Pastors take lead to promote racial harmony

A diverse local group of church and community leaders that has been meeting weekly for the past 1½ years is targeting improved local racial reconciliation with an event on Saturday.

The racially diverse group calls itself “Simunye,” which in the Zulu language means “we are one.”

The result is their first event, “Celebrate Simunye,” to be held Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. at Southgate Church, 2111 S. Center Blvd. in Springfield. National speaker Dr. Charles Ware from Indianapolis will deliver the keynote address. He will talk about his own “Grace Relations” initiative, which is gaining ground across the country.

A multi-church choir and the premiere of Simunye’s introductory video will also be part of the event. Admission is free, and there will also be a children’s event held in conjunction with the program.

Ware is president emeritus of Crossroads Bible College, which is dedicated to training leaders to reach a multi-ethnic world. He works closely with Ken Ham, whose ministry includes the Creation Museum and the built-to-scale Ark Encounter, both near Cincinnati. Ware and Ham have co-authored the book, “One Race, One Blood.”

Simunye’s goal is to increase racial peace and harmony within the overall church body and in the community, during a time when it is desperately needed.

Pastors from two of Springfield’s largest churches, Southgate’s Bobby Hile and St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church’s Ernie Brown, are founding Simunye members. Hile explained the origin of the group’s unique name.

“Before I came to Southgate, I served as a missionary in South Africa for 18 years and (Simunye) was a popular word as the country shifted from segregation to more racial integration, and it fit what we are doing when we get together here,” he said.

The group had humble beginnings, with an initial goal of hosting a high-profile conference on racial reconciliation.

“The subject is very dear to Bobby’s heart and my heart, but when we had our initial meeting about the conference, I was very apprehensive that we weren’t doing what the conference would be teaching about,“ said Brown. “So we committed to just spending time together every single week getting to know each other. As we were able to begin relationships with each other, we began talking about the subject.

“We defined some terms like race and racism - how do you define these, because everyone has their definition,“ he continued. “We spent about a year brainstorming on how to make an impact on our own personal lives, our churches and the community we live in. There was prayer, brainstorming and a coming together as churches. We just kept it a small group, so we could really enter into each other’s lives.”

The “coming together” included a multi-racial prayer meeting last year involving area churches represented within the group. They also took a road trip together to Memphis, Tenn., last April to attend the 50th anniversary commemoration of Martin Luther King‘s death, which drew an estimated 7,000-8,000 people. These went well, and so did the relationship-building.

“I think it is accurate to say over the course of the year, our relationships have grown tremendously,” said Brown. “Now, we are looking at how we can spread this to our congregations and beyond.”

Establishing strong relationships allowed the group to define its focus, identity and goals, which then set the foundation for Saturday‘s event.

“We’ve established three areas we want to focus our attention to as a group,“ said Hile. “The goal isn’t to meet for the sake of meeting, or just that we learn love each other more. The main focus is how we do life together.”

Those three primary objectives are interconnection, instruction and intercession. “Another way to put it is fellowship, education and care,” added Hile.

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The group’s purpose is clear.

“(Our cause is) because there is so much hatred in the world, to glorify God by loving Him, loving all peoples, and causing others to do the same,” said Brown. “We had to be very real in our understanding that there are going to be folks who aren’t going to like what we are doing. But I don’t care. I’m going to fight the war. But I just want to fight it strategically.

“I’m happy with how things are progressing,” Brown continued. “We have a long way to go, and we’re definitely not where we need to be. We knew it was going to be a sacrifice. We had to make a commitment to be in it for the long haul, because it is very exhausting work.”

Hile agreed that making progress won‘t be easy.

Brown says the topic is “the elephant in the church,“ and that churchgoers don’t want to talk about it because of its volatility.

Still, Hile believes this effort can succeed despite the fact that many other efforts have either stalled or failed? His reasoning?

“(It’s) because I believe in the power of the gospel, because I believe the gospel has an ethic connotation to it,” he said. “(The Bible) says go and make disciples of all nations. It tells us we must break down the walls of racial division.”

Added Brown: “If we only accomplish something among ourselves, it would have been worth it. But my hope is we can have an impact on the greater community and the greater church with what we are doing. If our congregations see the light and are able to love each other and able to have their minds changed by the way we treat each other and love one another, then it would have been worth it. Then that builds the foundation for what God can do with it (on a larger scale).”


How To Go

What: Celebrate Simunye

When: Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m.

Where: Southgate Church, 2111 S. Center Blvd. in Springfield

Info: Admission is free. A children event will be held in conjunction with the event.

We Are Simunye!

The newly formed group of local pastors and community leaders called Simunye includes:

Dave Cotto, pastor at Clifton Avenue Church of God in Springfield

Eli Williams, president and CEO of Urbana Light Ministries in Springfield

Sam Bryant, senior pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Springfield

Ernie Brown, senior pastor at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield

Dr. Murray Murdoch, professor at Cedarville University

Stephen Massey, victim advocate at CitiLookout in Springfield

Jeff Pinkleton, executive director at The Gathering of the Miami Valley

Greg Dyson, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in London

Aaron Roy, church planter at Converge in Springfield

Jason Carrier, pastor of community development and global outreach at Southgate Church in Springfield

Bobby Hile, senior pastor at Southgate Church in Springfield

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