The Reparations Committee oversees the congregation’s Reparations-Inspired Initiative adopted in 2022.
Reparations is perhaps best understood as “the deliberate repair of a multi-generational campaign of cultural theft – theft of wealth, theft of truth, and theft of power” (“Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair” by Duke Kwon and Gregory Thompson; 2021). Black Americans have led the call for reparations for over a century in response to the U.S. legacy of slavery and the ongoing ways white supremacy is embedded in our culture and economic structures.
“If Black lives are to truly matter in America,” writes Nikole Hannah-Jones, “[we] must move beyond slogans and symbolism … A truly great country does not ignore or excuse its sins. It confronts them and works to make them right.”
Confronting sin through repentance and repair is the Christian mandate. At Assembly, we work at repair by making payments to initiatives and organizations led by local Black and Indigenous Peoples which address the legacy of harm.
To learn more about Assembly’s work with reparations, see this article in the Anabaptist World magazine.
The Regional Repair Network Consortium hosted a Reparations Summit featuring keynote speaker Drew Hart – Professor of Theology at Messiah University, author, and racial justice activist. Selected recordings from the summit are available below.
Reparations Summit- Session 1 Biblical and Theological Imperatives of Reparations
Reparations Summit- Session 2 The Case for What Needs to be Repaired
Reparations Summit- Session 3 Answering the Call Committing to Reparations
Reparations Summit- Session 4 Closing Session Don’t Shrink Back