When Michael Johnson, ruling elder at CityLife Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, read in the paper about a local play based on a racist protest from almost 100 years ago, it would have been easy for him to take another sip of coffee and turn the page. Even when he learned that the protest had occurred just four doors down from the church, he could have shrugged it off, considering that the congregation had been meeting in that building for only two years. But with a nudge from his wife, he instead began working on a plan to host one performance of the play at CityLife.

The church’s session was quick to hop on board. Associate Pastor Mitch Welborn explains, “It didn’t take us very long to see the opportunity that we had to host something around an event that was so close to our building and so relevant to our community.”

After a few phone calls and a meeting with the playwrights, CityLife was set to host “Not in Our Neighborhood!” in the middle of its sold-out run at the Landmark Center. The play tells the story of William and Nellie Francis, who in 1924 moved into what is now known as the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul. William being a prominent attorney and Nellie an activist for civil rights and women’s suffrage, they should have gotten along well with their well-to-do neighbors, but because of their darker skin, they were met with burning crosses and more than 100 protesters on their lawn.

Neighborhood data shows that the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood today is still overwhelmingly white, affluent, and educated. According to Johnson, CityLife hosted the play to reach out to the neighborhood and provide space for conversation. Roughly 150 people came to see the production last February, 70% of whom Johnson estimates were non-church members from the neighborhood.

Almost everyone stayed for the Q&A following the play. And most of the questions were generated from those in the immediate neighborhood. According to Johnson, the audience was eager to discuss racism and even to be self-reflective. Johnson says he brought up the main antagonist in the play and asked where his spirit might still live on today.

“It’s so humbling to see people who aren’t even spiritually connected to the church put their fingers on that,” says Welborn. “It’s convicting.”

While Welborn says that most of the neighbors would no longer object to a person of color moving into the house next door, the attendees did discuss a high-rise, low-cost apartment building that had been proposed to be built nearby. Many of the homeowners said they feared a loss in property value, a concept that also came up in the play.

“The play really highlighted something that I hadn’t really thought of before, and that was that it was as racially motivated as it was also very economically motivated,” Welborn explains. “Economics are the foundation to justifiable reasons for the segregation. Racism is not just about hatred of another person; it’s about selfishness for your own ends.”

Johnson says he saw the play as a catalyst for generating conversation in the community about racism. “It really was to shine a spotlight,” he says. “To try and take the lead in a proactive, positive way. We didn’t want to just be presenting historical facts. We wanted to communicate empathy. We wanted to communicate love and concern. And we wanted to be truth-tellers most of all.”

At this point the leaders of CityLife don’t claim to have a definite path forward, but they are committed to continuing conversations about welcoming those who are different.