberty University for $8M, Alleges President ‘Doesn’t Value Diversity’

Can L.A.’s Victory Baptist Church Recover After Fire Guts Historic Building?

What We Mean When We Use the Word ‘Diversity’

Where Are the Voices of Indigenous Peoples In the Thanksgiving Story?

Private Prisons Aren’t the Only Companies Making a Fortune Off Immigration Detention

Recent News

Category

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Share This Post

Add New Playlist

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?

#MLK50Conference: 50 Years After King’s Murder, Christians Press ‘Racial Unity’ as ‘a Gospel Issue’

Share This Post

Share This Post

RelatedArticles

More Features

Most Shared Articles

From The Archive

Recent News

Category

Welcome Back!

Create New Account!

Retrieve your password

Share This Post

Add New Playlist

Log In

Sign In

Forgot password?

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Are you sure want to unlock this post?

Are you sure want to cancel subscription?