A tale of two cities divided : in search of radical reconciliation

Dan J Smith

Etd

A tale of two cities divided : in search of radical reconciliation

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Dan J Smith. A Tale of Two Cities Divided : In Search of Radical Reconciliation. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/5a6f202c-c15d-4944-b79d-14c3b803b5ce.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

D. J. Smith. A tale of two cities divided : in search of radical reconciliation. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/5a6f202c-c15d-4944-b79d-14c3b803b5ce

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Dan J Smith. A Tale of Two Cities Divided : In Search of Radical Reconciliation. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/5a6f202c-c15d-4944-b79d-14c3b803b5ce.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Dan J Smith

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In Copyright

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Creative Commons BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivs 4.0 International

Abstract

In my thesis I begin by exploring the histories of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. These histories show the development of the cities and how their histories have played a big part in shaping how things are today. After probing the history of the area I take a theological and exegetical look at the idea of reconciliation, as engaged in the Bible and the work of practitioners and scholars. The thesis then focuses on interviews I conducted, using the research method of Narrative Inquiry, with people that live in the communities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, and, more specifically, people from Union Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church and Zion Evangelical United Church of Christ. Using these two congregations as a baseline for study, I interviewed a cross-section of both churches. The Narrative Inquiry approach helped me to identify similarities that existed between the two congregations. After the interviews were concluded they were analyzed and then presented to the participants from the two congregations for review. As I engaged the participants in this time of reflection I explored how future conversations or collaboration in the area of reconciliation might be beneficial to all parties concerned. I believe relationships were established through this project and that this was a measurable response in my thesis. By this measure, my project was very successful. Before this project I had little to no contact with my neighbors. Now I have a place to start and build upon as I look to the future of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor with a great deal of hope and passion. My final chapter is a retelling of the story of the tensions between the two cities in light of what I learned throughout the project and an anticipation of what steps we might take towards reconciliation.

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