[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Number One Longevity Food

Inflation Highest In Democrat States, Lowest In Republican Deep South

TikToker admits to being paid $150 a day to protest Trump’s deportation policies in LA

A GREAT update on the Trump fraud case ($454.2 million judgment) at the appellate court.

Mexican Senate President Revives Territorial Claims Amid Los Angeles Civil Unrest

Rooftop Korean' issues chilling threat about LA's future 30 years after Rodney King riots

Bystanders jump in front of ICE vehicles with arrested migrants inside

Israeli companies struggling to find customers amid Gaza genocide:

Farmers are being pressured to sell their land to this. Not good!

Palantir EXPOSED: The New Deep State

Military Overview: Ukrainian Fronts Crumble Under Multi-Axis Assault

ICE prepares full assault on five Democrat cities as LA goes into lockdown amid immigration riots

Invisible Missile Triggers MILITARY PANIC! (This is the Russian Zircon)

Mass arrests as defiant immigration protesters ignore lockdown orders in LA

Visit California: It's America's Future

FBI Director Kash Patel sues MSNBC columnist Frank Figliuzzi

The Ukraine war did not "bleed out" Russia. It bled US taxpayers

America Is Full. Time To Close The Door.

Golden Dome Idiocy

Israeli Media: Trump Told Netanyahu To Permanently End War in Gaza

21 days left till BASEL III is implemented. VIDEO EXPLANATION

China’s bottom half holds twice the wealth of America’s.

China’s extreme weather is leaving devastation across multiple provinces

Salton Sea is emitting foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas

Will Treasury Secretary Bessent's Past (Soros) Come Back To Haunt Him Today?

BBC Under Fire for CENSORING Gaza Medic Documentary

US is Agreement Incapable

Blow to Israeli Intelligence. taping Israelis in bathrooms

“They have 500 mRNA shots in the pipeline.”

A US federal judge has DENIED Gavin Newsom's request to stop Trump from using the National Guard in Los Angeles.


Religion
See other Religion Articles

Title: Quest Church makes race a matter of faith
Source: Seattle PI
URL Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/234498_faithrace29.html
Published: Jul 29, 2005
Author: JOHN IWASAKI
Post Date: 2005-07-29 12:05:01 by Mr Nuke Buzzcut
Keywords: Church, matter, Quest
Views: 17

Quest Church makes race a matter of faith

Conference opens doors on hard-to-discuss topic

By JOHN IWASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

With its non-traditional style and younger, multiethnic membership, the Quest Church views itself as a congregation that never arrives but continually "emerges," moving toward a deeper understanding of God within a shifting culture.

The Interbay church started as a predominantly Asian American group, but an influx of students from nearby Seattle Pacific University and other new members broadened the mix.

Last summer, Quest Church held a series of classes to explore the intersection of faith and race, questioning why churches remain among the most segregated places in the United States.

It has repeated the series in a program that will culminate today and tomorrow with a public conference facilitated by Quest members David Cho, Rebekah Kim, Leah McCann and Stacy Roh.

The intent is to "make this topic of faith and race part of normal -- and healthy -- conversations within the church," said Cho, an English professor formerly at SPU and now at the University of Puget Sound.

The keynote speaker will be Bob Ekblad of Tierra Nueva, a Skagit Valley ministry to Latin American farm workers. Other speakers include second-generation, Japanese American Christians who were held at internment camps or fought for the United States during World War II, and an SPU doctoral student whose talk is titled "Faith, Rap and Hip-Hop Music."

The enforced segregation that once existed in some U.S. churches has been replaced by self-separation, said McCann, who is completing her master's degree in divinity at Seattle University and serves as a pastoral intern at Quest Church.

Churches reflect society, and "people naturally gravitate to where they are most comfortable," said Kim, a former elementary schoolteacher.

At many places across the country, racism is "just as prevalent within the church as outside," said McCann. "The racism may not be overt, but the message is still clear: 'You are not welcome here.'"

That message does not mesh with biblical themes of equality and unity, prompting the race and faith teachings at Quest, which is part of the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination.

"I think, in this generation, at this church, we are getting away from (a belief in a colorblind society) and getting to a point where there's an attempt to have an honest dialogue, rather than ignoring what might be called 'the problem of race,' " Quest member Joel Hartse said.

"Churches, and not just ours, are talking about what tensions there are between each other's cultures."

Hartse is white; his wife, Sarah Heng Hartse, is Chinese American. The 25-year-olds participated in their church's recent class and will attend the conference.

Though they found the discussions refreshing, classmates sometimes were "a little bit self-censoring" so as not to offend others, said Joel Hartse.

That's partly because Quest members are young -- most are in their 20s -- and for many, it might be the first time they have engaged in "a community that's not quite homogenous," Hartse said.

Cho hopes the teachings will build a platform for churches to begin a dialogue and "maybe, also, to leave the impression that lots of church folks do care about these issues."

Some Quest members already see changes.

"Oftentimes, when people discuss racial issues, there's almost this overwhelming sense of despair. There's not a whole lot you can do as an individual," Sarah Heng Hartse said.

"But with faith in there, I think it puts it into perspective. You have a sense of hope, that not only are you coming together as a community, but in the will of God."

IF YOU GO
A conference on faith and race will begin at 7:30 p.m. today -- late registration starts at 6 p.m. -- and continues tomorrow at Quest Church, 3223 15th Ave. W., Seattle. Cost: $25. Information: 206-352-3796 or http://www.seattlequest.org/faithandrace.html

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  



[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]