The past few years within the United States has been especially challenging for the ministry of unity. Nationally we’ve experienced significant changes from our previous era of consensus. Changes in:

*Politics

*Polarization

*Global Health Crisis

*Mental Health

These changes have necessitated a change in how American Christians approach unity as a practical matter. The polarization has brought American culture to a state of protracted conflict. This conflict has no end date. The day to day work of unity is no longer about sitting in the room with difference, it’s about whether I’ll even enter a room with different people who are my opposites, my enemies.

The culture current which had driven the society together is no longer adequate for finding common projects, common hopes, and common dreams.

As a ministry founded to focus on unity across difference both confessionally and around race/ethnicity this change has meant a fundamental rethinking of our approach to this work.

We are now in a phase where we would want to highlight what is possible between Christian communities and to invite pastors and leaders who are interested in learning more onto training offerings about how they can deepen their work around Christian unity.

In 2021, KMS will help to facilitate a new phase of dialogue between Catholics and Evangelicals and will co-partner with Freedom Road LLC around the importance of truth-seeking in Evangelical and Pentecostal spaces. Our hope is that these two concrete initiatives will help build some needed ‘faith infrastructure’ for denominations and traditions to seek unity more fully.

Funds for these trainings will go to support rural ministers and those in congregations without education budgets, to help support their thoughts and reflections in pursuing this work.