Bishop William H. Willimon warns preachers to guard against moralism or sentimentality when engaging congregations about racism.
Now retired and serving as Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Bishop William Willimon does not pretend that going into the pulpit and confronting racism is easy.
In fact, he describes a number of approaches that preachers take that are ineffective if not harmful.
“It’s not for us to defeat the sin of racism; God in Christ is already doing that,” Willimon states. “Our chief ethical question is, ‘Will I join with Christ in his world-changing, world-ending, resurrection-work or not?’”
He concludes that it’s not enough to be non-racist in today’s society. Rather the challenge is to move hearts toward “being actively anti-racist.”
Last Updated on July 11, 2016