“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

In February 2022, Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church and Davie Street Presbyterian Church welcomed the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett to a special presentation regarding her organization’s Matthew 25 initiative. You can access the recording of this presentation here.

Saint Andrews is engaging in an exploration of what it would mean to become a Matthew 25 church. For more information contact Mike Schley at michael.schley@sapc-justice.org. Task force members include:

• Michael Schley
• Jeff Adkins
• Scott Hum
• Katie Hirscher
• Elizabeth Lusk
• Cari Newton
• Carolyn Brueggeman
• Scott Pollock
• Charlotte Sullivan
• Rev. Dr. Tom Watkins

You can find additional resources on from the Presbyterian Mission Agency here.

Additionally, you can download the official Matthew 25 Brochure, created by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), here.

As the Gun Violence Prevention issue Groups schedules meetings and events, the associated times, dates, etc., will be posted here.

For 25 years North Carolinians Against Gun Violence has worked as the only statewide non-profit organization dedicated to reducing gun death and injury. According to the CDC, in 2018, 1,416 North Carolinians were killed by gun violence – 3.8 lives lost per day. That year, North Carolina ranked seventh nationally for the number of firearm-related deaths. We lose a child a week to firearms, often in a child’s own home. Gun violence is a national epidemic regardless of age, race, or community. Gun violence is taking the lives of our children, our parents, and our neighbors. NCGV is a membership organization with members across the state. Our membership is a diverse group of parents, gun owners, youth, law enforcement officers and anyone who believes we can do something to end gun violence.

Education inequities have existed in North Carolina for centuries. Current efforts to address these injustices began in 1994 with a case brought by 5 counties’ school systems claiming the state had failed to meet its constitutional duties to provide equal educational opportunities for all its students. Commonly known as Leandro, the case also sought a court-imposed remedy to correct the violation. The North Carolina Supreme Court, in 1997, unanimously agreed that the constitution requires every child be provided ‘an opportunity to receive a sound basic education in our public schools.’

• 35% fewer teacher assistants
• 56% fewer textbooks
• 56% reduction in monies for supplies and materials
• Elimination of funding for professional development and mentors
• Teacher compensation is 27% lower than comparable professions in NC

Give Five Minutes

Send TWO Postcards

Make a difference for THOUSANDS of kids in our state!

The Social Justice Committee is taking part in an initiative called Mission Amplify – sponsored by Pastors for NC Children. We are amplifying the need to fully fund public schools in NC so that all children receive a sound and basic education.

Help us by sending 2 pre-addressed, postage-paid postcards to legislative leaders telling them to support the Leandro Plan. 

Look for the Mission Amplify sign in the narthex and pick up a packet that contains everything you need. Not in church and want to arrange to pick up a packet another day? Contact Julie Cazin! 

“White Privilege,”  The Thoughtful Christian by David Esterline – Is there such a thing as white privilege? If so, what can we do about it?

What I said When My White Friend Asked for my Black Opinion on White Privilege byLori Lakin – Examples from the author about the effects of white privilege in her life.

Why We Need to Call Out Casual Racism by Luvvie Ajayi- How to recognize all the ways in which privilege and prejudice creep into our lives.

Unpacking the Virtual Knapsackby Peggy McIntosh – The author notes, “My work is not about blame, shame, guilt, or whether one is a nice person. It’s about observing, realizing, thinking systemically and personally. It is about seeing privilege, the up-side of oppression and discrimination. It is about unearned advantage, which can also be described as exemption from discrimination.”

Climbing the White Escalator by Betsy Leondar-Wright – Using her father as an example, the author explains the legacy of the racial wealth divide in the United States.

Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person by Gina Crosley-Corcoran – Recognizing privilege simply means being aware that some people have to work much harder just to experience the things you take for granted (if they ever can experience them at all).

Yes, You Can Measure White Privilege by Michael Harriot – Statistics show a measurable gap in economic disparity between blacks and whites.

Asset Value of Whiteness- Understanding the Racial Wealth Gap by Amy Traub, Laura Sullivan, Tatjana Meschede & Tom Shapiroan – In-depth study shows that racial inequality in wealth is rooted in historic discrimination and perpetuated by policy: analyses show that individual behavior is not the driving force behind racial wealth disparities.

How the Rise of Supermarkets Left Out Black America by Nathaniel Meyersohn – Learn why supermarkets choose not to locate in primarily black neighborhoods.

Disparities in Healthcare: 5 Key Questions and Answers by Samantha Artiga, Kendal Orgera, Olivia Pham of the Kaiser Foundation – Disparities in health and health care for people of color and underserved groups are driven by underlying social and economic inequities that are rooted in racism.

