Position

God created the world rich in diversity and yet unified in himself. His mission for the world, though temporarily broken by sin, is for the reconciliation and uniting of all things. That mission is and has always been racially and ethnically inclusive. Through the Holy Spirit, God gives power to the church to break down walls of separation and create a community that transcends divisions of race, ethnicity, and culture. The church is God's strategic agent for embodying, proclaiming, and promoting the unity and diversity of the new creation. For Christians, to be in Christ is in principle to be reconciled as a community of racially and ethnically diverse people. To ignore the calling to turn this principle into practice is sinful according to God's Word and the Reformed confessions.

The whole church is called to pray and work for the increased enfolding of ethnic-minority persons and to ensure their equitable representation and meaningful participation in leadership and influence at all levels of denominational life. Congregations are called to articulate the biblical vision for a racially and ethnically diverse and united family of God, to evaluate their life and ministry with regard to it, to develop diversity by all appropriate models and strategies, to witness publicly against racism in defense of all people as image-bearers of God, and to promote interracial and cross-cultural relationships.

History

The CRC began to deal with the matter of race relations in 1957 in connection with the issue of segregation. Two years later it adopted a set of declarations from the Reformed Ecumenical Synod (RES), which became its stand on race relations. These declarations were affirmed and others were added in 1968, 1969, and 1977. The Christian Reformed Board of Home Missions began to design and implement programs regarding racism through a new Race Commission.

During the 1960s and 1970s the church dealt with the issue at home as it struggled through a race-related case regarding Timothy Christian School in Cicero, Illinois, and abroad as it held discussions with the Reformed Churches in South Africa regarding its policy of apartheid (see also Apartheid). Building on the work of the Home Mission Board, Synod 1971 established the Synodical Committee on Race Relations. It became a standing committee in 1981, appointed its first executive director in 1986, and in 1995 became known as Race Relations.

Synod 1992 formed a Committee to Study a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Family of God at the request of the Multiethnic Conference, a biennial meeting of multiethnic church leaders which developed in the 1980s out of Calvin Seminary's orientation program for such leaders. Synod adopted the recommendations of that report, "God's Diverse and Unified Family," in 1996, and it serves as the current position of the CRC on race relations. In response to joint meetings with the Multiethnic Conference in 1998, synod appointed a committee to develop strategies that will continue to move the church toward becoming a more diverse and unified family of God. The agencies and institutions of the CRC have begun an intensive initiative in antiracism and during the next five years (2000 - 2005) intend to have all staff fully involved in antiracism efforts.

References

Acts of Synod 1957, pp. 20, 126-28
Acts of Synod 1959, pp. 82-84, 258-60
Acts of Synod 1964, p. 74
Acts of Synod 1966, pp. 19, 51-53, 106-10
Acts of Synod 1968, pp. 18-20, 561-63, 584, 588-92
Acts of Synod 1969, pp. 50-52, 210-11
Acts of Synod 1970, pp. 61-65, 99-101, 121-22, 306-12, 315-18, 524, 539, 543-44, 546, 563-65
Acts of Synod 1971, pp. 113-17, 302-14, 343-44
Acts of Synod 1972, pp. 50-51, 316-22
Acts of Synod 1973, pp. 50, 337-40
Acts of Synod 1974, pp. 32, 70-72, 375-85, 480-81
Acts of Synod 1977, pp. 34, 76-78
Acts of Synod 1981, pp. 94, 113, 353-58
Acts of Synod 1983, pp. 216, 652-53
Agenda for Synod 1986, pp. 224-31
Acts of Synod 1986, pp. 672-74
Acts of Synod 1992, pp. 720-21
Agenda for Synod 1993, pp. 23
Acts of Synod 1993, pp. 333, 577
Agenda for Synod 1996, pp. 215-38, 294-95
Acts of Synod 1996, pp. 510-15, 595-619
Acts of Synod 1998, pp. 262, 264-70, 353, 408, 444