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Board reports on use of Anti-Racism Fund

Pacific Northwest Conference Board of Directors recently shared an update report on the Anti-Racism Fund, said Courtney Stange-Tregear, acting conference minister.

In 2020, the PNC board adopted anti-racism as a conference priority. The board heard and felt the call for every part of the conference to commit to anti-racism and figure out what actions the board, committees, staff, churches, camps and members can take in their settings.

By The Rev. Dr. Courtney Stange-Tregear - Acting Conference Minister

At the 2021 Annual Meeting, the board proposed and the conference affirmed a change to the PNC constitution, amending it to “commit ourselves to dismantling racism and expanding our understanding and awareness of the impact racism has had and continues to have on our churches, our conference, and our world.”

Along with amending the constitution, annual meeting delegates demanded that the conference support this priority with meaningful funding, backing up the board vote with actions as well as intentions.

The 2021-2022 budget included $52,000 that was set aside in an Anti-Racism Fund. The PNC board convened a working group to be in conversation with Black, Brown, Asian, Latine and Indigenous clergy in the conference to determine how the Anti-Racism Fund would be spent and how to spend it in an anti-racist way.

This group is convened by Board members Dawn Koloi and vice moderator Indigo Brown.

The Anti-Racism Fund Working Group recently made the following report:

“So far, we have distributed $27,500 of the $52,000 in the Anti-Racism Fund, contributed from the 2021-22 operating budget and through donations from individuals and congregations in the Conference,” they said. “This work has been deliberate and intentional, acknowledging that urgency doesn’t create more impact.

An important guiding principle for this process has been to center the experience and knowledge of those most impacted by racism. The PNC Board is in covenant with this working group, placing complete trust in our Black, Brown, Asian, Latine and Indigenous clergy to identify ways that the Anti-Racism Fund can make a difference in our Conference.

This is an anti-racist giving strategy, a step towards reparations, and a covenantal promise that honors the wisdom of these leaders.

With prayerful consideration, the group has prioritized direct action and maximum impact: funding professional development opportunities, workshops, meetings, conferences and scholarship to camps for Black, Brown, Asian, Latine and Indigenous adults and children in our Conference community.

Anti-racism is a priority of the Pacific Northwest Conference—and the conference is all of us!

God calls us all to the work of dismantling racism in our camps, churches, communities and committees. The ongoing racial justice work happening in our local churches contributes to dismantling racism within our conference.

The PNC board encourages everyone to take meaningful action, to identify and dismantle systems of white supremacy and white-dominant culture, to cultivate and use an anti-racism lens.

Thank you for all the ways you and your churches are supporting this work! Together, we are creating meaningful change.

 

 Winter Pacific Northwest Conference United Church of Christ News © December 2022

 

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