WUMC Implicit Bias Workshop 2020

The Jesus Prayer:  Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Have mercy on us. First, Here is an audio recording by our own Cathy Bennett, of the hymn, Spirit of God, Descend Upon my Heart .  Listen to this to get you in the right spirit to consider this last installment of our Lenten Workshop on Implicit Bias This week, we will focus on how we will fight our implicit bias and be better followers of our lord and savior Jesus Christ.  We will listen to Melanie Funchess, whose TedTalk will urge us to a new form of Transformational Activism.     Our two Scripture readings for this week are ones I find quite challenging.  In the first, in Matthew 15: 21-28 we hear Jesus referring to a Canaanite woman in the most disparaging terms, and then later, again from Matthew 26: 6-13 , a defeatist vision of the poor as being always with us. What is it that Jesus - on the eve of Passion Week - and in the darkness that is about to befall him, telling us about triumphi...

OK, let's try this out.  I have created a form in Google to collect responses to some of the questions raised in WEEK 2 Implicit Bias. Click on this link or copy the URL and enter it into your browser: https://forms.gle/8R5LYmWuxV5ekJsA9 If you can fill out this form, I can share responses to you by next week.  Give it a try!

Dearest Lord,  Be our comfort and our strength.  This week has been hard for us.  It has been difficult to witness the spreading of  the pandemic caused by the newly hatched COVID-19 virus.  We worry about its high rates of infection and are concerned about the targeting of some of our most vulnerable population.  We have seen our President declare a National State of Emergency, schools and some businesses have shut down, and those of us who can have retreated to the safety of our homes for the near future. Still others don't have that luxury and are on the front lines as health care professionals, retailers who will keep us stocked and fed, and other critical personnel necessary to keep us afloat.  We pray you will keep them safe.   Yet, it is still Lent, and we still want to walk beside you on your Lenten journey.  Perhaps it will be a bit of a comfort to us to focus on the task of self reflection that we started in week 1.  Impl...

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) Never did I ever - but here we are.  COVID-19 will reshape how we do our Lenten series but not what we do.  While I, like many of you, feel anxious and uncertain, what I do know with all my heart is that we are not alone, that our God is with us - as we walk this particular Lenten journey with him.  For me, Lent has always been a time of reflection, reformation, and then on Easter morning, reconciliation. I hope you find you can join me though this online resource.  My plan is to post the videos, resources, and questions for us to talk about.  Each post will allow comments that you can make and hopefully this will create an environment for us to share our ideas and challenges. Here is our schedule WEEK 1: SEEING   Recognizing Implicit Bias beginning March 1   (see...

Dear Fellow Lenten Journey-ers, Here are the slides from my first Implicit Bias - Week 1 presentation on March 1.  You can find a copy of the slides here which should allow you to view and go through Jerry Kang's TedX presentation "Immaculate Perception. "  Included in my presentation are also lessons from St Paul and others with respect to the implicit biases around us and how Jesus, meeting up with his friends after the Crucifixion, was not recognized for who he was because the context wasn't right.    Many of you wanted to know more about the Harvard implicit bias test.  You can find out more about that by following this link .  Be sure to select the "social attitudes" test as there are now a few other choices. Be well my friends, and I will look forward to our next lesson on March 15.