Welcome back to The Stoop Sessions where we have casual conversations about ministry on the Baltimore stoop. In each episode, Joel, Stephanie, and Eric talk through different topics and occasionally bring on a friend.

As the Stoop crew continues their focus on personal evangelism, we offer Eric’s testimony as an example of how the Lord uses people, sometimes without their knowing, to lead another to Christ.

In today’s episode, Stephanie interviews Eric on how his cousin, CJ, shared the Gospel with him. Eric began attending a church after his daughter was born. Around the same time, CJ was coming to an understanding of the Gospel, reading, and talking about Jesus. CJ and Eric met weekly to read and talk. God used these meetings to bring clarity and faith. Listen and be encouraged to take the Gospel to your own friend’s and family, leading them to know Jesus.

Stephanie Greer is a Gospel Worker funded through ONE HOPE serving with The Garden Church. Eric Hill is an elder at The Garden Church and a Physical Therapy Assistant by day.

How did Joel, who is white, end up pastoring in a predominantly black neighborhood in Baltimore? Is that a good idea? Should church planters be looking to put roots down in a neighborhood within, or apart from, their own ethnic culture? In this episode, Eric asks the question, “Can we talk about the fact that Joel is white?” From that point, the stoop discussion takes place on this question, asking Joel why he planted in the first place, and what landmines may be present. Topics of discussion include impure motives why anyone would desire cross-cultural work; how having black members can be twisted into a mere a marker of “success” in some evangelical circles; whether it is necessary for churches to be cross-cultural in order to be Biblical; and how partiality for our own culture can subtly sabotage table fellowship. The crew also shares wisdom and encouragement, on the importance of authenticity and humility for potential pastors and church members navigating the tides of racial discourse within the body.

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Private school? Christian school? Homeschool? We continue our discussion on schooling in the inner city. In our last episode, Joel and Eric made a case for why they have chosen to send their kids to Baltimore City Public Schools. In this episode, the Stoop crew calls a few friends who have taken a different approach. First, we chat with T.C. Taylor who also sends his kids to public school. Then we call up John Erickson and talk about Hope Academy, an affordable Christian school in inner city Minneapolis; Joe and Duncan Maye who started their own Christian school for neighborhood children in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Creston Thomas who, along with his wife Alina, homeschool their children in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. (Listen to part one for our chat on public school)

Support the Show: www.onehope.gives/donate