Religion and Race Launches New Resource for Advent 2021
October 12, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeehye Kim Pak, Team Leader for Communications and Marketing
General Commission on Religion and Race
The United Methodist Church
202-495-2949
jpak@gcorr.org
Religion and Race Launches New Resource for Advent 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The General Commission on Religion and Race (GCORR) of the United Methodist Church has produced a much-needed and engaging resource for churches ready to teach the Christmas story as it was then and as it still needs to be now. Author Rev. Dr. B. Yuki Schwartz takes special care in presenting culturally informed, researched, and relevant lessons that not only celebrates the coming of the infant child, Jesus, but the advent of the promised Messiah—who declares God’s liberating freedom from personal sin and the social injustices of embedded prejudice, systemic racism, and policies and practices that favor one people group over another.
Welcome to “Reimagine Advent: Discover the Liberating Christ.”
Included in this timely Advent resource are weekly scripture readings with select sermon ideas and starters, hymns and songs from diverse traditions, thought-filled liturgy and prayers, and activities for children sure to engage. And whether church pastors or leaders, elders and deacons, worship planning teams or congregants, each week’s lesson will take you truer and deeper into the liberating “God with us,” Emmanuel, born to marginal and disadvantaged parents, set in the cultural and historical context of Roman rule and colonizing empire.
As such, Schwartz raises the necessary questions the Gospels ask of us:
Are we willing to rethink Advent and reach out to the poor, and the marginalized, so that we may finally walk in the Light of Christ? Are we ready to examine this story of our faith in new ways and respond to God’s call for justice and joy, even if we are called to make significant changes in the ways we pray, love, give, speak out and act?
See December transformed into the season when Mary’s hymn of praise is sung aloud, where the powerful are brought down, the lowly lifted up, and the hungry filled with good things. Past the ribbons and wrappings, may the people of God reclaim our mission to love every bearer of the image of God, each and every one of us.
For churches that have taken bold strides in the past decade to expand the Kin-dom of God, stretching God’s inclusive and expansive love to all persons, standing as allies alongside communities harmed by prejudice and persisting racism, this resource will add strength, depth, and resolve to the shared work and progress towards God’s “beloved community.” For churches that are looking for a time and place to start changing your culture to one that upholds the “image of God” as an immutable trait of all tribes, peoples, and nations, Christmas is that beginning time and place.
In the words of M. Garlinda Burton, GCORR’s Director of Resource Development:
"This Advent resource is an invitation for Christians to read Scripture and consider this holy season from the perspective of people who live at the margins of society because of colonialism, racism, and economic injustice. The good news is that Jesus came, not only to save our souls, but to bring new life and restoration to the powerless and to cast down those who would oppress. That should be cause for celebration and reflection by all Christians."
“Reimagine Advent: Discover the Liberating Christ” is available for digital download now, just in time for the season of Thanksgiving and the first Sunday of Advent, November 28, 2021.
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The General Commission on Religion and Race is one of 13 church-wide agencies of The United Methodist Church. The Commission offers teaching resources, training, and networking among Christians seeking to bring their faith to bear to dismantle racism, tribalism, and xenophobia in all forms. More information available at www.gcorr.org.