Northlake Says Black Lives Matter

Northlake Lutheran Church, a predominately white Christian congregation, acknowledges that race relations in America today are rooted in centuries of white colonization and intentional dehumanization of Indigenous and Black persons through settlement and removal of Indigenous peoples and the economic system of slavery upon which the nation was built.

As white individuals, we have benefited from this system of oppression and have been complicit in its perpetuation. That complicity must end as we work to dismantle white supremacy culture and unequivocally affirm Black Lives Matter. Our central belief as Christians is that one cannot truly love God if one does not love one’s siblings, and we are all children of God.

The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Manuel Ellis, and countless others not filmed or on the news, are the result of a nation that is fundamentally rooted in white supremacy. Our belief is that God calls us to not only affirm our Black, Brown, Indigenous siblings’ rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but also to actively dismantle the institutionalized racism that oppresses them and harms us all.

We must always work to name, reject, and dismantle racism and white supremacy culture that works to benefit some at the expense of others. We are committed to doing this work. We stand with our Black, Brown, and Indigenous siblings in Christ and pray for people everywhere suffering injustice

Northlake Lutheran Church commits to:

• Doing deep, mindful work to examine and reflect on our own racial identities—understanding our white-centered culture and how it operates in our congregation and shows up in our relationships with Black, Brown, and Indigenous people.
• Look within ourselves and our own community for signs of racism: consider whose voices we draw knowledge and inspiration from, examine the books we have on our shelves, the art we choose to display, the stories we tell our children and reflect on how these choices inform who we are, where we stand, and what we believe.
• Call on policy makers to enact and enforce legislation that ensures fairness in our criminal justice and law enforcement systems as well as equitable access and outcomes in education, housing, employment, healthcare, community services, and voting rights.
• Provide on-going educational opportunities and discussions for our own congregation and community regarding race and the effects of racism in our congregation and beyond.
• Recognize implicit biases in ourselves and each other and interrupt the negative stereotypes we form from those unconscious biases.
• Commit our resources and join our voices with the elders, allies, and influencers within organizations fighting for justice across our country.