CLASSIS TORONTO

Home

Churches

Ministries

Documents & Resources

Diaconal Ministries

Committees

Who Are We?

Youth

Links

  Classis In The News

Site Map

Widening the Circle: Opening to Diversity and Undoing Racism

Sundays at 6:30 PM on November 2, 9, 16, 23 and December 7

Participants 

Purpose

Date and Location

Topics

Learning Objectives

The Race Relations Committee of Classis Toronto Anti-racism Initiative

Participants – Who
This learning program is prepared for members of Classis Toronto, CRC congregations. Groups of learners might be arranged through Church council meetings, adult education programs, small groups, or young people’s groups.

Ideally, the number of participants will be 8-12 or 15-20 throughout all five sessions. 

Two Classis Toronto anti-racism facilitators will lead each of the sessions.

Purpose – Why we are proposing this learning program
Racism is a sin. As Christian Reformed Churches in Toronto connect with their surrounding communities, they are finding that there are opportunities for outreach, and that racism poses a stumbling block to engaging those communities. 

In addition, the Christian Reformed denomination has committed to becoming an anti-racist church, and this proposed learning program has been designed with Canadian, urban, Toronto Christian Reformed churches in mind.

Date and Location – When & Where
This learning program requires, ideally, five sessions of one hour each, completed within a period of three months. The location should be a convenient one for the participants, and can be at the church, in a home, or some other comfortable place.

It is also possible to group these five modules and schedule them for one long day, or two weekend days.

Topics – What: the titles of the sessions

  Exploring our Experience in Diversity and Racism 
  Faith and Culture: Our True Identity
  Exploring Brokenness: Canadian context of racism and resistance
  Exploring Self-awareness: what is racism?
  Steps to Wholeness: Building relationships and action steps

Learning Objectives – what we plan to achieve for each of the sessions

Celebrating our unity and diversity in Christ: Exploring how we see one another

By the end of this session, we will have

  named factors influencing our feelings about race
  reviewed the 19th century development of the “science” of race
  celebrated our unity and diversity in Christ
  agreed on some conversation guidelines

Faith and Culture: Our True Identity

By the end of this session, we will have

  distinguished between Christian and cultural identities
  clarified the relationship of both identities to anti-racism work.

Exploring Brokenness: Canadian context of racism and resistance – 
A case study of Dresden, Ontario in the 1940’s

By the end of this session, we will have

  described the architecture of racism and resistance
  contrasted and compared the commonalities and differences of racism and resistance in Dresden, Ontario, and 
  deduced reasons why we fail to see racism.

Exploring Self-awareness and Structures: What is racism?

By the end of this session, we will have

  diagrammed the progressive nature of racism
  arranged and defined the components of racism, and 
  developed our own working definition of racism.

Steps to Wholeness: Building relationships and action steps

By the end of this session, we will have

  identified and named racial issues on a personal and church community level
  recognized your personal journey towards a change of heart and reconciliation
  assessed current anti-racism activities
  listed ways to combat racism on a personal and church level
  discovered the benefits of practicing hospitality, building relationships, and risking friendships outside your culture
  begun to form an action plan for the church community toward combating racism, and
  begun to organize to move toward a more diverse church.
      

 For more information and to book sessions for your church contact the Race Relations Committee

Home | Churches | Ministries | Documents & Resources | Diaconal Ministries | Committees |  Who Are We?

Youth | Links | Classis In The News