About This Episode Podcast hosts Rev. Sharon Williams, Rev. Russell Ewell and Rev. Fabian Gonzalez discuss some of the things they learned as they interviewed members of the historic Black churches of the Missouri Conference throughout this season. In This Episode 01:16: Thoughts and Learning Opportunities for the Denomination 4:15 The Place of Lament 9:00 A Tight Knit Community of Life 10:10 Discipleship Begins with Relationship 12:35 We Cannot Lose Those Rich Stories 14:00 It Is Their Faith th...
Jun 09, 2022•32 min•Season 3Ep. 6
About This Episode Kansas City, Missouri. St. James United Methodist Church launched in 1973 when two small churches combined. Listen in as current pastor Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Cleaver III, Robert Silvan and Leola Evans share about the history and experience of the Historically Black Church. In This Episode 00:00: Church History Narration 4:30 1950s Change of Kansas City Landscape and the Beginning of St. James UMC 7:30 Taking A Stand and Doing Something About It 18:00 The Merging of a White and Bla...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 3Ep. 5
About This Episode St. Louis, Missouri . Union Memorial was founded in 1846 on three foundations: Love which is a God-given light from heaven, a spark of that immortal fire which angels share. Faith which binds us to the infinite. Hope, the balm and life-blood of the soul. Union Memorial is unique in many ways, such as hosting W.E.B. Du Bois in 1913 and being the second largest structure of its kind in the United States (a hyperbolic paraboloid shell). The congregation at Union Memorial has a lo...
May 26, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 4
ABOUT THIS EPISODE Kansas City, Missouri . In 1907, Asbury Chapel and Burn Chapel consolidated to form one church: Centennial Methodist Episcopal Church. In this episode, Rev. Jason Bryles (Centennial’s pastor since July 2016), Paula King (member since 1962), Ramada Davis (member for 48 years) and Donald Rogerson (member for 70 years) discuss Centennial United Methodist Church’s the history and influence on its community — beginning at its founding, continuing through the civil rights movement a...
May 19, 2022•48 min•Season 3Ep. 3
ABOUT THIS EPISODE St. Louis, Missouri . After the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riots in Illinois, much of East St. Louis’s Black population fled the death and destruction and sought new economic opportunities across the river into St. Louis, Missouri. This birthed a new Methodist congregation under Rev. Martin Luther Jackson at Good Samaritan Methodist Episocopal Church. The goal was peace and shelter in a new urban environment. Despite hardships, the congregation is still alive today. Listen in as...
May 12, 2022•51 min•Season 3Ep. 2
ABOUT THIS EPISODE Springfield, Missouri. Pitt's Chapel is a testament to strength in adversity: beginning in times of slavery, through the lynchings of innocent Black men and the subsequent shift that brought Springfield from a population that was 25% Black to the under 5% it is today. Current pastor Rev. Tracey Wolff, Kim Jones, John Huddleston and Charlotte Hardin talk through the history of Pitt's Chapel from its onset through tragedy and onward during the civil rights movement into today. I...
May 05, 2022•41 min•Season 3Ep. 1
The Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church is excited to announce the release date of season three of the Faith and Race Podcast. Beginning on May 5, new episodes will become available weekly on Thursdays. The Faith and Race Podcast is designed to help faithful people host conversations about race, faith and the Church. Every episode has a specific focus to help listeners intentionally think about the intersection of history, institutions, scripture, prayer, race and justice. The aud...
Apr 11, 2022•1 min
About This Episode In this episode we revisit the racial biographies of our past guests Rev. Winter Hamilton, host Connor Kenaston and Rev. Tina Harris. In This Episode 1:20 Black Dutch: Winter Hamilton 5:14 Winter’s Friend Audrey 10:12 Connor Kenaston: Understanding Race 15:12 Tina Harris: Growing Up in a Small Factory Town
Mar 13, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 9
About This Episode In this episode, we listen to a live panel with Revs. Will Willimon and Willis Johnson. Rev. Will Willimon is the former dean of the chapel at Duke University. Rev. Willis Johnson was the pastor of Wellspring Church in Ferguson when Michael Brown was killed by the police and for the uprisings that followed. “I hope I presented myself in my book as a recoverinig racist. Mine was a gentile, nice kind of racism ... I hope I presented this: I’m a sinner. I do other sin, other than...
