Racial Justice by Kumar Rajagopalan

INTRODUCTION

In my role as Regional Minister for Racial Justice I seek to address three key issues:

1. Helping Baptist churches to address and overcome the sin of racism in their church and community.
2. Helping churches to reflect the different cultures present within them in all aspects of church life.
3. Helping churches to address the issues faced by refugees and asylum seekers in a biblical manner.

My Approach

Diversity is the Lord’s mark of creative ingenuity. It should bring us joy, vitality, excitement and rewarding challenges. Sadly, through sin, humanity has misused and abused this wonderful God given diversity. Humanity is united by its propensity to divide.

Thankfully through Christ we witness God reversing the effects of our sinfulness. As Christians we are called to work with Him to see His kingdom come and His will be done in a manner that reflects the heavenly picture of every nation, tribe, people and language living and worshipping together, on earth as in heaven.

To achieve this goal we must address and overcome the sin of racism. This will be painful, but as we do so we can proclaim the gospel of reconciliation to a divided and broken world with credibility, because we will be seen to practice what we preach.

LBA RACIAL JUSTICE TRAINING

Course I: THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

• Racial Justice Through the Eyes of God - Building the Biblical Consensus for Racial Justice.
• Racial Justice Dialogue – An opportunity to express and understand one another’s thoughts, emotions and understandings.
• Multi-cultural Church – What is it? Why built one? How do we build such a church?
• Dimensions of Culture What are they and how do they affect multicultural ministry?

Course II: THE MISSION IMPERATIVE OF RACIAL JUSTICE

• Gracious Understanding of Other Faiths
  • 4 part course on Hinduism
• Background, History and Aspirations of Immigrants in Britain.
• Prejudice, the Perennial Galatian Error and its Effect on Mission
• One God? Many gods? – Developing a Mind-set for Cross-Cultural Mission.

Course III: CHRIST-CENTRED APPROACH

• (A) THE INCARNATION - SHARING THEIR HUMANITY
  • Walking In Their Shoes (I) - What Shapes Our National and Cultural Identity?
  • Walking In Their Shoes (II) - Understanding One Another’s Cultural Values
  • Walking In Their Shoes (III) – Understanding One Another’s National Characteristics
  • Walking In Their Shoes (IV) – How Does God’s Word Affirm & Challenge Our Cultural Values? Communion, Bereavement, Children etc.
  • Walking In Their Shoes (V) - Conflict Mediation Across Cultures 
• (B) JESUS IN EGYPT - GOOD NEWS TO THE MARGINALISED
  • Great Britain – Great Through Immigration
  • Exploring Migration
  • A Biblical and Historical Study of Communities in Exile.
• (C) JESUS’ MINISTRY - CONFRONTING EVIL
  • Clash of Cultures. Powerful vs. Powerless, Suburban vs. Inner City, Rich vs. Poor, 2/3^{rd 1/}3^rd World. Racism & Economic Exploitation, at Home & Abroad. What can churches do? Trade Justice, Debt Relief etc.
• (D) JESUS’ MINISTRY - THE CROSS OF TRUTH, JUSTICE & PEACE
  • Naming the sin of racism. Listening, Repenting, Forgiving, Reconciling, Renewing, Moving On, AND REPEATING THESE STEPS  

Course IV: CHALLENGES WE FACE TODAY – FOR THOUGHT & DISCUSSION IN CHURCHES

• Getting to grips with justice? How and when?
• Racism: Perception & Reality. Going Underground?
• Frustration and Fatigue of Racial Justice.
• The Political Agenda for Assimilation / Integration; Trevor Phillips, EHRC, etc.
• The Power Behind Current Rhetoric.
• White Identity–Redemption, Restoration & Renewal?
• Making Sense of BU Council’s apology.

Course V: ADDRESSING LOCALISED & INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

• What are the racial justice issues in your community and what can the local churches do to overcome this issue ?
• What steps are churches taking to promote economic & social justice at home and abroad ? Fair Trade, Debt crisis etc.

If as a church you would like to take up one or more of these courses, please contact me. If you have thoughts on areas not covered above that you think will be helpful, please let me know. These courses are available as Sunday sermons, as a one-day programme or as a Sunday or midweek series. Your choice!

Kumar Rajagopalan

Racial Justice downloads

Send message to Kumar Rajagopalan

Windrush @ 60

On Sunday 22 June 2008, Kumar helped organise a special event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush in London.

The Apology for the Transatlantic Slave Trade by BU Council

On 14 November 2007 the Baptist Union Council issued an apology for the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Click below to download a copy of the apology and a copy of a report setting out the results of a survey of the response of LBA Ministers to the apology.

The Apology(16Kb) Apology Survey Report(135Kb)

Black History Month: October 2007

Click below to download some studies prepared by Kumar Rajagopalan for Black History Month (October 2007).

Studies for Black History Month (Oct 2007)(114Kb)

Breaking Chains...Making Peace

Kumar Rajagopalan preached the keynote address at the London Event on 23 June 2007:

"Breaking Chains ... Making Peace" (96Kb)

LBA Ethnicity Survey 2003

A survey form was sent to every LBA Church seeking statistics for 2003. You can download the results by clicking below. The file includes a copy of the survey form.

LBA Ethnicity Survey 2003 (114Kb)

Press Article about Racial Justice Issues

A three part article about London entitled Every race, colour, nation and religion on earth was published in the Guardian on 21 January 2005.

Role of Regional Minister (Racial Justice)

Job Description and Person Specification for Regional Minister (Racial Justice)as used when Kumar was appointed.