Overture to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
The Presbytery of Baltimore overtures the 222nd General Assembly to continue its efforts to dismantle
racism within our denomination and the larger society by doing the following:
Recommendation 1:
Direct the Office of the Stated Clerk and the Presbyterian Mission Agency, through its Executive Director,
to present to the General Assembly in 2018 a detailed 6-year plan containing explicit procedures for
renewed implementation of every strategy detailed in the churchwide strategies (as listed under the
“Points of Engagement” and specifically directed towards the General Assembly, Synods, Presbyteries,
and Congregations) in “Facing Racism: A Vision of the Beloved Community,” which was approved by the
211th General Assembly.
Recommendation 2:
Establish and convene a “Racism Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.”
that is charged with conducting a churchwide listening campaign to hear the voices of peoples long
silenced regarding the state of institutional racism and oppression within our church.
This commission shall report the result of its listening campaign to the General Assembly meeting in
Baltimore in 2020. The report shall include a statement of findings and recommendations to be voted
upon by the General Assembly. Approved actions shall begin implementation within the following year.
The commission shall consist of 20 persons (10 Ruling Elders and 10 Teaching Elders); 15 of these persons
shall identify as people of color. In addition, every effort should be made to achieve geographic
representation from every Synod. The commission shall be appointed by the Moderator and shall be
constituted no later than December 31, 2016. It shall be chaired by a former Moderator or ViceModerator of the General Assembly who will serve as a member of the Commission. The commission
shall be resourced and funded through the Office of the Stated Clerk.
The Commission shall meet twice annually beginning in 2017, and shall conduct the work of the listening
campaigns on a regional basis. The commission shall determine strategies to carry out its work and
present these strategies in a report to the General Assembly in 2018 for their approval.
Rationale Section
In recent years, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. has adopted resolutions and initiated programs as a
faithful effort to address racial injustices in the United States of America. In 1999, the General Assembly
received the report “Facing Racism: In Search of the Beloved Community” in which the church
acknowledged that “dismantling racism is a long term strugglei.” The rising calls for racial justice from
our African-American brothers and sisters is evidence that despite the efforts of the past 15 years to do
so, we have far to go to realize that Beloved Community to which both God is calling us and our hearts
long.
The 221st General Assembly (2014) called for a national consultation to develop a vision for racial ethnic
ministries. Since that Assembly, we have witnessed numerous acts of violence and heightened racial
tensions across our country in places like Ferguson, New York, Baltimore, Charlotte, and Chicago that
have awakened again the need to confront the systemic racism that continues to divide us both as a
Baltimore Overture Page 1 of 3
church and as a nation. This renewed awareness is evidenced by the many presbyteries and churches
who have engaged in anti-racism trainings and discussions since the 221st General Assembly. As we
make this overture, we recognize that we have not done enough to address racism in our own
community. Therefore, we are in the early phases of developing concrete steps to address the issues of
racism, injustice and poverty.
Rationale Regarding Recommendation 1:
To be agents of change in dismantling racism in our society, we must acknowledge that it exists within
the church. In so doing we recognize our own history of racism both internally as an organization (at all
levels of the church) and as institutional members of society.
Presbyterian Church U.S.A. policy currently requires anti-racism training of national staff and has urged
the training of Mid-Council Committees on Ministry and Committees on Preparation for Ministry in the
areas of cultural competency, antiracism and antisexism. Furthermore, the Presbyterian Mission Agency
has collected data on the extent to which Mid-Councils are providing such trainings, and is to report this
data to the 222nd General Assembly.
Technological advances have expanded the potential for developing and sharing of resources (multimedia and print) to encourage and equip congregations, Mid-Councils and their members in order to
deepen their understanding of institutional racism and develop strategies to end it.
Less attention has been given to the development and dissemination of training resources for teaching
cultural competency and antiracism with our children and youth. Resources identified on the PCUSA
website fail to adequately identify resources designed for congregational use with children and youth of
various age groups.
Rationale Regarding Recommendation 2:
Despite the efforts to change public policies and put an end to segregation, we continue to live in
divided neighborhoods with divergent experiences. We have failed to fully comprehend the ways that
racism persists today both inside of and outside of our church. As an institution founded and dominated
by “white” Christians, we need to create opportunities to listen to those who suffer from racist policies
and practices.
Racism persists even as we become more ethnically and culturally diverse as a nation, extending racist
policies to new groups of people of color. We are aware that racial injustice is experienced differently in
different regions of the U.S. and between rural and urban areas. Therefore, we need a regional
approach in order to hear from all corners of our country and the variety of circumstances. Efforts have
already begun to identify a more regional approach to building cultural competency and the ways we
can work to end racism which would benefit from a broader and deeper listening campaign.
As our brothers and sisters in South Africa have taught us, “unity is both a gift and an obligation for the
church of Jesus Christ.”ii In order for such reconciliation to occur, however, we must be willing to hear
and tell the truth of our sins, trusting “that God’s life-giving Word and Spirit has conquered the powers
of sin and death, and therefore also of irreconciliation and hatred, bitterness and enmity, that God’s life-
Baltimore Overture Page 2 of 3
giving Word and Spirit will enable the church to live in a new obedience which can open new
possibilities of life for society and the world.”iii
On February 11, 2016, the Presbytery of Baltimore passed a resolution to direct the Committee on Local
Arrangements for the 224th General Assembly in 2020 (Baltimore) to make racial atonement and
reconciliation its central theme and focus.
i
Cover letter to the Facing Racism: In Search of the Beloved Community report signed by Cliff Kirkpatrick, former
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.
ii
The Confession of Belhar. Article 2
iii
Third Article of the Confession of Belhar
Baltimore Overture Page 3 of 3