Circles of Repair
Imagine with me a tree as a metaphor of NCF’s journey towards justice, nourished by scripture, teaching, and prayer. As we learn, our roots deepen and spread, giving us strength and courage to put out new growth. There is history in this tree, now 50 years old, with gnarly and broken branches. And we keep stretching toward the light.
I think of our Reparations Committee- begun in 2022, led by Jeff Trask, with Lenita Epinger, Gladys Hunt, Sharon Chubbuck, and Vern Fein- as a branch emerging from a trunk of racial justice. Our vision was for community impact, as well as fellowship engagement in the personal work of investing in repair within our extended family.
Two initiatives- new branches- grew from that Committee: the CU Reparations Coalition and the Generation to Generation Investments, a Reparations Pilot Project. Both are growing strong. CURC brings the community together to advance possibilities for Reparations for African-Americans in the cities of Urbana and Champaign, the colleges, and our county. Generation to Generation Investments begins its 3rd year of funding college savings accounts for Black grandchildren of NCF, now 33 and expanding investments, entering into the research and replicability phase.
And so our Reparations Committee wondered: “With these two branches growing strong on their own, is our work here complete for now?” Voices of wise experience counseled us to not overextend our finances and energy by starting new initiatives that we didn’t have the resources to fuel. And yet I felt a passion for young adults and others who were not yet reached by either CURC or Generation to Generation Investments. So we committed to praying for a month about the future.
A Healing Illinois grant application showed up in my inbox, focusing on intergenerational and interracial initiatives. An Interfaith Alliance meeting at Sinai Temple highlighted a scholar specializing in generational research, and Pastor Michael Crosby and I connected the dots of funding, dialogue, and community engagement, reaching out to Rev. Terrance Thomas and the CURC for input and collaboration. The answer to our prayers for a new branch to emerge, fueled by resources beyond NCF, was born.
Circles of Repair is a collaboration of our faith communities to host story circles designed to facilitate cross-racial, intergenerational conversation focused on the meaning and mechanisms of reparations for Black residents of Champaign County. More than 15 Black facilitators have been trained (in our fellowship hall by Rhonda Hill of Race & Faith) and we are solidifying Circle dates at all three churches and beginning to recruit participants, centering young Black voices and fostering communication across generations and races.
With this third branch emerging from the prayers of NCF’s Reparations Committee, we feel that the purpose of our meetings has been accomplished. We are grateful and amazed at what God has done through us to further God’s justice in our community and to extend the work of repair. Our prayers continue, while our Committee meetings have ceased. We rejoice in what God has done and the ways we have been able to partner in God’s work. On Palm Sunday, we will celebrate the conclusion of our Committee, recounting stories of God’s faithfulness and feasting together after the service.
Each person who has contributed to the growth of NCF’s tree of justice, past and present, is part of this work. I hope you will join us to celebrate what God has done. -Renée (pastor, returned from remote work)
Isn’t this the fast I choose:
releasing wicked restraints, untying the ropes of a yoke,
setting free the mistreated,
and breaking every yoke?
Isn’t it sharing your bread with the hungry
and bringing the homeless poor into your house,
covering the naked when you see them,
and not hiding from your own family?
Then your light will break out like the dawn,
and you will be healed quickly.
Your own righteousness will walk before you,
and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard….
The Lord will guide you continually
and provide for you, even in parched places.
He will rescue your bones.
You will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water that won’t run dry.
They will rebuild ancient ruins on your account;
the foundations of generations past you will restore.
You will be called Mender of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Livable Streets.
Isaiah 58:6-8,11-12 (CEB)