295 – Being a Sanctuary with Author, Bible Teacher, and Coach Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez

Narrator
Be the bridge. You bethebridge. You are listening to the be the bridge podcast with Latasha Morrison. Today, it’s exciting each week. Bethebridge podcast tackles subjects related to race and culture with the goal of bringing understanding. But I’m gonna do it in the spirit of love. We believe understanding can move us toward racial healing, racial equity and racial unity. Latasha Morrison is the founder of bethebridge, which is an organization responding to racial brokenness and systemic injustice in our world. This podcast is an extension of our vision to make sure people are no longer conditioned by a racialized society, but grounded in truth. If you have not hit the subscribe button, please do so now, without further ado, let’s begin today’s podcast. Oh, and stick around for some important information. At the

Latasha Morrison
end, be the bridge community. It’s been a long time we have been trying to get on this podcast together for some time now. And you know, I always say that we have a special guest, and I’m so excited, because I’m excited about all of our guests that we have. And this is another person that is their first time within the beauty bridge community. And if I want to tell you a little bit about her, but we call her pre and her last name is Demi quetz. And she is a truth teller, a space builder committed to helping the body of Christ be healthy and holy. We’re going to talk about that healthy and holy. She is also the founder and CEO for collective, creator of her annual source Summit, and the host of being a sanctuary podcast. She’s spoken at several conferences, and she has written for Chase and justice, and she reads truth. She’s a contributor to the devotional of the women we’ve been waiting for. Pre holds a master’s degree and community based leadership and social work, and she is currently pursuing a Master’s of Arts in biblical and theological studies from Denver seminary. She is a proud black, Latina Dominicana, born and raised in New York City, where she resides with her husband and her son. Now, let’s go back to a couple of things I just read all of this now, pre and I are actually in seminary together, surviving, surviving. We are. We had class today. That’s right, that it was two hours, not three hours today. But we met through Denver seminary. I think that was the first time we met. But some of the be the bridge staff members attended your source summit last year and had an incredible time. So that was kind of like the first time I start hearing about pre

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
I mean, I’ve been your kind girl for like five years, but really,

Latasha Morrison
okay, okay, okay, I just didn’t, I didn’t, I didn’t, I just didn’t know That’s right. But now I know. Now I know, and I am so grateful. Let me tell you, I am so grateful for her. Not only is she brilliant, but she is a lot of fun. And when you’re in seminary, you need people that are a lot of fun, and so sometimes I can’t look at her while we’re on Zoom, because Priya is one of those people that shows everything on her face, and if she gets tickled, all you see is her camera go off, and we’re all having this side chat, like, what just happened? What did we just say? So anyway, it is a pleasure to have you here. I am so proud of you. She we didn’t have it in her bio, but she hosts a podcast called being a sanctuary. And she also has a book coming out September the 10th called being a sanctuary. She has a heart for the church. She has she’s she has a shepherd’s heart. She has a heart for leadership, but most importantly, she has a heart for God. And so we are so excited to have pre here on the podcast to talk about all the things. Okay, yes,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
I’m so honored to be here. What a gift

Latasha Morrison
is so good. Okay, now listen, you, you wrote a book. It’s called being a sanctuary. The first thing I want to know is, why did you wrote write this book? I was about to say, why did you wrote this book? Why did you write this book?

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
Why did I write this book? So I actually started by writing a book about church hurt, because that was kind of. Of that season, what I was most having a heart to address. And then as I was writing my proposal, I was doing research. If anybody knows what a proposal looks like, they actually ask you to share comparative books, so books of similar topics. And in searching for that, I was like, oh, there’s enough books on this. Like I don’t need to add to the noise I felt I didn’t need to add to it. And then as I thought about that, I kind of took a break to think about it. I was like, Well, I want to talk about like the church hurt, but also just like, what’s happening in the church right now? Because church her is a component, but it’s not the only component. And so I just wanted, I was just thinking about, as a whole the body of Christ. And I have a deep love for the church. I have worked for two churches I didn’t see myself or anticipate in my career path. You see, besides now currently going to seminary, my degrees were not theology based, right? So that’s just not the path I found myself going in. Yet God kept putting me in churches, and I wasn’t even applying to these jobs. And so a lot of I feel that there’s purpose to me having gone through those experiences that did include trauma and abuse and racism and sexism, but it wasn’t wasted praise the Lord, right? And so I wanted to write a book that talks about what, a beautiful vision that it could look like to be a different kind of church. And the beautiful thing is that there’s a lot of churches who are kind of, I would say, implementing or living out what being sanctuary is, but there’s also too many that aren’t, and too many Christians that aren’t. And so that’s why the subtitle is for the body of Christ, not for the church, because I didn’t want to confuse people and say, This is a book about church. This is a book about the church, the Body of Christ, that we’ve interchange those terms, but, yeah, they’re not meant to mean a Sunday building service. It’s meant to mean a body. And so I wanted to really write like an epistle, a love letter, to the church. You know, Paul writes letters, and I would call them love letters, because when you love someone, you tell them the truth. And Paul, he was, he was not, you know, being cute. He told the truth, right? He

