I want to draw your attention to two statements from the Anglican Church in North America over the weekend. These were shared on social media, but deserve as wide a distribution as possible. The first is a Call to Prayer from Bishop John Guernsey, Dean of Provincial Affairs, whose diocese includes Charlottesville, Virginia. I encourage you to pray this prayer with me this week. The second statement comes from the Anglican Church in North America's Anglican Multiethnic Network.

The links for each statement are also below. Please share these as you are able.

In Christ,

The Most Rev. Dr. Foley Beach
Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church in North America

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From Bishop John Guernsey, Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic:

The horrific events today in Charlottesville, VA, call us to pray and intercede for our communities that are in deep conflict. Psalm 145 reminds us of the hope we have as we pray: "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them." Please join in praying for the community of Charlottesville and for all communities in our nation that face conflict, that the Lord may deliver us from bigotry and violence, and bring healing and salvation to all people in our nation.

"O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." -Texts for Common Prayer

http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/page/1504

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From the Anglican Multiethnic Network

The Anglican Multiethnic Network exists to help local churches embody the diversity that manifests God's reconciling of the world to himself through his Son. We believe that to do this work effectively churches must be willing to speak plainly about the racism and injustice that continues to plague North America. We witnessed this racism again on display over the weekend in Charlottesville when a young woman was murdered and many others were injured during a protest of a white supremacy rally. Our prayers are with her family and all the victims of violence and hatred.

We want to make it abundantly clear that as Anglicans we believe that all people are created in God's image and, as image bearers, all are worthy of equal dignity and respect. God does not value one ethnicity above another. His Son shed his blood for us all. We find our meaning and value in his death, resurrection, and ascension for us, which both humbles and exalts people of all ethnicities. Christ is the source of our reconciliation with God and each other. White supremacy, therefore, is an affront to the gospel because it speaks against the Anglican (and wider Christian) doctrines of creation, salvation, and ecclesiology (the one people of God called from all the ethnicities of the earth). Racism and white supremacy have no place in Anglicanism.

We confess that as Anglicans we ourselves have a long way to go in reflecting in our churches God's vision for his multicolored Kingdom and addressing the concerns of communities of color, but we are committed for the long haul to seek the fullness of God's purposes in all these things. We ask you to pray for Charlottesville and North America-that racism would be overcome and that we might live together in harmony. We also ask that you pray for the Church-that God might grant us the wisdom to be salt and light during these challenging times.

http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/page/1503