Calling Out to Christian Communities for ‘Shared Christian Witness’

A group of African American Reformed pastors and allies published a letter Feb. 16 addressed to “pastors and leaders in the Christian Reformed and Reformed communities,” calling out “what appears to be an intentional diminishing—and in some cases erasing—of Black history in our national story.”

The authors—15 individuals, including former executive director of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, Colin Watson Sr., and Reginald Smith, diversity ministry consultant for Thrive, wrote, “We write as African American religious leaders and allies, compelled by conscience and faith to address a matter that touches the heart of our shared Christian witness. … In a time when public discourse continues to reveal deep wounds around race and dignity, the Church must not be silent.”

“Let our pulpits proclaim the equality of all God’s children. Let our churches become places of repentance, healing, and active reconciliation. May we stand together in solidarity with those whose dignity has been denied and work toward a Church and a world that more fully reflect the kingdom of God,” the group wrote.

Asked by The Banner, Smith agreed “that most CRC congregations would concur with the prayer, but recent synods have pulled back from our public statements given our polarizations on racial and social justice. There have been debates in synod that questioned social and racial justice with our milestones that I had not seen in previous synods.” Synod 2024 asked for a review of “the wording and intent of pillar (milestone) three—Grow in Diversity—and underlying materials.” Smith said, “The 2019 kinism decision was the first time that progressives and conservatives worked together in declaring kinism (a teaching that races should be kept separate with no intermarrying) a heresy. However, I heard confessions from delegates that kinism was practiced by family members that blew my mind. In the CRC, some of our churches believe justice issues distract from the gospel. This statement reminds our CRC and Reformed churches that racism has not taken any days off for black leaders, and the black presence in the CRC is gradually disappearing when urban CRCs become disaffiliated with significant black member populations.”

In addition to publishing in the Reformed Journal, the letter was posted on The Network of the CRCNA Feb. 23. Zachary King, general secretary of the CRCNA, posted a public reply thanking the writers “for reminding us all of the history of the Civil Rights movement and God's call for all for believers to reject racism and recognize the image of God in all people,” noting that “the Christian Reformed Church's synod has declared—and reaffirmed—that ‘to be in Christ is in principle to be reconciled as a community of racially and ethnically diverse people and to ignore his calling to turn this principle into practice is sinful according to God's Word and the Reformed Confessions.’”

The Christian Reformed Church in North America’s position on race relations states that God’s mission for the world “is and has always been racially and ethnically inclusive” and congregations are called “to witness publicly against racism in defense of all people as imagebearers of God, and to promote interracial and cross-cultural relationships.”

Watson, who included his name on this letter and on a wider call to Christians compiled by a broader group of U.S. Christian leaders and activists Feb 18, said “I believe it is our God-given imperative that we share our beliefs about the importance of our humanity with those in power in order to minimize the harm experienced by others. Whether or not this is successful, at a minimum, all of our churches and related organizations need to continually remind the rest of the world that these are the principles by which we live—and act accordingly to demonstrate the love of Christ.”

Smith said the Feb. 16 letter originated with former CRC pastor Joe Huizenga of Roseland Christian Ministries in Chicago, Ill., along with some other Chicago pastors and was sent to him to consider signing.

The wider letter supported by Watson had more overall signers—close to 400—but fewer from the Christian Reformed and Reformed communities. Among them are past and current general secretaries of the Reformed Church in America, Eddy Alemán and Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, as well as Calvin University professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez. The thrust of the letter, released on Ash Wednesday, addresses a crisis that the authors see as not only political but “one driven by a moral and spiritual collapse showing up in alarming levels of polarization.”

“We must never surrender our prophetic voice by aligning with powers and principalities rather than with the One who calls us to be purveyors of justice and righteousness,” the Ash Wednesday letter writers said.

It’s a sentiment also expressed in the CRCNA position on “church and state,” which says, “the state should not assume the right and power of the only King of the church, Jesus Christ, and should recognize that the church owes allegiance and responsibility to him alone.”

Watson not only signed the Ash Wednesday call to action but was recorded in a two-minute video promoting the movement, declaring “every person bears the image of God.” He told The Banner, “The role of churches and people of faith in improving the lives of marginalized people is critical. The U.S. experience during the Civil Rights era bears this out. If it were not for the church community and its leaders, e.g. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Black people today would never have attained even the right to vote—or have the legal right to be treated as equal citizens. But the importance of continuing to share messages of equality, and to demonstrate this by our actions, is borne out by the fact that here we are, just 60 years later, and we are again regressing to a time when Black and brown people are being viewed as second-class citizens, or even people not created in God's image. It is time for Christians to again take up the mantle God has given us, and to challenge all of society to treat each other as God's children! My deep belief in this truth is what motivated me to volunteer to be one of the participants in the promotional video for the letter.”

c. 2026 Religion News Service