Our congregation has become increasingly troubled by the racial injustices within our society.
The recent killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis; Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky; Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia; and many other murders resulting from police brutality against our black and brown brothers and sisters challenges our congregation to awaken from our slumber.
We are a multi-racial, predominantly white church community located in a racially diverse city. These events have called us to act with the knowledge that we have fallen short in the past. William Dickerson of the Brockton Interfaith Community, challenges us: if we are not willing to step up and seek justice, then we are part of the problem.
We publicly commit ourselves to move past complacency and to do the work to become a community that embraces and lives out racial and social justice. It’s not enough to be “not racist!” We seek to be anti-racist in our thoughts and actions and to become trusted, active allies of our partners. Led by faith and the example of Jesus, we will strive to leave our comfort zones and to show up in challenging spaces to support those partners. We will work together to dismantle the deeply embedded institutional racism in our city and in our nation.
We confess to not fully understanding what all that may mean and what our role may be. As we push ourselves to show up, we know we also have reflective work to do as a congregation. We are dedicated to educating ourselves, to seeking help in understanding the issues of the black and brown communities, and to moving forward with open eyes, open ears, open minds and open hearts toward the work of eradicating racial injustice.
We pray for courage and guidance as we take risks as a people of faith called to seek justice for all of humanity.
