‘Ministers of Reconciliation,’ with Dr. Matthew Kim

Dr. Matthew D. Kim joins Andrew and Alastair to discuss preaching on race and the Gospel.

How should pastors address the issue of race in their churches? This is exactly what Andrew and Alastair are talking about with Dr. Matthew Kim on this episode. Dr. Kim has both academic expertise and practical experience with this issue. He is a contributor to Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel. In this conversation you will learn about preaching the Gospel in a climate of racial tension, the boundaries of the act of preaching, and advice for pastoring diverse congregations.

The Book of the Month is Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel. In this collection of essays, issues of race and ethnicity are explored from a variety of perspectives, offering guidance to pastors on how to address those topics in their own contexts. Each builds on a foundational passage of Scripture. With contributions from Matthew D. Kim, Dhati Lewis, J. D. Greear, and more, Ministers of Reconciliation offers practical and biblically faithful approaches to the subject of race. For the month of August 2021, Mere Fidelity listeners will get a 40% discount on their purchase of this volume with the code MEREFIDELITYAUG21 at checkout.

This episode of Mere Fidelity is also sponsored by our friends at Western Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Holland, Michigan, where friends of the show like Todd Billings and Wesley Hill teach. Western is committed to helping its students engage in the work of racial reconciliation and justice, and has two new scholarship opportunities available: the Samuel Williams Award for Faithfulness in Justice and Reconciliation, which is a full-tuition scholarship awarded to an M.Div. student of color, and the Justice and Reconciliation Awards, which are worth 75% of tuition for up to three students. If you’re interested in either of these opportunities, visit Western’s website at westernsem.edu to learn more.

Timestamps

0:00
Book of the Month AND Scholarship Opportunities
1:55
Dr. Matthew Kim and His Work
6:09
Should pastors preach about racial reconciliation?
15:34
More Than Just Sermons
17:49
Emotional Intelligence in Church
20:41
Sourcing Stories in Scripture
25:04
The Biggest Obstacles to Talking About Race
32:52
An Example of Doing It Well
36:03
How can the church participate in the world’s conversation on race?

Follow DerekAndrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.

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