ACT 4 RMS: Awaken, Confront, Transform to End Racism

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It shouldn't have happened, but it did. It shouldn't have happened at a church event, but it did. It certainly shouldn't have happened at OUR church event, but it did. 
What happened took place at our Rocky Mountain Synod Youth Gathering in January. Some of our youth of color and their adult sponsors experienced overt and painful expressions of racism directed towards them, including verbal racial slurs, and in at least one case, a threat of violence. Others were faced with more subtle yet still explicit expressions in word and deed that let them know they were not considered to be equal brothers and sisters in Christ. And this, in the context of a Youth Gathering that was specifically designed to expand our capacity to understand and experience our differences as diverse people of God. 
This summer I met with some of our youth who experienced these racist incidences. We were at our ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston, and they shared with me both their pain and disappointment at what had happened as well as their determination to see that something changes. It would be so easy for them to simply walk away from a church like ours, a church that is more than 95% white, a church with so much still to do in addressing the systemic racism that is part of our life together. But these youth have decided to stay and be a catalyst for change. For that courage and commitment, I am immensely grateful. 
If January was a low point, April signaled hope and a potential way forward. That month I joined three other members of our Rocky Mountain Synod in Washington DC for an event called ACT to End Racism sponsored by the National Council of Churches. ACT stands for Awaken, Confront, Transform. What a perfect way to describe the work that lies before us as we seek to honestly address the pain and sources of racism in our midst as a church. 
Last week I met with the three colleagues who were present at the ACT Rally and we agreed to invite others to join us in forming a new team that will intentionally address racism in our life as a synod. We will begin by supporting the existing work of our upcoming RMS Theological Conference in addressing issues related to the Doctrine of Discovery and racism through large group conversation and Bible Study. Beyond that, ACT 4 RMS will have two additional immediate goals. This first will be to engage our Synod Council in order to better equip this cadre of synod leaders to understand their own relationship to racism and privilege. Our hope is to provide some in-depth training that helps Awaken, Confront, and Transform our Council members as individuals and as a leadership group. 
A second goal for the ACT 4 RMS team will be to integrate into our new leadership development initiative (Excellence in Leadership) intentional anti-racism training. It is our hope that we will be able to identify and train a cohort of leaders who will be committed to leading our ACT work throughout our Synod. 
As I write this we are recognizing the one-year anniversary of Charlottesville where white supremacists held a rally resulting in the injury and death of those who stood up to confront racism. It is a poignant reminder that our work to end this evil is one we carry out both as a nation and as the people of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 
I invite your active participation in the work of ACT 4 RMS. Whatever your race or nationality, it will take all of us to awaken to the racism that lies within, to confront the realities of systemic racism, and to both BE transformed and to become part of God's transforming power among us.  
Our work will not be done until we live in a world what happened at our last Rocky Mountain Synod Youth Gathering never happens again. 

In faith,

Bishop Jim 

Comments

Unknown said…
So very sad and yet not surprising. It would be good to know how you and the synod leadership handled this in real time at the Youth event. I hope July wasn't the first time these young people were able to share their stories with you and other synod leaders. Indeed, these young people are courageous. When will white folks in our churches stand up and speak out against racism with such courage as well? Rev. Dan Barwinski, retired
8:37 AM
Unknown said…
I wonder why news of all this took 7 months to emerge. Pastors, even those who just regularly supply, work with summer camps, are retired members could well have benefited from knowing about these traumatic and most unfortunate events in a timely manner.
11:15 AM
Inga Oyan Longbrake said…
I am grateful for the quick response at the time of the event. If you asked our young people, I believe they would say they felt heard - and feel grateful for the ongoing efforts being made. Thank you, Bishop, for your good and hard work on behalf of the church. Thank you for your transparency. Thank you for your leadership.
12:24 PM
Inga Oyan Longbrake said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
12:24 PM
Unknown said…
So good to hear it was addressed in a timely fashion and to know the young people felt heard.
3:00 PM
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