Springfield, Ohio’s Simunye: Leaders Bridging the Racial Divide

July 11th, 2022

As a Christian, the racial divide in the Christian church disturbs me. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of Christian America.”

In Springfield, Ohio, I am so impressed with a group of evangelical pastors who have developed “Simunye”, a Christian effort to bridge the racial divide. As leaders of both white and African-American churches in Springfield, they started by building relationships among themselves, taking a civil rights trip to the South together and then began planning events to call their congregations together. They envision churches modeling God’s vision for peace, oneness and biblical unity. Their strategies are:

1. Interconnection. They seek fellowship among people who look different from one another.
2. Instruction. They want to teach and understand in safe environments where they can learn from one another.
3. Intercession: They want intercession and prayer to be part of the unity that binds them together as God’s people.

They believe the church should lead the racial discussion, because racism is a theological problem of sin that must be addressed. They assert only the gospel can fix that.

How do you respond to the racial divide in the United States? If you are a white Christian, do you take time to educate yourself and examine yourself? Are you calling yourself to a higher standard and speaking up for racial justice in your community, in our institutions and country? Are you following the lead of Simunye? I know many of you are, throughout your lives and in the aftermath of George Floyd.

But on the other hand, there are some Christians and churches leading the fight to keep “critical race theory” out of our schools. They don’t want our schools to teach about our common history of racism anymore because it might hurt the feelings of our youth.

As a Christian, I believe that this is the wrong approach. Some of us need to personally repent of our racism, yes. But more importantly as a society, we need to repent of the institutionalized racism that mars the conscience and people of our nation. The sin of our country against African Americans includes three hundred years of slavery, Jim Crow laws which prevented African-Americans from full rights and participation in the economy of the south, a biased justice system which now incarcerates more African-Americans than were once slaves, and red-lining with related racial restrictions on home ownership and loans.

I believe that to pretend that racism is not a problem in the United States of America is a grave mistake and sin. Perhaps, if you don’t follow Jesus, you can become a white supremacist and hate people with skins of color. Perhaps you can even teach your children to hate people with skins of color.

But, if you listen to Jesus, our Good Shepherd who calls you above all to love God with all your heart and mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself, you have no business trying to sweep the American sin of racism under the table. If you are a Christian, you must educate your children about the evils of racism and call them to a higher standard. If you are a Christian, you want our schools to teach the truth about our common history and the laws of our country which now make it illegal to discriminate against people because of the color of their skin.

My recent book, Revelation in the Roots: Emerald Isle (All Things That Matter Press, 2022) was written in part to address the need for Christian unity across racial and political lines.

I would like to thank Simunye for providing courageous Christian leadership in Springfield, Ohio. I pray more will follow you.

More Information: News Sun article “Pastors take the lead to promote racial harmony” by Kermit Rowe (1/13/2019), Celebrate Simunye – Introduction Video (7/16/2020), Simunye Carol Sing (12/5/21), Defining the Response to this Moment: Simunye: Part 4 (Cornerstone Baptist Church) (9/08/2020), Diverse Group of Pastors Marches through Springfield (6/14/2020)