In the midst of the Black Lives Matter uprisings in the summer of 2020, a one-time clergy sign-on letter became an ongoing commitment to Reckon with Racism throughout the state of Oregon. In three years and across three seasons of cohorts, over sixty teams have begun the work of truth and repair– unveiling hidden racist histories in our local contexts and beginning to build relationships with the communities harmed by injustice. 

Throughout this Journey You Can Expect:

• • Learning: We will learn more about Oregon and the PNW’s legacy of Christian nationalism, and how this history continues as a tradition of systemic silencing and violence toward people of color.
  • Listening: We will center the voices and stories of Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous, and other communities of color as we build bridges of reciprocity, dismantling those patterns within our institutions that keep us asleep, silent, and perpetuating subtle and blatant forms of racism.
  • Engaging: We will work alongside other faith communities and leaders, organizing toward action as we discern what it means to dismantle racism and seek repair in our local context.

• Pathways: We will host two connected, but distinct paths. One path for new teams or teams just getting started and one for returning teams. While most of the new and returning teams are from Oregon, we are excited to also welcome a few new teams from other parts of the PNW too. 

A new nine-month cohort is starting on October 17. The cohort commitment includes:

• Two gatherings per month

• • One gathering online with the whole cohort on the third Tuesday of the month Oct-June (10/17, 11/21, 12/19, 1/16, 2/20, 3/19, 4/16, 5/21, 6/18). This two-hour gathering (6:30-8:30pm) will be divided into two parts– the first hour will feature story sharing from leaders of color throughout the region and the second hour will engage community organizing practices to accompany teams into action
  • One gathering in-person or online with just your team
• Participating as a team of at least three or more people from your congregation, faith-based organization, or denomination
• Each team will have a designated companion, who will occasionally attend team meetings and accompany you throughout the cohort journey
• A suggested contribution of $100 per person. Funds will be used to pay for honorariums for our guest speakers, and to reimburse various facilitation costs

Next Steps:

1. Register: Have each person on your team register here. Along with simple information questions, there are a few questions that require a short response (you might plan 15-20 minutes to fill this out). We know that many of you are still in the process of building your team. As you confirm participants, please forward this link and have each person fill out the registration form. This will help us streamline communications and plan. 
2. Form Your Team: As you pull together your team to engage in this work (at least three people from each community) consider who could serve as host or co-host. This point person (or people) will take responsibility to convene your team as needed, coordinate with your companion, and communicate with the RwR team. You can watch our Cultivating Teams workshop here.
3. Sacred Organizing House: You’ll notice that we are sharing a registration form with two other cohorts— Land & Housing and Climate Resilience. The Sacred Organizing House brings together, under one roof, teams of people of faith & courageous love committed to building a multifaith, multiracial, multigenerational movement for justice in Oregon. United by the shared practices of Sacred Organizing, we believe that by working together, we can move toward a horizon of liberation, including racial equity, housing justice, climate resilience, and youth leadership. No matter which Room or Cohort you join, you become part of a powerful community of leaders committed to organizing in a shared Movement Home, towards repair, resilience and liberation for our people and planet! Read more and watch a video here.

We hope you’ll join us this season as teams from across the region come together to listen, practice, learn, unlearn, and discern what repair and reconciliation looks like in their local context. New and returning teams are welcome to join us! Questions? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Pr. Ron Werner.