Whereas St. Anne’s Episcopal Church was founded in 1969 in the community of Reston, Virginia as one which was explicitly founded to be a place of racial equality and welcome and

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Whereas we have striven together in these five decades to love others as Christ loves us, calling for justice when the systems of justice failed us, and holding firm to the belief that our diversity makes us stronger, and

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Whereas recent violent and racist acts in our larger society have opened our eyes to the continued and unacceptable assault on the dignity of black and brown lives, and

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Whereas we recognize and confess that the racist systems in which we live primarily benefit white people, we therefore place a higher expectation on white people to do the necessary work of dismantling these systems, while we also center the voices of people of color in our work,

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The Vestry of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, Reston, Virginia - hereby resolves  immediately and actively to

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1) affirm that Black Lives Matter,
2) work to understand the dynamics of racism in all of its manifestations and
3) serve as an agent of transformation in our community and the larger society.

 

We pledge to work across systems and structures where interpersonal, systemic and institutional racism operate. Our parish committees on anti-racism thought, word and deed will develop specific action plans.  We commit to being persistent and unrelenting in our work to become the beloved community with racial healing reconciliation and justice.

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In summary we are inspired by our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry as he proclaimed:

 

"There is a God who will not rest, and we must not rest, until justice rolls down like a mighty stream, until every man, woman, and child, no matter who they are, every human being is treated as a child of God, and is seen in the eyes of the law, in the eyes of the state, and in our eyes, as someone made in the image and likeness of God."