Our Commitment to Racial Reconciliation

At City Church, we bring God’s love to the city, one person at a time, and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. This mission has always included people from every nation, generation, and culture.

OUR STATEMENT

Statement from Pastor Eugene R. Smith Regarding George Floyd

As I watched the brutal and sickening killing of George Floyd I was angered, shocked, and beyond saddened. Words cannot express the deep sorrow and frustration that I felt. Since this event, I have had numerous conversations with Black community leaders, friends, family, and associates. I have sought to listen and learn before I speak. ...

It is my desire to speak to all those who have been impacted and those who have come under my pastoral care.

First, to my Black brothers and sisters who have had to endure watching another unjust and brutal murder of an innocent man at the hands of those sworn to uphold and protect the very rights of those they are supposed to serve, please hear me: My heart breaks. I am angered and deeply saddened that once again you’ve had to endure this pain. It’s wrong!

The feelings of anger, frustration and disgust that you feel at the killing of Mr. George Floyd are justified and understood.

As a white 56-year-old male in the U.S., I know that I can never completely understand how you feel because I have never had to endure the kinds of injustice, racism, and discrimination that can be a daily reality for you. Although I cannot experience the same pain that this crime has stirred inside you, I can seek to understand and join you in preventing future atrocities!

Today, I want you to know that I reaffirm my commitment to my Black brothers and sisters to continue with you in this fight against injustice, discrimination, and systemic racism that so sadly plagues our world.

Today, I reaffirm my commitment to speak out as the Old Testament prophets did against the injustices and unfair practicesthat the disadvantaged, disenfranchised, and those most likely experience discrimination in our nation have had to suffer.

Today, I reaffirm my commitment to invest my time, energy, and financial resources to bring about justice, fairness, and opportunities for equality to those who have no voice.

Today, I reaffirm my commitment to be part of the solution to equip, provide, and educate those who come under my sphere of influence.

Today, I pledge my commitment to do the following:

    I will listen to your stories.

    I will learn from your stories.

    I will do my best to lead the way forward in fighting for justice, liberty, and true freedom for all!

To everyone:

We cannot tolerate and sit idly on the sidelines as injustice rips through our community. We MUST do better. No more George Floyds! No more Ahmaud Arberys! No more Trayvon Martins! We must come together as one voice and demonstrate that there is a better way forward.

Like our Savior Jesus, “who went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed” (Acts 10:38), my commitment this day is to ACT!

To all people of faith, we must model and serve like our Savior did. He not only spoke out against the injustices towards the poor, minority, and disenfranchised, but He also acted.

Today, I reaffirm my commitment to stand against the evils of injustice, discrimination, and racism. I choose to ACT to see righteousness and justice prevail.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
    -Dr. Martin Luther King

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD STATEMENT

Read the official statement from Assemblies of God and the Executive Presbytery of the General Council on the death of George Floyd.

Racial Reconciliation at City Church

We commit to encouraging a diverse church, one in which everyone seeks to follow Jesus as Lord. To this end, we affirm the following:

1. WE ARE ALL SINFUL.

We all stand before God in an equally sinful state that disqualifies us from relationship with Him. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

2. WE ARE ALL RECONCILED TO GOD THROUGH CHRIST.

God loves the world and sent Jesus to die for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). God, in Christ, reconciled all people to Himself, removing any walls that divided us, including racial and ethnic walls (Eph. 2:15–16). “There is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11). God is forming a new people through the church from “every nation, tribe, people and language” (Rev. 7:9). We are #onenewpeople.

3. WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT RACISM AND DIVISION ARE SINFUL.

Racism is a violation of love, and divisions tear down a house rather than building it up. Racism appears in beliefs or practices that distinguish or elevate one race over another or in holding unforgiveness for another race or ethnic group. All people are equal before God, and we strive to treat all people with the same dignity and grace that Jesus extended to us in our sinful state.

4. WE REPENT OF OUR SINS.

We sorrowfully acknowledge our sins of racial pride, racial hatred, and the dehumanization of another race. We ask forgiveness from God and from others. We repudiate the exploitation of and cruelty of other human beings in the form of slavery, human trafficking, the destruction of the family, through economic, legal, and social discrimination, and other injustices.

5. WE SEEK RACIAL RECONCILIATION.

“God…reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18). Through love, we seek to reconcile people to God and to each other. We come together as deeply broken and frail people. Change starts in each individual heart. In order to promote reconciliation, we confess, repent, forgive, heal, and serve. Our church commits to promote changes to help eradicate racism from the church. The problem is real. The solution is not easy. Only through God and the gospel can we prevail together.

6. WE COMMIT TO DEMONSTRATE LOVE.

We commit to listening deeply to each other, even when it is hard (Rom. 12:12-21). We participate in uncomfortable conversations and choose not to become offended. “Love does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it” (1 Cor. 13:5). Maintaining intentional humility is the way of the cross. We hold each other accountable for the jokes we tell, the attitudes we have, the assumptions we make, and the way we discuss political and social issues involving race.

7. WE SEEK JUSTICE FOR ALL.

We reaffirm our commitment to invest our time, energy, and financial resources to bring about justice, fairness, and equal opportunities for all.

8. WE COMMIT TO PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER.

We pray first. The grace of God directs our conversations and favors our efforts when we invite Him to lead us. The evils of racial hostility and divisions require the power of God to defeat. We pray for God’s wisdom and courage to pursue love and reconciliation.

OUR COMMITMENT

City Church stands with our Black community and congregants in fighting racism and injustice wherever it is found -- first in the church and then in our culture. We are all constantly learning and then educating. Here are our commitments to see racism abolished in our world.

In the Church

We welcome and celebrate ethnic diversity that reflects both the composition of our community and the future diverse composition of God’s people in eternity (Rev. 7:9). In the church, we model biblical community by welcoming all who come, no matter their economic, racial, ethnic, or social background. We will treat everyone with dignity and we honor all ethnic cultures.

In Conversations

We are better together, and we want to continue the conversation on racial reconciliation in Small Groups. We offer Small Groups that will educate us on reconciling races and ethnic groups, both in the church and in the community. We equip Small Group leaders so they can effectively lead these conversations.

Through Relationships

We encourage the people of City Church to intentionally pursue friendships with people who are different (1 Peter 4:8). We look for ways to connect with those of other races and ethnic groups and to deepen friendships with those we already know. We seek to regularly connect with other families, set up playdates for our kids, go on mission trips together and serve in other ways, and to purposefully spend time together enjoying and learning from each other.

Through Partnerships

We are committed to partner with other local churches, local law enforcement, and with national organizations to fight for justice and to see any discrimination and disparity eradicated. We encourage Dream Team members to partner together in service to make this happen.

We provide support and resources to ethnic minority ministries, church plants, missionaries, and leaders.

The Next Generation

We are committed to raising up the next generation to love, value, and enjoy racial and cultural differences. We engage in productive conversations with students and children about the sin of racism and about pursuing justice in the church and the community, teaching them the ways of God regarding justice, mercy, and love.