Latasha Morrison
didn’t miss, no words, not a one, not

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
a one, okay, right? And we learn from him, and we and we read epistles. And so part of it too was that I really just wanted to write a letter to the church from from a place of someone who has been hurt, but also someone who just deeply loves the church. And like, you know, how many people say I’ma stick beside her for the rest of my days, no matter what, but I also don’t want to stick beside her, her being abusive. I don’t want to stick beside her being unhealthy, like I want to stay beside her, hopefully seeing her become healthy. And so I wanted to kind of create a resource and a guide to help people, because I think a lot of people also want to help the church, but they just don’t know how to and then also, some people are blind to what is unhealthy in the church. And I wanted to bring to light to those things too. Yeah,

Latasha Morrison
that’s so good. And I think, you know, your work is coming out of your love for the church, and then our work at be the bridge comes out of my love for the church, for our love for the church. And I think, like, just like you starting out, you know, on staff, where that was not my, my plan, you know, 10 years in corporate America, did not plan to be in ministry at all, and ended up there. But you I love it that you like, okay, there is some brokenness, and I want to be a part of the solution. Yeah, and so what you’re doing is creating the resource to be a part of the solution, to create, to really engage the conversation. Now that’s challenging, in a sense, because guess what? The body, it don’t like to be corrected. It don’t like the truth. It don’t like the truth. Let me tell you, it don’t like the truth. And so, how have you found like, you know, and I know some of your process going through this has been healing for you, you know. But how have you how have people received some of the things that you post about, you write about, you know, how has that been challenged? Yeah,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
yeah, it’s 5050, so thankfully, it’s not more, you know, hate or judgment then, like love and receiving and being willing to be encouraged and listen. So I’m really grateful for that. I feel like that’s the Lord keeping me and keeping my mental health and keeping me in being able to continue to minister. Because sometimes when we’re consistently discouraged, then it’s really hard, right? So it there is a lot of people willing to receive there’s a lot of people willing to to be confronted in the in the book. And kind of how I just talk about things in general. I talk about being a Bible based, which is a sacred being, trauma informed, which is a soft and being a justice centered, which is the safe part. And I talk about those three different topics. And when, especially when I talk about, I would say particularly justice or injustice, and church hurt would actually, which I actually think are the same thing, because church hurt is injustice. That is where I get the most. Like, yeah, right. Like, just the most, because that, I think, is the and y’all know, y’all know, like, that’s where people are most uncomfortable, because they have to face much more things than perhaps other issues. And so that’s where I find that people will leave wild comments. Thankfully, people don’t get crazy on my DMs, but just like wild comments, I’m also real quick to block and bless. You know, I’m not like, I just, I know. And this is so interesting, because Christians sometimes we really think that we’re going to be like, we’re gonna change someone’s mind on a comment and and we and honestly we it could, but it’s pro it’s gonna be a one in a million, right? Yeah, so I’m not, I’m not in a relationship with you. You have people around you, maybe they’re not the best people, because if you’re talking like this, then maybe you know they’re not correcting you. But I’m not that person, because I’m not around you and I’m not in relationship with you. But outside of that, I feel like a lot of people are receiving it. Right now, we have a launch team that’s reading it, and I’m really encouraged, and more than anything, people also saying that they just feel seen, you know, like in my in my soft part of the book, where I talk about, like, just church and church lights and welcoming people with disabilities, like people are feeling seen because, like, community with disabilities, like are rarely talked about or considered when it comes to, like, you know, Christian books, unless it’s a book about disabilities, right? So I think also bringing to light topics that are overlooked in the world but deeply looked at in in the Bible, because Jesus, I mean, I’m gonna say it on a regular basis, every other parable, every other story, he is ministering to someone with a disability, right? So it’s just so interesting, the things that he was applying versus us in the world. So that’s what I have been seeing. I’m really encouraged. I’m still terrified. A lot of people reading, because right now, it’s a little bit, but other people, a lot of people, reading it. But yeah, I I’m, I’m okay with being, you know, canceled, not loved, not supported, in that if people because, because someone was sharing it recently, that like, even if they don’t like what you said, they have now heard it so they can’t hear it, so they may not, they may hate that you said. It makes them so uncomfortable, but for the rest of their life, they will always remember that they they heard that, and they now know it. So that’s a seed, and let the Lord do the rest. And I said,

