Stories for the Journey: Creating Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations

Workshop presenters at Strategies for Growing Inclusive Multicultural Congregations and Ministries

L-R Lynn Anderson - member at UU Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA)and Rev. Anthony Davis, minister of UUCA


L-R Lynn Anderson, Rev. Anthony David,Senior Minister at UUCA in Atlanta, GA; Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church; Rev. Elizabeth Lerner McClay Silver Springs; Rev. Kathleen Rolanz at Rocky River UU Church in Rocky River, OH and Sunshine Jeremiah Wolf, intern at Rocky River UU Church.


Please find below a rich resource list obtained from Taquina Boston, Director of Identity Based Ministries at the Unitarian Univeralist Association in Boston, MA.

Each year several thousand Unitarian Univeralists attend several days of the General Assembly (GA) in different locations around the country. This years GA is being held in Minneapolis, MN. I facilitated a panel titled, Stories for the Journey: Creating Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations. This unique panel of ministers and laity shared their cutting edge journey stories that were warmly received by the attentive audience. The panel consisted of: Rev. Rob Hardies, All Souls Church Unitarian, Washington, DC; Rev. Dr. Fred Muir, Senior Minister and Rev. John Crestwell, Associate Minister at UU Church of Annapolis; Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK and Ms. Taquina Boston, Director of Identity Based Ministries with the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Please find the resource list below:

Question: What are you and your faith community doing to make your church/mosque/synogogue/temple welcoming to diverse individuals?
Blessings! Rev. Qiyamah


Creating Multicultural Congregations Resource List:


People of the Dream by Michael O. Emerson


Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations, Korie L. Edwards and Michael O. Emerson


The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches, Korie L. Edwards


The Power of Stories: A Guide for Leading Multiracial and Multicultural Congregations, Jacqueline J. Lewis


One Foot Planted in the Center, the Other Dangling Off the Edge: How Intentional Leadership Can Transform Your Church, Gordon L. Dragt


The Next Evangelicalism: Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity, Soong-Chan Rah


Building A Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church, Mark DeYmaz


List of multicultural congregation resources developed by Alicia Forde and Janice Marie Johnson:

the Diversity of Ministry initiative (uua.org website - , including a recent story about the first 2 settlements – UU Church of Pittsburgh, PA (Rev. Alma Crawford) and UU Church of Annapolis, MD (Rev. John Crestwell) are included on the UUA website. A few URLs are listed below. Also search at uua.org using “Diversity of Ministry.”

http://www.uua.org/news/newssubmissions/151377.shtml

http://www.uua.org/leaders/leaderslibrary/leaderslibrary/interconnections/119956.shtml

http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/11198.shtml

http://www.uuworld.org/life/articles/145503.shtml

Additional Sources:

The UUA will release the DVD and study guide for the UU University Multicultural Track in November. Meanwhile, contact Diane Martin to get copies of the “Now Is the Time: Leading Congregations Into a Multiracial/Multicultural Future” conference DVDs. There have been 3 conferences . The last DVD from 2009 was in production.