Race and Biblical Justice Team
The Race & Biblical Justice Team exists to advise and resource the session, staff and volunteer leaders of All Souls as we seek to incorporate racial reconciliation as part of our ongoing spiritual formation. We meet 1-2 times per month to pray, discern All Souls’ needs on the journey of race and Biblical justice, and identify the tools/disciplines/experiences/practices necessary to accomplish our vision.
Questions? Contact tafanie@allsoulsfellowship.org.
Vision and Mission - Practicing the Way of Jesus
In his ministry, Jesus reveals a God who establishes the peace and righteousness of his kingdom; who is angered by the presence of injustice and evil in our world and who brings healing to the oppressed as a sign of the flourishing he intends for all creation. In Him, we witness a God who listens intently, grieves deeply, and mourns with the hurting. As his disciples, we are called to embody the life of his Kingdom in our fellowship together.
The unhealed wounds of racial injustice in our country have become too heavy to ignore and too numerous to leave unacknowledged. These wounds, laid with the foundations of our country, continue to cause great pain and trauma for our black brothers and sisters. As an evangelical fellowship of predominantly white men and women who gather in the name of Jesus, we lament over this pain; over our inability to “bear one another’s burdens;” (Galatians 6:2) and over the ongoing racial injustice in America and within the church. We sense God's invitation to be a place of hope and healing for “all souls” and to reflect the fullness of His Kingdom in Decatur through repentance and by confronting the damage of racialized divisions in our community. We believe that participating in the renewal of all things includes rooting out the evil of racism in our thinking and taking action against injustice in the present so that our fellowship may be a hopeful sign of the kingdom that is coming, where “every nation, tribe, people and language, stand before the throne” (Revelation 7:9) together in worship of the risen King.
Resources for Racial and Biblical Justice
Devotional: An American Lent (The Repentance Project)
Christian voices to follow: Latasha Morrison, AND Campaign, OneRace Movement, Be the Bridge
Be the Bridge: Website and Facebook groups
TGC Articles on Racism: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/topics/racism/
Articles by Esau McCaulley: I Have Only One Hope for Racial Justice: A God Who Conquered Death and What the Bible Has to Say About Black Anger
YouTube conversation: 400 Years of Racial Violence and Injustice A Call for an Antiracist Christian Identity
Local conversations: Dr. Crawford Loritts at Fellowship Bible Church and Eastside Conversation on Race
Video: 17-minute summary of race in America by Phil Vischer (the creator of VeggieTales)
Book List: See a curated list on Amazon here, but please consider buying from a black-owned bookstore.
Current film: Just Mercy
Documentary: 13th (on Netflix)
Organization: Equal Justice Initiative
Podcast: Seeing White