Shownotes
David Swanson, pastor of New Community Covenant Church, joins Rob and Jes on this episode of JUST. David is the author of “Rediscipling the White Church”, and also serves as the CEO of New Community Outreach, a non-profit organization working to reduce causes of trauma and raise opportunities for equity in Chicago.
- 0:00 Episode starts
- 1:30 Jes’s check in
- 4:08 Rob’s check in
- 6:02 David joins the conversation
- 7:09 Rob gives some background on David
- 10:00 How did David come to care about issues of justice and race?
- 13:24 Jes asks David to define and explain the title of his book
- 15:22 David describes three assumptions or tools that white organizations often use when addressing inequity
- 18:35 David acknowledges that there are many people against diversity, but he believes there is a large group that genuinely wants diversity and doesn’t know how to get there
- 20:24 Rob asks how the increased awareness of injustice impacts David’s book and message
- 21:35 The gravity of race is with those of us who are white
- 23:38 Interlude
- 24:05 Jes asks for some examples of how David’s church has been successful in cultivating diversity
- 25:08 Connecting discipleship with racial justice, instead of viewing it as ministry
- 26:09 David tells a story about two pastors who developed a fusion friendship that changed their churches
- 29:41 A relationship isn’t evidence of fixing injustice, it’s an ecosystem from which to work
- 30:57 Rob asks David for personal examples of fusion friendships that shaped his life
- 33:10 David shares his relationship with one of his mentors
- 34:39 Jes calls for the show up moment
- 36:15 David reframes to “what do I need to do to become more trustworthy to my friends and neighbors of color?”
- 39:23 Jes asks if there’s a network or high-level organization to coordinate this change
- 40:00 Rob gets “voluntold” to start the network
- 42:23 Jes calls for galvanization of racial reconciliation work
- 44:07 Rob thanks David for joining the show
- 44:54 David leaves the conversation
- 44:58 Debrief begins, Jes’s takeaways
- 45:47 Rob’s takeaways
- 50:19 Goodbyes and outro
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