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Racial Justice & Reconciliation

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STATEMENT AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE

(posted June 2020)

In this present moment, it is Bethany Community Church’s identity and call to stand up for our stated priority of racial justice and reconciliation. We claim our core beliefs that all humans are image-bearers of God (Gen 1:27), that diversity is God’s very-good design (Rev 7:9), that Jesus has broken down the dividing walls of human separation (Eph 2:14), and that Jesus calls and equips His followers to be His co-agents of reconciliation and justice (2 Cor 5:18-19).

We acknowledge, lament, and repent of the Church’s complicity in racism in America. We acknowledge our blindspots at Bethany, which often maintain the status quo, and we desire to see more significant progress. We seek God’s healing, reconciling, and redemptive work in us and through us. We stand against racism, racial injustice, and systemic oppression in our midst and reaffirm our commitment to the integration of racial justice and reconciliation in the full life of our church. We commit to actionable steps of lament, listening, and anti-racist engagement as leadership and as a community.

GUIDING STATEMENT & GOALS

Reconciliation is a Holy Spirit led discipleship process of courageously following Jesus into truth-telling, repentance, and forgiveness, leading to transformation and repair, restoring the credibility of God's church as witness to God's kingdom.

Bethany is committed to following and being formed by Jesus as reconcilers (2 Corinthians 5:18-19), peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), and doers of justice (Micah 6:8) around the particular dividing wall of racism (Ephesians 2:14) to honor the image of God in one another (Genesis 1:27) and embody the justice of God’s kingdom (Isaiah 11:1-9).

We are committed to:
  1. Building a Movement: a cohesive discipleship movement of racial justice and reconciliation.
  2. Pursuing Transformation: actively dismantling racism and pursuing biblical reconciliation and justice in our context.
  3. Living out the Imago Dei: embodying the diversity of God's Kingdom.