My soul is troubled. If I genuinely believe that every person is a child of God and that Jesus calls us to action in loving one another, then I understand it is my responsibility to work for that sacred worth of every person to be protected equally. There is a disconnect in our church and society when we value some people’s lives more than others because of the color of their skin; that is SIN.
As a Matthew 25 church, we are called together to respond with action when our brothers and sisters in Christ are crying out for justice. We may not all help in the same way, but our compassion is rooted in the very ministry of Christ himself to those whose voices have long been silenced. It is the long tradition of our denomination to act for racial justice. More than 50 years ago, here is how the Confession of 1967, from the Book of Confessions of the PCUSA puts it:
God has created the peoples of the earth to be one universal family. In his reconciling love, God overcomes the barriers between sisters and brothers and breaks down every form of discrimination based on racial or ethnic difference, real or imaginary. The church is called to bring all people to receive and uphold one another as persons in all relationships of life: in employment, housing, education, leisure, marriage, family, church, and the exercise of political rights. Therefore, the church labors for the abolition of all racial discrimination and ministers to those injured by it. Congregations, individuals, or groups of Christians who exclude, dominate, or patronize others, however subtly, resist the Spirit of God and bring contempt on the faith which they profess.
In 2016 the PCUSA adopted an Antiracism policy which you can read here: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/resource/facing-racism-vision-intercultural-community-churchwide-antiracism-policy/
This work is not politics; it is the love Jesus embodies - the gospel – in action. Paul makes our unity clear in I Corinthians 12:26, “If one member suffers, all suffer with it; if one part is honored, all rejoice with it.” That is why I will be present (with a mask and wearing a clerical collar) at the Peaceful Protest at noontime on Saturday at the Flemington Courthouse. I will stand with my brothers and sisters of color in opposition to the killing of George Floyd and others, so they will know we are Christians by our love.
Yours in Christ’s love,
Rev. Amy