Racial Equity Policy of the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo
Recommended to Session on January 22nd, 2025, by the Just Sanctuary team. Revisions were made on March 1st and March 26th, 2025.
Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) churchwide antiracism policy, affirms that “racism is the opposite of what God intends for humanity. It is a lie about our fellow human beings, for it says that some are less than others.” Racism is a system of racial prejudice exerted by those in power –institutionally and individually, consciously and unconsciously– that is deeply ingrained in the history of the United States. It benefits white people in the dominant culture while disadvantaging and oppressing people of color. Structural racism is defined as “the normalizing of racism within institutions and structures”. Once racism is structural and institutional (as it is in the United States), it creates ongoing, persistent inequity. Inequity occurs in access to money, land, housing, education, health, information, and social power. Because inequity is a part of the structures and institutions that we interact with every day, it often goes unquestioned and unchallenged by most of society or the dominant culture.
First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo is an institution founded and historically run by white people and is today 89.7% white. We must come to terms with these numbers, their implications for the work we do, and the people we reach. We are undeniably entrenched in legacies of racism that continue to shape our community and our church. The Kalamazoo area has experienced and participated in redlining, segregation, and housing discrimination. In spite of efforts and movements to work toward greater equity in our church and community, the echoes and impacts of racist policies and laws are active in our lives today.
The church is mandated in Facing Racism to “embrace antiracism as a major part of our identity.” To this end, we state unequivocally that racism and all forms of discrimination and marginalization are sins against humanity and God, inconsistent with our Christian values, and unacceptable within our church. We understand that we “must unlearn and undo existing racist values and structures” that persist despite our expressed values and intentions if we are to create a racially equitable church where “all persons are treated with respect, all gifts are valued and encouraged, and diversity is a gift to be valued.”
As we strive to be a racially equitable church, we commit to:
- Repenting of the role we collectively and individually have played and continue to play in creating and maintaining systemic racism;
- Focusing our outreach efforts in ways that increase our witness to racial justice and equity;
- Acknowledging disparities created and sustained by systemic racism and taking steps to repair and take restorative action in response;
- Developing and implementing practices and strategies to disrupt and dismantle racism and oppression in our church and in our community;
- Acting courageously and creatively against police brutality, voter suppression, educational, environmental, healthcare, and housing inequity, and other acts and practices of systemic racism on federal, state, and local levels;
- Striving for racial equity in recruitment, hiring, and retention of employees
- Providing antiracism and cultural humility training and resources for church employees, leadership, and others;
- Adopting or amending policies and practices to ensure they afford full and inclusive participation of all voices;
- Prioritizing inclusivity and diversity in decor, overall environment, and resources;
- Recognizing the land in which we worship as the homeland of the Match-e-be-nash-she-wish band of the Potawatomi tribe of Native Americans;
- Working in partnership with the Presbytery of Lake Michigan in their antiracism ministries; and
- Putting into practice General Assembly directives to build an intercultural church where justice and equity prevail.
We acknowledge that this work will not be easy. But, as our PC(USA)-wide antiracism policy affirms: “Because of our biblical understanding of who God is and what God intends for humanity, the PC(USA) must stand against, speak against, and work against racism. Antiracist effort is not optional for Christians. It is an essential aspect of Christian discipleship, without which we fail to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
As Presbyterians, we are rooted in the notion that we are to be “Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda,” that is, “the church reformed, always being reformed.” We believe that Christ is not done with us yet. We have more to learn and more good news to share in our journey of following Christ. With trust in all that God has left to do, we seek wholeheartedly to join Christ in furthering the good news of the kingdom of God. In big ways and small, we are working to dismantle racism in our midst, and so further the good news of the justice, mercy, peace, and love of Christ.
We commit to a cycle of engagement with this policy every three years. Changes to this policy can be made by a majority vote of the Session.
Adopted by the First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo
First Reading on: January 22nd, 2025
Second reading and approval on (date): March 26th, 2025
Sources:
-Black Lives Matter, Presbyterian Historical Society, https://www.history.pcusa.org/blog/2020/06/black-lives-matter
-Racial Equity, Presbyterian Women, https://www.presbyterianwomen.org/what_we_do/build-community/antiracism
-Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community, 222nd General Assembly(2016)https://facing-racism.pcusa.org/item/40835/
-What is Structural Racism? PC(USA) Presbyterian Mission, https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/matthew-25/racism/
-Antiracism Policy of the PC(USA) Investment + Loan Program, https://pilp.pcusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Antiracism-Policy.pdf
-Antiracism Policy of the PSNE, https://psne.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Anti-Racism-Policy-for-PSNE-1.16.23.pdf
-Antiracism Policy of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, https://presbyphl.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2024/05/Antiracism-Policy-Revised-4-25-24.pdf
Anti-Racism Statement
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF KALAMAZOO
JULY 20, 2020
In times of crisis, suffering, and hardship, the Church is called to speak both prophetically and compassionately, to comfort and heal, and to call for justice and accountability. In this time of crisis, our community and our country are struggling with a confluence of crises: pandemic, economic distress, and civil unrest. In all these things, the disparity between white society and people of color is evident.
God did not choose one people over another. Indeed, in times such as this, “there are particular problems and crises through which God calls the church to act. The church, guided by the Spirit, humbled by its own complicity and instructed by all attainable knowledge, seeks to discern the will of God and learn how to obey in these concrete situations.” (1) Now is such a time and place. “
We have been slow to face the reality of systemic racism. We have been slow to acknowledge the pain of our fellow Presbyterians, of our fellow Christians, of our fellow citizens, and of those whose value has been judged by the color of their skin. We pledge to join hands and hearts with our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) siblings to actively confront and dismantle systemic racism in the church and in society at large, and to work for a more just, merciful, and peaceful country that allows all of God’s children to flourish.” (2) (3)
We who call FPC home are committed to non-violent ways to bring about justice. We stand with those who call for an end to unjust and discriminatory policies and practices, both explicit and implicit, which disproportionately affect our siblings of color.
We appeal to the leaders of our houses of worship, our cities and counties, our states and our nation to act with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love in healing our communities and in combating racism in all its forms. (4)
In Peace and Grace, The Session of First Presbyterian Church Kalamazoo (PCUSA)
Footnotes
1. Confession of 1967 9.43
2. Statement from 224th General Assembly of the PC(USA)
3. These are examples of what FPC could do, noting that this is not an exhaustive list and is apt to change as the work evolves:
• Review FPC Vision and Mission Statements as to how they align with our public statements against systemic racism;
• Review current FPC policies and procedures;
• Make an honest assessment of where FPC is on a continuum of anti-racism work;
• Scaffold the work that should follow the assessment;
• Commit resources to this work.
4 Sections of this were adapted from a letter sent by Pasadena Presbyterian Church.