Racial Justice Sunday – 14 February 2027

Salt & Light: being peacemakers and justice seekers where we live

Welcome to this year’s Racial Justice Sunday (RJS) resources, which have the title ‘Being Peacemakers and Justice Seekers Where We Live’. This is very much a call for Christians and churches to explore what it means to pursue these virtues in the places and spaces where they reside.

It goes without saying that our world is sadly overburdened by war and conflict. What used to be described as the world’s ‘four continents’ are awash with war or ‘rumours of wars’ (Matthew 24:6), leading to the perception that war, rather than peace, is the natural order of things. As a follower of Jesus Christ, as well as an admirer of Revd Dr Martin Luther King Jr, I could never subscribe to the latter notion. However, to paraphrase Dr King, we do live in a world where people study war, instead of investing in peace. Yet we are called by Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9). As such, it is appropriate that we focus on effecting peace in those places where there is conflict, via our prayers and commensurate actions.

The last decade has witnessed the inexorable rise of populist and ethnonationalism on the UK’s shores, and this now has a ‘Christian’ dimension. As a consequence, a range of protests, some of which have turned violent, have taken place that have targeted asylum seekers, refugees and anyone categorised as ‘migrants’ or ‘foreigners’. The rationale for such dissent is many and varied, and ranges from protecting our women and children (from migrants and foreigners) to safeguarding Britain and Ireland’s Judeo-Christian heritage. The latter has seen the brandishing of flags and Christian symbols at various protests and demonstrations, and the emergence of groups who describe themselves as ‘Christian’ patriots. What is beyond doubt is the fact that such behaviours and activities have created division, rancour and enmity within our already fractious society.

It is within this context that the RJS resources are asking Christians to be ‘salt and light’ where they live; people who, in the well-known words of the noted Catholic friar St Francis of Assisi, are ‘channels of [God’s] peace’. We need to be people who disavow any ideas or ideologies, irrespective of whether they come from apparent Christians, that fail to espouse love, compassion, mercy and dignity.

Dr Richard Reddie, Director of Justice and Inclusion, CTBI

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All illustrations by Mark Howard using Adobe Firefly and Photoshop.