Here are some highlights from Troy's talk.

On May 21, Bethany Community Church hosted their annual speaker event on racial justice. Troy Jackson spoke on the intersection of faith, racial justice, and political engagement. We invite you to watch his talk, followed by a panel discussion featuring Christians from around the Seattle area who are living it out.

• Troy began by identifying our current crisis: The Church in the United States is woefully divided and finds itself in a culture that seems fractured beyond repair. He asked, "How many people have lost a relationship because of political differences?"
• Troy leads an organization called Undivided that is committed to unite and ignite Jesus followers for multi-racial healing and justice.
• Many churches and pastors and congregations have worked hard to avoid talking about race or politics because they're divisive, but Troy asserts that we have given over discipleship and formation on race and politics to the voices in the world and we have in essence said that politics and race are simply too big for God. But that's not the God we see in Scripture.
• Troy observed that in John 17:20-23, Jesus prays that we, the church, are to be one so that the world will know Jesus is God's Son and that God loves them.

The dream of unity in the church will take a redemptive move of God. It will take a change of our hearts, a change of our minds, and a movement from the church being passive and vacating public witness in politics to moving to redemptive action.

Undivided did an experiment in Michigan, a swing state, in the leadup to the election. They asked, "Could we train people to have redemptive, non-partisan, non-persuasion political conversations? Because politics is toxic and ugly right now and it needs to be redeemed."

Here's the model for Redemptive, Non-partisan, Non-persuasion Political Conversations:

• Share your story
• Practice empathy
• Engage with curiosity and courage
• Make a list and reach out for conversations

You start by sharing a 2- or 3-minute story about something that has affected you or someone you love that helps shape how you're engaging with the political season we're in. Then, ask the other person, "As you think about this political season, what are you reflecting on? What matters to you?" Then respond with curiosity – "I'm curious. Has there been something that's happened to you or someone you love that makes this a really important issue for you?" This gets the conversation centered on story and value connection. The goal is not to convert the other person or convince them of anything. The goal is to listen well to their heart and their story and maybe find that there's some redemptive opportunity in the relationship. These conversations reflect Undivided's postures of Open Hands, Locked Arms, Hopeful Hearts, and Bold Steps.

Along with these points, Troy shared examples of the impact of people and groups both past and present working on racial justice, like Rosa Parks (in some ways you haven't heard of before) and the Amos project.