Moving the edges of understanding while creating a safe and open space for discussions on racism and racial justice have become hallmarks of the Convocation’s Racial Justice Book Group (RJBG), which is part of the Racial Justice and Beloved Community (RJBC) ministry.
“We’re a group of people who meet to read books and have wonderful conversations,” said Jane Scheiring, one of the co-founders from Church of the Ascension (Munich, Germany). After five years, a core group of eight to ten people has grown to about 18 very diverse people with diverse perspectives who meet four times a year to read all sorts of literature from all parts of the world that address the topic of racism and racial justice, said co-founder David Case, also a member of Church of the Ascension (Munich, Germany).
“We’ve had times when people break down and cry; the things we are reading are extraordinarily painful,” Scheiring said. “That’s the beauty of this group – we all are feeling that kind of intensity. And that’s where you develop. For me, personally, my radar to the world around me has grown so much.”
“I think sometimes, we don’t understand ourselves or the context we are in. The books and discussions offer a pathway into understanding ourselves and our communities,” Case added.
The book group grew out of the George Floyd murder in Minnesota, Scheiring explained. After that, the Church of the Ascension started to look at ways to understand racism and what they could do to further educate themselves. “I said – we can read books because I love to read,” Scheiring said. “There are so many powerful books out there, and I talked to David and we started the group in 2021.” What has evolved, they said, is a harmonious group that is devoted to the topic. Interestingly enough, the book group’s appeal has reached outside of the church community. “In fact, one woman was searching the web for a book group on racism and she found us; now she is a regular member of our group,” Scheiring added.
While much of the current news focus is on racism in the United States, “the themes (of racism) are still fundamentally the same,” Case said. “The way they appear in public spaces, whether they are hidden or out in the open,” may differ but the same things happen. “Police stopping you while driving Black? It’s happened to me in the UK; it’s happened to me here in Germany. One of the things I’ve found in readings these books is – ‘I recognize that.’ Even if it’s from a different setting.
“We all have various amounts of unconscious bias. One of the things our book group does is to try to explore that, understand what’s within us,” he continued. “We often don’t like what we see,” Scheiring added. “It confronts you, confronts me. And we’re trying to see: where is Jesus in all of this? What does this mean for me, where I am?” Case concluded.
Each year in September, Scheiring asks the group for book recommendations, which she compiles into a list and sends back out for a vote. The group is given the names of the books they will read and the dates they will meet for the next year in October. “I think that’s why the group is solid; people know months in advance what they’re reading and when they’re reading,” she added.
“The wonderful thing about the list Jane produces is that even though we read ‘just’ four books, there is a wonderful panoply of books we can read if we so wish. There are so many amazing books, it’s a real struggle to choose just four,” Case said.
February is Black History Month in the U.S. and Canada and, “to be quite honest, I’m of two minds” about the large-scale impact of such initiatives, Case said. Both concurred, however, that things happening at a small level, like the book group, make a difference. They mean “we are paying attention. People within the group will share articles, movies, podcasts,” Scheiring said. “It shows a degree of awareness, alertness, connectivity,” Case added.
The group meets once a quarter on Zoom for about one and a half hours on Saturdays, starting at 10 am (CET). A list of upcoming books and times can be found here. Case and Schiering emphasized they are always happy to have others join the group on its journey of exploration.
Racial Justice Book Group meets four times a year, on Zoom, Saturdays at 10am.
Click below to find this year’s schedule and book listings, and to register to join.