Join the NC Conference Media Center’s Study Harder Challenge! Your group is invited to expand your circle of influence and try something new by studying resources that apply any of 12 characteristics that will help you think outside the box. Read more about the Study Harder Challenge and download your worksheet.
Challenge: Multicultural Teacher
Many of our most prolific authors are white guys. While they have wonderful things to teach us, we could all use more diversity in who we learn from. Listed below are some excellent studies by male and female teachers that not white.
Jorge Acevedo
Rev. Acevedo leads a multi-site United Methodist congregation in Florida. We recommend his important study on Wesleyan grace, A Grace-Full Life: God’s All-Reaching, Soul-Saving, Character-Shaping, Never-Ending Love. The DVD features Acevedo and Wes Olds talking through the material in the book to assure participants of God’s all-encompassing grace and love. Rev. Acevedo is also featured in the Grounded in Prayer DVD study, and he shares his faith experience in The Wesleyan Way DVD study. If you are looking for an Advent study, Rev. Acevedo is accompanied by a diverse group of four young clergy in the UMC-endorsed DVD study, Sent: Delivering the Gift of Hope at Christmas. We also have Rev. Acevedo’s book on vital congregations, Vital : Churches Changing Communities and the World, that shares the story of how his church has grown into vitality, as well as results from Amy Valdez Barker’s Vital Congregations Initiative that studied 32,000 United Methodist churches.
Magrey deVega
Rev. deVega is also the pastor of a United Methodist church in Florida. His DVD study, One Faithful Promise: The Wesleyan Covenant for Renewal, is the last in the Discipleship series from Abingdon Press. The study uses The Wesley Covenant Prayer from a renewal service in 1755 to offer that same renewal to churches today. Rev. deVega is also a co-host for a previous study in this series, Five Marks of a Methodist: The Fruit of a Living Faith, based on John Wesley’s, “The Character of a Methodist.” Rev. deVega has also written Advent and Lenten study books, Awaiting the Already: An Advent Journey Through the Gospels and Embracing the Uncertain: A Lenten Study for Unsteady Times.
F. Willis Johnson
Rev. Johnson has become known as the preacher from Ferguson, MO, but previously he served in Indiana and North Carolina as well. His experience in Ferguson, leading a United Methodist congregation and influencing thousands on issues of social justice, has well-prepared him to create his debut resource, Holding Up Your Corner: Talking about Race in Your Community. This excellent book, participant book, and DVD provide the tools that you need to have conversations about race in your church or even in your small group.
Barbara L. Roose
Roose is a frequent speaker at women’s conferences and the Directional Leader of Spiritual Formation at CedarCreek Church in Perrysburg, Ohio. Her DVD study for women’s groups, Beautiful Already: Reclaiming God’s Perspective on Beauty, is a message that all women need to hear. Learn how to let go of comparison and self-ridicule while also learning to encourage and support other women who still hold to these beliefs. This study is published by Abingdon Women, a United Methodist publisher.
Babbie Mason
Mason is most known for her talent in singing and songwriting, as well as her TV talk show, “Babbie’s House.” She is also a frequent speaker at women’s conferences and a bible teacher. Her DVD study, This I Know for Sure, helps solidify your faith as something that you can hold onto with assurance even in tough times. This study is also published by Abingdon Women, a United Methodist publisher.
Tony Evans
Dr. Evans is a well-known pastor, radio host, and chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. His latest DVD study, Watch Your Mouth: Understanding the Power of the Tongue, provides useful instruction for all Christians on how to glorify God and express His character with our words.
Francis Chan
Rev. Chan is a popular pastor in California where he leads and plants successful and generous churches. His bestseller, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, 
has changed the lives of many Christians. We have the DVD study based on that book, but we also have other popular DVD studies by him including Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit and the BASIC series on the basics of Christian faith. We also have Chan’s books on disciple-making and marriage, Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples and You and Me Forever: Marriage in Light of Eternity. The marriage book has online videos that lead a 7-week study of the book. We also have a youth study that Chan did on Courage.
Eboo Patel
Patel is Muslim, Indian, and American. His believes in the power of interfaith and interracial cooperation and speaks about it frequently. He shares these beliefs in his DVD study, Embracing Interfaith Cooperation: Eboo Patel on Coming Together to Change the World. This study is part of the Embracing series by Morehouse Education Resources. Patel gets practical in this study teaching about interfaith literacy, cooperation, and the skills needed to achieve it. Patel is joined on the DVD with a small, diverse group of adults and young adults as they respond and discuss interfaith issues.
Nabeel Qureshi
We mourned the loss of Qureshi last year, but he left his legacy in books and studies about his conversion from Islam to Christianity. He worked tirelessly to share about Islam with Christians and even more so, to share about Christianity with Muslims. His DVD study, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Former Muslim Shares the Evidence that Led Him from Islam to Christianity, informs Christians about Islam while solidifying the truth of the Christian faith. We also have Qureshi’s book, Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward, which is an excellent companion to the DVD study that provides sensitive and knowledgeable explanations of the truth about jihad.
Vital Conversations
We also wanted to share about this wonderful series from the General Commission on Religion and Race of The United Methodist Church, Vital Conversations on Race, Culture, and Justice: Series 1 and 2. The DVD includes 17 TED-style talks by a diverse group of church leaders on issues such as white privilege, race relations, interfaith relations, missions, refugees, repentance, and reconciliation. The guidebook includes introductions, discussion questions, and prayers for each video.
Request These Resources
These resources can be borrowed by anyone associated with the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, free of charge. We can even mail them to you! All you need to do is fill out the Resource Request Form.