Pastoral Letter to Condemn Racism and Hate Crimes

Ministers of the 1.7-million-member United Church of Christ on Sunday plan to read to their congregations a first-of-its-kind pastoral letter that condemns what it calls the sin of systematic racism and decries an increase in racially motivated violence.

“We call upon every member and local church of the United Church of Christ to renew our faith in the unity God intends and to increase our commitment to stem the resurgent tide of racism in our increasingly multiracial and multicultural society,” the pastoral letter said.

The letter, signed by the church president, the Rev. Paul Sherry, and all other top officers of the denomination was formally released in St. Louis on Friday.

It will be read from the pulpits of the United Church of Christ’s 6,000 congregations on Sunday as the denomination marks the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

More than two years in the drafting, the statement sets forth a host of socioeconomic data showing sharp disparities between whites and nonwhites in education, income, employment status, health care, housing, crime rates, infant mortality and drug addiction.

“As a result of this systematic racial discrimination, there are quiet riots all across the United States in the form of unemployment, poverty, social disorganization, family disintegration, homelessness, school deterioration and crime,” the pastoral letter said.

It also said that reports of racially motivated assaults against minorities have risen 1,000% since 1980.

The Rev. Ben Chavis, head of the denomination’s Commission for Racial Justice, which played a key role in drafting the letter, said it is “a significant statment from a predominantly white church. A major denomination is sounding an alarm.”