RRUUC Land Acknowledgment Acknowledging and remembering that we are situated on the traditional land of the Nacotchtank and Piscataway people, and on the land on which enslaved African people and their descendants labored and lived, we gather together in worship. May the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts and the actions of our hands point the way toward a more just future. May the memory of those whose love and labor went before inspire us to create a path of greater joy and justice for all who will follow.
Resolution on Racial Justice As individuals, we are committed to a new level of engagement, to continually seek ways to use our voices, our privilege, our standing in the community to effect change. As a congregation, we are committed to turning a new page. We declare the obvious—that Black lives matter to our beloved community. We affirm the need for powerful words and collective action, both to call out injustice and to call in love.
Five years after the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, noted preacher, pastor and community leader Bishop Douglas Miles will bring us a message from the heart of his calling. Using a text from the Book of Acts, he’ll ask, “Why do the people of the church stand looking up toward heaven for the change we need? How can we create that change by anointing each other with a calling in this world?”
Please stay after the service for shared conversation on the subjects we raise, and shared commitment for the work that lies ahead.
Bishop Miles is a nationally respected leader in congregation-based community organizing, serving as a keystone of both his local Baltimore organization (BUILD) and on the national strategy team for the Industrial Areas Foundation, the largest and longest-standing community organizing body in the country.