“If you are here unfaithfully with us / you’re causing terrible damage.” ~ Rumi the poet, 800 years ago in “Forget Your Life.”
Who you invite into your inner circle matters. You can love and welcome all your neighbors without submitting yourself to harm and abusive relationship. As a pastor I’ve had to learn (and still am learning) this the hard way. Some will choose to remain in the drama triangle—victim/martyr/persecutor cycle. Some will see you as a means to the end of their needs. You don’t have to stay close to that. You can remain hospitable and compassionate. You can demonstrate a forgiving-love. But you do not have to keep close company with those who cause terrible damage.
So, in the words of a quote I read the other day, “If standing up for yourself burns a bridge, I have matches. We ride at dawn.”
Fred came to serve greater Williamsburg and WCC as lead pastor in October of 2010 and is grateful to be a part of the family. He is a husband, father, certified trauma professional, S.T.A.R. (strategies for trauma awareness & resilience) practitioner, community organizer, TEDx alum, founder of 3e Restoration, Inc. and co-owner of Philoxenia Culture LLC. He received his B.S. in Ministry/Bible at Amridge University and his Master’s of Religious Education in Missional Leadership from Rochester University. Currently he is a candidate for a Doctorate of Ministry in Contextual Theology in at Northern Seminary in Chicago. Fred has also served as an adjunct professor for Rochester University and Regent University where taught courses in philosophy, ethics, leadership, pastoral care, intro to Christianity, and ethnography. He has also served as a guest lecturer on the subjects of racialized cultural systems, poverty, and missiology at various universities, such as William & Mary and Oklahoma Christian University. Fred has authored on book (Racialized Cultural Systems, Social Displacement and Christian Hospitality) and several curriculum offerings, including The FloorPlan: Living Toward Restoration & Resilience.
Fred enjoys hanging out with his family anytime, anywhere. He is deeply grateful for how God graciously works through the Church in all her various forms, despite our brokenness. He is passionate about seeing the last, least, and lonely of every neighborhood, city and nation experience God’s in-breaking kingdom, and come to know Jesus as King. Oh, and his favorite season is Advent and Christmas.
Fred is a founding member of the board of directors for Virginia Racial Healing Institute, a member of the leadership team for Williamsburg's local chapter of Coming to the Table, and a member of Greater Williamsburg Trauma-Informed Community Network's Racial Trauma Committee and Training Committee.
Through Orange Colored Glasses
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