RESTORATIVE ACTIONS
On October 5, 2020, the Synod of Lakes and Prairies approve the dedication of $351,000, representing 15% of its accumulated wealth (undesignated/unrestricted net assets), to seed potential Churchwide efforts related to Restorative Actions. $189,000 was designated for eventual transfer benefiting Indigenous communities, and $162,000 was designated for eventual transfer to benefit African American communities.
Learn more about the synod's action on Restorative Actions, click here.
View the Fall 2021 presentation to the synod assembly.
Restorative Actions is a volunteer-led initiative powered by a dedicated team of seven enthusiastic individuals, representing a wide range of cultural and generational identities.
Together, they have had hundreds of conversations with faith-based and secular organizations. Their early efforts have blossomed into meaningful dialogue and expanded community outreach.
The volunteer team has successfully built this initiative by drawing on expertise across multiple disciplines—including theology, parish ministry, denominational leadership, organizational development, finance, and business. Additionally, they have established the legal structures and mechanisms necessary to ensure compliance with IRS regulations.
Members of our team are always available for conversation, presentations, and consultation with congregations, mid-councils, session, mission teams, and social justice committees.
Resources recommended by Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam:
Mary Frances Berry, “My Face is Black is True: Callie House and the Struggle for Ex-Slave Reparations,” 2005.
Cheryl Gilkes (interviewer), Black Women Oral History Project. Interviews, 1976-1981. Audley Moore. OH-31. Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. (https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:10047386)
Lee A. Harris. ‘Reparations’ as a Dirty Word: The Norm against Slavery Reparations, 2003.
Mark Elliott. Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgée and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson, 2006.
William A. Darity Jr. & A. Kirsten Mullen. “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century,” 2020.
Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto, eds. “Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States: On Reparations for Slavery, Jim Crow, and Their Legacies,” 2006.
Ana Lucia, Araujo. “Reparations for Slavery and the Slave Trade: A Transnational and Comparative History,” 2017.
Indigenous Boarding Schools and Restorative Actions featuring Paula Palmer and Elona Street-Stewart at Everyday Nonviolence Podcast.