• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • United Church Funds
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Wellness Ministries
            • Scouting
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • Global H.O.P.E.: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • United Church of Christ News
  • Task force making progress toward antiracism roadmap

Task force making progress toward antiracism roadmap

by Sara Fitzgerald | published on Jul 4, 2023

General Synod-goers received an update Monday, July 3 on the progress of the United Churh of Christ’s Racial Equity Task Force — an initiative that was launched after the last Synod. 

In 2021, Synod approved a resolution that declared that racism was a “public health crisis,” based on the racial disparities that came to light during the pandemic.  

In a video, task force chair Yvette Wynn and Associate General Minister, the Rev. Traci Blackmon, described what had been accomplished since then. In an “ongoing acknowledgement of the history of racism in the Church and its injurious impact on the Church,” Wynn said the UCC Board, with the help of the Council of Conference Ministers, created the task force and solicited a diverse group of members. From hundreds of applicants, 14 persons were chosen.   

Because of the UCC’s congregational polity and a commitment to “teaching by example,” Wynn said the task force was asked to start by examining the UCC Board and the National Setting — “two of the most racially diverse expressions of the church” — for any remaining vestiges of racial discrimination in their policies and practices.   

She added that “it is our hope that our transparency will positively impact” the wider denomination and “offer a roadmap and points of entry” for Conferences and congregations that are also engaged in antiracism work.  

Strategic plan developed 

The task force hired Culture Brokers, a minority-owned consulting firm with expertise in this area. It worked with the UCC’s Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data to gather information through focus groups and a customized racial audit survey distributed to 800 UCC members.  

The results were reviewed and evaluated by Culture Brokers and shared with the task force to identify areas of strength and weakness, challenges and opportunities within the National Setting.  

The task force then worked to develop an equity strategic action plan, identifying steps that would have the greatest impact over the next 12 to 18 months and assigning implementation dates. The UCC Board has approved the draft plan, and the document will be available when it is finalized.  

The work is never done 

A second phase of the project will center on what Blackmon called “building collaborative hubs throughout the denomination” to share the task force’s work more widely. Wynn said she and Blackmon believe that racial equity work is important because it is “rooted in how Christ calls each of us to see the Christ in each of us.” Throughout the denomination’s history, Wynn said, the church has been “just as concerned about the internal relationships that define us as we have been about the external relationships in the world.”  

“The work toward a just world for all is never done,” Blackmon concluded, “but it remains possible if we work together toward that vision.”  

Sara Fitzgerald, a General Synod newsroom volunteer, is a member of Rock Spring Congregational UCC in Arlington, Va., and a member of the board of the UCC Media Justice Ministry.


Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

Categories: United Church of Christ News

Get the UCC in your inbox!

Sign up for the weekly UCC News Digest

Privacy Policy
 
 

Related News

United Church of Christ News

Self-care as sacred practice: A conversation with Chanequa Walker-Barnes

The impact of trauma and the need for self-care are vital -- and sacred -- topics for the...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

Housing others first: For this Michigan church, ‘building’ is a verb

New Waves United Church of Christ doesn’t have a church building, but they have plans to...

Read More
United Church of Christ News

UCC leaders offer public support to Cathedral of Hope after drag blessing

The United Church of Christ National Officers and the Conference Minister of the South Central...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • How can I find local churches near me? Click here!
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative