Race and Reconciliation

Race and Reconciliation at Emmanuel

Emmanuel is a church for all nations and all cultures. We believe that unity expressed in diversity is at the heart of the gospel and God’s plan for the world. We are a reconciled people with shared worship and shared mission within the city of Oxford and beyond.

Across every dividing line in our society, there is a desperate need within the church for us to be reconciled to each other and to God. The Reconciled Church is one where we face our history and our present reality of oppression and injustice -no matter how ugly it looks - and bring those realities to the cross where Jesus deals with them that we might find peace and forgiveness.

Below you will and find a list of resources on the theme of race and reconciliation. They only scratch the surface of the topic but provide a starting point to grow in understanding race, and why it is relevant to us at Emmanuel and more widely in society.

Face to Face: The Journey towards Reconciliation

Rooted in scriptural principles and centred on the narrative of Esau and Jacob in Genesis 25-33, this six-week devotion series, is designed to be worked through in a small group, or used as a personal devotion.

Find the course here

Emmanuel’s Story

The Beginning of the Story

It’s hard to be precise when describing how this journey began for us at Emmanuel. For many of us the first clear moment of challenge came as we studied 1 Corinthians 12 in our “Beautiful Mess” teaching series back in November 2019. It was here that we read that every part of the body is vital if the whole church is to flourish and exist healthily, with perhaps the greatest challenge being that those considered to be the weakest parts of the body are, in fact, the parts which are indispensable. The Holy Spirit seemed to highlight these truths in a fresh way and our journey began.

Along the Way

Over the next couple of years and after the interruption of Covid, we began to pray and consider the biblical picture of a healthy church body. As time passed, we heard the Lord speak through various scriptures and prophetic words. In November 2021 we received a remarkable double-prophesy based in Philippians 2: 1-8. Firstly in-person during our church prayer meeting from a church member; then also that same night by email from a complete stranger! The words were identical, and the challenge was clear: the Lord was asking us to live in the reality of Philippians 2:1-8.

Fresh Values

In response to all that we sensed the Lord had been saying to Emmanuel we re-articulated our key values, the ways in which we want to behave and think as we live out church life together:

Honouring Humble Devoted Courageous

In light of these values, we asked ourselves what Emmanuel could become if we extended our value of honouring and made brave decisions to build a church determined to make space for every person, whatever their colour or story.