Reread the list of resources and suggested action steps. Our leaders are recommending Christian groups, including those within the CRCNA. But in light of common grace, we should also join in the struggle for justice, equality, and righteousness with nonsectarian civic groups as well. I applaud our leaders for recognizing this and urging us into action.
A few years ago the CRC Synod adopted the Belhar Confession as a contemporary testimony of the church. What steps has your church taken to live into this confession? Do you use any pieces of it in your liturgies? Have you studied it together in light of the latest incidents of oppression of people of color (POC)? Have you considered how to promote strong leadership by POCs, women, and young adults within your congregation? Have you held listening sessions where folks were encouraged to honestly share, lament, repent, and work to dismantle systemic racism within your spheres of influence? Now is a good time to recommit yourselves to anti-racism. The world is watching. So is the One who redeemed you.
I don't see anything in this statement that precludes Christian involvement with BLM. In fact, I would assume that many of the BLM leaders are motivated by their Christian faith to speak out in the name of justice, equity, and love.
I would not fault a nonsectarian organization for failing to mention Jesus. I also wonder if you misinterpreted their statement about the nuclear family. They say, "We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement [italics added for emphasis] by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable." To me this statement indicates that BLM recognizes the historic and ongoing role of extended families in caring for children and strives to cultivate a culture of communal caring for each other that exemplifies this rather than insisting that two-parent families are required for this kind of caring to occur. Indeed, the church is called to act in this way, caring for each other like an extended family.
Posted in: Statement About The Deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor
Reread the list of resources and suggested action steps. Our leaders are recommending Christian groups, including those within the CRCNA. But in light of common grace, we should also join in the struggle for justice, equality, and righteousness with nonsectarian civic groups as well. I applaud our leaders for recognizing this and urging us into action.
Posted in: Statement About The Deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor
A few years ago the CRC Synod adopted the Belhar Confession as a contemporary testimony of the church. What steps has your church taken to live into this confession? Do you use any pieces of it in your liturgies? Have you studied it together in light of the latest incidents of oppression of people of color (POC)? Have you considered how to promote strong leadership by POCs, women, and young adults within your congregation? Have you held listening sessions where folks were encouraged to honestly share, lament, repent, and work to dismantle systemic racism within your spheres of influence? Now is a good time to recommit yourselves to anti-racism. The world is watching. So is the One who redeemed you.
https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/contemporary-testimony/confession-belhar/belhar-background-resources
Posted in: Statement About The Deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor
I don't see anything in this statement that precludes Christian involvement with BLM. In fact, I would assume that many of the BLM leaders are motivated by their Christian faith to speak out in the name of justice, equity, and love.
Posted in: Statement About The Deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor
I would not fault a nonsectarian organization for failing to mention Jesus. I also wonder if you misinterpreted their statement about the nuclear family. They say, "We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement [italics added for emphasis] by supporting each other as extended families and 'villages' that collectively care for one another, especially our children, to the degree that mothers, parents, and children are comfortable." To me this statement indicates that BLM recognizes the historic and ongoing role of extended families in caring for children and strives to cultivate a culture of communal caring for each other that exemplifies this rather than insisting that two-parent families are required for this kind of caring to occur. Indeed, the church is called to act in this way, caring for each other like an extended family.