Today we are in mourning. As we were still reeling from the distressing news out of Baton Rouge and the Twin Cities area, we watched helplessly as horror unfolded in Dallas. Five police officers now lay dead and a city is yet collecting answers.

Just as we’ve condemned the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, we and Stated Clerk J. Herbert Nelson II fervently condemn the senseless violence that has stolen the lives of five children of God and wounded at least six others. Additionally, these acts of violence have obfuscated the intent of the peaceful protesters who were being protected by the police. We seek answers, and we have very few at this time. We are simply left with the terror we all feel right now.

Our prayers are with the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency as they continue their investigation and prepare to lay their beloved colleagues to rest. We pray for their resolve to continue to be blessed peacemakers. We also lift prayers for all who grieve due to the barrage of difficult news in recent days.

It is never easy when we are so profoundly confronted with the world’s brokenness. Our pastoral wish for you is that you care for someone today. Check on a loved one or colleague for whom these events are particularly personal and painful. Limit your own access to distressing images, if necessary for your health. Provide space for lament in your congregations and worshiping communities. Seek ways to live into the visible unity of Christ’s church, as our newest confession—the Confession of Belhar—calls us to do. Today especially, our communities need to find respite and healing. May they find it in the body of Jesus Christ.

We continue to pray and work for peace in our own contexts, trusting in God’s strength amid our own weakness and resting in the hope that the God who calls us to peacemaking will give us what we need to accomplish that end.

Once again the nation, and the African American community, in particular, is faced with two more high-profile killings of African American males. Alton Sterling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile of the Twin Cities area of Minnesota are the latest among a long list of publicized and unjustified killings by law enforcement officers in the United States. The questionable nature of African American males and females dying at the hands of police in our streets and in police custody is so pervasive in the United States that the U.S. Justice Department is leading the investigation in the Sterling case and has been asked to investigate the Castile case.

While these police killings are occurring, it is apparent that we remain a denomination that struggles to engage the truth about our own privilege. As church leaders, we find it easy to offer prayers for the families while mentioning a statement in our Sunday morning sermons about the struggles of racism in the U.S. Yet our depth of commitment to resolve the problem of blatant racism within our own communities is often shallow and meaningless. Therefore, police departments charged with the responsibility to protect and serve remain unchecked by common citizens, because we are not calling powers and principalities into accountability as a response to the gospel message. The Bible reminds us that, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is the one who is in you than the one who is in the world” (I John 4:4). Our ability to overcome the world by the God-bestowed power within us requires faith and courage.

The 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) renewed the denomination’s commitment to eradicating the vestiges of racism in every sector of our society, including the Church. Three significant actions were taken.

1. The adoption of the Confession of Belhar provides a theological basis to call the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) into repentance for its complicity with the ongoing struggle of historic and current racism in the United States.
2. The Stated Clerk and Presbyterian Mission Agency have been directed to present to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) a detailed six-year plan with explicit procedures for renewed implementation of the church-wide strategies in“Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community,” approval by the 222nd General Assembly (2016).
3. The assembly has called for specific efforts – both financial and through direct action – to address the worsening plight of the African American male.

The time is right to act! However, the time has always been right to act. These assembly actions have no meaning unless we as people of faith act to eradicate racism in our nation. Our efforts must begin in our own communities and require courage. Racism is a cancer that has historically pervaded our society. It blatantly disrupts the flow of building Jesus’ call for the Beloved Community.

Eugene Carson Blake, a former Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, better known as “The March on Washington.” He spoke chilling words of indictment related to Protestant mainline denominations. He said, “The white Church is late, but we are here now.” It is my prayer that in these critical times we can exclaim that we made significant decisions to engage the historic vestiges of racism in our time. This will require us being spiritually and physically present now, avoiding another institutional sin of being late on arrival. Our silence on the race issue is not an option anymore, and it really never has been. I invite sessions and mid councils to take concrete actions to address this epidemic in local communities and our nation.

Today I am traveling to Baton Rouge to be in solidarity with local and national leaders. I am hopeful to meet with Presbyterian clergy and lay people who are willing to engage this pertinent issue of our time. Please be in prayer for our deliberations and reliance upon the Spirit.