One Tribe, One Table, our joint conference with the Fellowship, along with MCC participation, was a rewarding and spiritually renewing experience for me and an important occasion for The Coalition as a whole. The Fellowship is a network of churches that are predominately African-American, predominately same-gender loving and transgender, with a theological intention of radical inclusivity. Most of the churches worship in a Pentecostal tradition. The Fellowship is convened by Bishop Yvette Flunder, whom you may know as Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder, pastor of City of Refuge UCC in San Francisco. A number of Fellowship churches are UCC or are considering joining the UCC.

We had about 60 Coalition folks at the event, joining the 300 or so from the Fellowship, so the feel of the gathering was more from the Fellowship than it was from Coalition.

For many Coalition participants the style of worship and even plenary sessions were entirely new.  Masculine language for God was challenging, even painful. If we had been more informative about the conference being a partnership of two groups, I think the unfamiliar aspects would have been easier to navigate.

The affiliation represented in Dallas is a priority for me. Bishop Yvette Flunder and I are friends with mutual respect who appreciate each other’s spiritual paths. I wanted The Coalition to have the opportunity to also get to know Bishop Flunder.

Also, as a historically white organization in a historically white denomination, The Coalition benefits from more diversity—not just in race, but also in culture, age and theology. Going where people of color gather is very different from inviting people to join us. It gives those of us who are white an experience of being in the minority.