'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'
Matthew 22:37-38
Runnymede Community Church unequivocally condemns racism in all of its forms. Racism of any kind is an affront to God and contrary to the teaching of Scripture which states that all people have been created in His image, are sacred, and are therefore deserving of dignity, respect, justice and equality. (Genesis 1:26-27)
As followers of Jesus we open ourselves to labour with God to address the ongoing problems of racism here in Canada. We lament our nation’s and the Church’s history of racism and the racism in our current reality, institutions, systems and structures.
We acknowledge and repent of The Canadian Church’s active participation in all forms of racism including anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Indigenous racism. This includes church involvement in the Residential School System. We recognize that we are guilty of ignoring and remaining silent on these issues for far too long.
We will continue to challenge ourselves to understand and work to end racial injustice by adopting a posture of learning and actively looking for opportunities to love all people, not only with words but with actions. We will walk forward with open eyes and humble hearts – seeking to become more enlightened as we live and love all people as Jesus taught us to do. (Ephesians 1:18)
We commit ourselves to our Vision Statement to follow the command of Jesus to love others, which includes actively working to condemn and dismantle racism in all of its evil forms.
October 25th, 2020