by Jeanne Ayivorh and Will Rowe

Origins.

In the late Spring of 2019, a Northern Virginia church, Truro Anglican, began to actively work with two other churches, Antioch Baptist Church and New Hope Church, on the topic of racial reconciliation to help heal the wounds of racial division, especially between Black and white Christians.  Truro’s Senior Pastor and his wife continued the teaching in the late fall by leading a parish small group study with two basic resources, both of which are described further below.  From this education, which included An American Lament, eight of us continued to meet, study, and pray.  By June 2020, we sent out a grassroots invitation to host the study again.  The discussion group’s code of conduct encouraged humility, respect, and to give grace to each person.  The journey educated us, humbled us, and encouraged us to dive deeper into building relationships and finding ways to serve and heal, including offering the study again and again.

Journey.

Our grassroots racial reconciliation group finished our “foundational” study of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s four-part PBS documentary “Reconstruction” and the Repentance Project’s seven-week devotional, An American Lament over a year ago, and we continue to meet.  We keep to a weekly core zoom meeting day and time.  We show up!  But what do we show up for?

I asked Gary, a group member who is a veteran and works in development in underserved communities, why we do what we do.  He replied in all earnestness, “We understand our hearts have to be reconciled first to Jesus Christ. We are willing to share the depths of our own brokenness and embrace God’s redemptive power. Our vulnerability and testimony of reconciliation is part of God’s plan and a testament of His unfailing love for ALL of us.”

Inece, a member who experienced the early days of desegregation in Virginia, adds, “The American Lament shines the light of God’s truth on racial injustice and division.  It reveals God’s desire for reconciliation to one another given we have been reconciled to Him.  It’s very much an ‘Ah hah’ time when the light goes on in the heart and soul of each person and a realization that as a Church we have not been doing all He has asked or required of us.  It helps us to face the uncomfortable truth of our past with hope for our future because of our determination to act according to His word with loving-kindness, humility, and doing what’s right.  From all this comes healing to everyone involved.”

I think it is fair to say we want more people to experience what we did—transformed hearts.  Hearts that hunger and thirst to puts God’s love first.  Those that journey with us through Reconstruction + An American Lament learn to share God’s grieving heart, which leads each of us to develop a longing that brings us closer to Him, closer to each other.

People of Color in our groups also spoke plainly to us after the foundational study.  We learned three things that have been vital to continuing our journey: education is key, white people need to talk with white people about racial reconciliation, and service/actionable items matter.  We developed a Roadmap that focuses on four mission areas: education, service, policy, and prayer.  Practically speaking, intentional group actions are most often rooted in one or two individuals taking leadership of an idea and inviting others into the process.  Momentum counts as much as showing up—all part of the DNA of moving the Body of Christ toward truth & reconciliation together.

Action.

What A Racial Reconciliation Group Can and Did Accomplish:

• Build and grow relationships and unity of purpose
• Start new foundational study groups (5 so far)
• Prepare and host Enslaved History/Art/Heritage Dinner
• Developed a Racial Reconciliation Seminar with 18 speakers, 144 participants from 51 churches
• Take initiatives in our workplaces
• Continuing education
• Host a documentary film viewing of The Long Shadow, and a live Q&A with its Director
• Initiate prayer ministry for this group and its members
• Invite and host guest speakers on a variety of topics, including a voting rights expert & racial healing legend
• Created a healing project for a historic, neglected, segregated African American cemetery (not Corhaven)
• Encourage other racial reconciliation groups we meet; learn from them
• Train new facilitators for the foundational study, including for an existing racial unity group in a Georgia church
• Study group participants beget new study groups
• One pastor participant did a sermon on the Book of Amos and racial injustice
• Two study group participants initiate an Equal Justice Initiative Community Remembrance Project

Participation is open to all and today it is an interfaith group with folks zooming in from across the country.  Any Wednesday night we might have 17-20 people show up on the zoom call and well over 80 people have participated in the foundational study.  Generally speaking, we try to support each other’s intentional actions, large and small.  We keep plans relatively loose, unlike our day jobs, because we want our actions led by love, led by the Holy Spirit.  Not our will, but His will be done.

If you are interested in sharing what your own racial unity group might be doing or learning more about us, please contact Jeanne Ayivorh or Will Rowe at Racialreconciliationgroup@gmail.com.