Timeframe: 0:00-6:11

• What have you learned about Blackness in theology? In culture?
• How would you define Evangelicalism? Black Evangelicalism?
• Are Black and Evangelical conflicting identities?
• Is Evangelical a political or theological marker? (within the context it is you)
• What makes you more or less likely to use the label Evangelical?
• What’s your story? How have you experienced the crossroads of race and faith?

Timeframe: 6:11-13:50

• Give a brief history of Westlawn Gospel Church and what was happening as Westlawn Gospel Church was founded. 
• How does where you live (or where you come from) inform your faith
  experience?
• How well do you know the background of your neighborhood (and the
  neighborhood of your church?)
• Who are the Nottage brothers? Why are they important? 
• What was BM Nottage’s message? 
• How did the unique experiences and expressions of the historic Black Church shape Black Evangelicalism? 

Timeframe: 13:50 - 20:45 

• How did you enter the world of Evangelicalism? What drew you there?
• What institutions and organizations were entry points into Evangelicalism for those in the film?
  • 1.
  • 2.
  • 3.
  • 4.
• What makes you feel “at home” in a church or Christian institution?
• What does Dr. Soong-Chan Rah say about the emergence of US Evangelicalism? What was tied to this emergence?
• What is a common experience of Black Evangelicals in primarily white Evangelical spaces?
  
  

Timeframe: 20:45-31.15

White America had slept through a revolution, especially white Evangelical Christians.
Bill Pannell

• How does our faith relate to matters of systemic prejudice and social inequality? 
• What was the purpose of the National Negro Evangelical Association (NNEA)? When was it formed?
• What were some factors that led to its creation? 
• The NNEA was comprised of Black Evangelicals with different approaches to
  questions of faith and justice; what can we learn from their unity amid their clear
  differences in ministry strategy?
• What was the white Evangelical’s response to the creation of the NNEA? What assumption was connected to this response?
• Who is Howard Jones?
• After Howard Jones joined Billy Graham’s evangelistic association, he
  experienced tension from both the white and Black communities. Describe the
  various reactions to Jones’ ministry.
• What did the shift from the term “Negro” to the term “Black” represent?
• Dr. Jemar Tisby notes the transition from advocating for racial desegregation in
  the 1950s-1960s to promoting autonomy and assertiveness during the Black
  power movement in the 1970s. This shift also affected Black Evangelicals. How
  did this evolving focus, from seeking integration to emphasizing Black
  empowerment, likely influence the priorities and challenges of Black
  Evangelicals during that period?

Timeframe: 31:15-56:40

• Who was Tom Skinner?
• What are some reasons people related to Tom Skinner’s story?
• What is the dissonance Dr. Jemar Tisby mentions about Urbana’s mission focus?
• What is the experience of Black Evangelicals at the Urbana ‘67 Conference? 
• What did the Black students at the Urbana ‘67 Conference decide to do?
• What happened at the Urbana ‘70 Conference? 
• In what ways did the larger Evangelical movement positively and negatively engage Black Evangelicals?
• What are some main points in Tom Skinner’s message? 
  • 1.
  • 2.
  • 3.
• What were some examples of white Evangelicals’ compromise and complicity in
  US racism? Are there examples of complicity today?
• Tom Skinner asserts that any message of the gospel must address the issues that bind people. What are some of the issues mentioned?
• What was InterVarsity’s response to Tom Skinner’s message? 
• Consider the Urbana 1970 gathering and Tom Skinner's sermon. Dr. Tisby states
  that Skinner contextualized the gospel for Black people by starting with the
  history of 1619, highlighting the complicity of white Evangelicals in racism. What
  does this historical approach reveal about the relationship between faith and
  history, and why was it so critical for Skinner to address this in his message?

Timeframe: 56:40-1:11:05

Loving our neighbor as ourselves includes working for justice. No justice, we rob the gospel of its power. Evangelicals are robbing the gospel of power because they’re leaving out justice.
Dr. Melvin Banks

