UK Churches Unite together to Combat Racism

12 September 2004 is set to be the Racial Justice Sunday by the Churches?Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) in United Kingdom. CCJC, which is a commission of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, has produced a pack of resources for the day.

The pack contains a prayer leaflet and plenty of ideas for what to do on and after Racial Justice Sunday. There are also sermon notes, drama sketches and stories from people who have suffered racism.

On that day, churches will pray for an end for misunderstanding, racism and injustice. It also educates Christians to say 'yes' to diversity and dignity for all and 'no' to injustice and racial discrimination. The annual focus on racial justice is to understand the feelings of people from different cultures, and become more inclusive and outward looking.

In United Kingdom, there is a large variety of ethnic group. According to the national census in 2001, 92% of the total population is white people while the remaining 8% is composed of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, African, Chinese and other Blacks. Very often, radical discrimination exists in all levels of the society.

Commission Moderator the Revd Myra Blyth explains, “On Racial Justice Sunday, churches throughout these islands will sing a stubborn song of defiance which celebrates that the God in whom we trust is the God of one race - the human race.?

Richard Zipfel, Community Relations Adviser for the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said, “This event each year is an opportunity for all Christians to pray together and to contribute to a united effort to overcome racism.?

Different churches participate in the campaign by their way. Some churches sponsored projects to combat racism, such as “Football Unites, Racism Divides? which works on the field of sports in Sheffield.