I teach a course titled “The Methodist Church and Race” at Candler School of Theology, as part of my responsibility as bishop in residence. The course not only examines the [...]
Read More...Reflections: Annual tour brings 1960s rights struggle to life
April 11, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Reflections: Can we ‘raise our voices’ in a new song for Easter?
March 27, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Easter celebrations are filled with traditions. The hymns we sing, choir anthem selections, special prayers and litanies. Even sermons do not wander far from the norm, and there are certain phrases in particular religious traditions that are integral to the Easter message. Perhaps no other worship service is quite so predictable. Most worshippers have come to expect, even insist upon it—and church leaders take considerable risk if they deviate far from the traditional resurrection texts, or spring new hymn tunes on the congregation. Easter Sunday, of course, is the occasion [...]
Read More...Reflections: It’s OK to feel helpless—but never hopeless
March 13, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
Perhaps at some time, you have experienced a sense of utter helplessness. Most of us, I am sure, know how it feels to want so badly to change a situation [...]
Read More...Reflections: Things that fill my soul in Black History Month
February 27, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
The observance this year of Black History Month has nearly concluded. In many communities and churches, special times were set aside for sharing and celebrating a part of the nation’s [...]
Read More...Reflections: Lent – Season of regret, with cleansing to come
February 13, 2013 Posted by 1 Comment
How can Lent be here already? It seems we were just celebrating Christmas. But Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, signals the beginning of this solemn season of 40 days. On the [...]
Read More...Reflections: A ‘changing landscape’ – How will we respond?
January 30, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
My colleague and friend Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, who presides over the Boston Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church, recently brought to the attention of members of the Council of [...]
Read More...Commentary: Fifty years on, the Dream is becoming the new reality
January 21, 2013 Posted by 1 Comment
Editor’s note: Bishop White, the first chief executive of the General Commission on Religion and Race, writes a “birthday letter” each year to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the progress of racial equality in the U.S. Dear Martin: I write this year as we will observe the 50th anniversary of your “I Have a Dream” speech given at the historic March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963. It is hard to believe it was 50 years ago. I remember being on one of the many buses that left Detroit [...]
Read More...Reflections: As we search for answers and a reason to hope
January 2, 2013 Posted by Leave a Comment
A school bus stop is located on the corner in front of our house. For years we have watched the daily ritual of children and teenagers leaving for school and [...]
Read More...Reflections: Truly ‘coming together’ on a Christmas morning
December 19, 2012 Posted by Leave a Comment
I have known her since she was 5 years old. Last summer Judy, her husband and children visited us from a western state where they now live. I had not seen her since serving as a pallbearer at her father’s funeral several years ago. She and one of my daughters, who began school together and have remained lifelong friends, continue to keep in touch; email is wonderful! It was an afternoon of catching up on events in life. We talked about her two brothers. There was much reminiscing, laughter and [...]
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Reflections: A little child is murdered, and what is our response?
Last month something occurred in Brunswick, Ga., so horrific that it seems incomprehensible. On March 21 a mother walked the streets of the quiet South Georgia town, pushing her 13-month-old [...]
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