Yet in another sense, Melanie and I were destined to lead a cross-cultural ministry majoring in racial reconciliation. When I played football at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, even through some tough times on campus, we were working on racial reconciliation. I came to a church that Wayne Gordon, a white man, had founded. He stepped aside as senior pastor, but he's still here. He's my best friend in the world, but the relationship has not been without a struggle.
Leadership dynamics are tough enough between people of the same race.
But when you're dealing with a church that's 85 percent African-American and 15 percent Caucasian, those issues are amplified. If Carey doesn't step up, I'm going to jump in. I have the tendency to not want to hurt him because he's the founding pastor. But because we are close to God and we meet every morning, we are able to get behind closed doors and do head-knocking. We pray, cry, scream, and critique, then get down the road.