The Brilliance of the Multiethnic Kingdom

Rev. Brenda Salter McNeil, recognized internationally as one of the foremost thought-leaders in reconciliation, is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA. In her book, Roadmap to Reconciliation: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness and Justice, she helps to set the tone that we are seeking at Pasadena Covenant as we begin our year-long focus examining the Brilliance of the Multiethnic Kingdom. Here are some of her reflections:

It’s vital in the task of restoration, however, that we experience enough safety to open ourselves to one another and allow hope to penetrate the dark places between us.

Reconciliation is possible only if we approach it primarily as a spiritual process that requires a posture of hope in the reconciling work of Christ and a commitment from the church to both be and proclaim this type of reconciled community.

The challenge comes in accepting that if there is any hope of birthing new life, chaos must be part of the environment for a time.

My hope isn’t that we change the social order but instead that, like Jesus and his disciples, we build small cadres of the Beloved Community that can infiltrate society and change it from the inside out over time.

In small and big ways, we give people glimpses of what the future vision looks like. This is our mission, and we must never lose hope, knowing that God has the power to bring the kingdom — on earth as it is in heaven. God has the power to bring shalom.

What we need is an ongoing spiritual process that involves forgiveness, repentance and justice that transforms broken relationships and systems to reflect God’s original intention for all creation to flourish

Amen, Sister Brenda, Amen. Let us all continue to pray for the Spirit to help us in our weakness, as we have conversations and prayers around ethnicity, race, discipleship, reconciliation and being the Beloved Community in a world that desperately needs shalom. 

 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson

Pastor for Spiritual Formation