SIGN: Denounce White Supremacist Gathering at Montgomery Bell State Park
Add your name to this letter from pastors of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church: "White Supremacy and all forms of oppression have no place in the Kingdom of God, in any nation, in our church, nor at the birthplace of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church"
On the hallowed grounds where the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was born, White supremacists, neo-Nazis, and Klansmen will meet again November 18 – 20, 2022, to espouse their hateful beliefs. At the American Renaissance conference, participants desecrate the site as they justify, plan, and teach their racist version of American culture in the shelter of Tennessee’s Public Land, Montgomery Bell State Park. As a grassroots group of concerned Cumberland Presbyterians, not only are we sickened by their racist ideology, we are heartbroken that they will again meet near the birthplace of our beloved church. In response to this meeting and in the face of rising extremism, we have a duty and a responsibility to speak up. Silence is complicity. Therefore, we state together and with a unified voice: We denounce White supremacy as evil and a threat to justice, peace and the common welfare. We petition the State of Tennessee and Tennessee State Parks to cease sheltering hate speech and providing a platform to individuals and groups promoting white supremacy.
White supremacy undermines the safety, livelihood, and basic human rights of its victims and hardens its proponents against the dignity of all people. We vehemently oppose any ideology, philosophy, or theology that sees any human being as inferior to another – based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, disability, age, nationality, or any other reason. We believe all persons are created in the image of God, even those who do not reflect God’s love. We pray for those who suffer under oppression and those who deliberately ignore or are unconscious to it. We pray for White supremacists and those of us who benefit from its systemic practice, for the harm it does to our humanity, and that all our hearts may be transformed.
We have faith that God’s infinitely wise vision for our diverse world includes the liberation of all humanity. Our prayer is that we always embrace reconciliation, love, and justice among all persons, classes, races, and nations. We acknowledge for that vision to be realized we must create communities that enable every human being to flourish, humbly examine our privileges, and work to end individual and systemic oppressions. We Cumberland Presbyterians declare that White supremacy and all forms of oppression have no place in the Kingdom of God, in any nation, in our church, nor at the place of our church’s birth. Therefore, we proclaim that our “covenant community, governed by the Lord Christ, opposes, resists, and seeks to change all circumstances of oppression–political, economic, cultural, racial–by which persons are denied the essential dignity God intends for them in the work of creation.” (Cumberland Presbyterian Confession of Faith)
More about AmRen:
- American Renaissance Named Hate Group by Southern Poverty Law Center
- Report: Tennessee Taxpayers Pay for White Nationalists’ Security
Related Cumberland Presbyterian Statements:
- Resolution of Repentance, Apology, and Resolve (2016)
- Faith Statement of the Faculty of MTS in Response to Racism (2020)
Signatures
Rev. Mike Wilkinson, Knoxville, TN
Current Moderator of General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Rev. Duawn Mearns, Ada, OK
Moderator of General Assembly, 2021
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Rev. Frank Ward, Atoka, TN
Former Moderator of General Assembly
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Rev. Robert Truitt, Burns, TN
Rev. James McGuire, Greeneville, TN
Rev. Byron Forester, Memphis, TN
Rev. Jason Mikel, Nolensville Tennessee
Rev. Tiffany McClung, Memphis, TN
Rev. William Warren, Germantown, TN
Rev. Joyce Merritt, Rockvale, TN
Rev. Joy Warren, Murfreesboro, TN
Rev. Christopher D Warren, Murfreesboro, TN
Rev. Sandra Shepherd, Nashville, TN
Gwen Holland McKenzie, TN
Mary Overstreet, Knoxville, TN
Wendy Keiser Chattanooga TN
Lynette Brown, Powell, TN
Cheryl Summers, Greeneville, TN
Anna Vickers, TN
Andrea McLeod, Collierville, TN
Carol Warren, Joelton, TN
Tina Miller, Smithville TN
Sam Wolfe, Asheville, TN
Charlie Trapp, Memphis, TN
Rev. Joshua Murray, Pensacola, FL
Rev. Cynthia Fansler Burdick, Newalla, OK
Rev. Emily Young, Cherokee AL
Rev. Michael Leslie, San Francisco, California
Elizabeth Forester, Brooklyn, New York
Lauren Albrecht, New Jersey
Rolf Maurer, Stamford, CT
Jackie Tow, Birmingham, AL
Lezlie Daniel Houston, TX
Dena Griswold, Fairfield, IL
David Henderson, San Francisco, CA
Sign the letter joining pastors in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church's statement that white supremacy and all forms of oppression have no place in the Kingdom of God, in any nation, in our church, nor at the place of the birth of Cumberland Presbyterian Church.