Presiding Bishop Curry’s Word to the Church: When the Cameras are Gone, We Will Still Be Here

“Our long-term commitment to racial justice and reconciliation is embedded in our identity as baptized followers of Jesus. We will still be doing it when the news cameras are long gone.”

In the midst of COVID-19 and the pressure cooker of a society in turmoil, a Minnesota man named George Floyd was brutally killed. His basic human dignity was stripped by someone charged to protect our common humanity.

Perhaps the deeper pain is the fact that this was not an isolated incident. It happened to Breonna Taylor on March 13 in Kentucky. It happened to Ahmaud Arbery on February 23 in Georgia. Racial terror in this form occurred when I was a teenager growing up black in Buffalo, New York. It extends back to the lynching of Emmett Till in 1955 and well before that. It’s not just our present or our history. It is part of the fabric of American life.

But we need not be paralyzed by our past or our present. We are not slaves to fate but people of faith. Our long-term commitment to racial justice and reconciliation is embedded in our identity as baptized followers of Jesus. We will still be doing it when the news cameras are long gone.

That work of racial reconciliation and justice – what we know as Becoming Beloved Community – is happening across our Episcopal Church. It is happening in Minnesota and in the Dioceses of Kentucky, Georgia and Atlanta, across America and around the world. That mission matters now more than ever, and it is work that belongs to all of us.

It must go on when racist violence and police brutality are no longer front-page news. It must go on when the work is not fashionable, and the way seems hard, and we feel utterly alone. It is the difficult labor of picking up the cross of Jesus like Simon of Cyrene, and carrying it until no one – no matter their color, no matter their class, no matter their caste – until no child of God is degraded and disrespected by anybody. That is God’s dream, this is our work, and we shall not cease until God’s dream is realized.

Is this hopelessly naïve? No, the vision of God’s dream is no idealistic utopia. It is our only real hope. And, St. Paul says, “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Real love is the dogged commitment to live my life in the most unselfish, even sacrificial ways; to love God, love my neighbor, love the earth and truly love myself. Perhaps most difficult in times like this, it is even love for my enemy. That is why we cannot condone violence. Violence against any person – conducted by some police officers or by some protesters – is violence against a child of God created in God’s image. No, as followers of Christ, we do not condone violence.

Neither do we condone our nation’s collective, complicit silence in the face of injustice and violent death. The anger of so many on our streets is born out  of the accumulated frustration that so few seem to care when another black, brown or native life is snuffed out.

But there is another way. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a broken man lay on the side of the road. The religious leaders who passed were largely indifferent. Only the Samaritan saw the wounded stranger and acted. He provided medical care and housing. He made provision for this stranger’s well-being. He helped and healed a fellow child of God.

Love, as Jesus teaches, is action like this as well as attitude. It seeks the good, the well-being, and the welfare of others as well as one’s self. That way of real love is the only way there is.

Accompanying this statement is a card describing ways to practice the Way of Love in the midst of pandemic, uncertainty and loss. In addition, you will find online a set of resources to help Episcopalians to LEARN, PRAY & ACT in response to racist violence and police brutality. That resource set includes faithful tools for listening to and learning from communities too often ignored or suppressed, for incorporating God’s vision of justice into your personal and community prayer life, and for positively and constructively engaging in advocacy and public witness.

Opening and changing hearts does not happen overnight. The Christian race is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Our prayers and our work for justice, healing and truth-telling must be unceasing. Let us recommit ourselves to following in the footsteps of Jesus, the way that leads to healing, justice and love

Responding to Racist Violence as the People of God

LEARN, PRAY, ACT: Episcopal Resources for Responding to Racist Violence and Police Brutality Full website: www.episcopalchurch.org/responding-to-racist-violence. Highlights below …