Latasha Morrison
Amen, amen. They’re and they’re accountable for what they’re hit. They heard that’s right, and that’s and that’s, and that’s something that’s another level that you have to deal with this, because it’s one thing when you don’t know, but when you when you know, or you’ve heard, and you refuse to listen, that’s totally different. And I And that’s the same, you know, philosophy I have to have and let people just sit in that where I cannot, I am a human being. And you know, like you said, block, you know, and bless and bye, you know, because really, it’s exhausting, you know, and you have a book, and if people want to delve deeper, they can, you know, look at your book, or they can engage with you online or go to your summit or whatever, But you’ve created something. And I, what I like to say is, congratulations for doing it, you know, congratulations for actually writing the book, you know, for the body of Christ, because that is half the battle, because you have words written. That’s one of the things, you know. And writing a book, I said, Wow, if something happens to me today, my words are here. You know, these words are here, and so that should really, you know, make you proud of yourself. Because I know it’s hard work, and it’s definitely hard work when you’re in seminary, you’re a mom and a wife and all the other things too. But one of the things I’ll just read, I wanted to read the actual endorsement that I wrote, because I got an opportunity to endorse the book, and so I said, within the pages of being a sanctuary pre lay the bear, a thought provoking journey into the essence of Christ’s vision for His church. The book sparks a vital discourse on restoration and the true embodiment of what Jesus intended for his community, the body of Christ. This book is an essential reading for those yearning to rediscover a church that embodies the profound love and grace of Christ. Offer solace. Strength as as Psalm 46 one assures God is our refuge and strength and an ever present help in trouble. This is the strength the church must cling to during the present crisis of apathy. Come on, Pastor. And the reason why you know, when we think about that, we see so many people that are because of hurt, you know, their deconstruction, which I think we all have to do deconstruction. I am presently even doing that. But we want people to not like deconstruct Jesus out of it, you know. And we see that happening because of the hurt, and because a lot of times the church is doubling down, you know, and so doubling down, and as it relates to the issues of sexual abuse, doubling down and issues of, you know, not being inclusive, you know, like just all the things that we see and not doing it from this space, like we’re doing it from this space of apathy, and so much of what we’re doing is not filtering through the lens of love, and that, I feel like there’s like a deficit, you Know? And I was just saying, I think, on a call recently that, you know, I was like, man, like we were just talking about grace today, you know, but I was like, we are, like, bankrupt of of grace, because we’re bankrupt of love and Because grace is going to filter through love, you know? And we just, it’s like we’re missing it. And so, you know, when we when some of the things that you you talk about, you focus on three aspects of God’s vision for the church. In the book, it is sacred. So that’s the Bible, base, um, trauma, informed and safe, Jesus centered. You mentioned and what led you to just choose those, like those three aspects, you know what made you because, I mean, there’s a lot that you could have written back, yeah, about why those three? Yeah.

