Racial Injustice:

Scarlet City Church’s
Posture & Next Steps

Humility. Conviction. Sustained Action.

Pastor Jay discusses our mission to help people flourish and our posture toward addressing racial injustice moving forward.

Liturgy for Lamenting Racial Injustice

“What we need is not simply better gear and techniques but a story that helps us remember another world is possible. The good news is that God’s story offers us just that. In the midst of our world’s deep brokenness, God’s kingdom breaks in to create new possibilities.”

― Emmanuel M. Katongole, Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing

Lament is an opportunity to participate in God’s story of reconciliation by aligning our mind, heart, and body to grieve the effects of sin. We invite you to take a posture of humility and engage this liturgy of lament. You may participate alone or with others. If you have children, we’d encourage you to explain racism and justice to them and invite them to participate as well. Do not feel rushed and prepare your body to engage.

 

I. Silence

Take time to silent your heart before the Lord.

 

II. Psalm 10:1-11

Read this Psalm aloud and take a moment for prayer and reflection.

 

III. Lament

Take time to prayerfully listen and reflect during this song.
Song – Lament

 

IV. A Prayer of Help and Lament During Racial Injustice and Riots, by Brad Edwards.

You can find the prayer by scrolling down here.
Prayer – A Prayer of Help and Lament During Racial Injustice and Riots 

 

V. A New Liturgy: Lament Part One

Listen and prayerfully engage.
Listen – A New Liturgy: Lament Part One

 

VI. Personal Prayer

Take time to personalize your lament. Cry out to God.

 

VII. Psalm 10:12-18

Read this Psalm aloud and take a moment for prayer and reflection.

 

VIII. A New Liturgy: Lament Part Two

Listen and prayerfully engage.
Listen – A New Liturgy: Lament Part Two 

Race, Racism, and the Church's Response

A panel discussion with Robert Caldwell, Korie Edwards and Kevin Dudley

Resources for Further Engagement

Christians are compelled to take up issues of justice and redemption. To that end, we have compiled a recommended resources list with books, movies, documentaries, videos, interviews, articles, and podcasts recommended by people who are knowledgeable on these issues and have been involved in this work for a long time. We encourage you to take time to engage, particularly if you consider Scarlet City Church home.

 

Highly Recommended

  • Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America; by Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith [Book]
  • Heal Us, Emmanuel: A Call for Racial Reconciliation, Representation, and Unity in the Church; edited by Doug Serven [Book]
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness; by Michelle Alexander [Book]
  • Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption; by Bryan Stevenson [Book]
  • 13th (Documentary, Netflix)
  • Grace, Justice, & Mercy: An Evening with Bryan Stevenson & Rev. Tim Keller [Video Panel]

 

Books

  • The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism; by Jemar Tisby
  • White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White; by Daniel Hill
  • Between the World and Me; by Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree; by by James H. Cone
  • Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race; by Beverly Daniel Tatum
  • Insider Outsider: My Journey as a Stranger in White Evangelicalism and My Hope for Us All; by Bryan Loritts
  • The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration; by Isabel Wilkerson
  • Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder Religion Hardcover; by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove
  • So You Want to Talk About Race; by Ijeoma Oluo
  • White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism; by Kevin M. Kruse
  • Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice;  [Children’s Book]

 

Movies

  • Just Mercy (free to rent on Amazon June 2020)
  • Fruitvale Station
  • Selma (free to rent on Amazon June 2020)
  • When They See Us
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • 12 Years a Slave

 

Podcasts

  • The Liturgists Podcast Episode 34: Black and White: Racism in America (if you have never listened to this it is succinct and awesome)
  • Pass the Mic with Jemar Tisby and Tyler Burns (The premiere podcast for The Witness BCC | Dynamic Voices For a Diverse Church)
  • Truth’s Table – “Midwives of culture for grace and truth.”
  • Footnotes with Jemar Tisby (current events commentary from a black, Christian perspective)
  • Melanated Faith

 

Blogs/Websites/Videos/Articles