“I consider the sufferings of this present time not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God.” Romans 8:18 – 19. NRSV
Dear beloved Disciples,
We are hurting.
We are haunted and outraged by the anguished cries of George Floyd, the gasp of “I can’t breathe” as a police officer knelt on his neck until the breath was completely taken from him. Floyd’s murder, like that of Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Aubery in recent weeks, is just the latest in a long history of violence against Black and Brown people in our country. The protests that are happening in big cities and small towns across the nation are an outpouring of grief and anger born of centuries of pain and injustice.
As members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), we condemn this injustice. We weep not only for George Floyd, but for the entire system of oppression that has kept us from seeing each other as beloved children of God.
Racism and the denial of human dignity is counter to the call of Jesus Christ. Racism is a sin that breaks the heart of God.
Disciples, we call ourselves a Pro-Reconciling, Anti-Racist church. We have named it as a mission priority, and we have worked hard – though often imperfectly – to live that out in every expression of our ministry. In this moment, when protests rage and our hearts are broken again and again, we need to be the church we say we are.
We know that this moment calls for more than statements and prayers. In this moment, God is calling us to act.
