Do Justice. Love Kindness. Walk Humbly.

As Christians it is important for us to engage and learn about the story of race in our country’s history. At Lynnwood Reformed Church we echo our denomination’s (RCA) values and vision around racial justice as outlined in The Belhar Confession, which rejects racism in all its insidious expressions. This page is dedicated to sharing a few resources about Justice and Reconciliation (videos, podcasts, and books) that might help you begin or continue your journey of engaging this conversation well.

let us be prayerful in all we do…

Good and gracious God,

You invite us to recognize and honor your divine image and likeness in our neighbor. 

Enable us to see the reality of racism and free us to challenge and uproot it from our lives, our community, our world.

VideoS

This video, entitled ‘Justice’, explores the biblical vision of justice. It is narrated by Tim Mackie and Jon Collins of The Bible Project. For more from The Bible Project visit their ‘Justice’ page or bibleproject.com.

‘Are You a Bridge?’ was given by The Rev. Denise Kingdom-Grier who is the pastor at Maple Avenue Ministries (an RCA congregation) in Holland, MI. This was filmed at TEDxMacatawa on May 4th, 2015.

‘Race and the Church’ was a conversation held by Western Theological Seminary (an RCA seminary). The participants were Dr. Felix Theonugraha, Rev. Cora Taitt, Keith Reynolds, Dr. Suzanne McDonald, and Dr. Travis West.

‘How Can We Talk About Race in Church?’ was a conversation held by The Reformed Church Center, which is part of New Brunswick Seminary (an RCA Seminary). The participants were Karen Georgia A. Thompson, Lisa VanderWal, Thomas Song, Julie Johnson Staples, and James Brumm.

Podcasts

For more on The Bible Project’s podcast check out their ‘Justice’ podcast series page or The Bible Project Podcast.

In this TED Talk, Megan Ming Francis traces the root causes of our current racial climate to their core causes, debunks common misconceptions, and calls out "fix-all" cures to a complex social problem.

In this TED Talk, Peggy McIntosh explores her own experiences in higher education and how they shaped her understanding of systemic biases and deepened her capacity for compassion.

Books (descriptions below)

Books:

  • ‘How To Be An Anti-Racist’ by Ibram X. Kendi is written by one of the leading voices in the movement for racial justice.

  • ‘White Awake’ by Daniel Hill. Daniel Hill is a pastor who shares his journey of understanding race and privilege.

  • ‘Reconciling All Things’ is written by Emmanuel Katongole & Chris Rice is described as casting “a comprehensive vision for reconciliation that is biblical, transformative, holistic, and global.”

  • ‘The Death of Race’ by Brian Bantum is a book suggests we find healing by acknowledging the sinful ways dark bodies are dehumanized and work toward honoring the divine image in each person.

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself,

not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

-2 Corinthians 5:19, NRSV