Nurturing Reconciliation: Diversity Webinar Recording and Resources
“From Genesis to Revelation, [diversity] is something that has always been part of God’s plan and always will be.” —Connie Anderson
Have you been looking for practical steps to live out Christ’s vision for the diversity of the kingdom? VJN and Multiply Vineyard held this conversation that highlighted some of the key principles and suggestions from the “Better Together: Race, Reconciliation, and the Multi-Ethnic Church” Vineyard USA Conference.
This webinar served as a follow-up to the conference as well as created an opportunity for anyone to join the conversation. Whether your church is rural, urban, or suburban, your church would benefit from developing its ability to have reconciling conversations and promoting authentic multi-ethnic diversity.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why it matters that we engage with diverse relationships
- Defining Race and Ethnicity
- Starting Points for Engagement
“In a kingdom framework, power is always laid down for the sake of others.” — Kathy Maskell
PANELISTS STORIES, DISCUSSION TOPICS, AND RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Panelists
Geno Olison (South Suburban Vineyard Church – Flossmoor, IL) – Pastors Geno and Shannon Olison moved to the Homewood-Flossmoor area from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in June of 2009 to start the South Suburban Vineyard Church. Their goal is to build a large, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, church planting church that extends the Kingdom of God in the South Suburbs of Chicago and the surrounding area.Since that time, they, along with a fabulous team of individuals have been building a church from the ground up. Geno and Shannon have three sons, Joseph, Elijah and Joshua. It has been an exciting time of settling in to the community, adding to the family and growing a multicultural church in the south suburbs of Chicago.
Connie Anderson (Vineyard Columbus – Columbus, OH) – Connie Anderson serves as the Director of Justice Ministries for InterVarsity’s Great Lakes East Region. Her primary focus is on helping students follow Jesus into areas like fighting human trafficking and racial reconciliation. Connie speaks frequently on college campuses, leads conference tracks, and runs an innovative week-long immersion learning spring break alternative program called the Abolitionist Plunge. Connie also manages two facebook pages where she regularly posts information about these issues. “The Price of Life – Great Lakes East” page is focused on human trafficking issues in the region, and “Quick to Listen” is focused on racial reconciliation – more specifically, helping white Christians humbly listen to and learn from our black brothers and sisters. Connie is also an active member of the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition. Connie and her husband Randy are long-time leaders at Vineyard Columbus. The home group they currently lead is called “Generations Kinship,” and it is both multi-ethnic and multi-generational, with members ranging from early 20’s to almost 90.
Le Que Heidkamp (Mercy Vineyard – Minneapolis, MN) – Le Que co-leads Mercy Vineyard with her husband Jeff and oversees training and technology and works with staff on operational and organizational development. Additionally, she serves VineyardUSA in leading cohorts on multiethnic church leadership and church planting. She enjoys reading, writing and having fun with Jeff and their two daughters.
Kathy Maskell (Blue Route Vineyard – Media, PA) – Kathy is the pastor of discipleship at Blue Route Vineyard. She worked for six years as the U.S. Advocacy Director of Love146. She is most proud of her role in creating the Love146 Faith Community Network, the Love146 Task Force platform, and her critical part in the passage of the 2010 Connecticut Safe Harbor Law. Kathy just finished up an M. Div. at Union Theological Seminary (NYC). As a Fellow at The Poverty Initiative, she studies abolitionist movements, develops Biblical resources on justice and exploitation, and analyzes poverty as a root cause of human trafficking. In 2007, Kathy co-planted Elm City Vineyard in New Haven, CT. She recently served as a member of the Executive Board for Vineyard USA and was the assistant pastor at The River NYC.