Diversity

As a church, we value diversity (ethnic, cultural, generational), knowing that diversity displays the unifying work of Jesus in the life of the believer. One of the elements of diversity we value is ethnic diversity. When God created humanity, we believe he created us with the beautiful intention of making an ethnically and culturally diverse people. We were always meant to display the goodness and character of God, and we get a much fuller view of that goodness and character through the different expressions of the God and his gospel found in various ethnicities and cultures.

And yet, we realize that every culture fails to represent God’s character and goodness in its entirety. One of the glaring ways we recognize this failure in America, and much of western society, is in the reality of racism. As a church, we are called to fight for unity. And we believe one of the ways we do so is by advocating for diversity through advocating for the truth that every person is worthy of dignity and respect as human beings, made in the image of God. But advocating is more than just a belief or a vote, it involves theological education, hearing the stories of oppressed people, checking our own hearts, and getting involved to partner with people made in the image God to ensure they receive the dignity and honor they deserve.

Thanks to our sending church, The Well, we are able to provide the following set of resources to create a space for us to hear and understand the reality of racism that exists in our country, in addition to learning about ways we, as the church, can get involved in bringing the truth of the gospel to the evil and ungodly reality of racism.

Sermons

• Racial Progress in the American Church Playlist - Gospel Coalition

• Justice & Mercy: Racial Reconciliation - Tory Mayo | The Well

• A Culture of Repentance - Dr. Eric Mason

• Complicity in Racism - ​Jemar Tisby

• I Can't Breathe - Pastor Charlie Dates | Progressive Church Chicago

• How to Fight Racism - Jemar Tisby

• Tearing Down the Dividing Wall: How the Gospel Shapes Racial Reconciliation - HB Charles

• Let Justice Roll Down - Rich Perez

• Know and Grow: A Gospel Response to Injusice - Josh Guerrero

• The Most Segregated Hour in America - Charlie Dates

• Racial Reconciliation - Dr. Eric Mason

• Racial Unity and the One New Man - H.B. Charles

• Woke Church - Dr. Eric Mason | DTS

• Racial Reconciliation - Bryan Loritts

• Rage and Racism in America - Dr. Frank Glover

• Your Excellency’s Ambassadors - Dr. Celestin Musekura

• Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel on Unity - Pastor Trip Lee

• Learn to Cry: A Theology of Tears - Rev. Vincent Parker

• Hispanos: Reluctantly Welcomed or an Unprecedented Opportunity - Pastor Carlos Zazueta

• One New Humanity - Dr. Barry Jones

• Overcoming Our Prejudices Through Christ - Pastor Matt Chandler

• One New Man - Pastor Bryan Loritts

• Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel on Unity - Dr. Larry Mercer

• A Discussion on Racial Reconciliation - Dr. Eddie Lane and Dr. Willie Peterson

• The King of Kings - Dr. Richard Allen Farmer

• Glorying in Christ - Tory Mayo | The Well

• The History of the African-American Church - Dr. Rick Rigsby

Books

• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Brian Stevenson

• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

• The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby

• Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith 

• Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi

• Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian by John Piper

• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

• Insider Outsider: My Journey as a Stranger in White Evangelicalism and My Hope for Us All by Bryan Loritts

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad

• Ordinary: How to Turn the World Upside by Tony Merida

• The Cross and The Lynching Tree by James H. Cone

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• The Souls of Black Folk Paperback by W.E.B. Du Bois 

• With Justice for All: A Strategy For Community Development by John M. Perkins

Videos

• Racial Justice Series - Verge Network 

• Practical Ways to Pursue Racial Reconciliation - Bryan Loritts

• Slavery in the Bible, Christian History, and the White Man's Religion - Thrive in the City

• Racism and Corporate Evil: A White Guy’s Perspective – Tim Keller

• Sho Baraka: How Should Christians Respond to Systemic Issues? - Legacy Disciple

• How Churches Can Address Hidden Feelings of Prejudice and Racism - Jackie Hill Perry

• Gospel Diversity for the Next Generation - Jackie Hill Perry

• The Civil War, Part I: Crash Course US History #20

• The Civil War Part 2: Crash Course US History #21

• Unarmed and Dangerous: A Conversation on Race and Justice - Dr. Bryan Loritts | The Urban Perspective

• The Atlantic Slave Trade: What Too Few Textbooks Told You - Anthony Hazard

• The Disturbing History of the Suburbs - Adam Ruins Everything

• Race – The Power of an Illusion: How the Racial Wealth Gap Was Created - California Newsreel

• Redlining: The Origin of American Ghettos

• Austin Revealed: Civil Rights Stories - PBS Austin

• Austin Revealed: Mi Historia - PBS Austin

Podcast

• Code Switch - NPR

• America's Reckoning With Racial Injustice - NPR

• Racial injustice and the Fierce Urgency of Now - Jemar Tisby | The Daily Article

• About Race 

• Leaving Hate Behind - DTS

• Diverse Views on Multicultural Conversations - DTS

• Learning from Difficult Conversations on Diversity - DTS

• Ministry Amidst Racial Injustice in South Africa - DTS

• An African-American Story - DTS

• Diversity and Reconciliation in the Early Church - DTS

• The Church’s Role in Racial Reconciliation - DTS

• A Biblical View of Racial Unity - DTS

• Biblical Racial Reconciliation - DTS

Blogs

• Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail

• The American Nightmare - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | The Atlantic

• My White Friend Asked Me on Facebook to Explain White Privilege. I Decided to Be Honest. - Yes Magazine

• A Forgotten History: White Advantage - California Newsreel

• My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant - Jose Antonio Vargas | New York Times

• White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack - Knapsack Peggy McIntosh

• Who Gets to Be Afraid in America? - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi | The Atlantic

• We Need to Be Uncomfortable - Phillip Holmes | The Gospel Coalition

• Jesus is Not Colorblind - Cole Brown | The Gospel Coalition

• 75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

• The Absolute Absurdity of a Supreme Race - DTS

• A Call To Self-Reflective Action - DTS

• I Don’t See You as a Black Friend - DTS

• How to Seek Unity in Diversity: First Steps - DTS

• Oneness Embraced: Through the Eyes of Tony Evans - DTS

Movies/TV Shows

• Just Mercy

• Segregated by Design

• Under the Same Moon

• 12 Years a Slave 

• When They See Us - Netflix

• 13th - Netflix

• American Son - Netflix

• If Beale Street Could Talk - Hulu

• King In The Wilderness - HBO

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

Books:

• EmbraceRace Children's Book List

• The Gospel in Color: A Theology of Racial Reconciliation for Parents by Curtis A. Woods and Jarvis J. Williams

• Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners: Mulitple Books for Children and Young Adults

• When God Made You by Matthew Turner

• God Made Me Unique: Helping Children See Value in Every Person by Joni and Friends

• Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey 

• All the Colors We Are: The Story of How We Get Our Skin Color

• The Skin I'm In: A First Look at Racism by Pat Thomas 

• Black Lives Matter Instructional Library for Kids - Read Aloud Books

Podcasts:

• Parenting Forward Podcast - Episode 5: Pandemic Parenting Lessons with Cindy Wang Brandt

• Fare of the Free Child Podcast

ORGANIZATIONS AND WEBSITES TO HELP YOU TAKE ACTION

• Equal Justice Initiative

• AND Campaign

• Austin Justice Coalition

* Resource list provided by The Well Austin.