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NC Council of Churches

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

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Racial Justice

We believe now is the time when America can break free from the cycle of reform, restraint, and retaliation that has defined our existence, at least since the Emancipation Proclamation, and more likely since the first white settlers landed on the shores of a land already occupied by people with darker skin. For the cycle to end, we must dismantle the systems that oppress our neighbors.

While much of our work is intersectional and every issue is a race issue, the Council’s racial justice issues are focused on removing confederate monuments in North Carolina and working from reparations to restoration. 

Whether you are a veteran at racial equity work or just entering the arena, the resources that follow offer a place to join the cause. We expect to update this page regularly as we learn from and work with our many partners in the movement. Please check back regularly to learn more.


  • About
  • Resources
  • Statements
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  • Take Action

Overview

The North Carolina Council of Churches was founded in 1935 through the courageous leadership of Shelton Smith and other prominent faith leaders in N.C. who believed the unity of faith communities could overcome the injustice of racism. We have continued in that hope for more than 8 decades. God laments, as do we, that it takes so much death and so many layers of injustice to move us forward so slowly, but at last the entire country appears to be focused on what our founders told them years ago. Most importantly, the entire country is at last listening to black people and taking their claims seriously.

We invite you to read this resolution from our Governing Board and join us as we work to break the cycle.

Council Resources

BIPOC Mental Health Grant

Our Partners in Health and Wholeness initiative invites faith communities of color to apply for the BIPOC Mental Health Grant. We are able to offer this new grant opportunity of $5,000-10,000 for faith communities of color to apply towards COVID-19 mental health efforts. Click here for more information about the BIPOC Mental Health Grant.

Mental Health & Race: Barriers, Ideas, and Sacrend Work by the Rev. Jessica Stokes

  • Part I
  • Part II
  • Part III

Denominational Members’ Resources

Churches Uniting in Christ

Combatting Racism

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina

Racial Equity and Justice Curriculum/Resources

Episcopal Church

Racial Reconciliation

Sacred Ground: A Film-Based Dialogue Series on Race & Faith

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Racial Justice Curriculum

Mennonite Church (USA)

Anti-Racism Resources for Mennonite Churches

Defund the Police: An Abolition Curriculum

Moravian Church in America

Continuing the Journey of Racial Reconciliation

United Methodist Church

North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church – Anti-Racism Archives

Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church – Anti-Racism Resources

Presbyterian Church

Facing Racism: A Vision of the Intercultural Community Churchwide Antiracism Policy  

United Church of Christ

Racial Justice Ministries


More Faith-Based Resources

  • Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S., by Lenny Duncan
  • Dear White Christians, by Jennifer Harvey 
  • Disunity in Christ, by Christena Cleveland 
  • Divided by Faith, by Michael Emerson and Christian Smith
  • I Bring the Voices of My People: A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation, by Chanequa Walker-Barnes
  • Reconciliation Blues, by Edward Gilbreath
  • Responding to anti-Asian Violence with Creativity from the Margins by the Asian American Christian Collaborative
  • Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, by Michael Eric Dyson
  • Trouble I’ve Seen, by Drew G. I. Hart 

Trainings & Toolkits

  • Black Lives Matter Resources
  • Healing Justice Toolkit
  • Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
  • Changing the Lens 
  • Racial Equity Institute
  • #DoTheWork 30-Day Course

Publications

Books

  • Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Blackballed: The Black Vote and U.S. Democracy, by Darryl Pinckney
  • The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein
  • Go Tell it On the Mountain, by James Baldwin
  • Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
  • How to be an Anti-Racist, by Ibram X. Kendi 
  • The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
  • Waking Up White, by Debby Irving

Kid-friendly Books

  • Antiracist Baby, Ibram X. Kendi 
  • Let’s Talk About Race, by Julius Lester, illustrated by Karen Barbour
  • Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, by Anastasia Higginbotham
  • Rosa, by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier

Young Adult Books

  • A Good Kind of Trouble, by Lisa Moore Ramée
  • Dear Martin, by Nic Stone
  • Ghost Boys, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Podcasts

  • 1619, from The New York Times
  • Throughline, from NPR
  • White Lies, by NPR

Issue Statements

The Council takes positions on issues through policy statements that inform, guide, and frame our work. Policy statements are adopted by our governing body, often upon the recommendation of one or more of the Council’s program committees which are made up of representatives of our member bodies.

  • A Resolution to Change the Cash Bail Bond System (8/8/2022)
  • Statement on George Floyd Murder Trial Verdict (4/21/2021)
  • Remove Confederate Symbols Where Justice Is Sought (1/26/2021)
  • Statement on Systemic Racism (6/2/2020)
  • Policy Statement on the Public Schools (12/15/2017)
  • Confederate-themed monuments: Time to reassess (9/21/2017)
  • A Statement on the Public Schools (9/5/2006)

Council Partners

Below is a list of our partners statewide with a link to their website for more information:

NAACP North Carolina

North Carolina 4 Black Lives

North Carolina Black Alliance

Ways to Take Action

CAMPAIGN TO REMOVE CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS 

North Carolina Commission on Racial & Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System’s (NC CRED) Confederate Monuments Removal Campaign officially launched on February 14 here.

SUPPORT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE IN NC (NAACP NC)

The NAACP’s mission has remained constant for its first century: to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. It advances its mission through the press, through non-violent mass petitioning for redress of grievances — through the ballot, through lobbying and through the courts. In the face of 100 years of covert and overt racial hostility and violence, including murders and bombings, NAACP leaders and members have steadfastly and courageously used legal and moral persuasion. Click here to become a member and join the coalition.

SUPPORT THE POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN: A NATIONAL CALL FOR MORAL REVIVAL

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is uniting people across the country to challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation, and the nation’s distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. Click here to join the campaign in your area.

SUPPORT BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES

  • National
  • North Carolina

Key Contact

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

jennifer@ncchurches.org
Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. She writes frequently for various publications when time permits and preaches regularly in congregations across North Carolina. Jennifer has two adult children, Nathan, who is a software developer in Durham, and Hannah, who is a digital marketing analyst in Charlotte. Jennifer is the overjoyed grandparent of Benjamin and Theodore.
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Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

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