June 24, 2020
An Important Message from The Gathering Church Leadership Team
We confess that we have perpetuated racial injustice by our actions and inactions and by our speech and failure to speak. As the body of The Gathering Church, we believe that the Bible calls us to love people incredibly well, as Jesus did. This mission extends to our local community, to our nation, and to the world. To that end, and as followers of Christ, we acknowledge and condemn the systemic racism in our nation and the many prevalent acts of injustice and inequity toward our brothers and sisters of color. We also lament and mourn the recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many more who have been unjustly killed because of the color of their skin.
We believe that Black lives matter, and we seek to come alongside the Black community in the pursuit of justice, equity, and true freedom. As they face daily struggles in a society that is filled with the unjust barriers of constant and ever-present racism, we see them and we are listening. As a church, we pledge to seek out tangible and impactful ways to affect real, positive change in our local community and in our country.
We recognize that without action, these words are empty, and our true heart and intent will be measured not only by what we say, but by what we do in pursuit of these goals. We also acknowledge that we are all sinners who repeatedly fall short of leading the lives God has called us to. Each of us has racial biases in our own life that we seek to confront and drive out, by God’s grace. We still have much work to do as a church, and as individuals, to pursue a better understanding of the struggles that racism brings to our brothers and sisters of color and what we can do to help bring about positive transformation in our society. We seek to gain this understanding by listening well to the voices that are so often suppressed and by actively engaging with those we hope to come alongside, support, and serve.
As a community, we plan to continue our efforts toward this mission through our ongoing Conversations on Race book study group, our continued support of community partners such as Jubilee Home, Porch Durham, Durham Public Schools and Corner to Corner, and by regular engagement in events like the Durham Cares Mass Incarceration Vigil, the Durham Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope, and Racial Equity Institute workshops. We are incredibly thankful for these efforts that many in the Gathering Church community have already put forth, but we also know there is much more we can commit to and do. We wholeheartedly ask anyone who has community engagement ideas, areas where we can better invest our resources or anything else related to this effort to please reach out to our church staff or Leadership Team members. This is a call to all of us to take action and engage, and we will reach out in the future with more ways for our church body to participate in this integral part of our mission.
Holy Spirit, we ask for justice and healing. Give us empathy for those who are hurting, wisdom and guidance to serve them well, and conviction to act when and where we are needed. Lord have mercy. Amen.
The Gathering Church Leadership Team
Bobby Stewart
Mary Ann Baldwin
Amy Hoots
Sandy Hong
Carlos Womack
Steve Efird
Curt Lowndes