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
Because I think those are the missing pieces. Yeah. I think that’s actually what has has us broken, has us confused, has us divided, has people breaking away, deconstructing, to deconvert. I think that’s what has people being abused. I think it’s the missing pieces. One Bible base, like we legit are just overlooking the Bible, which is actually, wow. It’s like, oh, Christians, you know, that’s your thing, you know. And so to be Bible based in in the sense of really just knowing Jesus and his full self. I think sometimes in Christianity, we like to see Jesus only insert elements, oh, he was gentle, uh huh. And he was also, like, not playing, right? Like, oh, he was he? He talked to the Pharisees in certain ways, yes, also He healed people in certain ways, like he was a full human being, right? With a whole bunch of different approaches on how he lived and was as God here on Earth, right? And we see that in the Gospels. But then, just in general, the the Bible includes the whole Bible. Yeah, is teaching about justice, and we’re missing it. So when I’m saying we need to be a Bible based church, is because we’re thinking justice is a department in the church, or just department of God, when God is a God of justice, like 100% not 30% right? So that’s what I mean by being Bible based of just like being centered around, yes, following the bible versus following what has now become the norm. Because even in the first part of the book, I talk about like the models that we have created of church models, and that’s created uniformity, and we’ve dismissed unity, we’ve dismissed other kinds of people, and it’s just this one way of doing church, and that’s just not Bible based. So that’s what I felt was a missing piece. The second part was trauma informed and just considering like in all the aspects of life, like people, people just need to be trauma informed to be married, to be a parent, a child, a friend, right? Like everyone really should be a trauma informed human being, but especially Christians. Christians need to be trauma informed. And simply to be trauma informed, I would, when I make it like a simple term, is to be mindful and compassionate. That’s what it is, is to be mindful and compassionate. So being mindful of the person in front of you, the things that they’ve experienced. You know, when I think about so many people who are deconstructing or who experienced wounds in the church. Like a lot of these people will tell you, yeah, I got her in the church. Yeah, I got abuse in the church. But you know what was worse, the Christians that I tried to go to afterwards to heal and to get support, and they didn’t believe me, and they judged me, and they tried to save me and all this stuff. Like, that’s what I’m talking about. Like maybe. We can’t prevent all abuses because people are sinners and all this stuff, but it’s like, then the people to support aren’t even like, are even equipped to do so. And then in that section, too, I talk about differences. I talk about differences of theology, differences of perspective. I talk about January 6 and what that and I’m pretty sure that’s well,

Latasha Morrison
January 6. Did that? That didn’t happen. What are you talking about? We went from we went from January the fifth to January the seventh.

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
Like day, and then all of a sudden, it’s not Three Kings Day. It’s someone else. It’s something else, completely birthday. I was like, what this day is different, right? It was

Latasha Morrison
your birthday, and it was my friend’s birthday. There was

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
a lot of things going on that day, a lot of things, um, but that, you know, I think,

Latasha Morrison
except for insurrection, it didn’t happen. No, that didn’t

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
happen. That didn’t happen. But, you know, like things like that, like even being able to, like, talk about people and the things that people have done, like, as image bearers, right? As image bearers, right? Like, yes, I don’t agree, and I don’t support what happened. But like, how we’re even talking about one another in the world is actually kind of wild, right? So that’s also a part of being trauma informed, because you’re extending compassion towards people, even if you disagree with them. And then the third part is justice centered is being and that’s why the word is centered, right out of the other words I could have used, I said justice centered, because God is a God who is justice centered, and I think, and we both know this because we’ve done justice work, of like, people just saying, like, oh, that’s their call. Their call to that, you know, that’s, that’s their thing. If you are a Christian, yeah, you are called to live justly. You are called to justice work. It is not a calling to a specific people. It’s not because we black and we’ve been through it. It’s not specific to any of those things. It’s because we have chosen, we have said yes to Jesus. That is what makes us just justice centered. So that part of the book talks about that, and it also talks a lot about different kinds of neighbors, because I think we forgotten literally like that. We’re supposed to love our neighbor like and also who our neighbor is, yes, your transgender neighbor, yes, your crazy uncle, yes, all these different kinds of people. They’re your neighbor, and you’re actually supposed to love them. So even to your point, we’re talking about the love is missing. You know, my chapter two of my book is literally just about love. It’s just about love, because, like, it’s just a missing piece. So I chose those three different parts because of that, because I feel like they were the missing pieces of ingredients in what is the body of Christ based on what we see in Scripture that is not necessarily being displayed in in the American church. So

Latasha Morrison
good, so good. I was, I was just even thinking. I was reading something about the nations and just the global, what you say the globalization of church and everything. And I was like, wow, it’s like the nations are coming, and we don’t want to see are we, we’re rejecting our, demeaning our and denouncing, you know, like when you think about just where we are, and it’s, it’s something that really grieves me. These are the things just like you I know, if it, if you wrote a whole book about it, these are the things that keep us up, you know. Yep, you know. These are the things that keep us up. Because we know that, you know, in order for just Jesus’s prayer at John 17, you know, we talk about the unity, not uniformity, but unity of the church, like through our love, our love for one another points back to God, you know, and we’re supposed to emulate the love that Jesus has for the father, you know, with each other, you know. And so I think that’s the part where it’s like there’s a grieving part of you. Now you mentioned something, you said, you said three kings, you know, being Dominican. And I said that in the beginning, Dominicana, dominicano, right?

