Putting forth what Exponential believes in an important and timely conversation for church leaders, Exponential is honored to host the live, interactive gathering “The Gospel, The Church and Race” featuring Pastor Albert Tate and Pastor Bryan Loritts, author of the highly anticipated upcoming release, Insider Outsider: My Journey as a Stranger in White Evangelicalism and My Hope for Us All.
“Exponential is committed to helping church leaders better understand and pursue diversity in the church,” says Exponential Director Todd Wilson. “We are platforming this conversation at our regional events to support church leaders and equip them to shepherd their churches to not only be diverse, but also be a true representation of God’s Kingdom.”
During the After Hours event, Pastor Albert Tate will interview Pastor Bryan Loritts as they dive deep into what it’s like to be a person of color in predominantly white evangelical spaces today—and where we go from here. Attendees of all races and backgrounds will get the unique opportunity to discover how they can learn the art of listening to stories unlike their own, as they listen in to two leaders who together will share the true stories that often go untold—stories that will awaken both our minds and hearts to the painful reality of racial divides as well as a holy vision of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls “life together.”
The event is the brainchild of Tate and the first person he wanted to interview was Pastor Bryan Loritts. When Loritts wrote an op-ed piece in Christianity Today about the “evangelical gentrification” in the American Church, he received an overwhelming response of more than 1 million views and sparked a national conversation.
“Throughout the Book of Acts, God boldly proclaims: ‘There is no ethnic home team when it comes to Christianity’” Loritts says. “But the minority experience in America today—and throughout history—too often tells a different story.” Tate stresses, “The world is struggling in the conversation on race, and unfortunately, so is the church. Here is an opportunity for the church to be equipped in the conversation.”
The After Hours event will take place 7:30 to 9:00 pm on October 22 at Exponential’s Bay Area regional conference (October 22-23) at Echo Church in San Jose, California.
“The Gospel, The Church and Race” is sponsored by Stadia and is included in the cost of registration for Exponential’s regional conferences.
About Albert Tate: The founder and lead pastor of Fellowship Monrovia in Monrovia, California, Pastor Albert Tate has been preaching the gospel to people of all ages and races throughout the United States. Hearing a call from God, Albert and his wife LaRosa planted Fellowship Monrovia, a gospel-centered, multi-ethnic and Intergenerational church in January 2012. For several years, Tate has been a keynote speaker at Exponential’s annual conference in Orlando. He serves on the Board of Trustees at Azusa Pacific University and Fuller Youth Institute and was recently published in Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is the husband of LaRosa and father of four—Zoe, Bethan, Isaac and Micah.
About Bryan Loritts: Currently, the lead pastor of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Silicon Valley, California, Loritts is the co-founder of Fellowship Memphis, where he served as lead pastor of this multi-ethnic church for 11 years, helping to grow the church from 26 people meeting in a living room to several thousand. He is the president of the Kainos Movement, an organization aimed at establishing the multi-ethnic church in America as the new normal and has written several books, including the upcoming release Insider Outsider, God on Paper, Letters to a Birmingham Jail, Right Color/Wrong Culture, A Cross Shaped Gospel and Saving the Saved. Loritts sits on the Board of Trustees for Biola University and the Board of Directors for Pine Cove. He is the husband of Korie, and father of three boys—Quentin, Myles and Jaden.
