The second conference-sponsored “One in Christ” Race Relations Summit was held Sept. 6 at the Mountain View Central Church.

“As God’s children, we need to take proper measures to narrow the gap between racial tension, to learn to tolerate and accept each other, and to live peacefully together,” said John Ang, Mountain View Chinese Church pastor and co-coordinator of the event, in his welcoming remarks.

“The purpose of the summit is to inspire community building, collegiality and cross-cultural communication through worship, fellowship, education, and dialogue,” said Dr. Dayton Chong, director of Asian/Pacific Ministries for the Central California Conference. The ethnic make-up of Central is eight percent African-American, 61 percent white Anglo, eight percent Asian, and 23 percent Hispanic representing more than 25 language groups.

Program guest speakers were Roscoe Howard, executive secretary, North American Division, and Dr. Manuel Vasquez, vice president and director of multilingual ministries, North American Division. There were more than 60 participants, including the Mountain View Pathfinder honor guard, various musical presentations and a lively eight-member panel discussion. The broad topic, “Integration of the Local Church,” was broken into specific discussion topics.