Sep 23, 2020•39 min•Season 2Ep. 8
About This Episode In this episode, guest host Nick Rhinehart interviews Rev. Lia McIntosh, the a missional strategist for the Center for Congregational Excellence in the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church. “We planted that church in an urban area in Kansas City. It was as a pastor in an urban area that I realized the social and practical needs of people were not separate from their spiritual needs. That in order to be the church, we had to have a holistic gospel. The beauty of t...
Sep 23, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 7
About This Episode Host Kenneth Pruitt interviews Karen Yang. “It wasn’t until I moved to St. Louis that I really understood race in terms of oppression. Before that I always understood racism as something that just ignorant and dumb people did. So if they said slurs, that was just them not knowing any better or they weren’t really nice. Coming to St. Louis, then studying social work, then going to seminary, and being shaped by what happened with the murder of Michael Brown, and the uprising in ...
Sep 23, 2020•25 min•Season 2Ep. 6
About This Episode Host Kenneth Pruitt interviews Rev. Winter Hamilton of Manchester United Methodist Church in St. Louis. Hamilton is an Ordained Deacon. Together they talk about the possibilities of engaging with racial justice and equity even when living in a predominantly white area. “It’s really easy to think about us versus them. I get in a lot of conversations with members of my church where they say, 'but those kids in the city ... ' and I say, 'I’m sorry. Didn’t you mean our kids?' And ...
Sep 23, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 5
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston interviews Rev. Jeff Jaekley who serves as the Native American Representative on the MSJ Team for the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church. Towards the end of the episode you will hear Allie Flores in conversation with Kenneth Pruitt about the intersectionality of race and faith. “Some of my identity has been shaped by the not-knowing. What I have come to realize is my dad was taught to be ashamed of his Native American heritage. He was of a ...
Jul 02, 2020•23 min•Season 2Ep. 4
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston chats with Kenneth Pruitt. Pruitt has worked for the Diversity Awareness Partnership and in this podcast is transitioning in as the new host of the podcast. “Any racially homogenous environment can be really detrimental to one’s growth.” In This Episode 00:30 Childhood Experiences and Understanding of Race 4:30 What Was the Turning Point 7:00 Personal Work 11:00 A Push Towards Discomfort 16:10 Approaching Social Media 19:00 Holding Intention with Race Work...
Jul 02, 2020•28 min•Season 2Ep. 3
About This Episode Join host Connor Kenaston as he talks with Rev. David Gilmore, who served for 20 years in the U.S. navy, and later as a pastor in Missouri, before becoming the Heartland District Superintendent in 2020. “We are strongest when we are caring for our community.” “To truly address and remedy where we are, we have to be honest about how we got there.” In This Episode 00:45 Growing Up as a Pastor's Kid and Finding a Calling 2:30 What He Learned About Community by Serving the Church ...
Jul 02, 2020•22 min•Season 2Ep. 2
About This Episode In this first episode of season 2, host Connor Kenaston talks to David Hartsfield. Hartsfield is a political scientist who has done research work in West Africa. He speaks to growing up as a light-skinned Black person in the United States and how that compares with other countries he has experienced. “I grew up Black. Those were the days we weren’t African Americans, we were Black and we were claiming that as being proud of it. Black Power – we wanted to be known as Black.” In...
Jul 02, 2020•26 min•Season 2Ep. 1
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston interviews Rev. Tina Harris who served as a human resource professional, later as an attorney and diversity expert for several law firms in Kansas City. Later, Harris followed God’s call into ministry and became Grand Avenue Temple’s first African American pastor in its 150 year history. “[Race] is not something I can sort of take off and look at from a different perspective because this is who I am. In the same way, I think that who we are has shaped all ...
