What is the American church’s job in 2020? Every generation of Jesus’s followers listens for God’s call with eyes open to the world around them. Our world in this election year, now made more difficult by a global pandemic and intense social strife, summons us to hear anew one of our Lord’s prayers: “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). Jesus’s vision lands powerfully in the American situation. In both his prayer and his new commandment (John 13), Jesus declares the world will change if his disciples love one another. Can we do our job? Can we be that church?

WORSHIP PARTICIPANTS

• Music team – Highland Church of Christ, Abilene, Texas; led by Jeff Nelson

• Scripture teller – Claudia Panta Santos, ACU music performance major, Lima, Peru

• Pray-er – Fred Asare, managing director, Village of Hope, Accra, Ghana

• Speaker – Allen Hilton, author of A House United: How the Church Can Save the World

• Worship coordinator – David Kneip, ACU Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

ALLEN HILTON

Allen Hilton is a speaker, teacher, writer, and leader who brings people together across lines of political and racial difference for the common good. He is the executive director of House United, flying or Zooming 30 weeks per year to help divided communities throughout the nation. His book, A House United: How the Church Can Save the World, describes American political polarization and calls Christians to help solve it. Allen began in academe, serving on the Bible faculties of St. Mary’s College of California and the Yale Divinity School. He then served on pastoral teams for large churches in Connecticut, Washington, and Minnesota. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his beloved wife, Liz, and their teen sons.