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
I know. But like,

Latasha Morrison
you know you’re afro, Latina, and a lot of people don’t know or understand what that is. They they see you because we’ve boxed people in. They see you. They say, Oh yeah, you’re from New York. But then you speak Spanish, you know, they don’t, they don’t know how to categorize that. For one thing, we don’t know history. We don’t understand history, right? And the historical context of Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic and just so many Colombia all of it. So educate the little people, the people. Um, the be the bridge community. What does it mean to be Afro Latina and and then also, like, how you identify? Because I know there’s a lot of confusion with some people where you know, when you say Afro Latina, what that means versus, you know, someone like a maybe Jennifer Lopez, this a little different. Yeah, okay, oh, man. JLo,

Latasha Morrison
that was the first, that was the first thing that came to mind. I’m so sorry.

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
Well, that’s a perfect example, because, I think, because we don’t see it in media, there is not many Afro Latinas getting opportunity, like the kinds of opportunities that perhaps other Latinos have, then we look like a minority when we’re not right in the in the Latino world. And so people then do get confused. Like people are confused, they’re like, Okay, so you’re Brown and you speak Spanish and

Speaker 1
what, like, you’re from New York, like,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
I just confuse people with my theology all the things, and I love that. But it creates room, especially people are willing to be curious. It creates room for conversation. And I love that. So I love that you asked about the term of, like, how identify. Because I actually probably the last time I said I was afro, Latina, maybe was like, three, four or five years ago, okay, um, I’m not. I don’t have anything against the term. But the reason why I’ve kind of stopped using it and I just say I’m a black dominicano or a black woman, is because some, sometimes people will say they’re afro, Latino, and will not ever say they’re black. They like, they won’t identify as black, and even though, like, they’re my skin tone, you know, or like, of my ancestry, and so that’s that’s a whole thing. So I usually just often say black, and if people are interested in learning more, but yeah, in Latin America, actually, in the trans transatlantic slave trade, they came to Latin America first, Brazil first, which is the country in the world that has the most black people in the world, right? And lasted the longest, and lasted the longest, right? So they’re and they don’t even speak Spanish. They speak Portuguese, right? But that’s where they went first, where they experienced that the most, but in the new world, right? Whatever they want to call this side of the world, where I’m from, Dominican Republic, is where Christopher Columbus and all the them saints landed first, right? And so it’s interesting, yeah, our lack of history and education in the United States, but honestly, also even in Dr, because I actually grew up going to school in Dr when I was little, and I was taught like, Christopher Columbus saved us from being savages and black. And I said, What? What are you talking about? Right? So history,

Latasha Morrison
we are gonna give an account for those lies. Like, okay, is because it’s straight up lies. Yeah, it’s just straight up lies and, you know, and we know that’s why it becomes,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
yeah, I relate. I feel, you know, identify as a black woman, because, really, we just dropped off in different parts of the of the West, right? And for me, like someone that is black, one identifies as Black is and is of African ancestry, right? And has like culture and features of African ancestry, I would say predominant ones, maybe like not 1% of African ancestry. But that’s been, that’s been my experience, and I think especially growing up in the Christian world has been a very like identity crisis ish thing, because it’s just the black church and the white church. And then there is the Latino church that I grew up in, but, like, no one knows about it, or I was still different in it because of my skin tone and because of my hair. And I mean, I have braids right now, but I have, like, curly hair, you know. So it’s always been such an interesting thing to being a Christian, and I talk about that, and actually in a book about, like, I’ve never really felt like I belonged. So, like, belonging to Jesus has been a huge blessing to my life, because I don’t fully belong to the black community. I don’t fully belong to the Latino community, right? Like, I don’t fully belong in a lot of different spaces. I don’t even fully belong in Dr, they call me gringa, right? Which is like, usually I’m white American, which is interesting that they would call me that, right? And then here, I’m not an American to some people. So it’s been an interesting journey to be in this identity and love this identity and celebrate it, while also acknowledging like to belong to Jesus is like enough, and like I find contentment in that. But it’s, it’s an interesting kind of thing for people to be Yeah, so confused and have a lack of understanding of history in that way, of history in that way,

