Title: | Reaffirmation of Anti-Racism Principles and Behavior |
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ID: | EXC102014.35 |
Committee: | Advocacy and Networking for Mission and Local Ministry and Mission (report 4) |
Citation: | Executive Council Minutes, Oct. 24-27, 2014, Linthicum Heights, MD, pp. 38-39. |
Text: |
Resolved, That the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, October 24-27, 2014, affirms, in response to our baptismal covenant “to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and to strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being”; yet, in light of the violent deaths of Black youth that have recently dominated the news media, we confess that we as a society have failed to respect the dignity of every human being, we remember and lament the shooting deaths of Jordan Davis, a 17-year old Black boy, killed in 2012 for playing loud music in a car at a gas station in Jacksonville; Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old African American boy, killed in 2012 while walking home after buying snacks in Sanford, Florida; Renisha McBride, a 19-year old African American girl, shot to death in 2013 while seeking help for car trouble on a front porch in Detroit; and Michael Brown, an 18-year old African American boy killed by a police officer this year, 2014, in the middle of the street in Ferguson, Missouri; and other such deaths; and in response to our church’s adoption of the Anglican Marks of Mission, specifically Mark 4, which says, “to seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation,” that #BlackLivesMatter,Too; and be it further Resolved, That the Executive Council urges the church, its dioceses and congregations, clergy and lay leaders, and all Episcopalians to respond faithfully to the call to action that #BlackLivesMatter,Too requires, by responding with prayer, community dialogue and partnerships, Christian Formation education that teaches anti-racism principles and behavior, and sermons and homilies, and by standing in solidarity in valuing and protecting Black and other people of color who are discriminated against, harassed, bullied, profiled, or otherwise treated unfairly and harmed because of race or the color of their skin; and be it further Resolved, That the Executive Council reaffirms the teachings contained in the House of Bishop’s Pastoral Letter on “the Sin of Racism,” March 1994, [found at http://www.episcopalarchives.org/Afro-Anglican_history/exhibit/pdf/awakening_pastoralletter.pdf and attached], that
and be it further Resolved, That the Executive Council remind all members of the church to answer the call, in the words of the House of Bishops in their subsequent 2006 Pastoral Letter “A Call to Covenant,” [found at http://archive.episcopalchurch.org/3577_73047_ENG_HTM.htm and attached] that
and be it further Resolved, That the Executive Council directs the Office of the General Convention to convey to each diocesan and mission area bishop, Standing Committee and Diocesan Council, a copy of this resolution and the House of Bishops 1994 on “the Sin of Racism” and 2006 Pastoral Letters on “Call to Covenant” with the request that they be shared with their congregations. |
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