Dear Church Family,
Many of us are wrestling with how to respond to the tragedy of George Floyd’s death and our current cultural moment. We don’t know what to do about it, or even where to begin. Your elders, Mark, John, and I have all listened to a sermon called “The Gospel & Social Justice” by Pastor Tom Sparling of The Journey Community Church in Worcester. If you are able, would you listen to it? His sermon starts at about 43 minutes into the service and is around an hour long. Tom used to pastor at Immanuel Church in Chelmsford, Cornerstone’s parent church, so we have some connection to Tom.
Near the end of his sermon Tom lists seven things we can do right now. We thought this might help some of us process what next steps we can take.
- Adopt a posture of humility, teachability, and compassion.
- Educate yourself – You don’t know what you don’t know.
Pastor Tom recommends reading three books: The Myth of Equality: Uncovering the Roots of Injustice and Privilege by Ken Wytsma, One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race and Love by John M. Perkins, and Woke Church: An Urgent Call for Christians in America to Confront Racism and Injustice by Eric Mason.
- Reach out, listen to and show compassion to your friends of color.
- Lament the injustice and suffering caused by systemic racism.
- Teach your white friends about what you are learning.
- Teach our children to break the cycle of racism.
- Get involved in movements that promote racial equality and justice.
As you can see, there are a variety of ways we can all take a step in the right direction. For those of you who are interested in reading one of the books, I would love to read and process it with you. Maybe we could get an informal book group together to discuss. We could go on this journey together, just trying to learn what these authors have to teach us. Let me know if you’re interested: jonathan@cornerstonewestford.com
I hope you find this list to be helpful. If you’re wrestling with anything at all, please reach out to myself, John, or Mark. We love you, care about you, and desire for us as a church body to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).
Your brother in Christ, Jonathan