Member Church News: Fighting Racism

The recent deaths of three African Americans have once again raised concern about racial injustice across the United States, including the cities where the deaths occurred. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), says there is work to be done.

In a statement, Lynching Justice in America, United Church of Christ officers call on members to “Speak up. Stand up. Show up.”

In an official statement, leaders of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, said, “We must all stand up and speak, work, and preach against the sin of racism.”

Responding To Racism And Listening To The African American and Black Community: Pastoral Letters from Reformed Church in America leaders.

The Church and Racial Reconciliation: Dana Allin, ECO Synod Executive, calls churches to engage in “racial reconciliation and prayerfully eradicating racism in our communities.”

In response to the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent protests nationwide against police brutality, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has issued a Call to Lament, Prayer, and Fasting for Monday, June 8.

The hope of the church in the nasty here and now: Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, caps a service of lament with a stirring, yet sobering, reflection.

Beyond Thoughts and Prayer: Colin Watson, acting executive director of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, calls for lament, prayer, and action.

Racism a deadly virus that white people must help eradicate, United Church of Christ panel says.

Addressing Grief and Rage in Minneapolis: A Christian Reformed Church in North America chaplain in Minneapolis shares his perspective on George Floyd’s death and race relations in America.

Peaceful church protest in Brooklyn brings disruption, blessing, and a call for change while clergy lead thousands in peaceful protest on Chicago’s South Side.

Calling racism “a sin against humanity,” the Presbyterian Church (USA) Office of Public Witness expressed outrage at the death of George Floyd Friday and called on Presbyterians to take action in the wake of his death.

Hispanic/Latinx National Presbyterian Caucus “stands in strong solidarity” with African American siblings.

“Strengthen our commitment to ending lethal white supremacy and the racism it needs to thrive.” That prayer, read as a closing refrain, summed up many of the sentiments expressed during an online vigil organized by United Church of Christ and other faith leaders in Minnesota.

Death of George Floyd in police custody draws responses from United Church of Christ people of Minneapolis.

Lament, Prayer, Future Change: Conversations With Minnesota Pastors

In response to the demonstrations across the United States and Canada in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada, and The United Church of Canada have issued a joint letter. They write, “It is important for church members in our largely white churches to look at how we continue to perpetuate anti-black racism, either inadvertently or intentionally.”

As protests erupted in more than 30 cities across the US in the wake of the death of George Floyd, churches in the US collectively expressed anger combined with a clarion call for a change—once and for all—in a nation that has tolerated violent racism for too long.

The national leaders of the Uniting Church in Australia and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress have shared grief, outrage, and prayers of solidarity with civil rights protesters in the United States, where the murder by police of African American man George Floyd has sparked global anger against racism and police brutality.

The World Council of Churches Executive Committee issues “Statement on Racial Justice in the USA.”

The Conference of European Churches will hold its 7th Summer School on Human Rights, conducting online webinars from 7 to 10 July 2020 on “Challenges for Human Rights in the times of COVID-19.”