The Antioch Podcast

This is a remix episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast of Jemar Tisby’s presentation “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Christian Complicity with Racism and the Imperative for Immediate Action,” given at 1 Charleston 2017 and orriginally shared on the Pass the Mic Podcast on July 10th, 2017.

Jemar Tisby is a former school teacher and principal, and currently is a PhD student in History at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. While at RTS, Jemar was involved with the African American Leadership Initiative (AALI) at RTS Jackson.  The AALI seeks to increase the number of African Americans at the seminary and prepare Christians of any race for African American, multi-ethnic, and urban ministry.

Jemar is perhaps best known as the president of the Reformed African American Network (RAAN). He writes and speaks about race, religion, and culture as president through RAAN as well as for many other prominent newspapers and magazines. He is also the co-host of the “Pass The Mic” podcast, put out by RAAN and Podastary Studios, which is where I first heard this message. Thank you to Jemar and “Pass the Mic” for giving us permission to share this message on the Antioch podcast.

Additional thanks goes out to Derek Winfield and Katt Tait, for the vocal tracks on this remix episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxAYjmRi8So

Eric Nykamp is the Director of Worship Design at Madison Church’s North Campus, the Director of the Antioch Worship Leadership Trainings for all of Madison Church’s campuses, and the producer of this podcast.  He also is worship leader and speaker, giving talks on using visual art as a method of prayer, utilizing drum circles in worship, and worship leadership in multi-ethnic congregations.  This talk, “Worshiping Whiteness, ” is a talk he recently gave as part of an ongoing worship leadership training to a majority-white congregation desiring to transition into a multi-ethnic church.

Many urban white churches realize that their congregation doesn’t reflect the diversity of the cities they reside in, and many of these churches desire to become multi-ethnic communities.  However, moving from this desire to developing into an actual multi-ethnic community can be challenging, especially for churches with a track-record of being a “whites only” worship space in their city.  Since most white people have little awareness of their white cultural norms, they mistakenly assume that what is normal for them is also the norm for all people … and are puzzled when their “outreach” or “welcome and enfolding” efforts fall flat with people of color. Due to this cultural blindspot, they are unable to recognize that some of their white cultural norms send the message that people of color with different norms of worship are not welcomed, unless the person of color is willing to assimilate.

Some majority-white churches realize that changing their worship norms will help them develop into the multi-ethnic space they desire to become … but find that they are stuck in making this happen.  This talk, given at one such church, addresses how white Christians need to recognize and understand how white norms about worship may operate within their church. The presentation asks questions about what it would mean for white people to change their ways and give up power in order to become a multiethnic community.  He concludes with a challenge to white Christians in multiethnic churches to love their brothers and sisters of color with Christ self-sacrificial love for the church, especially when it comes to issues of power and control in multiethnic churches.

Ekemini Uwan is a bold and insightful theologian, and perhaps now is best-known as one of the three co-hosts of the thought-provoking podcast “Truth’s Table”, which is highly recommended listening for every Antioch Podcast fan.  It is a privilege to have been able to remix and share her talk “The Fall: How did we get here?”, a chapel talk which she gave in February of 2017 as a lament grounded in scripture on social injustice around the United States and the world at large.  Since mutuality is a core foundation for multiethnic churches to worship well together, this timely lament informs the way we sensitively approach God as a community, interceding for our world in unity.

Ekemini received her Master of Divinity degree in 2016 from Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) in Philadelphia, PA. She is also the 2015 Greene Prize in Apologetics Award recipient. As one who is passionate about sound theology, Ekemini has a fierce commitment to biblical orthodoxy and its implications for issues pertaining to racial injustice, police brutality, and white supremacy.

Ekemini believes that theology can and does speak to the culture, social, and political issues of our present day.  As a result, she often speaks, opines, and writes about the aforementioned for various online publications.

Her writings have been published in the Huffington Post Black Voices, Christianity Today, and The Reformed African American Network to name a few. Her insights have been quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Mashable, and The Huffington Post Religion.

In her spare time, she enjoys discipling women, spending quality time with loved ones and working out. As a self-proclaimed part-time fashionista, she has a penchant for thrift shopping.

NOTE: The Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast team is planning on doing a full interview with Ekemini in an upcoming episode, but wanted to give you a taste of her cutting edge work and delivery style now to wet your appetite for this later interview.

More links for Ekemini Uwan’s work:

http://www.sistamatictheology.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elUUHOBQIdA&t=14s

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/truths-table/id1212429230?mt=2

Credits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmtEk7LRxTw

Transitions and Sound Effects from Freesound.org:

194561__loopdealer__hip-hop-drum-loop-02.

345516__waveplay__urban-beat-140-bpm-24b

37658__ls__burdie

37819__ls__130-bpm

109798__dodgy-c__dodgy-c-cider-bottle-loop-pt2-24b

145731__setuniman__striding-background-0h-10m4

163747__cheeseymofodude__chilled-1

179597__dodgy-c__dodgy-c-slowjamz-buildabeat-pt3-hook3

394034__zagi2__gimme-verse

91477_Skynproduction_dictaphone

39048_Is_sparkles

215751_yammerhaunt_ambieth-key-swirl

211528_the-yura_crying-newborn-baby-child-

156081_digitalvalues_82-bpm-hip-

124748_tec-studios_mono-bell-5-a-16sec_

361496_tec-studios_bell-echo_

15021_hanstimm_aklok2tp4_

198417_divinux_ambientchime

218729_the-odds_chime

388856_djfroyd_what_

244292_ravelite_little-goat-bells

267335_gkillhour_ding-6

132996_cosmicd_large-metal-slab-sliding

246183_andreangelo_ambient-clatter-reverb-noise-24b

201672_frankie01234_mp5-submachine-gun-down-the-block

27126

Darrell Delaney, who asks to go by “Pastor Darrell”, is the Campus Pastor of Madison Church’s Square Campus. He has a deep love of learning, and holds degrees from many of the predominant colleges and seminaries in the Reformed tradition: Kuyper College, Calvin Seminary where he earned his Masters of Theology, and Western Theological Seminary where he earned his Masters of Divinity.

While at Calvin Seminary, Pastor Darrell wrote a research paper on the correlations between racial microaggressions / microtraumas and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among racial minorities in the USA.  The idea of cultural forces being a source of trauma is one which peaked my curiosity, as on its face this proposition makes sense. Wanting to hear more, I reached out to Pastor Darrell, who graciously agreed to share his paper and do an interview with me on race and PTSD.

CREDITS:

Transitions from freesound.org:

50072__corsica-s__guitar-loop

73510__corsica-s__faucellia

170837__decentyo__hip-hop-loop-14

249877__dodgy-c__dodgy-c-darkhop-beat-loop

261023__zagi2__retro-polysynth-loop

262461__orangefreesounds__delayed-piano-loop-120-bpm

325108__shadydave__under-the-stars-loop