As The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today, some Lilburn area churches are seeking to bridge the racial and ethnic divides that have been highlighted in national politics of late. But Lilburn isn't the only place where people of different races are making that effort.
Another example: Peachtree Corners.
Two years ago a group of Christian men started Bridges Peachtree Corners, a community group that seeks to build relationships among people of different races. It began with an unsettling observation at a meeting about the fledgling city's future.
Joe Sawyer, a black resident, noted the divide between the largely white and affluent Peachtree Corners north of Holcomb Bridge Road and the modest, racially diverse city to the south.
“There might as well be a railroad track down Holcomb Bridge Road,” Sawyer said at the meeting.
The bothered Pat Quigley, a white resident who grew up in a segregated Georgia town. “I said, wait a minute,” he said. “We don’t need any railroad tracks, either in perception or reality.”
Quigley, who is white, later met with Sawyer. They and like-minded men started Bridges Peachtree Corners.
The group has sponsored public service projects and community meetings. But its fundamental goal is simple: To talk, to know each other, to befriend people who don’t look like them.
“We are Christian men that want to be intentional about developing relationships,” said Bishop D.A. Williams, a black pastor at Salvation and Deliverance Church in Peachtree Corners.
You can learn more about Bridges Peachtree Corners here. You can read more about similar efforts in Lilburn here.
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