Seekers Church acknowledges and confronts the difficult history of white supremacy and racism that we and other Christian churches have perpetuated. We seek to dismantle white supremacy and systemic racism in ourselves, in our faith community, in our nation and in our world – by better aligning our words and actions to the hopes and teachings of Jesus.
The Racial and Ethnic Justice Ministry Team is called to support this work of the church. Born from a vigil started on May 29, 2020 to protest the murder of George Floyd – a vigil that continues to this day – the REJMT encourages the church and its members to engage in activities that
- Center and follow the voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and ethnic minorities.
- Deconstruct our racist systems of punishment, oppression and control.
- Divest resources from systems that are causing harm.
- Build systems of safety, care and racial healing for all.
- Reduce and repair harm and violence in our community and beyond
In addition to supporting the weekly vigil in front of Seekers Church every Friday at 5 pm during Daylight Savings Time, the Racial & Ethnic Justice Ministry Team meets twice monthly to coordinate and support community activities. Specific activities initiated and supported by the team include:
- Organizing and conductingan anti-racism tour of DC.
- Facilitating community “Vote Forward” sessions to write letters encouraging voting (https://voteforward.org).
- Presenting classes in our School for Christian Growth on, e.g., Justice in Poetry; Reparations; White Christian Nationalism; The Doctrine of Discovery (the theft of indigenous lands).
- Writing and shepherding through church channels a corporate statement “Seekers Church joins the call for permanent peace enduring justice in Palestine, Lebanon, and Israel”.
- Hosting difficult community conversations on peace and justice issues.
- Serving as Seekers liaison with such faith-based organizations as: Congregation Action Network; The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery; and Interfaith Action for Human Rights.
- Offering “The Word” from time to time at Sunday worship on justice-related themes.
- Maintaining this REJMT page on the Seekers website.
The ministry team will do this work through activism, legislative advocacy, sacred conversation with others, financial support of organizations engaged in anti-racism work, education of ourselves and others, and other reasonable and non-violent means we identify.
REJMT, through Seekers Church, supports social justice organizations with both money and engagement. Here are links to some of them.