Declaration on Racism

Churches have an important role in helping all of us understand the root causes of racism, how our faith relates to this and also provide opportunities for us to reflect on our place and role in the midst of it all. In order to address this, the Ministerial group in Zimmerman, for which Christ Our Light is a part of, wrote a response as to how we would like to challenge the community to respond to racism and launched this statement publicly on October 13, 2019.

The declaration reads as follows:

Zimmerman Communal Church Declaration on Racism:

• We offer this as a recognition of the church’s shortcomings and a challenge for all of us to strengthen our communities through our words and actions.
• We are committed to building relationships and bridges to reflect the foundational truth of faith in loving God and loving our neighbors.
• We are committed to confronting the shortcomings of racism when it surfaces in statements, thoughts and actions that are contrary to the gospel values of respect, mercy and love.
• We are committed to listening to all stories as we seek to understand our pasts and work toward a more harmonious future for our community.
• We are committed to supporting equity for all people and promise to labor together with those who educate, protect and serve the welfare of our communities.
• We are committed to prayer, forgiveness, reconciliation and renewed hope through the transforming love of Jesus Christ. 

Signed,

Pastor Kari Bahe (St. John’s Lutheran Church), Pastor Lorraine Daley (Restoring Lives Church), Pastor Jacob Gillard (Faith Lutheran Church), Pastors Wendy Cunningham and Dan Borchardt (Zimmerman Community Church), Fr. Kevin Anderson, Matt Kehrer, and Molly Weyrens (Christ Our Light Catholic Parish)