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This was the tagline of a non-profit organization I founded in the late 1990 called Genesis Eleven. Genesis Eleven was established in the United States to seek to align Christians through networking their gifts, talents, knowledge, abilities, products, and services, across racial lines, on the basis of the Bible’s teachings of The Body of Christ and God’s love for all people. The basis was fundamentally to align Christians across racial lines based on their Biblical Identity in Christ. The tagline came in a clear and audible voice with strong meaning: “I am Still Building MY Church.” I coined the term Identity in Christ in a newspaper I published through Genesis Eleven called Christ (Christian Resource and Information Station) Publications in 1998. The vision of Genesis Eleven and Christ Publications was to establish a system, whereby Christians from “every nation, tongue kindred and people,” could: Comprehend and practice their spiritual unity and alliance Demonstrate their unity as members of The Body of Christ Network and support one another using their gifts, talents, and abilities Assist and be assisted in fulfilling their God ordained purposes in the earth Demonstrate God’s love for people The title of the organization was deliberate. The title Genesis Eleven references the Old Testament book of Genesis in chapter eleven and specifically, the Tower of Babel, and how God honors and ordains diversity where people organize. The story of the Tower of Babel reveals that the people of the world came together using their gifts, talents, abilities, resources, etc., to “make a name for themselves” and become so powerful that they would reach “the heavens,” becoming so powerful as to presumably compete with God or be like God. As a result, God destroyed this lofty work and confused their language so they could no longer communicate as one people. God spread them throughout the earth, where they began creating new and separate cultures and traditions. Organizations of people, whether public, non-profit, or private all risk collapsing when they come together for the purposes of amassing power and gain for themselves. It happens all the time. Organizations of people go through ongoing changes and restructuring toward a need to stay afloat, make huge profits and amass great wealth, fame, and popularity. And at the base there are tensions, a lack of cohesion, abuses and mistreatments, confusion, and conflict. Individualism, power, greed, and gain, too often transform the best of intentions. Faith-based institutions and organizations who organize for the glory of God and for the good of all using spiritual principles that characterize them, represent a critical need in the days we are living. I believe the season and time is upon us to acknowledge and quickly turn from traditions and influences from some faith-based institutions and organizations, which, have a long-standing history of using religion to create conflicts, advance racism, lies, deceptions, pseudoscience, and propaganda, toward power, control, gain and greed. These misrepresent God and The Faith by aligning themselves with others, primarily based on racial identity; (a social construct) while they seemingly advocate for and seek benefit from the mistreatment, pain and misfortunes of others who have a different skin color. They align themselves with others of racial similarity, whether others are of the same practicing faith or not. It appears that the color of their skin is their god. They have proven to be damaging and destructive to scores, and antithetical to basic faith-based teachings and thought. In essence, they have become “towers,” whereby many have been misguided, mis-informed, mis-educated and guided “away” from God, to individualism, selfish gain and ambition, greed, hatred, and violence. Modeling “The Faith,” (which is fundamentally the love of God and being in alignment with those of spiritual like mind and purpose across racial lines) appears to be against what these believe, except to manipulate, control, and lord over others. Identity in Christ has become a global term since I first published it in Christ Publications in 1998. It has been plagiarized and redefined in many ways. Some have even written whole books on the term! But let’s set the record straight: Identity in Christ was revealed to me as a “play on words” to a term (Christian Identity) that described, at the time, a so-called Christian entity that was characterized by the notion of “white supremacy.” White supremacy? A Christian organization? Is that the same Christianity of the Bible, which, reveals that the Body of Christ is made of people of every nation and tongue? That reveals that God is love and is no respecter of persons? Wow, I thought, as the Holy Spirit told me to use that term and turn it around to what and who HE is. Identity in Christ fundamentally means to take on the identity of Christ, yes, in His character and nature, but more importantly, in identifying with His Body, the Body of Christ, which, is made of every nation and tongue; and it transcends all other socially constructed identities, such as racial, professional, political, etc. Identity in Christ is to identify with and be known by Him and therefore, His Body (people). Over the past three decades, I’ve been on a long journey of exploration, experience, research, and revelation for the current day. For more than three decades, I struggled with the conditions of racism in White US churches, as well as how society is constructed to pit Christians against one another under the guise of politics. They say that there are at least two things we shouldn’t talk about publicly: religion and politics. Ironic, because my journey has been characterized by my professional/personal involvement in the two for most of my life! Earning a Ph.D. in Public Affairs, with groundbreaking research that revealed the original empirically based theory on volunteer management, where my research participants were comprised of members of various faith-based-organizations. So called religion and politics is all I know. And this is the gift that I bring to the world, for the good of us all. Welcome to CR Coleman MGMT, LLC. This organization has two primary foci: to teach and develop cultural competency (or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in faith-based organizations that comprehend that racism and violence against others is not acting in the love of God and Identity in Christ. These grieve and are perhaps convicted by their participation in racist ideologies and practices that hurt others. They recognize they don’t understand others and often identify others based on stereotypes, lies, deceptions, pseudoscience, and propaganda (the nature and practice of “towers”). They understand that God is love, but struggle with socially acceptable notions of hurting and deliberately working against others, their well-being, and best interests. They struggle with controlling fear, hate, anxiety and temptations of violence and disrespect concerning others of a different skin color. They recognize that their identity is not in Christ, but rather in towers. Secondly, I am obsessed with efficiency, effectiveness, and clarity in organizations, (and in real life!) and I’m known as a problem solver. Although I practice The Faith according to the Bible, I am passionate about working with faith-based organizations because they operate with principles and standards that reflect well-meaning, dignity and respect for all, and the love of God. My work and research in the past have included working with faith groups that are: Muslim Bahai’ Judaism Various elements of Christianity Therefore, I assist any faith-based organization with constructing and managing systems involving the workforce toward efficiency, effectiveness, and clarity, and my specialty is managing volunteers. I analyze current day news and activities, domestically, as well as internationally and their impacts on these critical, and related matters. At the base of all my consulting, cultural analyses, organizational analysis, and coaching, is the major components of dignity and respect for others, cultural competency, and diversity management. If you would like to learn more, contact me for a 30-minute consultation today to see how I can help you with overcoming organizational, as well as related personal challenges around these topics. Best, Dr. Cheryl R. Coleman