Black and Hispanic Renters Face Greatest Eviction Threat in Covid Pandemic by Sophia Wedeen from Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies – Federal action aimed at offsetting income losses and delaying a potential wave of evictions may not meet the long-term needs of renter households.

Racial Disparities shown in 12 Charts by Mabinty Quarshie, N’dea Yancey-Bragg, Anne Godlasky, Jim Sergent and Veronica Bravo, 6/18/2020, USA Today – Systemic racism leads to disparities in many “success indicators” including wealth, health, criminal justice, employment, housing, political representation and education.

Structural Racism: Promising Solutions – Next 50 [The Urban Institute] – Offers multiple ideas to close wealth gap, end inequity in education, close employment earnings gap, end punitive policing.

Videos

Deconstructing White Privilege,  Dr. Robin DiAngelo (20 min) – Author of White Fragility, Dr. DiAngelo discusses what it means to be white in a society that proclaims race is meaningless.

Danger of Single Story, ChimamandaNgozi Adichie (18 minutes) – Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

How to Overcome Our Biases, Walk Boldly Toward Them, Verna Myers (18min) – Diversity advocate Verna Myers looks closely at some of the subconscious attitudes we hold toward out-groups. She makes a plea to all people: Acknowledge your biases. Then move toward, not away from, the groups that make you uncomfortable.

Get Uncomfortable with Being Uncomfortable, Luvvie Ajayi (10.45 min) – Ajayi Jones shares three questions to ask yourself if you’re teetering on the edge of speaking up or quieting down — and encourages all of us to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Sandra Bullock and The Blind Side’s White Savior Problem (18 min) – Director John Lee Hancock chose to frame the film about a black teen who became a football star around his white benefactors.

Race: Are We so Different? (5 min) – An Anthropological Look at Race

The Lie that Invented Racism– John Biewen  (18 min) – Excellent especially if you don’t have time to listen to his “Seeing White” 14 episode podcast. Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for? Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen takes a deep dive into these questions.

$100 Race (4 min) – Privilege, class, and social inequities are explained in a $100 race.

Is Racism Real? (3 min) – Researchers are increasingly focused on what’s known as “implicit bias”: subconscious biases that shape how nearly everyone perceives people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Racism has a Cost for Everyone. by Heather McGhee (14.13 min) – McGhee shares insights into how racism fuels bad policymaking and drains our economic potential and offers a crucial rethink on what we can do to create a more prosperous nation for all. “Our fates are linked,” she says. “It costs us so much to remain divided.”

How to Deconstruct Racism, One Headline at a Time– by Baratunde Thurston (17 min) – Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on Black Americans who have committed the crimes of … eating, walking or generally “living while Black.” In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power of language to change stories of trauma into stories of healing —

Segregated by Design – Richard Rothstein, Author of The Color of Law (17 min) – Examine the forgotten history of how our federal, state and local governments unconstitutionally segregated every major metropolitan area in America through law and policy.

Race and Redlining: Housing Segregation in Everything NPR (3min) – Learn why neighborhoods are still so segregated today.

From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century – William Darity, Jr. & Kirsten Mullen, (26m 46s) of Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy – Racism & discrimination have denied economic opportunity for African Americans for centuries. During those years, several chances to change the trajectory of racial inequality were ignored. What can we do now to make reparations?

God of the Movements and Martyrs by NC Council of Churches – A hymn by David LaMotte, honoring the 85th anniversary of the North Carolina Council of Churches.

“Repairers of the Breach” Sermon National Cathedral on 1/21/21 by Rev. William Barber II (12.25 min) – What are we called as a people of faith to do?

Seeing White – Where did the notion of “whiteness” come from? What does it mean? What is whiteness for? Scene on Radio host and producer John Biewen took a deep dive into these questions, along with an array of leading scholars and regular guest Dr. Chenjerai Kumanyika, in this fourteen-part documentary series.

NPR’s Code Switch – CODE SWITCH is the fearless conversations about race that you’ve been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of color, the podcast tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation because we’re all part of the story.

The Arc of Justice – From Here to Equality – by William Darity, Jr. & Kirsten Mullen, – Ways & Means Podcast Season 6 presents six episodes discussing the racial wealth gap. The series explores how today’s economic inequality came to be, including the U.S. government’s complicity in its creation

Housing Matters 2 NC – NC Housing Coalition Podcast – Podcast with the latest news and information for the housing movement in North Carolina. Live every Tues morning 9:30am and archived as well.