This week, 15 people from 10 different congregations gathered together on Zoom for the first of our monthly Racial Justice Cross-Pollination Gatherings. Though we come from different communities in three different states, our commitments to racial justice are united by a common call to know that every person is beloved in God’s sight, and to condemn the unjust, racist structures that prevent flourishing.  

Our congregations’ varied experiences of racial justice ministries reflect this text from Ephesians, with each individual and each community given particular gifts and graces for truth-telling, lament, equity, representation, and systemic change. At this first racial justice cross-pollination gathering, we heard about the particular graces some of our SNEUCC congregations have for re-zoning their town to reduce segregation and increasing affordability; for creating a strategic plan that integrates anti-racism throughout the life of the church; and for taking pilgrimage to sites that reflect our nation’s history of racism and white supremacy and the holy resistance to it. (And these are just a few of the blessings among us!)  

This kind of exchange helps the Church join together in our common call, building up the many expressions of the Church up in love. The Body grows more faithfully when we can share joys and struggles with one another.  

I hope you will join us at our next session on Monday, February 27, at 6:30 PM – register here to receive the zoom link. The February session will focus on legislative engagement, as well as responding to concerns that the work of racial justice is “too political.” Bring your experiences, ideas, questions, and ideas for community partnerships!  

Sessions continue the fourth Monday of each month at 6:30 PM, on Zoom.