Our World Without Racism -- Congress and the United Methodist Church

Our World Without Racism is a two-part discussion of racism. The first hour discusses the question: What will America look like as a multi-cultural nation without racism? Systematic racism built into the Constitution regarding Congressional elections will be included in the discussion.

The second hour focuses on racism in the United Methodist Church with discussion of group and individual responses to the question: What will the United Methodist Church look like without racism? This section features an interview prepared for the event with M. Garlinda Burton, the Director for Resource Development at the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race.

A feature of the event is the use of Fast Forum^®technology to prepare an Opinionnaire during the event. The Opinionnaire will be filled out using a computer for those on ZOOM or smartphones for those attending in person. This provides an anonymous way for participants to give their opinions. A report distributed after the event will show the opinions and level of consensus of the group.

Photo by Arvada UMC

Rev. Dr. Amy Gearhart

The discussion leader is Rev. Dr. Amy Gearhart, Lead Pastor of the Arvada United Methodist Church. Amy has been a leader in the general, jurisdictional, and conference life of the United Methodist Church as well as in her local churches and communities. She was a General and Jurisdictional Conference delegate, a board member of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM), and a member of the General Commission to Study Ministry. Her personal mission is "to be a joyful disciple of Christ who equips people for generously and faithfully sharing the life-giving love and justice of God in order to build healing relationships, structure systems, and shape communities for transformative, inclusive, and abundant life together."

Ken Bedell

Rev. Ken Bedell, Ph.D., prepared video and PowerPoint content for the event with Joshua Wright. He also interviewed M. Garlinda Burton. Ken is a retired United Methodist minister who devotes his time to reading and writing about multi-culturalism and racism. His last book is Realizing the Civil Rights Dream: Diagnosing and Treating American Racism (Praeger, 2017). He is currently the editor of www.ending-racism.org, a member of the board of trustees of Rust College, the convenor of the Virtual OMNIA Anti-Racism Interfaith Peacemakers Team, and the coordinator for the Arvada (CO) United Methodist Church Challenging Racism Forum.

Joshua Eugene Wright

Joshua Eugene Wright worked on the media content and animated the Article V video. He is a student at Rust College a United Methodist related Historically Black College and University in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is an Alpha Kappa Mu scholar majoring in mass communication. As an intern at the Mississippi Media Project, he researched and reported on issues that divide people based on race and economic background.

Rev. Megan Berg

Rev. Megan Burg is the Associate Pastor at the Arvada (CO) United Methodist Church. She brings her experience as an activist in the United Methodist Church to the discussion. Megan is very involved in the connectional ministries of the church She is currently serving as a delegate to the General Conference. She is also a member of the Metro District Committee on Ministry, the Alumni Board at Iliff School of Theology, and a board member for the Center for Health and Hope.

Garlinda Burton

M. Garlinda Burton participates through an interview prepared for the event. She is the Director for Resource Development at the United Methodist General Commission on Religion and Race. Garlinda expands and implements a comprehensive diverse resource program that increases knowledge within the church of intercultural differences and competencies, anti-racism, equity, and justice. She is responsible for creating and delivering training tailored for use across annual conferences, local churches, and denominational entities, with the goal of equipping all levels of the Church to successfully function in multicultural environments.

Photo by academia.edu

John Spady

John Spady is the Fast Forum facilitator who will work with Joshua Eugene Wright to prepare an Opinionnaire. John is the founder of the National Dialogue Network. He has expanded the capabilities of the Fast Forum technology that were originally developed by his father, the late Richard "Dick" Spady. John is the president of the Forum Foundation in Seattle, Washington and a Ham Radio operator.