Racial Justice Sunday 2022

Racial Justice Sunday is the day on which churches reflect on the importance of racial justice, give thanks for the gifts and beauty of human diversity, and commit to end racism and acts of discrimination. It is, however, more than an annual reminder of the Church’s commitment to the task of anti-racism. This Sunday represents, ‘A call for Christians to engage in the righteous struggle for racial justice, because racial justice is everyone’s business’.

The gospel calls all Christians continually to confront the idolatry of racism and the evils in our world and to proclaim justice and mercy as we seek to walk with our God (Micah 6:8). Our worship unites us to Christ, transforms us in Word and Sacrament, and sends us out into the world to uphold the dignity of all in Christ. Racism and racial discrimination are issues of justice because they deny basic human dignity to women and men made in God’s image. Wherever and whenever we treat another as lesser, or other, our theology fails to celebrate the dramatic nature of our transformation as people who find their primary identity in Christ. In Christ, our differences are not simply erased but rather embraced, valuing the unique ways we each reflect the image of God.

Almighty God,
you are love incarnate, fountain of mercy and justice:
in a world of inequity and pain,
may our actions be our prayer.
Let the river of justice and mercy flood our imperfect world,
quenching the thirst of parched souls and lands,
so that the world may have life in all its abundance,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.

(Prayer adapted from the Christian Aid book, Rage and Hope)