We believe the Church is called to embrace diversity and enable all people to flourish, but it has not always done this. We believe God is calling us to listen, reflect and act to eradicate all forms of prejudice from His world.
Listen
We are committed to listening to the experiences of those who have encountered racism or discrimination wherever. We have begun this process by speaking to members of our church family from BAME backgrounds, and including interviews with them in our Sunday services.
We can also recommend the resources below to help us listen better to our brothers and sisters from BAME backgrounds.
Reflect
The message of Jesus is absolutely clear that all ‘peoples, tribes and tongues’ are equal and of equal value. To think or act in any other way is undermining the very gospel message we’re trying to share. And yet, many of us are finding that we are becoming aware of racial injustice in a new way, and that we may have been living in an unjust culture of privilege without realising, or that we have unconscious biases that result in acts of ‘covert’ or ‘socially acceptable’ racism.
It is up to all of us to ask the Holy Spirit to search us and show us where we might be harbouring prejudice in our hearts. To help us do this, use this three step guided reflection from the Difference course by Reconciling Leaders Network.
Act
Together we can and will work harder to demonstrate our one-ness in Jesus. It is too easy to listen, reflect and then get distracted by the rest of life. We must continue to act to address areas of prejudice and racism in our life as a church family and in our society. Actions might include further research and reading, partnering with a charity such as Power the Fight, or committing as an individual, or life group, to challenge racial injustice when you see it in your workplace, community group, neighbourhood or even family. Or if you’re in a life group, why not consider doing the Difference course?