Congregation of the Good Shepherd, Beijing, China
A Statement on Racism: Our Confession, Lament, Repentance, and Resolution
In the summer of 2020 the Congregation of the Good Shepherd embarked on a ten week journey of self-examination, reflection, listening, and learning about racism and racial injustice. We learned from various resources, had discussion groups, and went through a sermon series on these topics. While we addressed many issues related to racism and racial justice in our home countries and in the world, this statement largely focuses on our response to the Lord’s leading regarding our COGS church community.
In response to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit, in obedience and faithfulness to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and to the praise and glory of God the Father, the Congregation of the Good Shepherd publicly issue this statement of confession, lament, repentance, and resolution.
The diversity of the Church. God is triune: God is one and yet God exists in three equal, eternal, distinct but inseparable, fully divine persons. In his own inner life, God is diversity in unity and unity in diversity. In Scripture, God calls his Church to reflect God’s own unity in diversity, especially regarding ethnicity and culture (Eph. 2:11-22; Gal. 3:28): the Church is to be multiethnic and multicultural. The ethnic diversity of humanity is part of God’s plan and desire, and it is eternal: in the New Heavens and the New Earth, each nation and culture will bring their particular gifts in worship of the Lord (Rev. 21:24, 26). In the New Heavens and the New Earth, the people of God will be comprised of every tongue, tribe, people, and nation (Rev. 7:9-17). Ethnic and cultural differences are not erased in the final resurrection, but unified together in the body of Christ.
Racism is sin. Race is a social construct that divides people into groups based on factors such as physical appearance and ancestry. Racism is a system of advantage based on race, occurring at the individual, cultural, and institutional levels. Racism is a violation of the equal dignity and worth inherent in every human being, for every person is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-28). It is a sin to treat people unequally on the basis of race, whether done by individuals consciously or unconsciously, or done by groups through systems, policies, exclusion, or inhospitality. Racism is a failure to obey the command to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matt. 22:36-40). At COGS we insist that the issue of racism is fundamentally a theological issue—of course, one that is also sociological, economic, etc.—and it is sin.
Racism is a present sin. Racism is present in our world, manifest in attitudes, actions, cultures, institutions, and policies. In both subtle and overt ways, the sin of racism is present with us and in us. In complex ways often hidden to many of us, white supremacy has a strong presence in almost all of the home countries and cultures represented at COGS. It is present in the various communities to which we currently belong. It is present in our congregation.
We lament. As a church we lament the racist histories and theology of so many of our home countries. We cry out to you, Lord, about the current racial injustices in our nations and cultures of origin. We lament Church teachings that enable racism and Church practices that maintain the racial segregation in the Church. Our hearts are grieved and heavy because of the racism we see in our world, in our church, and in ourselves.
We confess. We at the Congregation of the Good Shepherd confess the racial and colonial baggage we have carried with us into our church community from our home countries. We confess our past inattention to this matter, that we have not properly valued and prioritized reflecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Beijing international community in our congregation. Too often we have been insufficiently hospitable towards non-Westerners. We confess that throughout our history as a congregation our church leadership roles have been dominated by those who are white and Western, to the exclusion of our brothers and sisters who are not those.
We repent. Lord, we name these past and present sins and we repent of them. We ask your forgiveness, oh God, as these are sins against you. We also ask the forgiveness of those we have not welcomed, those we have not included, and those whose cultures and ethnicities we have not celebrated in our community and church services.
In repentance, we commit to making the necessary sacrifices of power and comfort in order to become more multiethnic and multicultural, seeking to move COGS towards being a vibrant, multi-racial and multi-ethnic church. We resolve to do the following:
To actively seek out foreigners of colour and non-Westerners to join our community.
To become a richly multiracial church (where ‘multiracial’ is defined as the majority group being no more than 80%), and to sustain being a multiracial church for the long-term.
To strive to have ethnic and cultural diversity on the leadership board, committing to having a significant percentage of the board be comprised of people of colour.
To encourage people of colour to take other positions of leadership and service in our church.
To elevate non-Western and non-white interpretations and applications of Scripture, so as to hear and obey the fullness of the Word of God together with the worldwide Church.
To incorporate cultural worship patterns from non-Western cultures represented in our congregation.
To regularly feature voices in our preaching and teaching ministries that are not white and Western, in the form of guest preachers, testimonies, worship forms, quotations, illustrations, authors of books we read, etc.
To build and maintain relationships with Majority World congregations in Beijing, and to follow their lead on ways to support them and collaborate with them in ministry.
To seek ways to bring racial reconciliation to the international community in Beijing.
To commit to continue to learn and grow in this area, and to maintain an ongoing posture of repentance for racism.
To form a special committee to help us with these resolutions. As part of its duties, this committee will do an assessment review every 6 months and present it to the board and the congregation for prayer and reflection.
by the Governing Board of the Congregation of the Good Shepherd, January 30th, 2021