Jun 02, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Welcome to the Faith and Race Podcast! The Faith and Race Podcast is designed to help churches host constructive dialogue about faith, race and the Church. Every episode has a specific focus on the intersection of history, institutions, scripture, prayer, race and justice. These episodes will bring the diverse insights and experiences into churches, homes and hearts across Missouri and beyond.
Jun 02, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 7
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston interviews Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, who is the pastor of Queen Chapel UME Church in Jefferson City. She is also the Vice President of the African American Clergy Coalition of Mid-Missouri and the Executive Director of the Missouri Faith Voices. “History records a lot of the racial tensions and even as we start to talk about institutional racism and systemic racism. So in Alabama, the book is wide open, you can read all about it. But what I saw in St. Loui...
Jun 02, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 7
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston interviews Patricia Flernoy, who served with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for 30 years before retiring. “Amongst officers, the tension was probably there, but they wouldn’t necessarily say it. Having been African American, being female, police department, you start out and they say 'You can’t ride with African-American male officers,' because they see you as this sexualized character. I have ridden with officers who didn’t accept that I was...
Jun 02, 2020•21 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Welcome to the Faith and Race Podcast! The Faith and Race Podcast is designed to help churches host constructive dialogue about faith, race and the Church. Every episode has a specific focus on the intersection of history, institutions, scripture, prayer, race and justice. These episodes will bring the diverse insights and experiences into churches, homes and hearts across Missouri and beyond.
Jun 02, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 5
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston interviews Rev. Dr. William Johnson III speaks to the theology of racial justice and reconciliation. Rev. Dr. Johnson is a native of St. Louis and served as minister in several churches before becoming chaplain at Christian Hospital in St. Louis and as Minister of Young Adults and Cross-Cultural Ministry Outreach at University Methodist Church. “The good Samaritan story begins with the priest and the Levite. Each of them having some commitments of their ow...
Jun 02, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 5
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston shares an oral history interview he recorded with Lealure Tindall about her experience of growing up Black in small-town Missouri in the 1950’s. “Every Black parent wasn’t for [integration of schools], and definitely every white parent wasn’t for it … My dad was determined that it was going to work that it was going to happen. One night, we had this car outside, so we went to the door to see what was going on because they were making a ruckus. They were bu...
Jun 02, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Welcome to the Faith and Race Podcast! The Faith and Race Podcast is designed to help churches host constructive dialogue about faith, race and the Church. Every episode has a specific focus on the intersection of history, institutions, scripture, prayer, race and justice. These episodes will bring the diverse insights and experiences into churches, homes and hearts across Missouri and beyond.
Jun 02, 2020•10 min•Season 1Ep. 3
About This Episode Host Connor Kenaston talks to Dr. Leah Gunning Francis about her book Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community . On August 9, 2014, the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer became a catalyst for new conversations about race across the United States. “People of faith should care about Ferguson because of what Ferguson represents. We first know that a young man lost his life, and anytime that happens – that need not be relegated to an issue or an ...
Jun 02, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Welcome to the Faith and Race Podcast! The Faith and Race Podcast is designed to help churches host constructive dialogue about faith, race and the Church. Every episode has a specific focus on the intersection of history, institutions, scripture, prayer, race and justice. These episodes will bring the diverse insights and experiences into churches, homes and hearts across Missouri and beyond.
Jun 02, 2020•6 min•Season 1Ep. 2
About This Episode Join host Connor Kenaston as he talks with Dr. John Wright and Dr. Arnold Parks, co-authors of African American United Methodist Churches in Missouri. Dr. Arnold Parks is a former sociologist professor at Lincoln University in Jefferson City and is currently a pastor. Dr. John Wright was a school principal for over 40 years. They speak to how the United Methodist church in Missouri interacted with and even, at times, contributed to the history of slavery and segregation in Mis...
Jun 02, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 2
About This Episode In our first episode, host Connor Kenaston talks to Rev. Cody Collier about why it is important for people of faith to talk about race within the Church, finding our identity in Christ and tools in building inclusiveness. “The conversation about race in the Church also has a long way to go. American churches remain largely segregated and race issues can be a tricky topic to know how to engage from the pulpit. For the exception of observing in January Dr. King’s celebration. Th...
Mar 30, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1
