This month’s Dismantling White Supremacy Resource is an opinion piece called “Your Church Can’t Separate Faith, Anti-Racism Work,” by Aurelia Dávila Pratt, lead pastor of Peace of Christ Church in Round Rock, Texas. In it, Pratt shares her “takeaways for predominantly white churches who are committed to anti-racism" from her perspective as “a brown, woman pastor of a predominantly white congregation.”

“First,” she says, “we must acknowledge that faith work and anti-racist work cannot be separated.” She goes on to say that “we do not get to compartmentalize issues of faith and issues of race.” She notes that Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) “cannot separate [their] faith from [their] racial identities and experiences,” and that “it is both crucial and an act of solidarity for predominantly white congregations to do the same.”

Pratt says that congregations “do this by consistently denouncing and dismantling white supremacy.” Predominantly white congregations must make “this rejection consistent and clear through the theology that shapes your church culture.” And she offers “some things to keep in mind along the way.”

For example, she notes that “This is not a trend.... [We must] be ready for the long haul understanding that commitment to anti-racist work involves real systemic changes.” And she is very clear that “it is not enough to change your mission, vision and core values. The ethos of your church must reflect these changes on every level.” Additionally, congregations must “accept the predominantly white make-up of your church. Own it and work to do better.”

The fact that Pratt is from a different religious tradition (she graduated from a Baptist seminary) is a reminder that we Unitarian Universalists are not doing this work alone. You can find Aurelia Dávila Pratt’s “Your Church Can’t Separate Faith, Anti-Racism Work” at Good Faith Media.