We accept Christ’s command to make disciples by taking up our cross daily to follow him. The process of discipleship necessarily challenges the ways in which we have been shaped by sin and its corruption in the world we inhabit. Spiritual formation (discipleship) must include all aspects of life.  In this statement, we make an attempt to address our commitment to Christ’s formation in us specifically regarding racial justice.

We aspire to live by the commandment of Jesus, to love our neighbor as ourself.  (Mark 12:31)

We affirm that in Christ, we are one, and distinctions based on ethnicity, race, socio-economic status and gender create no hierarchy in the family of God. (Galatians 3:28)

We acknowledge that we live in a broken world, and specifically in a culture and society in the United States of America, in the region of Northern Virginia, where much of our history involves painful and inexcusable acts of racism. 

We follow the biblical pattern of confession (Daniel 9; Nehemiah 1), lamenting the sins of our collective past and present, and bearing the witness of Christ by fighting racism in order to live differently into the future.

We abandon the tendency to judge others without admitting our own propensity to sin. We each are capable to act in ways that are hurtful and wrong.  We repent of racially motivated attitudes and actions, with hope in the promise of transformation.  (Romans 3:23; Matthew 7:3; 1 John 1:9)

We commit to love, treating everyone as fellow humans who bear the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect. (Genesis 1:26)   We are committed to practices of racial justice, a posture of proactive anti-racism and to building an unvarnished, diverse community of believers in Jesus Christ.

We choose to do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with each other and God, (Micah 6:8) and commit that these choices will show up in word and in deed, and be evident in our calendar, our finances, our relationships, and our daily practices.