It is a great honor today to introduce today’s presenter, Laura Pritchard. Laura is presently the Director of Multicultural Living at Madison Church’s Square Campus. Among her many duties is oversight of the work of the anti-racism team, outreach to the Madison Square neighborhood, and leading worship at Madison Church’s Square Campus. She has mentored numerous worship leaders over the years, modeling by example how to love a multiethnic congregation by learning and singing the worship songs of many people groups while continually striving to do so with increasing excellence. Laura is an experienced anti-racism trainer, facilitating “Understanding Racism” 2.5-day workshops both at Madison Church and other churches around Michigan. For decades Laura has been a long-serving member of Madison Church’s leadership team, offering a voice of wisdom and often challenging the church to continually grow in its desire to be a more fully reconciled body that actively works to dismantle systemic racism. She knows Madison Church is not a perfect church and yet has stayed committed to the mission of this body in spite of numerous hurts, misunderstandings, and difficult periods. She also is a regular panelist on the Antioch Podcast, and has been a guest on the Truth’s Table podcast. Above all else, Laura is a faithful servant of God, walking out what she believes by her faithfulness to this imperfect body of multiethnic believes at Madison Church.
On a personal note, Laura has deeply impacted my own life. I met Laura in 1992 through Madison’s Gospel Choir, and our relationship continued through serval worship teams in the ensuing decades. Laura’s commitment to truth-telling and transparency about her faith and her struggles, including struggles about race, deeply shaped me. Her voice and passion as a singer inspired me and helped to shape me as a gospel musician. I have been fortunate to know and be sharpened by my friend, Laura Pritchard.
Let’s go now to hear Laura give this presentation, entitled “Hosting Well.”
CITED SOURCES:
This is a link to the article by Daniel Jose’ Camacho briefly mentioned in this presentation: