Explanation

Our faith is replete with the presence of women and their ministry. Women have proclaimed the Gospel, cared for the sick, prophesied, and ministered. The Church has long benefited from the gifts and ministry of women. The Church has also discriminated, harassed, dismissed, and abused women. In the past year, women in our culture and in our Church have boldly and bravely named these acts of abuse, harassment, and denigration, as well as those who have perpetrated and benefited from those acts. We as a community of believers find ourselves in a cultural moment of reckoning for the sins of patriarchy as well as gender-based discrimination and violence. Now is the time to speak truth to the oppressive power of gender-based discrimination and violence and other abuses of power that demean children of God. Acknowledging that patriarchy, along with heteronormativity, white supremacy and our colonial legacy, are overlapping layers of oppression and domination, is the work of the church. This work continues with confessing these sins, seeking justice, pursuing reconciliation, and being catalysts for restoration. We seek to repent, so that we can be credible bearers of the Good News of Jesus Christ’s reconciling love for the world, and we seek to act for justice, restoration, and reconciliation.