About

About Holy Discomfort

The title of this blog was suggested by M. Drew Bongiovanni. Here’s what Drew has to say about the phrase:

“I came to see ‘discomfort’ as a value after a class discussion in graduate school following the 2016 election. We were discussing the complicity of all white folks in systems of whiteness/white supremacy, and the task for white folks to dismantle these systems. A black classmate said, ‘If you (speaking to white folks) are engaging in the work, you should feel uncomfortable. Whiteness is comfort, privilege, and power…it should not feel good to try and lose it.’

“Since that discussion, I have used discomfort as a guiding value for myself in the work. Something to lean into, not shy away from. And, because I believe this is God’s call on our life, to love our neighbors and to hate what is unjust, it is holy work.”

About me

Karen Bryant Shipp

I am the recently retired Minister of Music at Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, GA. I an a person who sings, writes, plays piano (and sometimes organ). I have a heart for justice and a passionate desire to bear witness to the power that is Love.