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Racial Righteousness Facilitators

A very capable and passionate team leads our journey to racial righteousness.  They are:

Ali Hasan, San Jose, CA
My name is Ali Hasan and I was born and raised in a segregated neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio.  I served in the military during the Vietnam era. I have been married over 25 years to Karen and we have three adult children--Akia, Kalia, and Jahmai "AJ".

I professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior just after discharging from the military. I submitted to a call to ministry over twenty-five years ago and began serving the local jail and prison in a teaching ministry. I am currently serving a multicultural ministry in Santa Clara, CA at Great Exchange Covenant Church. I began serving GrX in January 2006 as Couple’s pastor and eventually assumed the role of Spiritual Mentor/Counselor on staff at the church. I believe the subject of racial righteousness is important because it is part of God's overall plan for humankind not only to become reconciled to himself, but also with each other through Jesus Christ. I am convinced the fundamental message of the unity of God’s people in a world torn by alienation, segregation, and isolation is the message in our Lord’s Prayer in John 17.  Racial righteousness is a call not only to accept ourselves as "image bearers", but to recognize "His image" in ALL of our brothers and sisters. In practical terms this means we must reach out and incorporate those of different cultures in our faith communities.  However, this cannot be a Sunday morning activity only—it must also involve our living places!
 

Bernard Franklin, Kansas City, KS
Dr. Franklin is currently Executive Director of Kauffman Scholars, a unique program funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to move semi-motivated urban 7th graders in metro Kansas City to high school graduation, and then support them to college graduation and reaching their destiny in a productive future.

Dr. Franklin is the former pastor of City Church, a cross-cultural church, in urban Kansas City, which he and his wife founded. He also has a private counseling practice, which primarily includes the professional athletes and their families of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Franklin served as Vice President and Urban Director of the National Center for Fathering from 1996 to 1999 in Kansas City, where he directed education efforts to urban men. He traveled to West Africa to research the fathering heritage of African American men for a soon to be published book. Franklin recently published a chapter in the book, The Faith Factor in Fatherhood: Renewing the sacred vocation of fathering. His chapter is titled: Fatherhood in the African American Church. He is currently working on another chapter for a book with the theme:  Are Black Father's Necessary?

In 1998, Franklin was honored as one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in Kansas City; and the Morehouse College Research Institute presented him the Vision Award for his "pioneering work in the area of educating men on the importance of fatherhood".

Franklin has an MS in Counseling and Behavioral Studies from the University of South Alabama and a Ph.D. in Counseling and Educational Psychology, with an outside emphasis in Family Studies from Kansas State University. The father of three sons and a daughter, Franklin has served as a consultant to numerous institutions and professional organizations on urban family issues, and is regarded as a leader in articulating the challenges of inner city families and communities.

Carolyn Poterek, Salem, OR    
Carolyn is a high school pastor in Salem, Oregon. Before entering into full-time ministry she was a Spanish and U.S. history teacher. Carolyn’s passion for racial righteousness began when she herself was in high school while traveling in Latin America and growing up in the Chicago land area, still one of the most segregated cities in the country. Carolyn is thrilled to be teaching the Invitation to Racial Righteousness curriculum that is being used in local Covenant churches around the country, as she believes that change can and should occur in and through the Church. Having been a teacher and now a youth pastor Carolyn is committed to engaging people from all stages of life into a journey toward racial righteousness.

Richard Lucco, Detroit, MI
Dick and his wife Valerie have been married since 1975. They have two adult sons, Zach and Drew, and two teenage sons, Chris and Jeff. Dick grew up in the St. Louis area and has been a passionate St. Louis Cardinals fan for 46 years. He loves Jesus, loves the church, and loves pastors and their families and is excited everyday about the opportunity to serve in the GLC.

J. Wilson Herrera, Chicago, IL
I was born and raised in Armenia, Colombia being the second in eight children. I graduated in Psychology in my country. With my wife Lina and my three kids, Andrés, Adriana and Denise, we moved to the USA 9 years ago to pursue theological studies. In Colombia I used to be the National Director of the IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) Colombian chapter for about seven years. Since I left that position I have been involved (in Colombia and the USA) in the pastoral role with three different churches, the last one, a Covenant community in the Chicago area.

In 2000 I was invited to be part of the Department of Christian Formation to coordinate the Hispanic Ministry with which I am working now.
Racial Righteousness is within my own formation as a human being and as a follower of Christ. Because of my mestizo background Racial Righteousness evokes to me justice. And been a foreigner and also classified with a new race (Latino, Hispanic) makes me aware of the necessity of working deeply on this ontological perspective for the sake of the values of God’s kingdom, which is Racial Righteousness.
 

Joan McPherson, Chicago, IL
Joan McPherson has over twenty-five years of ministry experience in a variety of congregation and outreach settings. She is a professional facilitator, platform and motivational speaker.  Providing pastoral care and outreach to numerous urban and suburban congregations, as well as to individuals, and those who where within correctional and community facilities, homeless, or who have suffered abuse or domestic violence.

