Forefront Conversations with David Swanson

“There is no such thing as a woke white person. That is a specimen of human that doesn’t exist. We will always be waking up.” These might be hard words for white allies to hear, but as the white pastor of a multiracial congregation on the South Side of Chicago, David Swanson knows a thing or two about it. In this episode, David talks about his history in the problematic worlds of mission work and church planting and how that informed his approach of servitude and equity when he was asked to be the lead pastor of New Community Covenant Church. We dig deep into his book, "Rediscipling the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Discipleship," and discuss the tangible approaches that white churches and white churchgoers can take to truly integrate diversity, equity, and multicultural respect into churches in ways that go way beyond just the simple aesthetics of a congregational makeup. ABOUT DAVID David is the founding pastor of New Community Covenant Church, a multiracial congregation on the South Side of Chicago. He helps lead New Community Outreach, a nonprofit that collaborates with the community to reduce sources of trauma, and speaks around the country on the topics of racial justice and reconciliation. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two sons. His book, "Redisciplng the White Church: From Cheap Diversity to True Discipleship" can be purchased from InterVarsity Press here: https://www.ivpress.com/rediscipling-the-white-church