Housing Authority of Bowling Green Executive Director Abraham Williams remembers growing up in Alabama and going to segregated schools from first grade through college.

His father fought in World War II, but when he returned he couldn’t ride in the front of the bus or walk in certain neighborhoods. He also remembers taking his mother to the hospital back in the days when black people were treated in the basement, and it didn’t matter if the person had a cold or cancer, which raised the question for Williams: What kind of justice is that?

Christ Episcopal Church, 1215 State St., is hosting Sunday morning forums and Wednesday night discussions and dialogue throughout September as part of its Living Our Faith Together program. The fall session’s topic will be “Listening for Change: Sacred Conversations about Racial Justice.”

Sue Wilson, a member of the Adult Christian Education Ministry Team, said the church was interested in learning more about racial issues of our time, participating in open dialogue and making an effort to create positive change in the community.

“This is not a religion class. These are at our church as a community offering because as a church we think maybe the churches could get more involved and do some things,” Wilson said. “Let’s kind of see who we are from this.”

Williams will speak at one of the Sunday forums and Wednesday night discussions on understanding today’s activism and local realities of racial inequalities. He said the biggest goal he has in his position is to level the playing field regardless of race, religion or background.

“We always wait until something bad happens to talk. Why not talk during the good times? Why wait for tragedy to happen?” Williams asked. “We have to stop looking at the color and look at the content of the person, and we don’t do that because we’re too afraid to get to know each other.”

Christ Episcopal Church Interim Rector Judith Foster Reese said the entire community is invited to participate in the four-week series because people need to explore some of the issues that are causing pain and suffering in the country and around the world.

“Whether it’s in Bowling Green or somewhere else, I think racism is very much with us and we can’t just put our head in the sand and turn a blind eye,” Reese said. “In the news, we noticed that there are a lot racial issues, and we look at racism as a sin.”

Western Kentucky University History Department associate professor Patti Minter is one of the speakers who will discuss the historical perspectives of racial injustice, such as the period after the Civil War, the rise of the Jim Crow laws and the rise of the social movement to fight Jim Crow.

“I think it’s important to have this conversation everywhere in America. It’s an ongoing issue of not only this summer, but the last several years and the ongoing racial tension in the United States,” Minter said. “It’s an ongoing process, and if we have the historical context, we can better understand the racial injustice and help people better understand how they fit in the conversation of racial injustice in this country.”

WKU Political Science Department Head Saundra Ardrey will speak and offer her knowledge on the local realities. She said it’s important to continue these conversations because it’s one of the best strategies to better understand one another.

“Abraham and I both have been working on community relations with the police department, and we want to get ahead of it to make sure we have those networks already in place,” Ardrey said. “We are a small city but for our size we have a lot of diversity in our community, and it’s important to continue the conversation in our community.”

The first event is from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday with dinner at 5:30 p.m. The first Sunday forum is from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Sept. 11 and will continue every Sunday and Wednesday throughout September.

— For more information, contact the Listening for Change committee at 270-792-3422.

— Follow faith/general assignments reporter Simone C. Payne on Twitter @_SimonePayne or visit bgdailynews.com.