Acquire The Fire

Okay boys and girls...gather around for an interesting story...

So I got back from Acquire the Fire and it was quite an experience. First of all, I saw a sea of white the entire time (so blind!). A black male performed for a bit (Christian Hip-Hop which allowed me to show off my dancing skills) and one woman of color in the main skit was portrayed as the adulteror described from the Bible (you know the old cast the first stone story). I brought up this lack of representation to Mike, our main pastor for the weekend(he preaches the whole time and keeps things moving from sermon to altar call to skit to break). He offered a time for people to come up and chat with him because he's one of the head guys who lead Acquire the Fire. I don't think he thought a 5'2" feminist Christian with a canvas bag of the bond girl flipping him off would take the offer...but she did.

He was very nice and even hugged me after my questions (I'm soooo irresistible). He appreciated my challenege and said that it's racist to specifically hire African Americans and that some years they get more volunteers than others. I get it. You can't control who signs up to help. Here's the thing though. Their volunteers (young adults and teens who act in the skits, M.C., do cameras, lighting, and all that jazz) are actually students from their "university". Acquire the Fire is somehow hooked up with this university (I am unsure of its accredidation) that gets Christian teens interested in the media production to go to this school where they learn about doing media for God. That's a lot of paraphrasing on my part but that's essentially what this place is. Again, go to Acquirethefire.com for more!

So, my concern is that if your volunteers are predominantly white and they're from this "school", then what does that say about the population going to this school? I am in no way saying that Acquire the Fire is racist. Let's face it, I don't have the entire context. I'm just saying that people need to ask these questions. Why is God's love for mostly white people?

So where do I personally stand? As a feminist Christian I believe God loves all people and that an arena full of white churches, teens, and youth pastors, is not the norm. I want the kids in my youth group to see that and say, "Hey, I know this isn't how it's supposed to be and that people aren't being represented here." It's not about "seeking out African Americans" but rather inviting all to the table and understanding why protestant denominations have been historically segregated or separated by race. AND FOR THE LOVE OF MOTHER GOD STOP PORTRAYING WOMEN OF COLOR AS PROMISCUOUS! And stop claiming Jesus was white...he just wasn't.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my post on gender and Acquire the Fire. Spoiler Alert, they had a skit (yes I said skit) about abortion)!