Back to Cover Story   

Seventeen Florida Conference and Southeastern Conference churches, represented by five ethnic groups and approximately 5,000 members, participated in a symposium on race relations in Tampa last spring. They partnered with the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League to discuss ways to strengthen relationships between Adventists of various cultures in the Tampa Bay area. Walter Niles, a member of the Mount Calvary church in Tampa, coordinated the event. He is also director of race relations for the Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League, a private not-for-profit social service organization. Symposium plans began in early 1999 when Joanna Tokley, president and chief executive officer for the local urban league, hosted a meeting of Adventist pastors to discuss the possibility of partnering together. One goal of the urban league is to “provide opportunities for caring, concerned, and committed people to come together and talk openly and respectfully with each other.” Niles planned the program, in part, from suggestions shared by Rosa Banks, director of the North American Division Office of Human Relations and coordinator of the race summit held in the fall of 1999 at the General Conference headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland. The participating churches featured guest speakers in their Sabbath morning services from all major racial and cultural groups, who preached sermons centered around race relations and cultural diversity. A joint session was held in the afternoon at the Tampa First church. Eighteen breakout sessions followed the general meeting. Participants shared ideas on how healthy race and cultural relationships could be formed to enable churches of both conferences to work together. At the close of the symposium Niles announced, “We plan to move from dialogue to action so our churches in the Tampa Bay area will model how other congregations of various ethnic groups and cultures can work together to uplift the kingdom of God.” Other initiatives in North America* include: Huntsville, Alabama: A creative exchange between Oakwood College and Southern Adventist University is effectively giving students a sense of the culture and history of people from other races and cultures. The Diversity Education Exchange Program (DEEP) encourages students from the predominantly Black Oakwood College to study at the predominantly White Southern Adventist University, while students from SAU spend a year studying at Oakwood. The purpose of DEEP is to encourage cross-cultural understanding and cooperation. South Lancaster, Massachusetts: Last February Atlantic Union College sponsored an International Weekend. Well-known author and lecturer Tony Campolo was the keynote speaker. Campolo, a Caucasian who attends an African-American church, spoke about how he manages as a minority in a predominantly Black church. Berrien Springs, Michigan: This fall a full-year multicultural initiative was begun by the students, staff, and faculty of Andrews University.—Rosa Banks, Martin Butler, and Ben Holdsworth. *The Office of Human Relations of the North American Division would like to know about local Adventist initiatives to bring about reconciliation and cooperation between racial and ethnic groups. Please send your report(s) to: bankro@nad.adventist.org.