Latasha Morrison
in a world where the lines of right and wrong seem blurred, where justice is a choice, we stand at a crossroads. Will we build a society of true liberty and justice for all? Or will we settle for liberty and justice? For some in brown faces white spaces, I explore nine aspects of American life where systemic racism still flourishes in our education system, health care, the justice system, entertainment and the church. Through stories, history and the lens of today we confront the uncomfortable truth that binds us. This book is an honest beacon in the darkness, a road map to reform historically white spaces and a blueprint for a future that works for everyone. So join me in working towards lasting liberation for all. And border brown faces, white spaces from your local bookstore, our favorite retailer today, one of the things you talk about, as you said, we don’t have to settle for an unhealthy church, you know, and thanks, thanks right away for just explaining that, because I know that will help our community, because we have, you know, a lot of intersections, and that is the the story. And we like to educate so that people are informed. But as you read through history, which we know we’re not being taught this in school, it’s good to give people reference and understanding and language, and so we think that’s important. But you talk about we don’t have to settle for a healthy church that we can really start. It starts with repenting, repenting, remembering and restoring. And this, like, falls in line with everything, like, as far as our pathway, as it relates to be the bridge and and that, that I think that repenting is is key, but it’s like, we can’t repent of what we lie about, you know. Like it’s just, you know, like it’s the truth that makes us free, you know. And so. And then the other part of that is the remembering, like we’re in a country now that doesn’t want us to remember when our faith is based off of remembrance. Literally, explain, literally five books

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
of the Bible. Moses, my man. Moses, he’s just writing. He’s like, remember, remember, that’s all he’s writing. Have you read Deuteronomy like my for 36 chapters? I read that in the pandemic, and I said, bro, you need to stop, because I get it. We remember right, right? But I’m realizing why he said that. Because we are so quick to forget. We are quick to forget what has been, who Jesus has been, what has happened in the past, honestly, like, what happened last week, last year? You know, I know we’re kind of, we’ve been we talked this summer a little bit about, like, 2020 right? And all that happened. And it’s like, I know it feels far, y’all, but it’s only 2024 it has been about four years, and people have were quick to forget. And I mainly think people were quick to forget is because that was the first time they even realized things were happening when we have been knowing this all of our lives and witnessing all of our lives that black, black people are just being killed, are being killed, right? And so we’re forgetting, in that way too quickly about things, right? And that’s something recent, so we can’t I mean, surely people are not going to remember 1800 1700s if they’re not remembering 2020 Right, right? And so there’s this deep need to remember, I think about even the church that churches that I’ve been a part of, where there’s been, like, abuse that has happened, and maybe, like the pastor, maybe apologize or if something happens, and then people are quick to forget. They’re quick to act like nothing ever happened. Now, should we forgive? Is there space for reconciliation all those things, but sometimes those things don’t happen, and then people are being required to forget anyways, and so we need to follow the Bible, be Bible based Christians, and actually choose to remember. I think we focus so much on the idea remembering of our own story. Like, yeah, I remember what Jesus brought me from, and we should, don’t ever forget what Jesus brought you from. Okay, praise the Lord. But we also need to remember where our country has been, what things have happened. I think about, I’ve been to Germany. I don’t know if you ever been to Germany, but like, and I don’t know how you experienced this, but when I was there, I was like, Oh, they not trying to make sure. They were trying to make sure no one forgets Exactly. No one forgets like every other block. And I was like, This is crazy, because it doesn’t feel like uncomfortable, it doesn’t feel overwhelming. It doesn’t even feel like sad. It just feels like accountable. It feels mature, like, if I was just like, this is like this. This is so different, like, but,

Latasha Morrison
but, but? Why? Why did you just explain like? Why do you think they do that?

