Racial Justice Sunday

Racial Justice

Tuesday 12th November 2024

Racial Justice Sunday

Social action

Presentation

text over a graphic illustrating love they neighbour

Racial Justice Sunday is for all churches to reflect on the importance of racial justice, to give thanks for the gifts and beauty of human diversity, and to commit to end racism and acts of discrimination.

“The central claim of Christianity is that Jesus offers full restoration of the image of God in humanity through his life, death and resurrection. To follow Christ, as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) implies a commitment to this quest for wholeness in humanity at personal and collective levels”.

Background

Racial Justice Sunday was established by the Methodist Church in 1995 following the tragic racist murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence in southeast London in April 1993. The Lawrence family attended a local Methodist Church in that part of the capital, and the Methodist Church agreed to support the family’s justice campaign to find young Stephen’s killers.

A few years later, the Churches’ Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ), a Churches Together in Britain and Ireland programme, agreed to mainstream the special Sunday so that all the churches could engage with it. While the materials they produce are created in the UK and Ireland, the themes and resources are very relevant for our churches and communities across the Diocese in Europe. Each year has a different theme but the liturgical resources below can be used every year.

8th February 2026: Love Your Neighbour

"In these resources we explore what it really means to love our neighbour, especially given the current narratives of hostility, fear, suspicion and hatred of the ‘other’, particularly asylum seekers, refugees and anyone who is not British or Irish ‘enough’.

We discuss how the Bible provides a blueprint for a world where everyone belongs; where everyone is loved, valued and affirmed for who they are, and not what they look like or have to offer. And one in which our identity is ultimately to be found in Christ, as brothers and sisters of one ‘race’: the human race.

I believe that this message is ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14). It is one that speaks through the ‘flags’, banners, protests and invective, relaying a message of unity and hope. Just as the greatest commandment speaks about loving God and one another, Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross offers us all the hope of being united with God and with one another.

Let us use Racial Justice Sunday (and other Sundays) to stand together in love, rejecting those words, actions and behaviours that go against Christ’s teachings, and embracing those biblical principles that foment unity, cohesion and engagement."

Richard Reddie, Director of Justice and Inclusion, CTBI