Mission Mississippi of Leflore County, a group promoting racial reconciliation, will hold a “Day of Dialogue” April 9 at the Leflore County Civic Center.
The program, which is free and open to the public, will run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and will include “a quick breakfast and some fellowship,” said the Rev. Peter Gray, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.
“The ‘Day of Dialogue’ is a time to spend a bit more time talking,” Gray said.
Neddie Winters, the statewide director of Mission Mississippi, will speak at the beginning and the end of the program.
The Leflore County Chapter of Mission Mississippi, technically a “developing” chapter, has been holding regular monthly prayer breakfasts for almost two years. Gray said the monthly gatherings have ranged from a small group of 25 to more than 70.
The “Day of Dialogue” will feature small-group discussions lasting about 30 minutes and a panel group discussion lasting about an hour. The panel discussion will be hosted by a group of both black and white religious and community leaders from “across the divides,” Gray said.
Afterward, the small groups will regroup and continue the discussion, Gray said.
Breaking down barriers that divide people along racial or religious lines is important to the mission of the chapter, he said.
“We’re often divided by railroad tracks. The question is, ‘How do you make it work?’” Gray said.
The idea is to change Mississippi “one relationship at a time,” he said.
For more information on Mission Mississippi of Leflore County, call Gray at the Episcopal Church of the Nativity at 453-7786.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