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
Well. First, I think they actually have repented, and there’s a public repentance, and there was processes, and there was like, about, like it was a process. The thing, the thing about people with that quote where it says, Oh, time heals all wounds, that’s not true. It’s not true. It’s actually not true. Like forgiveness heals wounds. Reconciliation heals wounds. Therapy heals wounds, reparations heals wounds, right? Like, you know, time time, don’t do nothing, right? And so I think about, like, like, any kind of my mom right now is like healing from a surgery. Like, it’s not, it’s part of it is time, but it’s also she has to do certain things herself, physically, in her body, but also she needs our help to do it. So she’s not just doing it by herself, she’s doing it other people. And so healing, reconciling, growing, it is a collective thing. Is a unified thing, right? And so I think that’s that’s a component of it, that’s a part of it. I think people are too focused like, Well, I’m not responsible for my ancestors. And it’s, like, Part, Part, yes, but it things still happened. Things have still happened in this country. And it’s and I think also we shouldn’t, like, be like, Oh, well, it’s not just America. You’re, you’re right. It’s not just America and, dr, don’t nobody acknowledge the history of slavery and. Dr, right. So it’s those different kinds of things that I think it was a process, and there was just a level of maturity to respond, I think. And I don’t know how people experience that in Germany, maybe that’s just from an outsider perspective, but just to see how much they’re not willing to forget was really powerful, yeah,

Latasha Morrison
and it was one of the things that, even in my first book I wrote a little bit about because that was in Germany, you know, they do it so that history won’t repeat itself, you know, that we can learn from it. And then also, like when you repent, you don’t want to turn back to that same, you know, atrocity, you know. And Rwanda has done the same thing with, you know, as it relates to their genocide, you know. But America, who claims to be the Christian country, we’ve never done that. And if Yeah, a Christian should know how to repent, you know, if anything, you know,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
like, if anything, if anyone,

Latasha Morrison
that’s exactly what we should know. So I think that’s a, you know, that’s really a good example, and that’s even one that we use in our work, where, you know, Germany does that, and they actually govern differently because, you know, they don’t have homeschooling, you know, because that’s where some of the indoctrination began, you know, with that. And so we just have to pay attention to history, because history teaches us. And I think when you were talking about scripture, you know, you see that time and time again, you know, especially when you start reading the history of Israel, and it’s like, okay, this king did good, and this side of the Lord, this one was evil. And it’s like, evil. So, you know, like, just back and forth, back and forth. And you’re like, how, is this happening? But people would forget? Yeah, yeah, they weren’t remembering. And so that’s why Moses reiterates over and over and over and over and again. And so it’s just important that, and I think that’s really good. I love the structure and how you have written the book. It makes it easy for people to engage and and really gather the concepts, you know, we are connected to one another. You know, what one does impacts the other. We are all a part of the body of Christ. We are brothers and sisters, you know. And if one part of the body is mourning, the other part should mourn with it. And so, like, that’s just something that we have to remember. You. You tell us a little bit, I know you have the source Summit coming up. Tell us a little bit about the source Summit. And then also, I want you to tell me what is giving you. There’s a lot of heart out there right now. There’s a lot of division, polarization. There is a, I mean, there are things that I hear daily that I’m like, Are you serious? Like, you know, like you please tell me you’re joking, you know. But it’s just a lot happening right now. What is giving you hope? I

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
would say, and I would say, and I probably wouldn’t have answered the same way a year ago, but I think I’ve been trying to be more mindful and pay attention that it’s people. So although lots of people are wilding,

Latasha Morrison
lots,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
a good amount, so many people are love Jesus and are being faithful and living that out. And I’m seeing that on a macro scale, but I’m also seeing a micro of just like people showing up as Jesus for me, and I think about we just found a church about a year ago, but we spent three and a half years searching.

Latasha Morrison
And okay, I don’t feel bad girl.

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
What a journey, what a journey. And I feel when I think about like, you like, it’s, it’s, it’s

Latasha Morrison
hard, it’s hard, especially when you know what you know, that you know what

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
you know. Yeah, yeah. And so that has been so even in that season, so many people were the church to me and were wanted to see me grow and spiritually and wanted me to be healed. And so it’s really people, people are giving me hope. And that’s why, you know, that’s why I say, like, I love the church, because it, because it isn’t, you know, I would say, five years ago, I’d have been like, the whole church complete trash, right? Like, I just that’s that was, that was sad me, that was angry, angry me. And now I’m just, I’m grieved for the body of Christ. I’m not as sad and angry, but I see so many faithful workers. I see people like you. I see people like in the girls that are seminary. I see my friends, my local friends, my pastors, like I just see people love Jesus and actually are choosing to be sacred, soft and safe. And that’s given me deep hope, because if I had no examples and it was just like what I thought it could potentially be, then this would be much harder. So I’m grateful for examples. And so our summit is a lot of work, but it’s my annual conference. What was work? You know, I’m a small I’m a small ministry. I started my ministry in 2018 but we are, we are small. And I think people don’t necessarily always think about that when thinking about, like, oh, events like, you know, other mysteries like Lifeway, or all these other ministries that are much bigger. It’s different for them to host something, versus like little old me, right? So

