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.
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.
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.
