2020-2021 Spiritual Pilgrimage
The PTCA Anti-Racism Spiritual Pilgrimage is a yearlong journey of:
- deepening our engagement with the racial history of Minnesota and Western Wisconsin
- using personal reflection and small groups to practice spiritual skills for anti-racist living
- taking action in solidarity with Black, Indigenous and other People of Color who are our neighbors in the community
Visit the 2020-2021 Spiritual Pilgrimage page for FULL DETAILS.
Institutional Assessment on Race and Equity.
In 2019, the Presbytery Leadership Team authorized an Institutional Assessment on Race and Equity of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area (PTCA). Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing and Training is guiding us through this assessment. In February 2020, members of the working group who are conducting the assessment (along with other presbytery leaders and staff) participated in a 2.5 day anti-racism training. After a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the working group reconvened in summer 2020 to begin their work of assessing how systemic racism is operating within the presbytery and recommending steps we can take to move toward the life-giving justice for all that God intends.
We are conducting this institutional assessment:
- To understand and claim the gospel imperative to undertake anti-racism work (versus just “not being racist”)
- To build a common understanding as a presbytery about how racism functions within systems like our committees, interactions, and norms — instead of focusing on individual attitudes, intentions, or options
- To be honest about our complex history as a presbytery regarding equity, but also to have concrete steps towards change, including supportive space for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) people and communities in the PTCA
- To develop, from intentional outreach and analysis, tools for self-analysis, change, and further growth that we practice together as a Presbytery.
Updates on the institutional assessment (including calls for input via surveys, focus groups, and more) will be shared here and via other PTCA communication channels.
…the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; ... in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others…” |
