A Light+Life Podcast
With guests Patrick McNeal and Kurtis Koffkey
Hosted by Brett Heintzman

Jeff Finley
Light + Life Executive Editor
Jeff Finley is this magazineâs executive editor. He joined the Light+Life team in 2011 after a dozen years of reporting and editing for Sun-Times Media. He is a member of John Wesley Free Methodist Church where his wife, Jen, serves as the lead pastor.
by Jeff Finley
Free Methodists in Genesee County, Michigan, are working to foster unity, empathy and understanding in an area that the local Flint Journal newspaper describes as having âa long history of racial tension.â
The county was once among the top 10 most segregated metropolitan areas in the nation, but the newspaper reports that the county seat, Flint, is âgaining a more diverse mix of people,â and its suburbs âare slowly growing more racially diverse.â One predominantly White suburb is Flushing, which is home to Cornerstone Community Church where Kurtis Koffkey became the senior pastor last year after serving as the associate pastor since 2013. Koffkey has connected in recent months with fellow Free Methodist Elder Patrick McNeal, the director of the North Flint Neighborhood Action Council and a facilitator for Community Roots.
In an interview with Brett Heintzman for a new episode of âThe Light + Life Podcast,â McNeal and Koffkey shared how Cornerstone partnered with Community Roots at the recommendation of East Michigan Conference Superintendent Brad Button who had participated in several of the groupâs events. Koffkey recalled that Button âsaid this was by far the most gracious and assertive, mercy-filled conversation that could be had regarding race, racism and change.âÂ
McNeal described Community Roots as âa community think tankâ that âcomes together to identify issues in community and find ways to deal with them.â He and three longtime friends formed the think tank after the May 25, 2020, murder of George Floyd for which Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in April 2021.Â
âAll of us are from the same ZIP code â the 48505 ZIP code of Flint, which is the poorest, most economically devastated community in Flint â yet we all have at least one masterâs degree,â McNeal said. âWe wanted to do something to stop our city from tipping over into what could potentially happen when left unnoticed. We began this idea of saying, âWe need to have courageous conversations around race.ââ
Community Roots launched in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, because McNeal and his friends felt like the need was too big to wait. They initially visited Flintâs four quadrants to hold community dialogues, and they also held online sessions for people who didnât feel comfortable meeting in person.Â
McNeal described a community dialogue as âa really good listening session wrapped around some strategically placed questions about how we really got to this place and what are some ways that we can potentially get out.â While some people mistakenly expected the meetings to just be people venting frustration, they discovered âa structured way of beginning to take steps toward a better reality than the one we have right now.â
Koffkey said Cornerstone hosted Community Roots for an event with âa research structure â an invitational model to be heard.â He added that approximately six people were seated at each table with instructions to âlisten to one another. Weâre not going to interrupt. Weâre going to ask these questions, and everyoneâs going to have time to respond. Weâre going to record your responses, and weâre going to be showing these responses back to Genesee County to show them what the community is saying and how to move forward.âÂ
The event was held outside in the churchâs parking lot for safety reasons because of the pandemic, but that didnât stop Cornerstone from setting up tables with tablecloths and centerpieces.
âWe made it look nice, because this is an honoring conversation,â Koffkey said. âWe were able to sit down, have some food, spend time with one another. … When you invite everyone to the table, it helps you understand that you arenât the only voice that needs to be heard.â
McNeal emphasized that Community Roots is ânonconfrontational, nonjudgmentalâ with a goal âto begin a conversation that will end with change.â When he facilitates a discussion, he tells people: âMy job is not to fix you. My job is to open you up and allow you to take your own inner journey.â Community Roots allows people âto have the space, offering them the grace to be open and honest knowing that you wonât judge them â knowing that if you see them at the grocery store, youâre still going to speak to them.âÂ
Community Roots has adopted the mantra âyou can only walk with someone as fast as they desire to go.â McNeal explained that you sometimes have to walk slowly with someone else as the other person picks up the pace so that you donât leave that person behind. Otherwise, âyouâll leave somebody who really could have been beneficial to the change we want to see.âÂ
Koffkey emphasized having âthe posture of humility â saying, âI donât have all of the answers, but I trust the One who does, and weâre going to learn together with brothers and sisters who are navigating this same life with us.ââ He added âI know that my God is a God who wants to give more life and wants to disentangle us from the ways that are tripping us up.â
Nonpartisan Camaraderie
Koffkey attributed the eventâs success to factors such as not using âthe same language we hear in our homes. It isnât the same language that we hear on the news or on social media.â Instead, organizers were âinviting everyone at each table to have a voice. Then it created camaraderie in that we really are in this together, so how do we make this better?âÂ
âI appreciated the wisdom from Community Roots and how they handled the conversation, and the questions themselves were full of wisdom,â Koffkey said. âI think the biggest thing that helped this conversation is it was done in the context of honor. There wasnât a context of shame. There wasnât a pointed finger of blame at anyone or anything.â Â
McNeal said his father taught him that people should never discuss race, religion or politics. However, those conversations are necessary, but partisanship should be avoided.
