In April, Christ Church Cathedral’s Vestry voted to participate in the Indy Racial Equity Pledge. Participants commit to advancing racial equity in Indianapolis and neighboring communities and hold each other accountable for their progress. Learn more at www.indyracialequitypledge.com.
Our Pledge to the Community
Christ Church Cathedral is a spiritual hub of transformation for our city and diocese, following Jesus Christ in practicing radical hospitality, working for justice, and proclaiming God’s peace, reconciliation, and love. Our mission is to Glorify God. Serve our neighbors. Transform our city. The Racial Justice Team at Christ Church Cathedral cultivates a courageous space for individuals in our congregation and beyond to live and walk together through holy discomfort, to create an environment for racial justice, healing, and repair, and to learn, listen, and grow into God’s Beloved Community. The Racial Justice Team will help build common language and understanding around the issues of racial justice, healing and repair, while confronting white-centeredness, white fragility and white supremacy. The RJT will also help develop an understanding of the connections between systemic racism, poverty, classism, and all other “isms.”
Pledge 1: Racial Justice Audit
Focus Areas: Workplace, Prosperity, Education
Christ Church Cathedral will conduct, with the help of an outside consultant, a Racial Justice Audit of Christ Church Cathedral’s systems, ministries, lay and clergy leadership, administrative structures, policies and procedures, committees, and finances.
Pledge 2: Connections: Convener/Connector for Our City and Diocese
Focus Areas: Workplace, Prosperity, Education
Serve as a principal catalyst in gathering neighbors on the Circle and local nonprofits for important conversations, particularly focusing on racial justice and other issues affecting our neighbors on the margins. Take on a greater leadership role in hosting trainings and events, especially those that focus on equity, racial justice, and inclusion work. Making amends where we have been culpable for harm, including systemic racism. Proactively create opportunities for hands-on social justice and service- oriented activities for youth.
Pledge 3: Faith in Action
Focus Areas: Workplace, Health, Prosperity, Education
CCC will focus our outreach ministries on providing our members and community with hands-on ministry areas of homelessness, immigration, and systemic racism that lead to complementary grant relationships. Enhance our Sunday Community Breakfast Ministry with resources from community partners. Explore investing a portion of our endowment in missional-related investments that align with our strategic missional priorities.
Pledge 4: Radical Hospitality
Focus Areas: Workplace, Prosperity, Education
Build stronger relationships among the people of the Cathedral community to prepare us to focus outward. Regularly offer “outward-facing” activities. Empower our parishioners and utilize our buildings/signage to more clearly communicate our theology, missional priorities, and identity.
Intentionally make strong connections with the Millennials, empty nesters, and families living in the Mile Square neighborhood and with the broader Latino and African-American communities in Indianapolis.