On December 8, 2014 the Hope Church Consistory approved the hanging of a banner in front of the church on 11th Street with the words “Black Lives Matter.” Consistory discussed this decision well, and seeks for this banner to be a prophetic voice proclaiming God’s kingdom of love and life to our community. What follows below is a rationale for this action provided by the Reconciliation Ministry, and I am grateful for the good word it offers to us. The banner is connected to the Season of Reconciliation events for January and February (which are detailed in this HCNews issue), and I believe it speaks powerfully of both the deep need for reconciliation and the commitment of our congregation to reconciliation as followers of Jesus Christ.
~Peace, Gordon
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“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it …” With these words from 1 Corinthians 12:26 Jim Wallis reminds us that we are all connected in the current suffering of our black sisters and brothers (“A Pastoral Letter to White Christians,” 12-11-2014). They suffer from a deep sense of hurt at the failure of our legal system to establish accountability for the recent deaths of three black men. The tragic deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, Eric Garner in Staten Island, NY, and Tamir Rice in Cleveland, OH are the latest demonstrations of centuries of de-valuing the lives of blacks in America.
The painful history of the black experience in America begins with slave ships arriving from Africa. During the era of slavery blacks were valued only for their forced contribution to the well-being of their white masters. The authors of the Constitution did not deem blacks as full human beings; they agreed to count blacks only as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of representation in Congress. After slavery ended blacks continued to be marginalized and excluded from participating fully in American society. Sadly, throughout our history some Christian churches have supported racial division as God’s will. Despite the efforts of prominent black Christian leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to work toward a fully inclusive society, that goal remains elusive.
Current statistics demonstrate that blacks in America still suffer unjustly. While blacks comprise 13.2% of the population, 32.7% of arrest-related homicides are black victims. Whites account for 62.6% of the population and 41.7% of arrest-related homicides (U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Census Bureau figures). Even more striking is the fact that young black men between 15 and 19 are twenty-one times more likely to be killed by police than whites of the same age (ProPublica analysis of FBI data from 1980-2012).
Why should this matter to us? It matters because we as Christians believe that each human being is a unique creation of God, created in God’s image. Behind the statistics are thousands of black human beings whose lives have been cut short by a system that has not fully valued who they are. This is an unjust system that we all in some way perpetuate, and it is a broken system which does not allow any of us, regardless of racial identity, to thrive as the person God intended us to be in a world of peace.
It is fitting that we will display the “Black Lives Matter” banner during the Season of Reconciliation at Hope Church. We as a congregation have developed this recurring season to become aware in new ways of the need for God to come both to judge our failed systems and relationships and to redeem by creating “a new heaven and new earth where righteousness is at home.” (2 Peter 3:13) And we observe this Season of Reconciliation fittingly in the midst of the liturgical season of Epiphany as we witness to the light of Christ given to the whole world. We believe this banner shines with Epiphany light, an opportunity at this moment in history to participate in God’s work of reconciliation, tearing down the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:13) and witnessing to the world that all lives matter. We do not hang the banner to condemn anyone nor to condone violent protest or retaliation of any sort. By saying as a congregation “Black Lives Matter”, we stand with and share in the suffering of our black sisters and brothers, hoping with them for a world where all are valued equally as children of God.
~Hope Church Reconciliation Ministry: Paul Smith, John Koch, Ann McKnight, Jill Russell, Tom Arendshorst, Jane Dickie, Laurie Baron, Virginia Beard, Brian Yurk, Gordon Wiersma