She attended North Park University & Theological Seminary, matriculating with a dual Master degree; Master Business Administration (Management Concentration) and Master of Arts Theological Studies in 1995.  

Presently, Joan is the Community and Congregational Relations Coordinator for The Night Ministry. The Mission of The Night ministry is to provide a ministry of presence for those of the nighttime streets, recognizing the uniqueness, dignity and value of each person.  The Night Ministry seeks to bring individuals a message of acceptance and hope, accepting them as they are, in an affirming and compassionate manner and calling the larger community to the same mission.

Joan has served on numerous boards and committees within Illinois area. Currently, Joan is in the early stages of exploring a Doctoral Degree, with an emphasis on Service as a path for spiritual development and enrichment.
 

Lisa Hutcherson, Tacoma, WA
I was born in St. Louis, Missouri and am the oldest of 4 sisters and 1 brother. My family moved from St. Louis to Evanston, Illinois in the mid seventies as part of a multi-cultural church plant of which my father is still a member to this very day.

I accepted Christ into my life at the age of 12 and was baptized at the age of 17 at Bethel AME church in Evanston during a time where I longed to know and understand African American history and heritage in the church.

On August 22, 1992 I married a wonderful man of God,  Pastor Darryl Hutcherson. In 2001 God called us to Tacoma, WA  and the North Pacific Conference to plant a multicultural church named “Tapestry Covenant Church”, where we are intentionally working at living out the command of Jesus “to love one another” as he has loved us.  For years I served as a Sunday school teacher to the junior high and high school kids, sang in the adult choir and conducted district workshop study groups for junior high age children.

In my spare time I love to read and write short stories and poetry. My background and education is in business management, financial services, and over the years, I have done training and seminars for people who strive to be successful in the area of marketing and outside sales.
 

Mary Putera, Alaska
Mary Putera is a full time student at North Park Seminary and is currently living in Chicago with her family. She and her husband Joe share 23 years of marriage and three children, Chelsey 22, Jesse17, and Joey 15. They currently reside in Chicago.
   
Regarding her hope of the I2RR experience Mary writes; “Although I have worked in areas of injustice and have been in the middle of many socially lead efforts to alleviate the pain of oppression and division, little success has been achieved. Man has created this deadly circumstance and it is only through the power of the presence of Christ that the suffering created will and is being eradicated. I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve the Evangelical Covenant as a facilitator for Invitation to Racial Righteousness. This Experience is an Invitation for us to be with Christ in the midst of painful existence so that we may truly be transformed.”   

Carolyn Rose, Royal Palm Beach, FL
Born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, I have six sisters and three brothers. My husband, Mike, and I left Los Angeles 20 years ago to attend a Bible college in Oklahoma City, OK. From there we traveled to Kansas City, KS to minister in a local congregation. While we were in Kansas, our family grew by three – three boys – Michael, Jr., Jonathan, and Matthew. We moved to Florida about six years ago and became members of a Covenant church in Miami. We have been pasturing in Royal Palm Beach since 2003.

The one thing that has always excited me about the Covenant church is the very apparent willingness to really cross racial barriers. Many churches and denominations give lip service to racial harmony and back it up with an annual harmony day. One day out of the year in which to come together, sing a few songs and then separate with a sigh of relief. The other 364 days of the year are spent pretending that other skin colors do not exist or matter. But God reminds us over and over again of His two greatest commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul” and “Love one another” – and He did not qualify either of these commandments by adding a line about skin color or ethnicity. I believe it is important that every Christian get these commandments grounded in our spirit. Make them the foundation of every relationship. In this way true racial righteousness – God-based righteousness - will become a reality.

Debbie Griffith, Oak Park, IL
I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois with my brother Ronald. I graduated from Rosary College with a BA in Business Administration. I was employed at ComEd for 30 years in a variety of positions in the Human Resources Department, receiving an early retirement in 2002. Currently, I am enrolled at North Park Seminary in the Master of Arts in Christian Education program scheduled to graduate in May 2005 and working part-time at the Central Conference as the Director of Conference Ministries.

I am a very active member of Fellowship Christian Church of Oak Park and Evangelical Covenant Church for almost 10 years.

I am the daughter of a magnificent mother Jean. Mother of two lovely daughters, Kelley and Kimberly, mother-in-law to a wonderful son-in-law, James, and grandma to a fantastic grandson JaySon.

Debbie Blue, Chicago, IL
Debbie Blue is a lifelong Chicagoland resident, currently residing in Calumet Park. She is a member of Community Covenant Church of Calumet Park, IL, where she served in a variety of Christian education ministries. Debbie responded to the call to ministry in the Department of Christian Formation for the Evangelical Covenant Church in 1996 after completing her studies in Christian education at North Park Theological Seminary.  Debbie now serves as the Executive Minister of Compassion, Mercy, and Justice for the Evangelical Covenant Church. She was Commissioned by the Evangelical Covenant Church in June 1998, and Ordained to Specialized Ministry in June 2003.  Debbie is the mother of three, and grandmother of 5.

