Racial Reconciliation Session Commitments
In the Fall of 2020, the session of City Church approved the organization of a racial reconciliation task force. Its mandate was to produce recommendations for how City Church can grow in its commitment to being a reconciling church. These recommendations grew out of suggestions given to PCA congregations in a study committee report on racial reconciliation adopted by the 2018 General Assembly. What follows are commitments made by the City Church session based on the task force’s recommendations.
In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed to his Father that the church “may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:11). Our prayer is that God would use these commitments to cultivate within our church a deeper solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ who have suffered due to racial injustice and that this would be a witness to the God who has reconciled all things to himself and brought peace through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Commitments of Our Hearts:
We commit to pray once a month specifically for reconciliation and justice concerns during our Wednesday morning prayer meeting.
We commit to highlight reconciliation and justice concerns on the prayer page of the worship guide.
We reaffirm our commitment to leading the church in public lamentation concerning the state of racial injustice in our nation and community.
Commitments of Our Minds:
We commit to regularly teaching about what it means for us to be a reconciling church.
We commit to engaging an outside organization to lead a workshop on being a reconciling church before the end of the year.
We reaffirm our commitment to regularly inviting minority voices into the teaching ministry of the church through guest preachers and participation in other teaching avenues such as Good Morning, City Church, and Sunday Formation classes.
We reaffirm our commitment to supporting congregants who wish to pursue education on reconciliation in order to better lead the church, including financial help if needed.
Commitments of Our Hands and Feet:
We commit to conducting an audit of our existing partnerships related to reconciliation and justice by the end of the year with the goal of identifying several with which we can actively encourage participation by congregants.
We commit to adding members to the Mission and Outreach Committee tasked with leading the church in ongoing engagement with matters of reconciliation.
If you have questions or comments about these commitments, please contact Harrison Ford, Pastor of Spiritual Formation, at harrison@citychurchrva.com.