Enlarge Coming together has helped Greater Providence and Mint Hill Baptist churches. (illustration)

Posted: January 30th, 2012 Ken Garfield

The hope of Xchange Sermons is that swapping pulpits is just the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In this third year of the campaign to inspire reconciliation among people of different beliefs and backgrounds, there is mounting evidence that relationships are flourishing long past the last words of a sermon. Among the 60 participating congregations, Temple Beth El has established an annual, gospel-infused Sabbath service each January honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the cause of racial harmony. Piedmont Unitarian Universalist and Friendship Missionary Baptist churches are planning a partnership to include worship, fellowship, food and programs on healthy living, including nutrition, yoga and meditation. Click here to learn more about Xchange Sermons and how you can get involved. The program runs through May.

There is no more powerful illustration of an abiding friendship than the one that binds Greater Providence and Mint Hill Baptist churches. The former, on Milton Road, is predominantly African American. The latter, on Matthews-Mint Hill Road, is white. The story of their coming together rises above the racial divide that sparked the relationship.

Back in 1995, after a racially tinged act of violence sparked unrest in that part of Mecklenburg County, Revs. Fred Gibson of Greater Providence Baptist and Lee Proctor of Mint Hill Baptist met at a clergy breakfast meeting. Their conversation went from “Nice to meet you” to “Let’s start working together.” All these years later, the work continues on several fronts.

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Posted: January 20th, 2012 Crystal Dempsey

Video and report by Rid Creative Media

Some learned English as a second language. Some are former refugees just hearing English for the first time. The FACE Project (Friendships Across Charlotte Ethnicities), the brainchild of Amber Schrenkel, brings together elementary school students in a fun social setting, in hopes of stimulating new friendships.

The idea is to help kids look past their differences and focus on a common experience. A Crossroads Charlotte A.C.T. (Achieving Community Today) project winner, the FACE Project took the kids ice skating and the result was pure magic.

Posted: January 19th, 2012 Ken Garfield

At first glance, it looked like any other Sunday morning in the pews at Providence United Methodist Church: A largely white congregation gathered to worship God – very friendly and slightly older, which is typical now for mainstream, moderate congregations in Charlotte and beyond.   

But what was different on the pulpit on this Sunday (Jan. 15) told the story of Xchange Sermons, and the story of anything-but-average houses of worship willing to take a stand for reconciliation. On this weekend honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Providence United Methodist welcomed the pastor and choir from St. Mark’s United Methodist, an African American congregation on Clanton Road. At the start of this third season of clergy of different beliefs, color and cultures swapping pulpits, the message of Rev. Paul Milton rang out in an extraordinary way: “Have you heard the voice of God?” he preached to 650 at the two morning services. “When God calls you by name, He will say, ‘Yes, you can.’ ”   

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Posted: January 18th, 2012 Lee Howard

West Meck Senior Donavon Dicks won this year’s Pride Global Youth Award, which honors an outstanding Mecklenburg County high school student who has demonstrated global volunteerism, fundraising for worthy causes or mission work. The Pride Awards recognize outstanding accomplishments in the African-American community.

Members of the Occupy Charlotte movement asked the Charlotte City Council last week not to prohibit camping on city property, which would force the protesters to remove their tents and belongings from old City Hall. Council members are considering crowd-control ordinances to prepare for September’s Democratic National Convention, which will likely draw hundreds or thousands of protestors.

A significant cluster of Chinese scientists and their families has migrated to Cabarrus County in the last few years. They've come to work at Dole’s NC Research Campus. They have found their growing numbers helpful in adapting to the area.

Time Out Youth (TOY) has hired a new executive director,Rodney Tucker. Long known for his involvement with the LBGT community, Tucker says he’s optimistic about TOY’s future. Tucker is a native of nearby Oakboro, N.C., and a former employee of the Regional HIV/AIDS Consortium.

The ostensibly non-partisan Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board, now nonetheless in the hands a Democratic majority, is in the throes of selecting a new CMS superintendent. How will the selection play out? For the last two years, no party has held five votes on the nine-member board.