Deric Gilliard, Stone Mountain, GA
Deric Gilliard, who was born in Atlanta to the parents of a young military couple, remembers his first civil rights experience while driving across the country with his father, Spencer Lee Gilliard, who used to take him out of school three weeks early every spring so the two could travel together.  Riding through parts of the deep South, including Alabama, Gilliard recalls he and his father – the only black member of the U.S. Army’s pistol marksmanship team – being repeatedly threatened and harassed by police and state troopers during the mid-sixties. Gilliard also recalls riding trains for long distances with his mother through the deep South in the early 1960s and being unable to occupy a seat because they were all reserved for white passengers.
    He currently serves as the public affairs advisor to the southeastern regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Gilliard is also a minister at Commissioned Disciples Covenant Church in Stone Mountain, GA., and serves as the historian for the AAMA (African-American Ministers’ Association.)
Wife: Catherine (25 years); children: Adam, 24, Dominique, 21, Veronica, 12
    “I believe racial righteousness and reconciliation are critical and worthy goals because in order to become a true Revelations 7:9 community, we must first get to know each other by valuing every person and culture as equals within the community of faith.  If we truly love our brothers and sisters as ourselves – and as Christ loved the church – we have a moral and a biblical responsibility to both pursue and demand racial righteousness and reconciliation. Consequently, I have committed my life’s work to chronicling and retelling the testimonies of those who have invested their very lives in the struggle for racial righteousness, many of whom suffered greatly for righteousness sake.”
 

Liz VerHage, Chicago, IL
Liz Mosbo VerHage is passionate about renewing the church through quality, sustained, multi-cultural ministry and racial justice!  Since the fall of 2004, she has worked at Bread for the World’s Upper Midwest Regional Office, organizing around “the ONE Campaign”. Liz studied Theology and Community Development at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, and is currently a doctoral student in Ethics at Garrett-Northwestern in Evanston, IL. She has experience with church-based compassion and justice ministries and asset-based community development, has written curriculum and other pieces on practical ministry and social justice, has traveled throughout the Republic of South Africa, and teaches and consults at various levels within the denomination.

Peter Sjoblom, Chicago, IL
Peter is the co-founder and vice president of the Chicago Urban Reconciliation Enterprise (CURE). CURE consists of a biracial team which has been together for 27 years as a church service organization. Peter has led workshops and seminars relating to the significance of racial and ethnic diversity within the Evangelical Covenant Church. He has been actively involved with the National Black Evangelical Association, The NAE/NBEA joint council on race relations and continues consulting work in the area of Racial Righteousness. Peter is a member at North Park Covenant Church, is enrolled as a special student at North Park Theological Seminary, and is certified as a coach for the Central Conference with Natural Church Development.
 
Peter is married to Joanna and has four adult children.
 

Rick Mylander, Omaha, NE
Rick Mylander grew up in Chicago, and has been a Covenant pastor for more than 25 years. He accepted call in 1996 as Associate Superintendent and Director of Church Planting for the Covenant's Midwest Conference. In this capacity he serves churches across six states, coaching new church development, church health and transition, and pastoral care.

Deeply committed to issues of unity in Christ, he believes the Covenant’s commitment to growth in racial diversity as typified in its School of Racial Righteousness may well be the most important contribution our small denomination will ever make to God’s Kingdom.

Rick and ministry partner Gail make Denver their home and enjoy four grown children.

Mona Harris, Minneapolis, MN
Mona Miller Harris spent her childhood in a racially homogenous, single industry town in northern Minnesota. It was from that vantage point that he watched the national Civil Rights events of the 1960's on the CBS television network (the only channel available). God lead Mona on a pathf experiences and encounters that tested her, her father, and her faith. Life is a series of daily learning experiences. Enter Ron - a person of another race - and love, marriage and children. Loving and mothering across racial lines brings one to a painful understanding of race in America and a heart wrenching desire to seek atonement. Mona shares, "My husband and three children have been my professors in a very real way as we have sorted through being multicultural and biracial. Our dinner discussions and their letters from college have always stretched me to new awareness."  The Harris family - which also includes a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and five grandchildren - attends and is involved in ministry at Community Covenant Church in Minneapolis. Mona is employed as a program director for the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership, Inc.

 

Sharon Cairns-Mann, Walsenburg, CO           
Sharon’s experience with the School of Racial Righteousness was powerful and life changing and she is eager to take this experience into Covenant churches and beyond.  Sharon is a professional writer, speaker and business owner with a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Communication. She and her husband are members of Christ Community Covenant Church in Arvada, but much of the year they live in the high desert of southern Colorado, where you can frequently hear Sharon muttering, “So many words, so little time!”