Racial Justice and equality
We aspire to be a vibrant multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-racial church with a leadership team, staff team, and congregation which is reflective of London. While recognising that we still have a very long way to go, we are committed to pursuing Gospel-centred racial justice and racial equality.
Please find information on some of the ongoing work we are involved in below.
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Churches Together: 10 Point Plan
We are committed to the following ten point plan, developed together by Pastor Agu Irukwu of Jesus House and Nicky Gumbel with a group of church leaders of different denominations as a response to racial injustice in the church:
Acknowledgment: An acknowledgment of the issue of racial injustice and its systemic and institutional nature.
Audit: An honest look at ourselves and our churches and where we are in relation to the issue of racial injustice.
Conversation: Facilitating a series of conversations - creating the spaces for open, honest and frank conversations. Listening to the voice of the black community, starting with those in your sphere.
Education: Bridging the knowledge gap. What is it like to be a black person in the UK today? Understanding the historical context. The damage to the psyche of black people by sustained and systemic racism.
Speaking Up: Using our platforms to speak out against the evil of racism. This would be speaking out into the larger society but also speaking out into our own churches and organisations.
Advocacy: Using our influence and reach to be advocates for racial equality. It is the changes in structures that can deal a death blow to racism.
Representative Leadership: Creating systems, structures and processes that encourage representative leadership in our churches and organisations.
Practical Action: Developing short, medium and long term plans for action.
Prayer: Encouraging prayer as a group and within our churches over the issue of racial injustice.
Prophetic: Discerning God’s mind clearly and ensuring that our actions and narratives are driven by this and centred very clearly around Jesus and rooted firmly in the word of God.
Podcast
Hosted by Becs Dhillon, the Conversations on Faith and Equality podcast explores faith, race, disability, equality, and more.