Responding to the Call for Change
The Reedville Presbyterian Church mourns the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many other Black Americans robbed of their lives by acts of hatred and cruelty. We join others acknowledging the systemic racism once again so tragically revealed, and our complicity in it. The deep woundedness tearing at the heart of the nation is once again laid bare.
The Reedville Church believes There is a place at the Table for everyone. Just as we have been given a place at God’s table, we work for inclusion, fair treatment, and grace for all. We intend to be a landing place for anyone on life’s journey. In a divided world, we endeavor to be instruments of grace facilitating reconciliation with God, with others, and with all creation.
We believe that by the grace of God we are part of God’s unfolding promise to mend the entire universe. Therefore we will:
- Acknowledge our complicity in this nation’s systemic racism, and the privilege in which we so completely participate that we can barely detect it.
- Listen to each other and the voices of those long silenced.
- Learn about the history and experience of African-Americans in the United States.
- Accompany victims and those on the margins, contributing to effective strategies, campaigns and advocacy efforts.
- Build relationships and movements to increase the capacity to effect change.
We believe that God may be shaking the foundations, rattling dry bones, challenging the status quo, calling forth new life from the tombs of despair and lost hope. Now more than ever is the time to act, and to hope here.
-The Session of the Reedville Presbyterian Church; Aloha, Oregon; June 25, 2020