As the nation faced turbulence on the race-relations scene, two Tennessee megachurches — one predominantly white and one predominantly black — held an event in early August to show “what racial reconciliation looks like.”
The back-to-school charity event — put on by Mount Zion Baptist Church, Nashville, and Brentwood Baptist Church — provided school supplies and health screenings for children, according to The Christian Post.
“We invited families from every background and community to start the school year off right with free backpacks and health screenings, and get to know and enjoy one another in the process,” said Johnny Stephens, overseer of marketing and media for Mount Zion Baptist, one of the oldest black churches in Nashville.
The event, he said, was the first of many the two churches planned to coordinate together.
The two pastors — Mike Glenn of Brentwood Baptist and Joseph Walker of Mount Zion Baptist — became friends first over social media.
They decided to build bridges rather than walls, Walker said. “Our congregations are growing by leaps and bounds. So is this wonderful city. It is our responsibility to grow together and support one another.”
In recent years, churches across the nation have made more and more of an effort to reach across racial lines, according to the Post.
Steve Smith, communications minister for the predominantly white Brentwood Baptist, said the joint event held in Nashville was “fruitful.”
He said the pastors “decided that it was important for the Church to be a leader in proactively showing society what racial reconciliation looks like, embracing the fullness of the diverse expressions of God’s creation and exemplifying unity in Christ.” (TAB)
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