Central Church of the Brethren Congregational Statement on Racism
Revised and Approved by The Leadership Team on April 12, 2021
As a body of followers of Jesus Christ, we come together to condemn the sin of racism.
We confess our individual and collective complicity in racism by our actions, inactions, and silence. Both individually and as the church, we have contributed to the continued systemic oppression of people of color that began with the arrival of enslaved Africans on the shores of America more than 400 years ago.
History and our present-day racial injustice reveal that faith communities played, and continue to play, a shameful role in fostering individual racism and institutional racism. While Brethren in the past, beginning with their move to America in 1719, have condemned the institution of slavery and as pacifists refused to fight in any war, including the Civil War, we are aware that not all Brethren followed the church’s teaching. We acknowledge that many white Christian churches justified slavery and actively supported a civil war so that slavery could continue. We recognize that many white Christian churches supported Jim Crow segregation laws that suppressed the human rights and dignity of Black people. We are embarrassed by the lukewarm response of many white churches to the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. (Revelation 3:15-16)
All people of all colors and all nations are made in God’s image. (Genesis 1:26-27). Racism is a man-made concept designed to perpetuate the supremacy of white culture over other races, and people of color based on nothing more than the color of skin or other physical traits. As such, racism and beliefs of white superiority violates the biblical teachings to love one another and to love your neighbor. Believing or treating some persons as less than ourselves defies Jesus’ teaching to treat others as you would have them treat you and Jesus’ command that we love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:34-40)
We cry out at the realization that in our city, Roanoke, Virginia, urban renewal resulted in “Negro removal” in the Gainsboro neighborhood. We mourn at the shattering of a thriving Black residential, business, and spiritual community and the destruction of homes, businesses, and churches without just compensation. We regret that the promises of former City leaders were not kept, and the wounds so created still exist today.
We lament that some Roanoke schools and neighborhoods remain segregated.
We mourn and, with new knowledge, are angered that the church stands by in silence while our criminal justice system gives harsher treatment to persons of color — especially Black and Hispanic men — and longer sentences of incarceration to people of color than those for white persons.
After the election of a Black president, it was tempting to think that racism was no longer a predominant problem in America, but current events demonstrate otherwise. Racism is an evil that endures. Racism doesn’t go away; it just adapts.
In response, the Church and our church must act. “The commandment we have from Jesus is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:21)
Therefore, we, the congregation of Central Church of the Brethren, as followers of Jesus committed to justice, peace, and love, affirm that we will:
- Bear witness to the Gospel that proclaims all of us are beloved by God and created in God’s image. (Galatians 3:26-28)
- Commit to actively seeking relationships with local Black congregations through book study, Bible study, and other joint activities.
- Commit to sharing what we have learned with other white people about the underlying structures of systemic racism, especially educational, health care, judicial, economic, religious, and governmental systems.
- Teach the truth that white privilege benefits white people in ways that may not be realized so that recognition of white privilege promotes racial compassion and understanding.
- Encourage and empower sisters and brothers to move beyond silence and inaction to become active voices and leaders to end racism directed toward all people and nationalities.
- Confess that white supremacy is destructive of the very systems that are meant to ensure “liberty and justice for all” and actively speak out against it.
- Call out excuses for racism when we hear them. Be prepared to speak the truth. (Romans 12:9-10)
- Commit to making faith-based reparations locally through the use of our resources to help correct manifestations of racism, injustice, and inequality in our community. These faith-based reparations will be decided by the Church Council as the voice of God’s people. (Matthew 5:7; 1 John 3:16-18)