Content and resources compiled by Rev. Becca Niemeyer

LEARNING RESOURCES:

The NL Overture addresses the need for Apology as a part of the healing process - not just for those who have been hurt amidst the legacy of the PCUSA, but also for our leaders to make a better way forward. Let’s take a deeper dive into the fullness of what good apologies can do for our world.

Merriam Webster defines ‘apology’ as: an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret.

It is important to consider that this is not limited to our own personal wrongdoings, but is an invitation to sit with the wounded and acknowledge errors - much like our Christian practice of lament, confession, and repentance. Confession in particular is a space to realize sins of omission alongside sins of commission - it is a space we make ourselves available to see what we have been missing, and reorient ourselves to God’s way. Looking back in our history (personal and corporate, as in the PCUSA) is how we learn from our past in order to actually create a better future. Apology amidst racial trauma is an important arena to navigate carefully - really listening, paying attention, and acknowledging the wounds imparted to communities at the hands of our predecessors, whether harm was intended or not. We, as part of a denomination, must acknowledge, lament, and offer apology for the wrongs committed in our history.

• [5-10min] Read Ezra 9, with a focus on verses 6-7. Consider the action Ezra takes on behalf of the sins of the people, present and ancestral. Jemar Tisby in his book How to Fight Racism writes, “As a religious leader of the Jewish people, Ezra understood that he interceded not just for himself but on behalf of an entire people. Though he did not engage personally in the sins of which he asks God for forgiveness, he understood that leaders must take responsibility for those they represent… While each person is responsible for his or her own choices, one’s moral conscience is formed in relationship with a community of people. This means that all people in that community have a responsibility to examine the boundaries of their bigotry. What has your community tolerated when it comes to racism? What has it permitted as far as prejudice? What has your community determined to be the acceptable pace of change?” (Ch. 5) 

  • Take some time to reflect on these ideas in the realm of acknowledgment and apology to our Native brothers and sisters. 

• [5-10min] In the overture, read pg. 4-18, (Rationale: ‘Introduction’ - ‘Additional Context’)