Reconciliation Offering 2020: The Rocks Are Crying Out
I tell you, if you were to keep silent the stones would cry out. Silence is the absence of sound. To speak is to convey a feeling or opinion. This is not the time to be the absence of sound but to convey the injustice of those feeling the weight of racism and oppression. This the time to speak up and convey the truth of God’s love and equality for us all.
In Luke 19:39 to 40 we read that some of the Pharisees in a crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher rebuke your disciples.” “I tell you,” he replied “If they keep quiet the stones will cry out.” Though we know that God’s spirit will cause the stones to cry out if we remain silent, when it comes to being an anti-racist, pro-reconciling church, silence is not an option.
The form of this ministry may be changing,
but the need for addressing racism
has never been more obvious.
Your gifts to Reconciliation Ministry allow your communities and your congregations to ensure the human dignity of every child, to ensure all have access to Christ’s abundance, to fully flourish in education, and financial stability, and friendships across God’s human diversity. Won’t you join the chorus in shouting out Hosana, Hosana blessed are we who come in the name of the Lord. Thank you for your generosity.
To show up is more than a selfie at a protest, or a social media post… showing up means to cry with me, and to let the pain of my people’s tears move you to fight WITH those of us who are pushed to the sides because of the color of our skin, the thickness of our accents, or the documents we hold.
About the Special Offering
The Reconciliation Ministry Special Offering is used to fund our Church’s mission imperative to become a pro-reconciling and anti-racist church utilizing experiential education, inclusive worship, and intentional dialogue. Our efforts to promote healing, relationship, and restoration in the whole family of God are enlivened by funds from this offering. Through it we are able to provide programs for leadership development, curriculum for dialogue and learning, and partnerships within the Church and our communities.
Recent events have reignited the conversation about human brokenness evidenced in the sin of racism and perpetuated in our institutional structures and systems. Your generous giving to Reconciliation Ministry is transforming lives and strengthening Christ’s witness in the world showing that we love one another, even as Christ continues to love us!
Donations on behalf of emergency grants to support impacted communities and congregations toward healing of racial unrest can be directed to the Reconciliation Annual Fund/Racial Justice Response.
The Reconciliation Offering will be received in congregations on Sunday, September 27th and Sunday, October 4th.
I choose to stand up for people of color because racism seems unbeatable. But if God can make the rocks cry out, then just imagine what He can do with people whom God has intentionally created with the capacity to love one another.
Why Have a Special Offering
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has a history dating from the 1960s of sharing our resources to address the racism of our society and the racism within our own church. We have called this process the Reconciliation Ministry.
We receive this offering in the fall and use the funds throughout the year to give grants to the pro-reconciliation/anti-racism initiative to organize to dismantle systems and structures that perpetuate this sin of division within the Church.
The 2020 Vision adopted by our church names this work as one of the four priorities of our mission together as a whole church. This voluntary annual offering is the only source of funding for this ministry.
So may our voices echo across the stones and across this land as we work toward the restoration of God’s beloved community.
