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racial justice and multicultural ministry

RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY SYNOD POLICY STATEMENT

The Proposed Statement...

'The United Reformed Church is committed to the dignity of each human being, who is made in the image of God. Accordingly, it has made a stand against those forces in the world and in ourselves that degrade humanity on the basis of skin colour and other immutable characteristics. In the area of racism, the URC has committed itself to equipping all levels of the church to work for racial justice, instituting a Racial Justice Committee and Secretary for Racial Justice.

Whilst the Racial Justice Committee aims to recruit at least one Racial Justice Advocate (RJA) from each District Council in every Synod, its limited budget can only absorb the *costs of one advocate per synod. This person shall normally be the Synod Racial Justice and Multicultural Ministry Advocates' Co­ordinator. In the meantime, we the existing advocates of (name of synod here) wish to bring the following proposal to the Synod asking that it affirms our Church's commitment to work for racial justice by adopting our proposal as a tool for supporting the advocacy work in our region in furthering the work for justice and peace amongst all God's peoples in every place.

• (The proposal should include specific work plans and strategies for advocacy activities given the specific needs of the synod including
   

• District Council visits/presentations etc..;
   

• spell out which synod committee the advocates need to work in partnership with or under the auspices of (e.g. Synod Church & Society Committee or Life & Witness Committee etc.. unless of course the synod decides to set up a Synod Committee for Racial Justice);
   

• an outline of workshops/bible studies and other materials/resources the advocates may have access to for equipping the local churches on how to be cross-culturally sensitive and become centres of hospitality and welcome etc..;
   

• financial implications the synod and or district council is asked to take on (travel/accommodation for both regional and national meetings, basic admin costs for regional/local activities);
   

• the national Racial Justice Advocates job description.)

The (name of synod) Racial Justice and Multicultural Ministry Advocates shall work in consultation with the United Reformed Church Secretary and Committee for Racial Justice and Multicultural Ministry under the auspices of the Synod Committee for (??? As decided in bullet point two)