• Both white and Black Evangelicals hold a high view of Scripture. Why might there be a disconnect between different communities reading the same Scripture?
• Who is Dr. Melvin Banks? What did he do? 
  • 1.
  • 2.
  • 3.
• What is problematic with having white-centered Bible material?
• What was the dynamic between Dr. Banks, UMI, and Scripture Press?
• Dr. Banks desired a whole gospel message. What was that message? What did Dr. Melvin Banks feel was missing in the missionary message often preached?
• Who defines where justice begins and ends? How did differing definitions of justice impact Tom Skinner’s relationship with white Evangelical institutions?
• What does Dr. Soong-Chan Rah allude to being the motivation/priority to the white institutions’ break with Tom Skinner?
• How does context affect ones attitude towards racism? What examples are given in the film? 
• Does neighborly love require us to know our neighbor? Why or why not?
• How did Dr. Bill Pannell influence Tom Skinner?
• What is the dual commitment Dr. Ron Potter mentions from Dr. Bill Pannell’s book?
• What does Bill Pannell’s book My Friend the Enemy say about the experience of Black people in primarily white spaces? Does this surprise you? Why or why not?
• Bill Pannell’s book, My Friend, The Enemy, suggests that Black Evangelicals in white institutions often find their white colleagues to be both "friends and enemies." According to Dr. Tisby, white Evangelicals create this dynamic because they adhere to hyper individualism. Using the various examples from the film (such as the Urbana conference, Skinner’s sermon, and the Promise Keepers movement), what specific behaviors or beliefs might cause this paradoxical dynamic, and how might it affect a Black person navigating these spaces today?

Timeframe: 1:11:05- 1:26:15

We affirm that racism is a severe and fervent sin. It is an idolatry which makes God in the image of the controlling group, and uses God to justify willful or unintended evil against minority interests.
Prayer at NBEA & NEA Convocation on Racial Reconciliation, 1995

• 1979 the Moral Majority was founded. Conservative political commitment became part of the Evangelical identity. Why would this be good or bad?
• Why was Dr. Pannell unenthused about the Racial Reconciliation Convocation in 1995?
• What is your response to the prayer above? Why?
• Racial Reconciliation was a priority at the 1996 Promise Keepers conference. What were some things that were learned? What else was needed?
• Dr. Tisby suggests that many white Evangelicals in the 1990s, particularly within movements like Promise Keepers, lacked the imagination to address systemic racism, opting instead for interpersonal gestures like hugging and crying together. Based on these insights, what is the key difference between this Evangelical approach to racial reconciliation and the approach taken by many Black Christians during the struggle for civil rights?
• According to Dr. Ruth Bentley, white Evangelicals were eager to get to the solutions without fully understanding the questions. What is your response to this statement?
• What does a commitment to the justice of God look like? Do you know anyone who lives out this commitment well? What makes them a good example?
• What is colorblindness? What is the lived experience of this approach for the
  people in the film?
• What is color consciousness?
• Dr. Tisby states, "For Black people, racism is existential. We can’t not talk about it." In light of this, how might the idea of "color-blindness" — which Tisby defines as a refusal to see Black and Brown people in the fullness of their humanity —create a fundamental conflict for Black Evangelicals and other Christians of color in predominantly white church institutions. What does he propose as an alternative?

You cannot heal what has not been named.
Dr. Nicole Martin

Timeframe: 1:26:15-end

• What other stories about Black Evangelicals need to be told?
• What stories need to be told about our global church family?
• Respond to one or two of the following quotes. 
  • Jesus prayed that we be one just as He and the Father are one, and that hasn’t happened and so that would be my desire.
    Dr. Ruth Bentley
  • There’s an obligation for those of us that sit in these seats, that run these centers, that are in these historically predominantly white institutions, that we have an obligation to make sure that the space is not toxic, that it’s not just tolerating, but that there is room for Black thriving.
    Dr. Dwight Radcliff
  • Thriving is going to be taking on the ministry of reconciliation. I have a colleague who says they believe that the hope of the church is the Black church and that if we have to be divided then I want to be in the ministry of being that hope.
    Dr. Joy Moore
  • Evangelical theology is good, we’re just not embodying it well. And hopefully we can redeem the movement from the inside.
    Rev. Brandon Washington, Th.D.
  • So we ask the question, “What is this ‘whole gospel’? What does that mean?” It has to point to our responsibility to one another communally.
    Dr. Vanessa Quainoo
  • The word “evangelical ” is not a certain partisan politics. The heart of the word “evangelical” is evangel - the good news.
    Dr. Soon-Chan Rah
  • It’s fear that causes us to gravitate back to what we used to have or what used to be and we can’t go back. We’ve gotta keep dealing with the times in which God has allowed us to be alive in the world. And to me that’s where we draw on Jesus and the values of the kingdom. We’re here now. We’re God’s light now. We’re God’s representative in the world now. And we have the responsibility of showing God’s love now.
    Dr. Stan Long
• Where do you see the spirit of hope and activism?
• What is your story? What would you like people to know?
• What might the Lord be calling you to?