For our third episode, we are excited to welcome Mark Vroegop and Trillia Newbell as our guests.

Mark is the Lead Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis and is the author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, which was named the 2020 ECPA Book of the Year. Most recently, he has published Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation.

Trillia has published several books, including the children's book God's Very Good Idea: A True Story About God's Delightfully Different Family. She is a sought after speaker, and her articles are often featured in outlets such as Christianity Today and the Gospel Coalition. She is currently is the Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention.

Since the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, many church leaders and other committed Christians (including this one) have engaged in conversations about racial reconciliation. And, it is important to take time to listen and to empathize. But, at some point, these discussions should turn into action steps. This is one of the key reasons I started this podcast. I want to know how to think about key issues in public life, but I also want to know what to do to impact them.

As I have engaged in conversations about racial reconciliation, I have encountered a hurdle or impasse of sorts. Many black Christians and white Christians (and many black Americans and white Americans more broadly) see this issue from different cultural lenses, and finding middle ground from which to take action is difficult. So, where do we go from here? The church, equipped with the gospel, should lead on the issue of racial reconciliation, but we need a first step forward.

This is why I am so grateful for Pastor Mark Vroegop and his new book Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation (release date: July 14, 2020). Mark is the Lead Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, which won the 2020 ECPA Book of the Year Award. In this interview, Mark explains the Biblical concept of lament (taken from Romans 12:15) and how this shared language can lead to important conversations and, ultimately, racial reconciliation.

Key Takeaways:

• Mark’s personal journey on the issue of racial unity and justice.
• The steps he has taken (along with staff and members of his congregation) to build racial unity at College Park.
• The idea of a Civil Rights Vision Trip and how this impacted his church.
• A description of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (if you have not heard of this before, please take time to follow the link; it is powerful), which includes the last known lynching in Indiana in 1930. If you are unfamiliar with this horrific story, see this article.
• An explanation of the five steps to Biblical lament: love, listen, lament, learn, leverage.
• A high-level overview of books on racial reconciliation and justice.
• A fascinating story about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s time at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and how that experience influenced him when he returned to Germany.
• How to lead your church or community in the first step toward racial reconciliation.

Mark’s website: http://markvroegop.com

College Park Church website (with a number of resources): https://www.yourchurch.com/

Purchase the book on Crossway here.

Just about every pastor has preached at least a few sermons on how to go through trials. They can have all the right scriptures, all the best theology, all the best words to encourage and inspire the people they’ve been entrusted with. But what happens when a trial hits the pastor’s life? That’s what Mark Vroegop found himself asking when he and his wife lost their unborn daughter just weeks before she would have been born. As further medical complications made the aftermath of this tragedy even more difficult to navigate, Mark and his wife found themselves in a place where everything they believed was tested. And in that season they learned a deeper way to relate to God. They learned to lament. Mark sits down with Davey to talk about what he’s learned about walking through suffering and how we can develop a deeper relationship with God by trusting him with our pain.

Visit Mark's Website

Check out College Park's Website

Buy Mark's Book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy

"Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?" (Psalm 94:20)

"Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust." Why is understanding songs of sorrow so important for our thinking about race? Why is lament so important that a third of Psalms are lament? Join Isaac Adams and Mark Vroegop as they answer these questions:

What does the Scripture teach about the grace of lament?

What is the importance of Christians understanding race? How does understanding the grace of lament apply to the issues of race?

What about colorblindness that some people read into Colossians 3:11?

What is the distinction between repentance and remorse, and why does it matter for the conversation on race?

How have you used civil rights trips within your congregation?

Why does it matter that your church looks like your community?

How do you think through urban renewal and foreign missions?