Racial Justice Committee ends day three of deliberation with full hearts

On Wednesday morning, Michael Ofori, Young Adult Advisory Delegate of Southern New England Presbytery, encouraged his fellow members of the Racial Justice Committee to “keep an open mind and open spirit — all the work we are doing here is not for nothing.” The committee then dove back into their continued discussion of RAC-04, the recommendations of the Special Committee on the PC(USA) and Race. 

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The committee moved forward on several amendments to the overture, including the addition of point six, which directs PL&W in collaboration with the Board of Pensions to address disparities in call, compensation and leadership for leaders of color. This was one of the final recommendations put forth by the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee (REAC) and the fourth incorporated into the overture by the commissioners by way of amendment. The motion to amend RAC-04 by adding point six passed unanimously.

The committee then returned to the language of the second recommendation. Rather than requiring PL&W to offer needs-based grants to presbyteries, the committee amended the language to reflect an earlier conversation about the added financial implications of this requirement. The final wording suggests that PL&W “consider and assess needs-based support options” in situations where presbyteries lack the resources to access training. 

A motion made by Commissioner the Rev. Jeny Carlson of Seattle Presbytery to reconsider the original language of point one of RAC-04 was met with multiple voices offering their seconds. The original language included the stipulation that the tracking system work back to the reunion of 1983 — during the previous day’s meeting, there was much debate over whether it was necessary to dig that far back into the past, or if a cut-off of 2006 was more appropriate. Commissioner Elizabeth Wylie of San Jose Presbytery encouraged fellow committee members to consider the importance of seeing the whole picture, of turning back and learning from our past actions. “We can’t be made whole and we cannot repair what we don’t look at,” she said. In the end, the motion to reconsider the original language passed with a vote of 51-2.

Deliberation continued regarding points four and five of the Special Committee’s recommendation, which suggests edits to the Book of Order that would mandate anti-racism training for church leaders, and directs the Office of Presbyterian Life & Witness (PL&W) to create said anti-racism training. One of the biggest concerns brought forward by commissioners in favor of mandating the training was that if it was not required and written in stone, there would be no accountability or assurance of follow-through. 

Partner Advisory Delegate Joyce Kadzakumanja, representing the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, voiced approval of the requirement, saying that, “The recommendation about the trainings is very important, especially in the church, as not everyone is exposed to racism and not everyone acknowledges that it is still happening. ... Trainings are never enough.” 

Young Adult Advisory Delegate Adeline Tracy of Scioto Valley Presbytery told of her home congregation, which, after adopting the Matthew 25 resolution, began digging into their past, where they discovered their own racially biased history and learned that the neighboring town had once been a "sundown town." 

“We realized that we needed to understand that history fully to be able to continue our work and become a less racist community,” Tracy shared. “It’s important to have mandatory trainings, so that especially predominantly white communities can learn how to be anti-racist.”

After a brief break and a word of prayer offered by Vice Moderator the Rev. Dr. Steve Watts, in which he asked for guidance, that the committee might “seek what is not simply the easiest, but what is most faithful,” RAC voted unanimously to approve RAC-04 as amended. They paused to celebrate their work, giving themselves a round of applause and taking a quick stretch-break before moving on to the next order of business, which had been added to the docket during deliberations on Tuesday.

Two commissioners brought forth RAC-05, a seven-pronged recommendation relating to the future of the Racial Equity & Intercultural Congregational Support Ministries. The primary concern voiced in this overture was the relocating of these ministries into Partnerships Beyond the PC(USA), although many of them are U.S.-based, and the consequent effects of this co-mingling of efforts. After listening to a presentation by Commissioner Carmen M. Rosario, one of the submitters of the overture, the committee heard from representatives of Presbyterian Life & Witness, who spoke to the current state of reorganization and flux. 

Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall of PL&W emphasized the collaborative efforts happening across ministry areas, urging that the work had been identified and was in development. Resource person the Rev. Carlton Johnson offered the view from his position — he'd been acting as director of the Racial Equity & Intercultural Congregational Support Ministries when unification began and things started to merge. Johnson assured the committee that “by working with the U.S.-based Global Ecumenical Liaisons, the congregational associates are actually getting extra support.” Commissioner and former GA Moderator the Rev. Dr. Neal Presa then raised the idea of referring the overture to PL&W. “Senior staff have heard the sentiments and the concerns of Rosario,” Presa said before suggesting the committee refer RAC-05 to PL&W for further consideration.

After a motion to refer the overture to PL&W as it was originally written failed, another motion was raised to amend the overture to incorporate new language that emphasized the need for assessment in various arenas. The language of point three was edited to reflect the need for a collaborative assessment by PL&W, REAC and the General Assembly Committee on Representation (GACOR) on the placement of ministry area staff — should these ministries be included under Partnerships Beyond the PC(USA) or Partnerships Within the U.S.? Another point was added to the recommendation “in order to renew trust,” asking PL&W to work in collaboration with GACOR to review existing commitments to intercultural ministry, establish clear expectations for consultation with caucuses when decisions affecting them are being made and to incorporate accountability measures for those commitments. The motion to amend the overture passed, and the above language was duly incorporated into RAC-05. 

The Racial Justice Committee ended its third day together by voting to bring RAC-05 to General Assembly with a recommendation to refer it to PL&W. The motion to refer to PL&W as amended was raised by Commissioner Dr. John Anderson of John Calvin Presbytery and passed with a vote of 55-2. Closing worship was introduced by Commissioner the Rev. Rachel Landers Vaagenes of National Capital Presbytery, who welcomed them by saying, “My heart is full.”