Arrabon

Arrabon

Richmond, VA, US

Arrabon is a spiritual formation ministry that equips the American Church to actively and creatively pursue racial healing in their communities.

About This Field Partner


The Problem: The inability of the American Church to address racial brokenness

Despite Jesus’s call to be peacemakers, churches in America remain plagued by an inability to address racial brokenness in their communities. Churches are uniquely positioned to bring racial healing. Instead, they often mirror secular political philosophies or disengage from issues of racial brokenness. This is due to several well-intended but misplaced emphases that create obstacles to pursuing racial healing, including:

●  An emphasis on shame over hope: Language laced with shame may momentarily create a desire for change but acts as a demotivator in the long run. People cannot creatively reimagine and innovate when mired in feelings of shame. Instead, they must be motivated by a hopeful vision of the future.

●  An emphasis on information over formation: Information alone doesn’t change people. To heal areas of racial brokenness, people must be invited into healthier ways of being and engaging in the world.

●  An emphasis on theory over practice: Churches need both sound theory and sound practice to experience transformation. An overemphasis on theory leads to a disconnect between knowledge and embodied action, ultimately leading to inaction.

●  An emphasis on the individual over the community: Individuals form communities, and communities form individuals. It is the responsibility of Christian communities to form people into reconciling communities.

●  An emphasis on partisanship over peacemaking: In polarizing times, people are tempted to fall into in-group vs. out-group thinking - labeling others as “for” or “against” them. The practice of peacemaking in the midst of divides is the place where spiritual maturity is tested and cultivated.

These misplaced emphases tend to move race-related conversations in unhealthy directions: toward divisive engagement rather than spiritual, interconnected practices. Instead of being a beacon of hope, the Church’s prophetic voice is weakened, creating increased levels of distrust and disengagement.

What is needed is an approach to race-related conversations that put the focus back on the things that promote racial healing and harness the Church’s strategic role as agents of reconciliation.

The Solution: Equipping the Church to Pursue Racial Healing

Arrabon is a spiritual formation ministry that equips the American Church to actively and creatively pursue racial healing in their communities by offering a discipleship process that results in a new action.

We provide pastors and church leaders the resources they need to transform their churches into reconciling communities – moving from impasse to agency in the midst of racial brokenness.

Arrabon Programs:

Supporting Bridge-Building Leaders
Committing to a creative process of change is tough work, especially in the area of racial healing. Arrabon supports the executive leaders with "Pastoral Pauses" -- supportive, shepherding, and coaching conversations for senior leaders and their teams to have a safe place to discern how to navigate the dangerous terrain of reconciling work. In 2022, Arrabon began hosting a few retreats for bridge-building leaders with the goal of establishing these as a regular program rhythm.

Apprenticing Churches in the Arrabon Way
Arrabon empowers leadership teams to generate lasting change by learning the skills and habits needed to build a reconciling community. They then work this out by creating "Arrabon Artifacts" -- new practices, programs, and/or partnerships that showcase the transformative power of peacemaking in their churches and communities.

Resourcing Reconciling Communities
Arrabon offers self-led, low-barrier resources designed to cultivate the soil of reconciliation by providing a shared knowledge and language for discussion rooted in Scripture geared toward helping churches practice biblical reconciliation.

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  • 458 Days to go
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    Arrabon Training

    by Executive Access 50K Lives Impacted

    ​We exist to equip you and your community to effectivelyengage in the work reconciliation. We equip Christian leaders and their communities with ...

  • 458 Days to go
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    Urban Doxology Songwriting Internship

    by Arrabon 18 Lives Impacted United States

    SUPPORT LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURE MAKING IN THE URBAN CONTEXT. Our internship equips the next generation of Christians to write a new narr...

  • 458 Days to go
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    Urban Doxology

    by Executive Access 20K Lives Impacted United States

    Urban Doxology is a part of the nonprofit ministry Arrabon that thrives on the generosity and financial investment of others.WHAT DOES "URBAN DOXOL...

  • Thank you for supporting Arrabon!

    by Arrabon 10K Lives Impacted Richmond, Virginia, United States

    The Problem: The inability of the American Church to address racial brokenness Despite Jesus’s call to be peacemakers, churches in America remain...

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Arrabon

Richmond, VA, US

Arrabon is a spiritual formation ministry that equips the American Church to actively and creatively pursue racial healing in their communities.

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