Today I interviewed an inspirational man named Scott Roley.
Scott grew up in D.C., privleged son of a Washington attorney and advocate for civil rights. He wanted to be a rock star but he didn’t have what it takes, to sort of quote Third Day. He wanted more than music.
In the next week I’ll prepare a written interview for Wineskins from the tape that I recorded while talking to him, and we’ll see if it makes the cut with Mike, Darryl, Thom, Lynn, Rubel, and Larry.
Turning points for him throughout his life led him closer and closer toward ministry of racial reconciliation: he heard firsthand Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech; an African-American woman told him he loved the world too much; he visited his first Black church worship in Detroit (and he said it wouldn’t be his last–he was captivated)…
Years later, Scott moved with his wife and five children (three adopted, one African American, one Hispanic) into an area mostly Black neighborhood near Nashville called “Hard Bargain,” a neighborhood where drug deals are made and many meals on wheels are served to poor widows. They moved there to “re-neighbor” or “re-locate” at Jesus did when he relocated from heaven to earth, the incarnation.
I have much more to tell you about this incredible person, Scott Roley, and may post more later. See his book, God’s Neighborhood: A hopeful journey in racial reconciliation and community renewal, and look for interview in the Sep-Dec 04 Wineskins.
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