Church of God, Bridge Builders Partner in Alabama Event
Selma and Montgomery, Ala.— Church of God leaders and laity gathered for the historic Montgomery/Selma Experience event hosted by Bridge Builders Network on Thursday, March 24. The day was filled with listening, learning, and camaraderie amongst attendees.
Nearly 200 gathered to tour Legacy Museum in Montgomery and cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. More than $8000 dollars in pledges towards scholarships was raised toward the local Selma school districts by the Church of God Intercultural Advancement Office. The day’s activities also included a food distribution.
“This community is a food desert and there are needs that have arisen during this pandemic,” stated Kelvin Colbaris, lead pastor of Impact Church in Orlando, Florida, and president of Bridge Builders. “We are here today to share compassion with these families.” The group distributed supplies to more than 700 families with help from Operation Compassion.
Bridge Builders operates under the mantra of, “Uniting cultures and generations for the advancement of God’s kingdom, and fulfilling the prayer of Christ, ‘Father, Make us one’ from John 17:21.
Participants in Thursday’s event toured the historic Legacy Museum in Montgomery (click photo to enlarge)
Several Church of God leaders joined in the event including Director of Youth and Discipleship Rob Bailey and Alabama State Administrative Bishop Terry Hart.
Dusty Wilson, administrative liaison to the General Overseer, represented the Church of God Executive Committee at the event and presented a “Resolution of Recognition and Honor for Racial Unity and the Church of God:”
WHEREAS, all believers are commanded to demonstrate and uphold a Christlike example and lifestyle, one of acceptance, affirmation, and unconditional love; and
WHEREAS, in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile, black nor white, men nor women, but we are all one in Him; and
WHEREAS, since its beginning in 1886, the Church of God has been a movement of inclusion and acceptance, honoring all races, cultures, and creeds; and
WHEREAS, Rebecca Barr, an American woman of African descent accompanied her husband Edmond to the Bahama Islands in 1910 becoming the first Church of God missionary; and
WHEREAS, the 50th General Assembly in 1964 adopted a resolution on human rights affirming the worth of every individual; and
WHEREAS, a resolution adopted by the Church of God in 1990 commits the church to be “international…transcending culture, race, nationalism, and politics;” and
WHEREAS, Bridge Builders is a ministry founded on principles of networking people and movements together toward a mission of racial reconciliation; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the Bridge Builders event is to recognize the pain and contributions of the past to forge relationships for the future;
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that Bridge Builders and the Church of God recognize the contemporary state of race relations and cultural diversity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that both organizations gather at the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge to lock arms, crossing the bridge representing the cause to promote and lead unity; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that leaders from Bridge Builders and the Church of God come together to unite cultures and generations for the advancement of God’s Kingdom and fulfilling the prayer of Christ, “Father, make us one!” (John 17:21).”
