Welcome to Sacred Conversations To End Racism
Introduction Videos
The United Church of Christ has a long history of working towards eradicating systemic and institutional racism. In 2003 General Synod 24 adopted a resolution calling for the UCC to be an anti-racist church stating that "racism is rooted in a belief of the superiority of whiteness and bestows benefits, unearned rights, rewards, opportunities, advantages, access, and privilege on Europeans and European descendants."In 2008, racial justice advocates within what was then called Justice and Witness Ministries developed the online curriculum Sacred Conversations on Race. The Sacred Conversations Resource Guide was designed to address the needs of local congregations, pastors and laypersons with interest in starting on a journey towards racial justice and reconciliation.
Over the last nine years many UCC congregations have used the Sacred Conversations Resource Guide to develop meaningful relationships, delved into the impact of systemic and institutional racism, planned events and activities highlighting participants growth and awareness of the issues communities of color face.
Sacred Conversations to End Racism is a restorative justice curriculum. SC2ER is not a self-guided resource.
SACRED CONVERSATIONS TO END RACISM (SC2ER): A RESTORATIVE JUSTICE JOURNEY
SC2ER Facilitator Training Begins February 4, 2019 Applications available here.
You are invited to begin a restorative justice journey with Sacred Conversations to End Racism (SC2ER). SC2ER facilitator training begins February 2019. Applications are due no later than January 30, 2019. Applicants will be notified by email regarding their eligibility. Accepted applicants will receive an email confirmation and a training schedule Monday, February 4, 2019.
SC2ER Phase One is not a self-guided curriculum. An online Facilitator Guide has been developed to assist facilitators guide participants through each phase of SC2ER.
Training schedules, materials, and resources will be distributed by email to accepted applicants. After trainees have successfully completed the required training, SC2ER facilitators will be equipped to lead groups and:
- Explore practical ways to have “sacred conversation to end racism”
- Discover the true origins and beginnings of human beings before the construction of race categories
- Engage with biblical texts regarding equitable treatment of all God’s people
- Learn about the mythological construction of race and the reality of racism in America
- Participate in roll play, active listening, construct new language and response techniques
- Learn how to invite others to be on the journey to dismantle structural, institutional, and individual racism
- Develop strategies to move from conversations to advocacy and activism
- Work toward actively dismantling and eradicating racism within your church, community, city, state, and nation
For more information contact Rev. Dr. Velda Love, Minister for Racial Justice and Local Church Ministries Lovev@ucc.org (216) 736-3719 or Alegra Martin martina@ucc.org (216) 736-3712
Click Here To Read The Full Announcement
View Anti-Racist Church Webpage.
Letter from General Minister & President
In 2015, the United Church of Christ issued a pastoral letter on race, calling for our churches to participate in a collective effort to heal a nation torn apart by an instantiated white power and privilege. In the years since, the nation’s white supremacists have found a new and more empowered voice – and the United Church of Christ has invigorated its commitments to be an agent of racial equity. The election of Donald Trump has emboldened white nationalists. When Charlottesville erupted in racial violence and Heather Heyer was indiscriminately killed by a white terrorist, the President’s equivocations on the matter signaled to white nationalists that he would do little to suppress their brand of hate.
In this context, the United Church of Christ has stepped up its commitments to end racial discrimination and white privilege. Its curriculum on white privilege has been downloaded over 20,000 times not just by UCC churches, but by ecumenical and interfaith partners, by local governments and schools, and by at least one state highway patrol division. Since the release of the curriculum, I have had someone on every trip I have taken tell me about how their ministry setting used it, and what a difference it made for them.
Our Justice and Local Church Ministry Executive Minister, the Rev. Traci Blackmon has helped organize local resistance to racist bombast in places like Ferguson, Cleveland Charlottesville, Murphreesboro, Washington DC, Phoenix and other places. She is empowering local leaders in all those settings to find their voice, take back their streets, and organize for racial justice. She is helping the entire denomination not only commit fully to racial justice and equity, she is helping us gain new and more sophisticated responses and making sure our voice is heard and our actions matter.
The United Church of Christ is also partnering with the National Council of Churches to issue a clarion call for racial equity and to heal our long-festering wounds regarding race hate and racism. A Truth and Racial Justice Initiative has begun, and will launch with a call for Truth about Race campaign, A.C.T. NOW to End Racism. On April 4, 2018, Awake. Confront. Transform. Rally event will take place on the National Mall in Washington D.C.–the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As your General Minister and President, I am co-chairing this initiative – and am personally committed to ensuring that the United Church of Christ speaks its truth about its complicity with race hate and racism through the centuries.
In fulfillment of the UCC’s stated purpose to love God and our neighbor as ourselves, and our vision to build a just world for all, we are committing to what we are calling the 3 Great Loves campaign – a call to love children, love neighbor, and love creation. Central to those commitments is our ongoing participation in a new restorative justice journey curriculum created by Rev. Velda Love, Minister for Racial Justice called Sacred Conversations to End Racism. This new racial justice journey is a deeply rooted web based interactive learning tool our churches will appreciate because it moves the conversation beyond white privilege and racialization, but explores cultures participating in the life of the Bible, and contributing to our world as very good creations. And we’re proud to be partnering with the United Church of Canada in the celebration and acknowledgement of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent. The United Church of Christ remains committed to creating new pathways to racial equity and healing in America.
I believe we are embarking on a transformative path to modeling what it means to be an anti-racist church denomination with our newest resource. Commit to the journey and begin engaging with Sacred Conversations to End Racism.
The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
General Minister and President
The United Church of Christ
Built to create a just world for all
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction from the Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
Prior to beginning, please watch the Sacred Conversations
to End Racism Video Introduction from Rev. Dr. Velda Love:
Letter from John Dorhauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Endorsements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Restorative Justice Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Opening Liturgy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Week 1 – Sacred Conversations to End Racism . . . . . . . . . . 22
Week 2 – What Does it Mean to be a Human Being? . . . . . 25
A New Encounter with the Bible . . . . . . . . . 26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--iakP-4cU&feature=youtu.be
Week 3 – The Myth of Race . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Week 4 – What Does it Mean to be White? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Week 5 – Who are My Neighbors?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Week 6 – #MYSTORYMATTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Week 7 – Movement Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Week 8 – Phase One––Self-Assessment and Group
Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
- Racial Justice Task Force Committee . . . . 69
- Racial Justice Task Force Resources . . . . . 77
- Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
- SC2ER Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Welcome to SC2ER
Traci Blackmon Welcomes you to SC2ER
1. Welcome To Phase One – Page 6
Restorative Justice Journey – Page 7
Restorative Justice Journey – Page 8
Introduction - Page 9
Introduction - Page 10
Introduction - Page 11
Sacred Conversations to End Racism launched Phase 1 on April 3rd 2018 and can be found here
Become a Facilitator, fill out the appication here.
Facilitator Training and Resource Guide
Click Here To View The Facilitator Application
Click Here To View The Facilitator Guide