Latasha Morrison
I know, I know it’s, you know,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
right? But I’m really proud of it, and I’m really grateful for it, because part of you know we’re talking about the beginning of this conversation, if I see a problem, and this has really been me all my life, which is why I went to get a degree in social work, like, why the work I have done is if I see a problem, if I have the stamina and I feel God has called me to address it, then I will. And part of I see a problem in Christian like Christian spaces that are kind of like conferences and events that are still way too uniformed. Love my brother, white brothers and sisters, but still way too white, way too divided, way too centered around things that don’t matter as much, spending $10,000 on life and fog machines when other things matter for Christian conference, people go into a Christian conference, leaving not having spoken to anyone, not building a relationship, not being edified, just leaving encouraged. I just I grieve that, because I think conferences are a beautiful, beautiful opportunity. Sometimes we can be very siloed in our little Christian world with our little our churches and our Christian friends, but Christian conferences make room for the body of Christ to be the body of Christ be sitting next to someone that you probably would never be friends with, and being able to connect with someone maybe you would have never met because they live states away. And so I think Christian conferences are a great opportunity, but we have missed the opportunity. And so I wanted to create space where we where we don’t miss the opportunity, and we kind of bring all those things together, but also bring diversity to this space. So, like, the whole lineup of speakers isn’t just one race and one gender, but also not. It’s not a lineup of every speaker that’s your favorite and that you love, right? Like those 10 people that are every conference every year, right? Like, it’s not that we have several languages and worship, because that’s how people worship in different languages. We have time of reflection after every sermon and every session, because we are too quick to learn God’s word and then move on to the next thing. So it’s creating a space to be different. But really, as an example of my hope and the vision that I would hope churches can have, or even ministries can have for what church and also Christian events can look like, because it just doesn’t have to look like this one model that we’ve been doing for so long that I think we got from Hillsong, which I talk about in the book, that we just need to move away from, because it just doesn’t work that way, like we need to create room for edification, for glory to God, For topics that matter, and creating room for all people to exist, right? Like, the fact that we have conferences and people wheelchairs can’t come, is crazy. Like, you know, all those kinds of things, like, really, just being mindful of people as create, as we create spaces for Christians. So that’s what so are some it is. Yeah,

Latasha Morrison
that’s the mirror

Latasha Morrison
I had. I had to throw that in there. I want the church to be very mindful, yes, especially when people are coming in like it’s dark in those churches. I’m like, I. Just, I can’t I was churches started, and they had a it was so dark at that place. I was like, what? What’s the darkness? Like Jesus is light. And

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
then you go outside, it’s one in the afternoon, bright. Yeah,

Latasha Morrison
I walk in like this, because I don’t want to fall a trip over. You know,

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
notes, unless you bring your bright phone out,

Latasha Morrison
especially churches that are meeting in schools and theaters and stuff like that. Like it’s like extra dark, you know? But anyway, I’m telling you is, I am so grateful for you. I’m grateful for your words. So proud of you, and I know that this book is going to be healing, and also such a resource, you know, at like we said at the beginning, that the body of Christ, you know, there will not be an excuse. You know, it can go in one ear and out the other, but you are accountable. Because people, there’s never been so many books written now, especially even about justice and righteousness, you know, right?

Pricelis Perreaux-Dominguez
That’s right.

Latasha Morrison
There’s so many where you know, 20 years ago, you didn’t have as many, but now there’s so many things that are written where we are accountable. So thank you so much for joining us on the beauty bridge podcast. We look forward to, you know, hearing from you more, and those of you, you will you can follow free on all the social media. She can give you that information, and we will put everything in our show notes, so there’ll be the book and all that stuff will be the show. So thank you so much. Brigg, thank you.

Narrator
Thanks for listening to the be the bridge podcast. To find out more about the be the bridge organization and or to become a bridge builder in your community, go to bethebridge com. Again, that’s bethebridge com. If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, remember to rate and review it on this platform and share it with as many people as you possibly can. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Today’s show was edited, recorded and produced by Trayvon Potts at integrated entertainment studios in metro Atlanta, Georgia, the host and executive producer is Latasha Morrison, Sarah connatser is the Senior Producer. Please join us next time this has been a bethebridge.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai