Detroit congregations cross racial barriers
10-26-00
Churches in the Detroit area -- 7 African-American and
7 white -- have joined in Bible study and frank discussions to cross the
barriers between black and white, between city and suburbs. The Detroit
Free Press reports that the month-long experiment in meetings
between congregations was closed with a worship service, but many of the
participants plan to keep meeting.
Among many sources, the report quotes Presbyterian
pastors Rev. Louise Westfall, associate pastor of First Presbyterian
Church in Birmingham, the Rev. Bruce Rigdon, president of Detroit's
Ecumenical Theological Seminary, and pastor at Grosse Pointe Memorial
Church in Grosse Pointe Farms.
The experiment was sponsored by the seminary and the
American Bible Society, partly to celebrate the release of the new
African American Jubilee Bible, which pairs scripture with articles
about black churchgoers' struggles against racism.
At the closing worship service, Rigdon said
"Something very, very significant has happened. If nothing else, a
terrible silence has been broken. The people of these congregations have
crossed boundaries and found one another."
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