âIt isnât whether you are R or D,â said McNeal, referring to the major political parties. âItâs literally: How has your life and where you come from, through your vantage point, positioned you to deal with these issues?â
Koffkey agreed and emphasized the importance of âreframing the conversation. If the church is full of elephants and donkeys, we donât have room for the lion and the lamb. … We werenât asking people to switch political camps. We were asking everybody to come where they were and ask that God would reform their own circles.â
The pastor added that the Community Roots session at Cornerstone âgave people the opportunity to ask sincere questions, not baited ones. It transformed our heart from wanting to lead people into positions of defensiveness and attack [and instead] into sincerity.â He added that most people sincerely want to end racism, but âthe language weâve been taught â the language weâve observed â has been so married into political affiliation, we get defensive or we start attacking, and this event showed us a new way. It was that third way. It got rid of the âeither/orâ paradigm, and it was we can actually enter into this with humility, and every question gets to be asked in sincerity.â
Participants found common ground.Â
âWhat was such a blessing for me as a pastor was to see people from all sides of the political spectrum come together and all leave saying, âThis was the opportunity that we needed to move forward together,ââ Koffkey said. âThe process itself was just this invitation to speak and an invitation to be heard, and I think that brought a lot of healing and unity in our congregation.â
The Ministry of Reconciliation
Some people expressed concern when Koffkey first mentioned that the congregation would be discussing race.Â
âI had to host at least five different one-on-one, really hard conversations in my office, but the beautiful thing is this: When people came in even with trepidation and were able to sit down with me, and we talked through why this is important, we left on the same page,â Koffkey said. âAnybody thatâs sincere about falling after Christ has to be reminded of 2 Corinthians talking about that we are ministers of reconciliation (5:11â21). You have been reconciled to God, and you are reconciled to one another.ââ
Koffkey said the world often identifies problems but fails to identify the correct solution. The church can enter saying, ââWe have good news,â and so we are able to offer that good news especially in the context of racism, because we do have hope, we do have strength, and we do have a way forward.â
Community Roots discussions are designed to address problems instead of only being a forum for personal opinions.Â
âKnowing the Word is not enough according to James (1:21â27). You have to be a doer of that same word you know,â McNeal said. âThatâs what we try to bring. How do we help people activate that part of themselves that for too long they may not have even had to deal with?â
McNeal said that âbringing four Black guys into all White spaces usually makes people scratch their heads, so we actually ended up all bringing our spouses. Instead of it being four men, it was actually four men, four women â all Christ-lovers.â
Although the leaders love Christ, Community Roots does not limit itself to Christian audiences.Â
âAt the end of the day, the goal is to reach those who are lost, and Iâve learned that lost [people] come in all shapes and sizes,â McNeal said.Â
McNeal said many Christians say that sin causes racism, but âthe problem becomes when you realize that the sin is yours.âÂ
Koffkey said that American Christians can âmove beyond a huge theological framework into the iterations of what sin looks like in our communities, and we canât be afraid of calling people to repentance. Calling people to repentance is our main job.âÂ
He said it can be a painful process for the blind to receive sight.Â
âSo many people are afraid of condemnation in regard to this conversation about racism, forgetting thatâs not what Jesus is planning on doing when he brings up sin. Conviction is so totally, characteristically different than condemnation,â said Koffkey who pointed to John 3:17, âFor God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.â
Click here to learn more about Community Roots or call Patrick McNeal at 810-219-9515.
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Jeff Finley
Light + Life Executive Editor
Jeff Finley is this magazineâs executive editor. He joined the Light+Life team in 2011 after a dozen years of reporting and editing for Sun-Times Media. He is a member of John Wesley Free Methodist Church where his wife, Jen, serves as the lead pastor.