Our Purpose

Our Purpose: To help us live out our conviction “fomenting diversity and reconciliation is at the prophetic heart of our gospel” by:

  1. Connect Circle of Hope to the broader Movement for Black Lives, representing our body at the local level at planning sessions (while respecting Black led organizing spaces), actions, and online.
  2. Find more partners for Jesus’ mission among activists, demonstrators, and those sympathetic to the cause of fighting systemic white supremacy
  3. Mobilize Circle of Hope for actions, protests, demonstrations, and liturgical public witness and provide practical support for the movement.
  4. Engage Circle of Hope in active productive conversations about anti-racism.

Our Method:

Representing Circle of Hope:

  • Encouraging members to be involved in local organizations active in the Movement for Black Lives.
  • Providing practical support to Black led organizations.
  • Our team members’ writing, blogging, traveling, and connecting to the broader Black Lives Matter movement.

Finding new partners:

  • Helping host events that bring people together to learn about Racial Reconciliation and Justice work.
  • Collaborate on creative expressions and actions with passionate people
  • Legal trainings, other equipping opportunities

Mobilizing the church:

  • Communicate to and organize Circle of Hope to have a strong supportive presence at marches, protests, and demonstrations (including being point people for where to meet, etc)
  • Making space for dialogue about racism relationally both online and face-to-face, providing space people of color in the church tell their story and encouraging whites in the church to hear them.
  • Collecting some of our best resources (films, books, articles, websites, kindred spirits) into a curated list, doc, or webpage to advance education. 
  • Engaging Circle of Hope in productive conversations about anti-racism and the Movement for Black Lives.

How we meet the purpose and goals of Circle of Hope:

We want to exist where hurting, frustrated, compassionate, and activated people can connect with God more deeply and help the Beloved Community act for redemption in our particular time around issues needing racial reconciliation and connecting us to the Black Lives Matter and other activities in the wake of slayings of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Aiyanna Stanley-Jones, Brandon Tate-Brown, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray and too many others.

From Circle of Hope’s proverbs: Fomenting diversity and reconciliation is at the prophetic heart of our gospel.

  • We are always trying to stretch across barriers: across racial/ethnic, class and cultural divides.
  • Racial reconciliation is a matter of demanding justice, not just peace.
  • A gospel that does not reconcile is no gospel at all.
  • We will do what it takes to be an anti-racist, diverse community that represents the new humanity.
  • All cultures are fallen, yet Jesus reveals God in all of them. The church does not need to force people to leave all aspects of their culture in order to worship God through Jesus Christ.
  • Welcoming the “stranger” is at the heart of being a Christian. Hospitality exposes the fear of the giver and receiver to the transforming touch of God.
  • We stretch ourselves to worship with diverse styles. God is transnational, transcultural, even transhistorical.
  • We are diverse in many ways and we will cross boundaries to become more so. Don’t bean count us.