Introduction
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called both individually and collectively to fearlessly apply our faith to advocate and break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression. The Committee for Social Justice is dedicated to God’s work of justice in the world. The committee focuses on raising awareness of social issues through education and believes that we are called to act on our beliefs to change laws, policies, plans and structures in our society that perpetuate injustice. See more....
A Campaign for Equality in Public Education
Join the Committee for Social Justice to support equitable public-school education for all North Carolina students
On March 16, the Session of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church voted to support the reforms needed in our state’s public education system to ensure equal opportunity for all students.
Join Us
We’d love to connect, share resources and tell you how you can get involved!
- Want to learn about and discuss social justice issues? Join the committee and stay informed about meetings, special speakers and issue groups. We are organized with a “loose” structure allowing members to participate in issues as they have time and interest.
- Have questions? Contact committee chair Mike Schley at socialjustice@sapc.com
Committee Events
Evening Class Next September – I’m not a racist, but …
Please plan to join us in September on three successive Monday evenings for an interactive class on systemic racism. We may feel that the last vestiges of the Jim Crow era were abolished with the Civil Rights Act in the 1960’s, but we will look at how government policies discriminating against people of color have had multi-generational effects.
The class is scheduled for Monday September 13, 20 and 27 at 7:00pm each night. The class will be done by Zoom to make it easy to attend from home. Break-out sessions will be used to facilitate conversation with others in the class.
For more information, contact Katie Hirscher at katie.hirscher@sapc-justice.org.
Previous Meeting Recordings
View recordings of previous meetings and learn about future meetings here.
Issues We Are Working On
Housing
The Housing group is focused on advocacy for renters facing immediate eviction because of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. Long-term, we are exploring the best way for our church to address ongoing issues impacting housing affordability and security. See more.
Education
The Education group is seeking to learn about inequity in our educational system and encourage action for equality-based change. We are currently exploring partnerships with education-focused advocacy groups and other organizations to focus in on key local and state issues. See more.
Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice group is seeking to understand and support local and state initiatives that advocate for everyone being treated equally under the law. Key areas we are exploring include bail reform, pretrial justice improvements and possible advocacy related to recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. See more.
Gun Violence Prevention
The Gun Violence Prevention Issue Group, originally formed several years ago, has been reactivated as an Issue Group in the Committee for Social Justice. The group has the goals of promoting gun safety, education including presentation of data and statistics of gun deaths, and education on pertinent upcoming legislation. In this effort we sometimes join with existing organizations that share our goals, such as NCGV, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence. See more
Social Justice Resources
See links to relevant organizations and resources here.
Social Justice News
- Saint Andrews Session Supports Campaign for Equality in Public Education
On March 16, 2021, the Session of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church voted support for an advocacy campaign for Equality in Public Education. Education inequities have existed in North Carolina for centuries. Current efforts to address these injustices began in 1994 with a case brought by 5 counties’ school systems claiming the state had failed to …Saint Andrews Session Supports Campaign for Equality in Public Education Read More »
- Every Child NC – Lead with Leandro Campaign
As the legislative session began, Every Child NC wrote to Governor Cooper on March 3, 2021 asking him to craft his budget toward fulfilling recommendations of the WestEd task force. Education advocates are encouraged to email the governor, asking him to ‘Lead with Leandro.’ https://everychildnc.org/ - Saint Andrews Session Supports Eviction ProclamationOn December 15, the Session of Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church voted support for the Proclamation regarding the Current Eviction Crisis and Congregational Response. The proclamation, a proposal by the Committee for Social Justice, explained the impending eviction crisis threatened when the CDC moratorium on evictions expired on December 31, 2020. The proclamation called for a …
Saint Andrews Session Supports Eviction Proclamation Read More »
- New Report – Racial Disparities in the NC Criminal Justice System
Governor Roy Cooper’s Task Force on Racial Equity in Criminal Justice released a report in December 2020 that provides recommendations for 2 key areas: law enforcement and the court system. Read more here. - Eviction News
The passage of the federal Covid stimulus act in December, 2020 averted the eviction crisis that would have happened at the start of the new year. Since then the North Carolina General Assembly passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill 36 which provides $543 Million for housing relief assistance to North Carolinians. The expectation is …