LEARN

• Becoming Beloved Community: comprehensive vision and growing set of resources for working toward racial healing, reconciliation and justice, including the Sacred Ground film-based dialogue series
• Center for Racial Justice in Education: Resources for talking to kids about Racism and Racialized Violence
• Living into God’s Dream: Dismantling Racism in America, a volume edited by Catherine Meeks
• The Science of Justice: Race, Arrests, and Police Use of Force: National data and analysis of police behavior
•  Video: The Rev. Gayle Fisher-Stewart on policing, reconciliation, black lives and the church’s role
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo

PRAY

• Litany for Minnesota’s Sins of Racism
• Bishops Against Gun Violence: Liturgical resources to remember, lament, mourn and pray
• Episcopal Prayers for Reconciliation and Justice: From Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music
• Religious Institute: Preaching and worship resources around racism, white supremacy and violence

ACT

• Anti-Racism and Racial Healing Trainings: Widely-used trainings and opportunities across our Church
• Becoming Beloved Community Where You Are: Resource for individual, church and community action
• Contact your federal, state and local officials
• Episcopal Public Policy Network: Weekly calls to action and guidance for effective advocacy, especially federal
• What Does Love Do?: A brief guide to following the Way of Love in the midst of uncertainty and change
• Coming Soon: Training on how to advocate for local police reform and criminal justice reform

Key Questions for Faithful Reflection and Listening
1. What gives you energy or inspires you to act, in the current situation?
2. What is your greatest concern or anxiety, given the current situation?
3. What resources or relationships do you need most right now?

Additional Questions for Individuals or Small Groups
1. In what ways are you or your church engaged in your community, especially across racial/cultural lines?
2. What is the racial/cultural, socio-economic make-up within a 1-, 3- or 5-mile radius of your church? (Not sure? Check https://www.generalconvention.org/study-your-neighborhood).
3. What is the racial/cultural make-up of your congregation? How does it compare to the area around you?
4. What gifts do you bring, as a church, that will be helpful for a time such as this?
5. How have you participated in healing and justice work in the past? How can you show up now?
6. How could you support and stand in solidarity with other congregations, especially in suffering areas?
7. What bible stories or wisdom seem to most apply in this moment?

Your Episcopal Church Racial Reconciliation and Justice Team
All emails are “first initial, last name@episcopalchurch.org”

• The Rev. Charles “Chuck” Wynder, Staff Officer for Social Justice and Engagement
• The Rev. Isaiah Shaneequa Brokenleg, Staff Officer for Racial Reconciliation
• The Rev. Melanie Mullen, Director of Reconciliation, Justice and Creation Care
• The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers, Canon for Evangelism, Reconciliation and Creation Care

Suggestions to Spark Discernment among Individuals, Churches and Dioceses
What does LOVE look like, for a faithful individual? Among other things …

• TELL the truth when it’s tempting to be quiet
• SEEK the stories of people who are different from you, especially those of oppressed peoples
• ACT and speak in ways that bring life, instead of tearing others down to build yourself up
• REPAIR what’s broken in your own life and community (even if you didn’t break it, be part of healing)

What does LOVE look like, for a faithful citizen? Among other things …

• VOTE for leadership at the local, state, and federal level who foster Beloved Community
• CALL on elected officials and authorities to support just legislation and policies
• BE PRESENT to the justice struggle in the way God calls you (protest, prayer, giving, etc.) What does LOVE look like, for a congregation? Among other things …
• PARTNER with local police departments to build community relationships and develop accountability
• JOIN with local organizations dedicated to justice and healing
• ORGANIZE circles for training, conversation and learning – consider curricula like Sacred Ground
• INVESTIGATE your church’s complicity in racial violence and oppression throughout its history  PREACH, PRAY & WITNESS about urgent issues – support at LEARN, PRAY, ACT website  PROVIDE sanctuary, protection and support for protesters, inside or outside your building  PRAYER WALK your community, to discover what’s happening and where God is moving (resource)

What does LOVE look like, for a diocese? Among other things …

• MODEL public witness and relationship with people seeking justice
• INVITE congregations to protect, support and partner with groups seeking justice and healing
• GIVE COVER to clergy and lay leaders who labor for justice
• INVESTIGATE your diocese’s complicity in racial violence and oppression throughout its history