Earlier this year, we were thrilled to welcome Jimmy McGee, President of the , as the keynote speaker for Humanity Through Community. This year鈥檚 theme was 鈥淭he Myth of the Single Story,鈥� and Jimmy offered powerful insights and a bold invitation for us to engage the humanity in each other in a way that acknowledges and affirms the goodness of God鈥檚 creation. The full video of his talk is available .
After the keynote lecture, Humanity Through Community continued with a vibrant panel discussion, which we are featuring here. Joining Jimmy on the panel were Lina Thompson, pastor of , a church committed to engaging the changing demographics of its community with curiosity, creativity, and care; Lisa Etter Carlson, co-founder of , the 鈥渘eighborhood living room鈥� for unhoused friends and neighbors along Seattle鈥檚 Aurora Avenue; and , Intercultural Credibility Coordinator at 天美视频. The discussion was moderated by , Associate Professor of Theology & Culture.
Ron: 鈥淚n order to incorporate some of these other stories, what do we all do, as a community of faith, to coach, or mentor, or support the dominant culture in unlearning? How do we help them鈥攗s鈥攊n unlearning the story that I assume is the grand narrative, when it鈥檚 not?鈥�
Jimmy: 鈥淭he first thing I would say is that you鈥檝e got to get back to the Creation story. So the reality that God made me black, it鈥檚 also true that God made you white. It鈥檚 a fact that you were created white, so we need to get to that piece. The part that鈥檚 problematic is that white people have an inflated sense of self, and most people of color have a deflated self. So it needs to be recalibrated, but that鈥檚 a work that needs to occur on an ongoing basis. There鈥檚 no salve, there鈥檚 no pill, it鈥檚 a process. Because we鈥檝e had an accumulation of time that has created this reality, that has perpetuated this truth. So this is something that we have to engage actively.鈥�
There鈥檚 no salve, there鈥檚 no pill, it鈥檚 a process.
Lisa: 鈥淲e have a lot to unlearn. We don鈥檛 know how to need one another鈥攅specially in our communities. We don鈥檛 know how to live as though we belong to one another. I think that is one of our greatest callings as people of faith, to live into this Christian imagination鈥攁nd it does take so much imagination.鈥�
Lina: 鈥淚 think the church has been so inept. We鈥檝e perpetuated the idea that people come and we have to give them something, when actually people come with something to give. So when we don鈥檛 think that every person in this community has something to give to the worship experience, then we are taking something away from what God has designed as public space and public worship.鈥�
The conversation touches on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was profoundly shaped by the black community in America before returning to Nazi Germany, as well as the pivotal films and . The panelists also reflected on what it means to bring their full selves and their own stories into this conversation, and to grow a theology that celebrates the full humanity of every person.
Jimmy: 鈥淭he theological narratives need to change. […] The narrative of testimony is lost.鈥�
Richard: 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know a God that fit my body until much later in my spiritual journey, primarily because I would only be moved if I saw somebody else being moved by the Spirit. I would only feel the presence of God when I peeked over and saw someone else displaying what that looked like for them. I didn鈥檛 know my story. Partly out of just a willful ignorance of the history of my people, like Jimmy mentioned in his talk, but also just a clear, rational, everyday sense that I had no proximate experiences of people, mentors, leaders鈥攔egular, casual encounters with people who looked like me. So I couldn鈥檛 imagine who I was in that space, I couldn鈥檛 develop a sense of my own story because I felt like the anomaly.鈥�
You can watch the full video of the discussion below.