Matt Chandler, pastor of The Village Church in Texas and the newly-installed president of church-planting organization Acts 29, recently shared in an interview with Christian hip-hop portal Rapzilla.com his heart for the “young black male” and how he hopes to address some of the tough issues he believes African-American males face when it comes to countering “white privilege” in the church.
Speaking with Rapzilla.com on Friday, Chandler primarily discussed his views on how God is using hip-hop music to change lives, but he also spoke a great deal about how he hopes to bring diversity to the Acts 29 Network, which has planted more than 400 churches on six continents since its founding 10 years ago.
Its transition of new leadership means Acts 29’s base of operations will move from its current home in Seattle, Wash., to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where Chandler’s The Village Church is located in Highland Village, a predominantly white, suburban community.
When asked how he hopes to leverage his accomplishments as lead teaching pastor since 2002 at The Village Church to bring diversity to the Network, Chandler made it plain that his approaches would be realistic and true to the context and needs of those he hopes to serve.
Explaining that the majority of the congregation at The Village Church is predominantly white, upper middle class and white collar with the “two-car garage,” Chandler said, “That’s the world we live in.
“But what I want to do is leverage some of that privilege that honestly we don’t see as privileged, we see as norm. I want to leverage that blessing from God in a way that helps and empowers other places (that) have not been given that to reach hard-to-reach people in hard-to-reach places and I want to spend our money well.
“But I want to create relationships where we’re not… I don’t want to bus white kids into the ghetto. I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to bus them in, let them paint the house, and then bus them back home — I don’t want to do that.
“I want legitimate partnerships where we’re learning from our brothers and sisters in the urban context while we’re supporting them. I want to help, and not just financially, but I want us to help in certain ways and then I want us to learn in certain ways, and then I want us to receive back what they have to teach us, and for us to celebrate what Jesus is doing in both places as we work together for the church.”
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SOURCE: Christian Post
Nicola Menzie
BCNN1 WP 