April 6 1998

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Racial minorities in America have fought hard to win civil rights, yet the goal of racial reconciliation still seems far off, say Christian leaders.

Chris Rice, president of Reconcilers Fellowship, says on-campus Christians find themselves dealing not as intensively with the familiar issues of the civil-rights struggle, such as voting rights, housing, and employment, but rather with multiculturalism, an academic perspective that is often at odds with orthodox Christianity.

Rice says Christians need to think beyond the past methods of social ministry and seek "new concepts and paradigms." He says, "My hope is that we will see a weaving together of reconciliation-minded leaders on the college campus who will commit to each other to making racial healing and justice a major focus of their campuses over the next 20 years."

For three days in January, nearly 300 campus leaders from 50 schools gathered to plant seeds for new models of student ministry and reconciliation at a Reconcilers Fellowship meeting in Jackson, Mississippi. Their goal was to make an "honest search for answers."

"The conference was a major source of encouragement and help," says Samuel Barkat, vice president for multiethnic ministry at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. "Instead of producing guilt, the conference stressed hope and possibilities." Barkat says participants were urged to think biblically about ethnic reconciliation and to embark on a reconciliation journey.

The event became all the more poignant when national reconciliation leader Spencer Perkins collapsed of a diabetic seizure. He recovered in time to deliver the event's closing address, only to die suddenly after heart failure three days later (CT, March 2, 1998, p. 73).

Lisa Sung, InterVarsity regional ...