While the racial makeup of FirstChurch is predominantly white, it serves a diverse and evolving downtown district and is a faith leader in a city that is growing rapidly as people relocate from other cities, rural communities and countries abroad.
It is imperative that we remain culturally conscious and sensitive to the humanity of all people. We are called to enact our faith in this way. One of the UMC’s Social Principles states that “We affirm all persons as equally valuable in the sight of God. We therefore work toward societies in which each person’s value is recognized, maintained, and strengthened.”
The Social Transformation Task Force is focused on identifying the most constructive ways to educate the congregation on social issues, and the most effective ways to build community across racial and cultural lines toward social transformation and reconciliation.
This work starts with our own education.
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Social Transformation Bruce Hay |
This task force offers resources and training to learn and re-learn incomplete, forgotten, misunderstood history, implicit or unconscious bias, and white culture and privilege.
With a foundational and more comprehensive understanding of race and culture issues, the task force moves forward to advocate for issues directly related to and impacted by the intersection of race, economics and culture.
These include, but are not limited to racial, gendered and disabled income gaps, inadequate & sub-standard housing, disparities in arrest / incarceration rates, education quality & resource deficits, high unemployment, scarcity of community services, gentrification crowding out, economic development opportunities and human trafficking.
We will collaborate with community partners to put forth solutions which will accelerate revitalization without driving the residents out of their neighborhoods.
Want to get involved with Social Transformation? Contact Susan Cantrell Holloway at 214-707-5654.
Want to access other local organizations doing this type of work?
Visible Unity Inc. (Rev. Pam Fields)
Dallas Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation
Want to do some additional reading and learning? Check out these resources below:
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