Racial Justice Work - An Apology and A Promise
As people of God, we are committed to call out and address racism when and where we see it. Our anti-racism is rooted in our holy scriptures to do justice and lift up the oppressed. Emboldened by our baptismal covenant, we are to respect the dignity of every human being.
We lament our own complicity in systems that have benefited whiteness and we lament our failure in seeing and lifting up the sacred humanity of people of color. To our sisters and brothers of color, our church’s whiteness has done you an injustice when we have remained silent. We are sorry for the safe and cautious ways we have moved towards addressing racial equality while your daughters and sons have been murdered. We commit to change.
Our faith tells us there is a better and more beautiful way towards building a Kingdom of Peace.
With humility and open hearts, we commit to a path of racial justice.
We commit to a process of learning and unlearning.
Learning from the wisdom and experiences of people of color (not one person in the bible was white) and unlearning the skewed history that has centered the white experience.
We commit to asking vision questions like, what does “here on earth as it is in heaven” really look like? As fully devoted followers of Jesus, how will we engage in the table toppling actions that bring about real change?
We at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ft. Collins Colorado commit to being on this path of seeking racial justice.
Resources
Local BIPOC organizations. Take a look at their websites or Facebook pages. Perhaps one of them could use your "Allyship"!
Northern Colorado Tribal POWWOW Association
Fort Collins International Center
Fort Collins - Choice City for Whom? is a powerful documentary pointing to the racism here in our city. You can now watch it online. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGUVTZ7nCfc&t=183s
Other advocacy organizations include: ACLU Colorado, and Black Lives Matter, Denver
Several parishioners at St. Paul's have taken this course called My Work to Do: This is a 5 week course to continue our antiracism work. Visit the Website www.myworktodo.com to sign up.