I have had the opportunity to preach at Phil-Mont Christian Academy (PMCA) for the past 4 months.  I am preaching a racial reconciliation series called "Lets Get Together" from Ephesians 4.  I have found great joy in sharing the Gospel with my young brothers and sisters there each month.  We discussed the dividing barriers in our lives that we think create comfort when they only produce loneliness.  During that service in January we said a corporate confession of repentance and all sort of admitted we all have racial sin, and all in need of the God's grace for forgiveness. 

I truly enjoy building relationships with the students there.  I am blessed to have such a great group of kids that encourage me and are really owning the ministry of reconciliation”.  My prayer for this series was to see the existing diversity of races faces at PMCA really be challenged in there relationships through the gospel.  I prayed that the Lord would start healthy conversations between people who maybe never talk to each other.  I also desired to see people pursue one-another across racial, denominational, geographic lines. 

I’ve met students from Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Baptist, and CMA backgrounds.  I’ve also had the opportunity to build relationships with almost every race from almost every section of Philadelphia and the greater Philadelphia area.

When I look out as I am preaching I am so encouraged for this new group of Gospel change agents that will create the neo-ecclesia (new-preacher) that will be missionaries, pastors, deacons, lawyers, doctors, and government officials.  As an African-American married to my lovely wife who is white of 13 years I am encouraged by these young people passion for reconciliation.  I have 3 sons and we as a family have been at the receiving end of racial, academic, and denominational bigotry in regards to leadership in the church.  I lived in the south for many years during high school and college and I never experienced as much racism on the south as I did in Philadelphia at various churches.  I often think about the future in ministry for my handsome young bi-racial sons as one plays piano, the other plays the trumpet and my oldest plays the bass.  Will they be Christ followers without a place?  How will racial, academic, and denominational bigotry play out in their future?  By God’s grace we pray that they will be equip for the task! 

As I close this baby out I think that this new generation (next 7-10 years) of Christ followers are going to be more diverse, creative and more racially mixed than ever.  I pray that at the front of their development as urban missionaries that they will own their  identity is in Christ!  We are “One New People” as Dr. Manny Ortiz develops in his book of the same title.

 

The Church’s task is neither to destroy nor to maintain ethnic identities but to replace them with a new identity in Christ that is more foundational than earthly identities.

Dr. Manuel Ortiz