The CUCCS stands as a reflection and representative of the UCC church on the Chautauqua grounds. We have always tried to represent the broader church in matters of peace and justice.
Our statement of inclusivity reflects that, as well as our rainbow strip on all our local signs on our buildings and God Is Still Speaking literature throughout our buildings.
We feel that, just as our Society made a commitment to become a green community, we are called to step out and be counted as a community committed to become and be anti-racist. We recognize we hold hidden and not so hidden biases against people of color. Without knowing it consciously, the CUCCS has been the beneficiary of a white supremacist culture. Among other truths, we own property on land that was violently purged of the Haudenosaunee people.
The CUCCS board has approved a statement on Systemic Racism. We feel it reflects our need, as the UCC community at Chautauqua, to be recognized as a community actively moving forward in word and action regarding this condition in and of our society.
Our statement reads:
“The Chautauqua UCC Society acknowledges centuries of violence and harm that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color have endured in the United States, often at the hands of those who profess to be followers of Christ. We are committed to being and becoming an anti-racist organization, in both word and action. We believe that God is still speaking and calls us to work for justice here and now."
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