Storrs Community Church Antiracism Values

As part of the body of Christ, we are committed to the Gospel message of love, and thus to antiracism. To be antiracist is to endorse racial equality and to confront racial inequalities wherever they exist.

Jesus said, "To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers, even the least of them, you did it to Me" (Mt. 25:40 NASB).

We believe that our ability to connect with Jesus is intrinsically linked with honoring and caring for our fellow humans. We humbly seek to recognize and restore the places where we may have contributed to the oppression of others, to seek justice, and to love mercy.

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15).

The love of "each other" Jesus speaks of in this passage is unconditional. Thus, every person is welcome to worship in, and is valued at, Storrs Community Church. This welcome is not dependent on beliefs, orientation, income, education, preferences, humor, ability, race, gender, sex, age, recovery-status, nationality, or politics. To love as Jesus asks us to love is fruitful, lifegiving, and restorative. It may also be costly or uncomfortable. Love listens to, accepts, cries with, fights for, prays for, and shares in the joys and pain of others.

We humbly recognize that without this kind of love, all of our church programs and plans would be fruitless.

We stand at an unprecedented moment in history. The Covid-19 pandemic is bringing mortality to people’s minds. Racial unrest is helping churches to acknowledge and lament any historic roles played by the Church in perpetuating and sustaining racism, as well as far too often ignoring the suffering of our brothers and sisters within the body of Christ. It is one thing to come to the cross of Christ to be saved, but Jesus's command is also clear, "Love each other as I have loved you."

We support the statement from Evangelicals for Social Action: "We believe Christians are called to be one in Christ (Galatians 3:28) not by erasing the beautiful differences the Creator bestows upon humanity, but instead by building on the strength of diversity to dismantle the domination attached to those differences and co-create beloved community." In recognizing that antiracism is an expression of Christ’s message of love, we can be part of healing wounds and divisions and of God’s plan for restoration in the world.