April 16, 2010
Friday
9:30 am – 2:30 pm

Prosser Auditorium, HUB
Moravian College
Locust & Monocacy Streets

Program Fee: Free
Contact Hours: 3.5 (.35 CEUs)

Streaming video option

Many churches embrace the idea of multiculturalism in principle, but aren’t sure how to embody it in practice, while some already attract people from a variety of backgrounds and want to become truly welcoming communities.  In these lectures, noted author and church leader David Anderson will talk about ways to foster “gracism,” a set of convictions and attitudes that build a congregation’s confidence and help it to take practical steps toward inclusion.  “Cultivating the soil for tomorrow so that it is ready when a multicultural seed comes to the garden of your unicultural community is a wonderful way to live. Developing a multicultural mindset before you have a multicultural ministry is important,” but congregational leaders at any point in the journey will benefit from Dr. Anderson’s reflections on creating vital (and varied) communities of faith.

Streaming video for this event is available via a high-speed Internet connection. Watch the lectures live from your own computer, and interact with the speaker by email, IM or text message. Details

Dr. David Anderson is founder and President of the BridgeLeader Network (BLN), a diversity consulting firm launched in September, 2000.  He is the former host of a nationally syndicated radio talk show host that aired on one of the largest stations in the nation’s capital. His weekly program, “Reconciliation Live,” focused on issues of race, diversity, and multiculturalism through interviews with guests, discussions with callers, and insights provided by Dr. Anderson. Dr. Anderson is also the founder and senior pastor of Bridgeway Community Church, a multicultural congregation of over 2000 weekly attenders, located in Columbia, Maryland.  In addition, Dr. Anderson is a visiting professor of diversity at the University of Phoenix and has been named by Savoy magazine as the number one up-and-coming religious leader to watch in their listing of 100 most powerful Black leaders in America (July 2003). Dr. Anderson is a published author with two new books coming out within the year. Dr. Anderson's newest book, Gracism: The Art of Inclusion, was released in May 2007. Gracism was given an award of merit for the Christian Living category of the 2008 Christianity Today Awards.