As Friends, our belief that there is “that of God” in everyone grounds our practice of upholding the worth of each human being. Each person is guided by an Inward Teacher toward truth; each has the capacity to experience and be transformed by Spirit. The fullness of our lives – as individuals and as a community – unfolds as we live into these spiritual truths. Just as we value each person, these core beliefs lead us to value the diversity of culture, race, and ethnicity that enrich the human family.  Richmond Friends Meeting commits to being a faith community of deep hospitality for and inclusion of all people.

We recognize that inequality and injustice based on race are deeply rooted in our society. Richmond Friends Meeting commits to challenging and repairing racism and racial bias in ourselves as individuals, within our Meeting, and in our Meeting’s relationships with the wider world.

We embrace these commitments as guides for our personal lives, our life as a community, and our Meeting’s engagement in the wider world. Living more fully into our commitments will require listening, humility, and a willingness to be transformed. It will require holding the creative tension between discernment and the urgency to right action. We hold this minute as a guide as the Meeting seeks to live into our commitments in these ways:

·       RFM will make it a clear, strong priority to understand and act on issues related to race and racism.

·       We will be undergirded by our Quaker faith as we embark on this work, seeking to reflect and strengthen our relationship with Spirit.

·       As expressions of our faith, our commitment to justice, love, and compassion — and our testimonies of equality, community, peace, integrity, simplicity and stewardship — will guide our work.

·       We seek to be in community among different races to provide positive opportunities for mutual learning and spiritual growth.

·       Living with integrity means consistency between our actions and our deeply held beliefs. The actions we take will make clear RFM’s stand against racism and will uphold our commitment to nurturing a community inclusive of all people.

·       RFM will research and reflect on our history as a meeting in order to discern right response to any past harm and injustices, as well as to be emboldened by previous Quaker efforts at racial progress and healing.

·       We will seek to understand the history – and we lament the ongoing realities – of systemic racism. This understanding will be fundamental in discerning action.

·       RFM will collaborate with groups and organizations that promote racial healing and seek to dismantle some aspect of structural racism.

·       We will seek to support and learn from the initiatives of people of color and those of Quaker organizations that are addressing issues of race and racism.

·       We recognize that this is an ongoing process, and we will hold each other in the Light and accompany one another as we seek to learn, to be transformed, and to be of service.