Talking about race

White privilege; inclusivity; reparation; correcting imbalances and embracing diversity – these are a few of the thought-provoking topics brought up for discussion in reading Ben Lindsay’s book ‘We Need To talk About Race’.

A group of Neighbourhood Church folk meet in a weekly book club (socially distanced over Zoom) to talk about this book and discussions have been deep, lively and, at times, awkward, as we consider the themes of the book chapter by chapter.

Lindsay, a black British born pastor in a largely white Pentecostal church in south London, talks from the heart as he addresses issues of racial imbalances (including some personal incidents) in our community and how they should, particularly from a church or Christian point of view, be addressed and made right. He brings in a range of accounts from different perspectives and makes an effort to back up his points with Biblical evidence.

The group of 11, including members of the leadership team, are finding Ben’s book insightful as it helps them see the ethnicity issue from a black point of view and how the current status quo of the church in general can help to rectify past injustices through being more loving, more diverse, inclusive and caring.

As the book states: From the UK Church’s complicity in the transatlantic slave trade to the whitewashing of Christianity throughout history, the Church has a lot to answer for when it comes to race relations. We need to stop whitewashing history and see things from the black perspective too.

It might just be baby steps, but by discussing this book, this group can help NCB be aware of changes that need to be made in a sympathetic, caring and Christian way in our own community.

As we are going through the book a chapter at a time, the group is open for anyone to join and are more than welcome to share your views.