For Jevon Caldwell-Gross, pastor of teaching and guest experience at St. Luke’s United Methodist in Indianapolis, the George Floyd murder in April 2020 was a pivot point in the congregation’s determination to confront racism head-on. 

Before that, “my wife and a couple of other groups were really trying to have substantive conversations with the congregation and the leadership, but it wasn’t really picking up momentum,” he says. His wife, Nicole Caldwell-Gross, is the church’s pastor of mobilization and outreach. The couple is African American and has been on the church’s staff since 2018. 

“I don’t think as an organization we were really committed to becoming antiracist. It wasn’t what everyone was talking about.” But “there was something about the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery [in February 2020] and George Floyd that made white people believe what Black people had been saying all along.” 

On June 19, 2020, the United Methodist Church, initiated an antiracism campaign—“Dismantling Racism: Pressing on to Freedom”—consisting of townhall meetings, book studies, and various other initiatives. Bishop Cynthia Moore of the church’s Western Pennsylvania Conference said that the “uncompromising action in dismantling racism” was the goal. 

The stepped-up antiracism efforts at St. Luke’s include familiar programs—like reading groups and links to recommended readings for both children and adults—but also some more proactive initiatives. For example, there is a page where people can contribute to the church’s “minority business incubator,” which helps people launch businesses in the neighborhood, and a sign-up page to volunteer with “Freedom School,” a literacy program that also seeks to teach students the values of the civil-rights movement. Nicole Caldwell-Gross leads the Freedom School. 

Congregations and denominations across the political spectrum have implemented their own antiracism programs and campaigns.