Our website has, among our resources, links to a report that looks at the violent history of lynching in America. One of the results of this era of racial terrorism was the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1970, six million black Americans fled the South to escape lynching, unfair labor practices, and harsh segregationist laws. This summer, we invite you to join us in learning about this era by reading Isabel Wilkerson's award-winning history, The Warmth of Other Suns. Mark your calendar for a book discussion on the evening of Sunday, September 20.
In this post, we have a guest blogger, McAlister Merchant. McAlister was the first African-American student to graduate from an all-white Catholic boys high school in Chicago. He started there in 1957 on a scholarship, well before Martin Luther King Jr's efforts came to prominence. McAlister was at the pushing, shoving, bleeding edge of integration, but overcame his situation peaceably, successfully, and with grace.
by Heather Hedlund
The many recent incidents of racial injustice along with the ongoing coronavirus situation have spurred some members of the BelPres community to act. We'd like to share some of their actions here to give you ideas and encourage you in your personal journey. If you'd like to share what you've done, please email
The recent murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia, brings to mind the ugly history of lynching in America. Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), defines lynching as "a racially motivated act of violence committed by two or more people where there is no accountability." Lynchings were brutal acts of torture, often in public, designed to terrorize black people. State and federal officials generally looked the other way. EJI has documented more than 4400 lynchings of black people in the United States between 1877 and 1950.
The COVID-19 crisis has both produced and revealed a number of racial disparities. People of color are disproportionately affected by both the disease itself and by the measures we are taking to slow its spread. We'd like to invite you to learn more about these impacts and then think and pray about how we might respond as individuals and as a group. If you have resources to share, stories of how you or someone you know has been impacted, or ideas for how we might respond, please email
Galations 6:2 says, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." I think this verse is all about empathy. To me, I carry someone else's burden when I try to really understand what they are experiencing and bear witness to their pain. In doing so, perhaps I can share their load. I was recently watching a webinar titled What the COVID-19 Crisis Tells Us about Structural Racism.
If you're looking for things to watch or read while you're staying at home, we've got some suggestions from Anthony Ballard, BelPres Pastoral Resident for Justice & Racial Reconciliation. And if you missed the Maundy Thursday service, be sure to check out Anthony's BelPres preaching debut! (https://www.facebook.com/BelPresChurch/videos/217587372802681/)
In the first session of our Justice, Kindness, and Humility Bible Study, our speaker calls up an image from Handel's Messiah that I think is fitting to reflect on as we prepare for Holy Week. In teaching us about a biblical theology of justice, the Rev. Dr. Gabriel Salguero refers to the movement "Ev'ry valley shall be exalted," which in turn quotes Isaiah 40:3-4: "A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.'"
Pastor Scott Dudley has told us that Christians in ancient times were known for rushing in to help during times of plague while everyone else was rushing out. Here's a podcast episode from Christianity Today that shares some of the history of Christian compassion for those suffering and the Christian connection to public health.
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Latest Blog Posts
- Reflections on My Personal Civil Rights Pilgrimage
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- Affordable Housing Explainer Videos
- Los Angeles Prayer Vigil
- Updates Related to the Just Neighbors Series
- Life Together Sermon Series
- Themes of Justice in the Bible Part 4
- The Intersection of Faith, Racial Justice, and Political Engagement
- Themes of Justice in the Bible Part 3
- Resource from Equal Justice Initiative – Unreliable Verdicts
- Themes of Justice in the Bible Part 2