OneRace Movement to Honor, Celebrate African-American Legacy
ATLANTA, June 25, 2019 – The first slave ships landed at Jamestown, Virginia, on Aug. 25, 1619, introducing slavery to the U.S. 400 years ago, forever changing American history in ways that are still being realized today. As part of that journey, the OneRace Movement is calling the modern Church to a Day of Remembrance to commemorate this anniversary and to engage in a national discourse around the celebration and lamentation of the African American legacy.
“In this hour, the church must demonstrate leadership by speaking with clarity regarding Biblical justice and racial reconciliation,” said Josh Clemens, co-director of the OneRace Movement. “We believe this season of remembrance can act as a healing balm to the racial wounds of our nation, furthering spiritual renewal.”
Lamentation and celebration are key expressions that will comprise the Day of Remembrance and the season leading up to it, beginning with the 400Conference on Aug. 2-3, 2019, at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Speakers include Civil Rights pioneer Dr. John Perkins, Passion Movement founder Louie Giglio, and OneRace Movement co-founders Bishop Garland Hunt (The Father’s House) and Pastor Billy Humphrey (International House of Prayer Atlanta), among others.
“This is a special event intended to launch us into a journey into the heart of God in the month of August, where we will seek to know the story of our collective history regarding the Church and race, so we can own – and ultimately change – that story together,” said Hazen Stevens, OneRace Movement co-director.
The 400Conference will include a one-day Leadership Summit on Aug. 2 designed especially for those who will guide their own congregations through this month of reflection. Hosted by OneRace Movement in partnership with Mosaix Church Network, Christian Alliance of Pastors, Unite Atlanta, Catalyst as well as The Lee Jenkins Group, the conference will include session topics such as Reconciliation and the Gospel, The 400-year American Church Story, Race Relations for Millennials and Generation Z, and How to Lead your Church into a Multi-Ethnic Reality.
Following the 400Conference, the OneRace Movement will lead a 21-day fast for spiritual breakthrough, welcoming believers from across the country to unite in prayer and fasting, contending for racial reconciliation in our nation and revival to come to our land. This will lead up to a Day of Remembrance service hosted at participating churches across Atlanta on Sunday, Aug. 25. The service will be comprised of times of reflection, response and resolution, intended to unite and strengthen the Body of Christ.
Individuals can register to attend and pastors can register their churches to participate at www.oneracemovement.com/dayofremembrance.
The 2019 OneRace Journey builds on the momentum started by the movement last summer at OneRace Stone Mountain, where individuals of all racial and cultural backgrounds came together in unity from throughout the Atlanta region. Thousands of individuals gathered on Georgia’s historic Stone Mountain on Aug. 25, 2018, to repent of racism and division while acknowledging that – as people of faith – we can and should do better.
“As our nation collectively mourns the beginning of the slave trade in the U.S. 400 years ago this August, it provides the opportunity to reflect on the role each of us has individually in denouncing racism and embracing unity,” said OneRace Movement co-founder Billy Humphrey.
“The Christian church in the U.S. – especially in the South – is just now beginning to wake up to the evils of racism and slavery that it allowed to happen on its watch,” added his OneRace Movement co-founder Bishop Garland Hunt. “Now, Christians are working together to lead the effort toward reconciliation and racial healing in this important 400th anniversary year of slavery in the U.S.”
OneRace is a young adult movement of more than 200 churches and ministries throughout Atlanta and around the U.S. working through prayer and fasting, relationship and collaboration, to displace the spirit of racism and release a movement of racial reconciliation across Atlanta, the Southeast, and the nation. For more information, please visit http://oneracemovement.com.
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