A public apology was offered in late January to the African American community in Lansing for slavery and its aftermath.
The apology was given as dozens of white clergy from churches and mid councils, elected officials and others gathered at the Reachout Christian Center Church. During the service, white people read a litany of repentance and heard responses from members of the African American community.
An account of the service — which included an evangelist who picked cotton as a child explaining what the apology means to her — was published online February 10, 2023 by the Presbyterian News Service.
The article includes comments by the Rev. Stan Jenkins, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lansing, and information about how the congregation has pledged $100,000 towards the Justice League of Greater Lansing’s goal of raising $1 million by the end of the year from white people to help start and fund Black businesses, mortgages and education.
“It feels like something significant is happening in the city of Lansing,” Jenkins said in the article.
Presbytery members offered a similar public apology last fall. Watch a video of the formal apology offered by the presbytery during its September 17, 2022 Stated Meeting after members formally adopted a statement based on RGJ-08 – On Offering an Apology to African Americans for the Sin of Slavery and Its Legacy that came from the 225th PC(USA) General Assembly, Committee on Race and Gender Justice.
Additional anti-racism resources are available on the presbytery’s website.
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