Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Member church of the Lutheran World Federation
Posted: | Filed Under: RJAC Communications, Spotlight
It’s been a year.
It has been a year, and what has changed?
A year since a man begged for his life from an officer of the law. A year since a woman was shot in her bed. A year since national sports leagues boycotted games. A year since we saw #saytheirnames trending on social media.
It has been a year since George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Regis Korchinski-Paquet.
What has changed?
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Dear Siblings in Christ,
We, the Eastern Synod, acknowledge and denounce the continued and increasing hateful, racist and targeted acts against the Asian-Canadian and Pacific Islander (ACPI) community. Specifically and especially, we denounce those actions that are perpetuated due to poisonous misinformation and anti-Asian rhetoric in relation to the COVID-19 virus, and its origin in China. Importantly, it is a matter of justice.
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Racial Justice Advisory Committee: Black History Month 2021 Challenge
Let us become agents of change.
February is a busy month in 2021: Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and we are right into the Season of Lent. In the midst of all those meaningfully designated moments and celebrations of relationships, community, and our mutual humanity and vulnerability, the Racial Justice Advisory Committee urges you to observe February also as a commemoration of Black History Month.
For the month of February, the members of the Racial Justice Advisory Committee are inviting you to a Synod-wide challenge. (Watch the video introduction to the right, and watch video responses below!)
1. Visit our resources list at https://rjaceastern.wixsite.com/home/copy-of-workshops-resources.
2. Pick something from the list. Invite a friend to do this together.
3. Engage, make comments, ask questions, dialogue.
4. Tell us how you did! Use our Contact Us page to email us, or tag us on social media and let us know how it went.
Each member of RJAC will check back through February with a “moment of revelation” as they engage their choice of book, article, podcast, or video. Check back on the RJAC website and social media channels to see what we’re reading, listening to, watching, and discussing. In holding up our narratives, painful, celebratory, and everything in-between, we embrace our common humanity.
Our features, this month, include an update on the most recent achievement of Willie Eldon O’Ree, a former professional ice hockey player, best known for being the first Black player in the National Hockey League (NHL) and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in November, 2018. He was featured in the “Black History Month” section of the Eastern Synod 2020 Newsletter. Most recently, Mr. O’Ree was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (2020/2021). Read more about Mr. O’Ree and his achievements on our website.
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Dear Siblings in Christ,
If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26)
With the death of George Floyd, we witnessed yet another senseless murder of a black man in the United States. We again see tears and anguish pounding through each step marched in resistance, struggle, and public protest; we feel deeply the brokenness and the separation between God’s vision for community and where the world sits at this moment in history.
This is not simply an American problem. Canadians are not immune to prejudice and racial injustice. We join in with resounding force against the questionable circumstances surrounding the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto, and the desecration of a Jewish synagogue in Montreal. As the whole people of God called to manifest God’s mission in the world, we must not be complacent and silent in our status quo. The Spirit moves us to stand courageously, to advocate persistently, and to act compassionately as people of faith.
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