The elders of City Beautiful Church repent of our inaction in the ongoing fight against racial injustice. Until now we have not spoken out as a corporate body, nor have we been intentional about pursuing solidarity with our brothers and sisters of color. Unity, Diversity, and a shared Identity in Christ are all stated values of our community that have not had full expression with respect to race in America. We will water the seeds that have already been planted in order to bear the fruit of justice for the Kingdom.
We mourn the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd and countless others who have been stolen from us because of unchecked systemic racism. We affirm whole heartedly that Black Lives Matter to us and our church.
White supremacy is the status quo in this country, so there is no such thing as a passive ally. We denounce white supremacists who are overt in their hatred, and we also denounce those who benefit from the systemic racial bias built by white supremacy without fighting back. We, as a white elder team, acknowledge our own privilege and responsibility. We confess and repent of the ways we have benefited and continue to benefit from injustice in our society. To all who are white and to anyone else who has knowingly or unknowingly viewed the world through a lens of racial bias, we call on you to join us in repenting, lamenting and changing.
Statements are easy to make, and often amount to little more than a public display. Therefore we are committed to incorporating racial justice as an ongoing and prominent feature of our vision and values. Because we are a predominantly white church and realize that best intentions can still land awkwardly – or even be hurtful – our vision is to make tangible commitments to action after dialogue with Black members of our church and the church at large. We understand that our Black brothers and sisters are not the ones that will have to fix what we’ve allowed to remain broken, nor to repair the brokenness that others have forced upon you.
Being this late to the fight is painful, but we would rather be late than absent. Our repentance will be worked out through action rather than more corporate statements or posturing, and we commit to leading our entire community to understand and embrace their role in challenging our nation’s way of life with respect to race.