Christ’s church is for all people, and the Central/Southern Illinois Synod strives to be a witness to that mission. As both as both “saints and sinners” we recognize racism as a sin against both God and neighbor; we condemn all acts of injustice against our siblings of color; and we confess our own participation in racist systems and structures both by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We ask God for forgiveness and the strength and courage to move forward in the work of anti-racism.
In June 2020, the Central/Southern Illinois Synod Council adopted a statement in response to the brutal and unjust killing of George Floyd and recommitted itself to the work of anti-racism in this synod through a new anti-racism working group. You can read the statement here or download it.
In 2012, Bishop John Roth of the Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Bishop Gregory Palmer of the Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church wanted to explore opening up to their respective churches a personal conversation they were having in the aftermath of the death of Trayvon Martin, an African-American young person killed by a private citizen. In addition, the bishops opted to supplement their conversation by responding to questions likely to be on the minds of Christians in central and southern Illinois. Bishop Palmer and Bishop Roth recorded these videos on Friday, March 30, 2012. May the Spirit of God dwell within us as we show Christ to those around us.
Watch the videos on this page or view the playlist on YouTube.