Leave LOUD: Tyler Burns’ Story

Pass The Mic

The Witness

Christianity, Society & Culture, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality

4.7 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2021

⏱️ 82 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Another one…After Jemar Tisby’s courageous #LeaveLOUD story last week, Tyler Burns is up next to share his own journey. How do you overcome years of Christian Education that makes you question your Black identity? What can our lives look like when we embrace a vision for what it means to be Christ-following and Black-centered? For Tyler, these realities seemed elusive and, at times, impossible. What changed? What did he learn? This is his journey, as only he can tell it. This is Tyler Burns’ #LeaveLOUD story. ********* In 2018, the New York Times published an article tiled: A Quiet Exodus: Why Black Worshipers Are Leaving White Evangelical Churches that chronicled the plight of Black Christians who quietly exited their churches after their pastors and fellow believers failed to denounce state-sanctioned violence against Black people, white Christian Nationalism, systemic racism, and everyday bigotry. Since that time, things have gotten worse, not better. In recent months, we’ve seen a surge of Black leaders and congregants in predominantly white or multiethnic churches and Christian spaces decide that it’s time for them to go. We bear witness to the hurt, harm, and frustration that our siblings have experienced. Enough is enough. It’s time to #LeaveLOUD To #LeaveLOUD is to tell our stories, to name things for what they are, to take back the dignity we’ve lost while being in institutions that don’t value the fullness of the image of God within us, and to go where we are celebrated and not just tolerated. For the next several weeks, we will be sharing stories of Black Christians who have made the decision to #LeaveLOUD. We will also be providing thoughtful analysis, words of wisdom, and resources for those who have already left or who are discerning whether they should #LeaveLOUD. We invite you to share your stories using the hashtag #LeaveLOUD. The Witness BCC exists to empower Black Christians to live into the fullness of who God created us to be. You are not alone. Visit thewitnessbcc.com for more of our stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	guilt says that you've done something wrong, shame says who you are is wrong. And I felt like I
0:08.8	had been shamed out of these communities that I had dedicated so much of myself to. When they
0:17.7	came on and they said talking about race was heretical, was anti-gospel, with social justice war,
0:26.8	your Marxist, I felt like they're saying, Jamar, who you are is wrong. And I said this for the
0:33.4	longest, if you are black in these spaces, you either get pushed out, burned out, or you sell out.
0:45.6	Dynamic Voices for a Diverse Church. This is Pass the Mic.
0:50.1	Well, Jamar, last week you told your leave, loud story and brother, it blew up, man.
1:00.1	It's been a ride since that episode came out. We had a hunch, we had an inkling, but we really
1:06.1	had no idea. I've been blown away. The response has been overwhelming and a bit surprisingly,
1:14.4	almost entirely positive and supportive. So thank you to all of our listeners, all the folks
1:22.6	who have tuned in time and time again, our long time listeners and to all our new listeners.
1:28.3	Thank you for tuning in to these stories. Well, man, it was a beautiful brave bold story and I'm
1:34.2	so glad you told it. I'm also glad you told it because that gives me now a little bit of a runway
1:41.0	to share my leave, loud story. And I guess that's what this episode is supposed to be, brother.
1:47.2	Yes. Yes. This episode is your leave, loud story and is going to be you telling us your story,
1:55.2	but I got to tell the people this. I am eager to hear your story because honestly, as well as we
2:03.0	know each other, I don't know much of it. And one of the things folks listening have to realize
2:08.2	about Tyler is he is one of the rare souls who is content, even eager, not to be in the spotlight.
2:16.8	He likes to be where the action is because he's a doer. But he likes to strategize, work with and
2:24.1	through other people. And partly because of that, we don't hear as much of his story. But I know
2:32.0	enough of your story to know that you've been through some things. You've been through some things.
2:38.7	And so I'm eager to hear because I know you and I want to know you more and better. But I'm also
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Witness, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Witness and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.