Dear Colleagues in the Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ: As you may have heard, today a grand jury in Saint Louis County, Missouri, has declined to indict Ferguson police officer Mr. Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Mr. Michael Brown last August. I would encourage all of the churches and leaders of the Connecticut Conference to join in prayer for the people of that community, many of whom will be grieving, many of whom will be angry, many of whom will feel that justice has been denied them. Mr. Michael Brown’s neighbors, family, and friends will, I have no doubt, strive for change, and I pray that they may expose and overcome the hidden and overt pervasive institutional racism that poisons our nation. We must do the same, because our neighbors and friends here in Connecticut also suffer beneath the burdens of institutional racism. We have suffered similar tragedies in our state, though none have risen to level of visibility, experienced in Ferguson, MO. Some may call this fortunate, but we must work to do better than to rely on fortune. We must strive to eradicate racism, and prevent the next senseless death. I invite you to join in this effort of the entire Connecticut Conference to unmask, dismantle and eradicate racism. Among the things we can do: Take advantage of opportunities for discussions of institutional racism. Create your own (we have resources to help you) dialogue. Invite a Sacred Conversations on Race Ministry (SCRM) Facilitator to lead your congregation in dialog. Lift the hard realities of racism in prayers and sermons. Learn how to identify and confront racism in the personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural realms. As we pray for the residents of Saint Louis County, let us also pray for ourselves: God of mercy, comfort your grieving people. God of righteousness, steer our righteous anger. God of justice, lead our hands to reshape our broken communities. We have shed too many tears, experienced too much anguish, and lost too many lives to racism. Help us end it here, and if we end it here, may we help to end it elsewhere. God of the blossom on the grave, God of the empty tomb, God of hope amidst despair, hear our prayer. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 02:52:31 +0000