The idea came shortly after Adler, then a musician at Church of the Open Door in Robbinsdale, Minn., had seen a group of Messianic Jews demonstrate worship dance.

"I was back at my regular job, and it just struck me -- why can’t we use (events like the dancing demonstration) to bring people together?" he said. "But my fear was, I had a good job; why would I want to leave everything that supported me?"

But Adler took a leap of faith and left his job about two years ago to start Heart of the City, an organization devoted to stamping out racism, one person at a time. Every month Adler, along with wife, Sandy, and their group travels to different churches to lead a worship service filled with music and chances to get acquainted with people of other races.

"It’s so shameful the way we treat minorities," Adler said. "We just push them back into the corner. And the church is the central social structure in our society."

Adler practices what he preaches when it comes to racial diversity: His 20-member singing group, the One Spirit Gospel Ensemble, includes Asians, African-Americans, Hmong and Hispanics. Sandy Adler, a veteran church musician, gives the group its strength, while Alder, who is also a composer, tries to infuse his philosophy into most everything they do.

For instance, Adler not only wanted diverse voices in his choir, he wanted the songs they sing to be inclusive, too. So he asked people to translate some of the verses of his hymns into different languages.

"There are 60,000 Hmong people in the Twin Cities," Adler said. "But they are largely overlooked ... The Hmong still don’t have a complete Bible translated into their language."

More church groups should undertake such projects, Adler said. "Maybe churches have to spend less on the Christmas program or not buy new carpet for a year," he said, suggesting ways to pay for translations.

But the main message of Heart of the City comes through its monthly traveling events. Adler said some churches find Heart visits a great way to delve into the touchy issue of race.

"The key to the whole thing is drawing a diverse group," he said. "And you can be a part of that without leaving your church, without leaving your friends. And it’s about being challenged. I was amazed at what some of these churches do with few resources.

"For so many of these people who are living the Christian life, they never are involved with a person from a different ethnic background," Adler said. "We tell the people who come to our events that we genuinely need them. We tell them we would like to hand over leadership to them. With our background, how could we ever understand the needs of Asians or African-Americans or Hmong?"

Adler may have had the vision for Heart of the City firmly planted in his mind and heart, but Sandy Adler was skeptical when her husband came home talking about taking on racism. Although she was enthusiastic about the prospects, she wondered how they would support themselves.

"I knew we were going to feel weird and uprooted for one to two years," she said.

"And, of course, we lost money during the first 17 events," Dan Adler said. "And yet, I feel so privileged to be able to do something that might bring people together and to be building bridges."

The events begin with songs, some of which Dan Adler composed. Then, participants are given about 10 minutes to greet each other and discover something about the people around them.

Then Adler invites a visiting urban pastor to take the stage and invite the congregation to his church.

Messianic Rabbi Ed Rothman, of the Seed of Abraham Congregation in Golden Valley, Minn., was the last pastor to talk about his church. Rothman, who has attended the past 12 Heart events, said the group has opened many opportunities for him.

At Sabathani Community Center in Minneapolis, Rothman not only demonstrated the worship dance of Messianic Jews but inspired some people to try it themselves.

"I would guess out of a crowd of 300 or 400, there were 40 to 50 dancing that day," Rothman said.

Being a Messianic Jew, Rothman said, means being a Jew by birth and then accepting Jesus as the historical Messiah.

"It’s an Hebraic tradition to praise God through dance," Rothman said. "In Exodus 15, it says that Miriam led the women in dance. David danced when they brought the ark back from Gath. And in the Psalms it talks about dancing before the Lord.

"Dan and Sandy are very key leaders in the city to inspire racial reconciliation and unity," Rothman said. "They have this strong conviction that people should come together and pray and worship. And they’ve been very courageous in trying new things."

After the guest pastor advertises his or her church, the assembly prays for the clergy and the congregation and members give testimony.

Next, the assembly breaks into small groups to talk about racism and pray for the church and for those who do not know Christ. After an offering, the One Spirit Gospel Ensemble leads the singing for the rest of the evening.

It’s a simple formula that includes everyone and gives each person ideas to help battle racism. And it seems to be catching on.

"At every concert, 50 percent to 60 percent are new people. They come from all over -- White Bear Lake, Wisconsin. So that is encouraging," Alder said. "But we have to form partnerships. If anything is going to happen, then people will have to be interacting."

However idealistic, Adler continues his quest for change.

"If we could affect (racism), then maybe we can do something about poverty," Adler said. "This will influence people in a ripple way. It will require a lot of people. And Sandy and I are just one little piece."

Clark D. Morphew