Guidelines and Policies

Racial justice training for all active ministry personnel was mandated at the 39th General Council 2006. The proposal came out of a long history of the United Church's engagement with issues of social justice. In 2000, the United Church adopted its Anti-Racism Policy statement; racial justice training is one effort to help the church continue to live out its principles.

Purpose

Working toward racial justice in church and society is a life-long "heart" journey. We are all—people of every colour and cultural background—touched by the sin of racism, although in different ways. Together we must continue to learn from each other, with each other, and with the Spirit, so that we continue to break down barriers and build right relationship and just institutions.

Because we need to work together for racial justice within our church and because we believe that we are a "whole people of God" with a "priesthood of all believers," racial justice workshops are open to both lay people and ministry personnel.

These workshops will offer an overview of the work of racial justice and are one step on the journey. The purpose of the racial justice workshops is threefold:

• to engage in self-examination around privilege and internalized racism (superiority and inferiority)
• to engage in analysis of the systemic nature of racism within the church and wider society
• to offer tools for leaders to begin or continue the work of racial justice in local ministry contexts

Workshops will have periods for individual reflection, small group work, and large group discussion. Participants will be encouraged to deepen their learning journeys outside of the workshops.

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Process

Over a two-year period (fall 2008–fall 2010), racial justice workshops will be developed and implemented, primarily at presbytery/district levels.

• Consultation and Pilot Workshops: Consultation with various groups within the United Church and two pilot workshops have gathered important feedback that will strengthen the content and process for the final design of the workshops.
• Train-the-Trainers National Event: In fall 2009, a national gathering of facilitators will be held—a "train-the-trainers" event. Participants from each Conference will attend in order to experience the workshop, share best practices for facilitation skills, and build contextual elements of the workshops they will then take back to their Conferences.
• Workshops at Presbytery/District: The facilitators who attended the train-the-trainers event will work in teams of at least two, with one person from a majority ethnic (White) background and one person from a racialized/minority ethnic background. Facilitators, who may be lay people or ministry personnel, will each lead workshops in at least two presbyteries/districts.

Racial justice workshops for ministry personnel and interested lay leaders will begin in early spring 2010 across the country. Workshops are primarily being held at the presbytery/district level. The workshop dates and locations are being organized in each Conference by the racial justice facilitators of that Conference, Conference staff, and presbytery chairpersons. For the date of the workshop in your presbytery or district, please contact either the Conference Office (usually the personnel minister) or the presbytery chairperson or secretary.

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Online Workshop

An online workshop has been developed for ministry personnel who were unable to attend one of the face-to-face workshops held across the country during 2010. The content is similar to that offered in the earlier workshops, and it will be led by some of the same facilitators.

We will simulate the experience of a face-to-face workshop using a telephone conference call service that allows participants to move in and out of break-out groups. We’ll also broadcast a PowerPoint presentation through the Internet. Participants will need to have access to a telephone and high-speed Internet simultaneously to be a part of the process.

There is room for up to 50 participants in each workshop. These workshops will be offered in the spring of 2011.

Further information and online registration are now available at the United in Learning continuing education website. For additional resources, see Online Racial Justice Training Resources.

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A Word about "Mandatory" Racial Justice Training

Elected commissioners (ministry personnel and lay people) at the 39th General Council 2006 passed a motion to "develop and implement mandatory training in racial justice for all ministry personnel." General Council Office staff have been charged with developing and implementing these racial justice workshops.

In keeping with The United Church of Canada's polity, presbyteries have been asked to decide how they will implement the "mandatory" nature of the proposal that was passed at the 39th General Council 2006. Presbytery is the court of the church with the authority of oversight and discipline of ministry personnel, so it falls to the members of presbytery (lay and ministry personnel) to determine what constitutes fulfillment of this mandate.

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Resources

Study resources on the United Church website:

• Ending Racial Harassment: Creating Healthy Congregations offers guidelines to help church members, ministers, and congregational committees recognize, understand, and stop racial harassment.
• Indian Residential Schools: Resources for Congregations has various ideas and activities to help United Church people "live out" the apologies and work toward right relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

Many ecumenical resources address anti-racism work:

• Mennonite Central Committee (U.S. and Canada), Anti-Racism Program*
• Anglican Church of Canada, A Charter for Racial Justice*
• World Council of Churches, Being church and overcoming racism:
  It's time for transformative justice*
• Uniting Church of Australia, Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Ministry*
• United Church of Christ (USA), Sacred Conversations on Race*
• Christian Reformed Church in North America, Race Relations*
• Episcopal Church (USA), Anti-Racism and Gender Equality*

For more information, please contact:

• Jennifer Janzen-Ball
  Program Coordinator, Racial Justice Training
  The United Church of Canada
  Tel: 1-800-268-3781 or 416-231-7680 ext. 3022
  E-mail: Jennifer Janzen-Ball