• Español
  • Historical Archives
  • Convention
  • Contact Us
Support the Ministry Give
Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA
  • About
    • What We Believe
      • Statements and Resolutions
      • Confession of Faith In a Mennonite Perspective
    • History
    • Find a Church
    • FAQ
      • FAQ about Mennonites
      • FAQ about MC USA
    • Executive Board Staff
    • Church Structure
      • Area Conferences
      • Racial Ethnic Council
  • Ministry
    • Church Vitality
      • Women in Leadership
      • Church Planting
      • Wellbeing in Ministry
      • Ministerial Inquiry Form
      • Kineo Center
    • Faith Formation
      • Children and Families
      • Faith Formation with Youth
      • Faith Formation with Adults
      • Christian Practices
      • Pastors & Leaders | Deep Faith 2022
    • Peacebuilding
      • Learn Pray Join
      • Israel/Palestine Initiatives
      • Undoing Racism
      • Undoing Sexism
      • Peace and Justice Support Network
    • The Corinthian Plan
      • Corinthian Plan Staff
      • History of the Corinthian Plan
      • Why Mutual Aid Matters
      • Corinthian Plan Subsidies
      • Wellness Incentives
  • Agencies
    • Everence
    • Mennonite Education Agency
    • Mennonite Mission Network
    • MennoMedia
    • Mennonite Health Services Alliance
  • Events
  • Resources
  • News & Blog
    • Blog
    • News & Media
    • Menno Snapshots
    • MenoTicias
    • Publications and Newsletters
  • MennoCon
Mennonite Church USA Mennonite Church USA
  • About
    • What We Believe
      • Statements and Resolutions
      • Confession of Faith In a Mennonite Perspective
    • History
    • Find a Church
    • FAQ
      • FAQ about Mennonites
      • FAQ about MC USA
    • Executive Board Staff
    • Church Structure
      • Area Conferences
      • Racial Ethnic Council
  • Ministry
    • Church Vitality
      • Women in Leadership
      • Church Planting
      • Wellbeing in Ministry
      • Ministerial Inquiry Form
      • Kineo Center
    • Faith Formation
      • Children and Families
      • Faith Formation with Youth
      • Faith Formation with Adults
      • Christian Practices
      • Pastors & Leaders | Deep Faith 2022
    • Peacebuilding
      • Learn Pray Join
      • Israel/Palestine Initiatives
      • Undoing Racism
      • Undoing Sexism
      • Peace and Justice Support Network
    • The Corinthian Plan
      • Corinthian Plan Staff
      • History of the Corinthian Plan
      • Why Mutual Aid Matters
      • Corinthian Plan Subsidies
      • Wellness Incentives
  • Agencies
    • Everence
    • Mennonite Education Agency
    • Mennonite Mission Network
    • MennoMedia
    • Mennonite Health Services Alliance
  • Events
  • Resources
  • News & Blog
    • Blog
    • News & Media
    • Menno Snapshots
    • MenoTicias
    • Publications and Newsletters
  • MennoCon
Home / Convention / Restoring economic opportunity to communities of color
Jun 29 2021

Restoring economic opportunity to communities of color

This post is part of Mennonite Church USA’s MennoCon21 #BringThePeace series.

Veronica Quiroz is an intern in the Marketing department of Everence, where she supports projects and initiatives of the Everence marketing team. Veronica is a student at Marian University Indianapolis (Indiana), where she is majoring in marketing, with a minor in Spanish for the professions. On campus she serves as treasurer for Theta Phi Alpha and is on the cheer team. Veronica resides in Goshen, Indiana, along with her parents, sisters and two dogs.

Everence will host an adult MennoCon21 seminar, “Seeking Economic Justice in Communities of Color,” led by Leonard Dow and Mark Regier, Friday, July 9, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 262.

____________________________________________________

By understanding history, we can develop strategies that help advance economic racial justice and equity. In financial services, racist practices, such as redlining, predatory lending and housing discrimination have led to a massive loss of generational wealth for people of color. We, as a society, have a responsibility to promote equity and inclusion within our communities.

Leonard Dow, vice president of Community and Church Development, and Mark Regier, vice president of Stewardship Investing will share about the history of these practices — and what people and institutions like Everence® are doing to try to help communities recover — in the “Restoring Economic Opportunities in Communities of Color” seminar at MennoCon21. 

“If humans created systemic racism, then there is hope that we, as humans, can dismantle it. As followers of Christ, we believe we can enter the conversation, be well informed and dismantle this issue over time.” — Leonard Dow, vice president of Community and Church Development, Everence

Racist lending and financial practices have most likely affected your community, whether you realize it or not. And these practices are often perceived as fair by people who don’t understand the origins and effects. For example, many communities are affected by unconventional mortgage practices and differences in home valuation for “bad neighborhoods.” 

What is the best way to understand economic racial injustice?

According to Leonard, three steps can lead to better understanding of where we stand today with racial economic injustice:

  1. Learn from our mistakes, by understanding the history and how we got here. Racial injustice did not happen overnight, but it has been part of our history in the United States. It is also important to understand that this injustice is intentional.
  2. Engage with people who are personally impacted economically to gain a better insight into the economic injustice happening to communities of color.
  3. View this issue through a biblical lens as followers of Christ. Luke 4:18-19 (NIV) states,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Preaching the good news to all, God has taught us to include those who are less fortunate, and economic justice is part of God’s good news.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and are not intended to represent the views of the MC USA Executive Board or staff.

  • June 29, 2021
  • No Comments
  • Convention, Menno Snapshots
  • #MennoCon, anti-racism, Cincinnati 2021, Convention, dismantling racism, economic justice, economic privilege, economic racial justice, equipping seminars, Everence, MennoCon21, MennoCon21 #BringThePeace, seminar
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • E-Mail

Interested in submitting a blog for Menno Snapshots? Please see our blog guidelines here.

3145 Benham Ave. Suite 1
Elkhart, IN 46517

718 N. Main St.
Newton, KS 67114
Phone: (866) 866-2872
  • News & Media
  • Español
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
  • Convention
  • Resources
  • Give
  • Staff
  • Employment
  • Transparency in Coverage
©2020 Mennonite Church USA   |   Subscribe to PeaceMail to receive news and blogs compiled into one weekly email.   SUBSCRIBE