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
Follow this link to download a full pdf copy of our policy: https://fpckzoo.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FPC-Racial-Equity-Policy.pdf
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