The world is heart-broken at personal, national, and international levels. There is great need for justice, reconciliation, and Christian transformation in all arenas of life. We are committed to reaching out to both the privileged and under-privileged in near and far away places as part of our Christian responsibility, seeking not only to share the Gospel and leading people to accept Christ as Lord, but to also care for the suffering through vivid social actions.

Resources:

Short Reads

• “Say Something” – a blog by Dr. Ed Welch (faculty member of CCEF) describing the importance of listening and learning for those of us who haven’t personally experienced racial injustice (3 minutes to read).
• “George Floyd and Me” – an article on The Gospel Coalition by Shai Linne, a local church planter, hip-hop artist, and author about his processing of this cultural moment (6 minutes to read).

Webinars/Online Lectures

• Grace, Justice, & Mercy: An Evening with Bryan Stevenson & Rev. Tim Keller – this talk, sponsored by Redeemer PCA in NYC, addresses the issue of injustice in our society with hope for how the Church can apply the truth of the Gospel in our day. Keller and Stevenson also had an important Q&A session to discuss the path forward for the Church. Bryan Stevenson is a follower of Jesus who works as an attorney, dedicating his life to fighting injustice, and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. Just Mercy, the film about his work, is available for free on many streaming services during the month of June.
• Racial Brokenness in America and Our Gospel Response “A Time to Listen, Black Voices Speak” – webinar by African American Ministries, an arm of the PCA’s Mission to North America (1:30:26). You can sign up to receive info from AAM here.
• How Evangelicalism Undermined Reformed Applications of Cosmic Redemption – a lecture by Dr. Anthony Bradley (PhD, Westminster Theological Seminary) addressing how the Church has failed to understand and work toward the full implications of Jesus’s atoning death and resurrection in redeeming all of creation (48:44).
• Following the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, Dr. Eric Mason of Epiphany Fellowship held an important panel discussion with Pastor Nyron Burke, Dr. Sarita Lyons, and Dr. Tiffany Gill on justice from Isaiah 1:16-17.
• Rev. Dr. Herb Lusk II of Greater Exodus Baptist Church preached from Acts 12:1-10 on Christ in the Crisis on Sunday, May 31.

Longer Reads

• 2018 Ad Interim Committee on Racial and Ethnic Reconciliation Study Paper – the PCA General Assembly created a committee to investigate and report on racial and ethnic reconciliation, providing recommendations for the denomination, presbyteries, and local churches.
• Heal Us, Emmanuel: A Call for Racial Reconciliation, Representation, and Unity in the Church – an important collection of essays by black PCA pastors.
• The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism – a book by Jemar Tisby tracing the history of racial issues in the American Church from before the founding of our nation to the present day.

Helpful Organizations

• African American Ministries, an arm of the PCA's Ministry to North America

Our Statement:

The Elders and Pastors of SLPC join with the Grace and Race Ministry of Redeemer Churches and Ministries in New York City in the affirmation of our Grace and Race Statement. As church leaders, we seek to grow in our awareness of racial and ethnic differences in order to experience the richness of human community made whole in Christ.  Individually and as a servant leadership team, we cry out to God for help, in the words of Psalm 139:23,24 - “Search me O God and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!”

As of May 27, 2020

Once again our hearts are broken and our souls irate as the blood of yet another person of color cries out to God from the ground. The vile brutality of racism in America has been unmistakable in recent weeks as the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd have each been brought to light.

As Christians and as the Grace and Race Ministry of Redeemer Churches & Ministries:

We lament the deaths of these beloved Image Bearers and weep with those who will forever miss their son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, cousin, or friend.

We remember that throughout Scripture, God shows particular care for those who are most vulnerable, he commands authorities to be characterized by righteousness and justice, and he holds nations accountable for how they treat the least powerful groups and persons in their societies.

We recognize the pervasiveness of sin, we acknowledge that the bloody history of racially motivated violence in the United States continues to this day, we denounce any doctrine of racial superiority, and we join the many calls for systemic change in a nation that has often failed to uphold God’s vision of justice and has persistently worked against people of color. We pray that local officials will exercise their authority to pursue justice for Mr. Arbery, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Floyd, and countless others whose stories have been neglected.

We repent of the ways that we as Christians have far too often failed to adequately stand against the evil of racism and violence: diminishing its severity, averting our gazes, and even perpetuating such injustice deliberately or complicitly.

We realize that for many of our brothers and sisters, the revelation of these deaths is but another reminder of an everyday reality, and that even now as we lament the loss of these lives, many others are overlooked while being subjected to cruelty and death due to the color of their skin. Even still, we remember that “nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.¹”

We cry out to the God of peace and justice, asking together with the psalmist: How long, O Lord? How long must our black and brown brothers and sisters be killed without consequence? How long must fathers and mothers weep over their dead children? How long will racial violence persist in this nation? How long until your true justice reigns?

And yet we resolutely hope in Jesus, the Prince of Peace who suffered and died at the hands of both mob and state-sanctioned violence and who ultimately conquered evil and death itself. We long for the day when his perfect justice will roll down like waters,² when his power will bring utter darkness into the light,³ and when his love will forever join together every race and tongue within the family of God.⁴ Until that day, we will continually commit ourselves to the furthering of Christ’s kingdom here on earth.

1 Luke 12:2
2 Amos 5:24
3 Job 12:22
4 Revelation 7:9