The cross can become a sanitized symbol if we are not careful. Protestants’ Easter focus on the empty cross risks rushing right past Good Friday right past the suffering part.

James H. Cone thinks Americans have a particularly powerful symbol available to us for truly grasping the horror and tragedy of the cross, if only we are willing to see it.  In his 2011 book “The Cross & the Lynching Tree,” he looks deeply into what America’s 5,000-plus lynchings mean for Christians ‘white and black’ today, as we seek to bear the cross of Jesus.

Cone’s book will be a central focus of our Lenten study at Grandview, as this predominantly white church explores the issue of race in a deep and sustained way throughout the season.  The YWCA will provide study circles on Sunday mornings and Monday evenings, in which we can engage the topic with support from trained facilitators.

Jesus Christ calls Grandview United Methodist Church to be a fully inclusive church, recognizing the sacred worth of all people, including those of every sexual orientation and gender identity.  We embrace those who are marginalized for any reason.  Grandview cultivates respectful discussion of differences among all who seek to love their neighbors.