Task Force Report on Reparations

Responding to a recommendation from the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns, the 213th General Assembly (2001) created a Task Force to Study Issues of Reparations for African Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Others Who Have Experienced Unjust Treatment. The task force met over the next three years, seeking input from a variety of Presbyterians. Consistent with its commitment to racial justice, the 216th General Assembly (2004) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) adopted the report of the Task Force to Study Reparations, "affirming that Jesus Christ calls us to repair wrongs done to one another and to work for personal and social reconciliation and renewal."

Report of the Task Force to Study Reparations

The Belhar Confession

The Reparations Task Force gave rise to a recommendation at the 216th General Assembly (2004) which commended the Belhar Confession to the church for reflection, study and response, as a means of deepening the commitment of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to dealing with racism and a means of strengthening its unity.  

The Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) is recommending a study of the Belhar Confession for inclusion in the Book of Confessions to the 218th General Assembly (2008). The Belhar Confession emerged from the context of racism in South Africa. 

Learn more about the resolution and its recommendations.

Download a study guide developed by the Office of Theology and Worship.

What are reparations?

The Report of the Task for to Study Reparations approaches the concept of reparations theologically, stating, "The point is not to indict any particular group of people for such atrocities. Rather, as members of the same body, the body of Christ, we must all bear equal responsibility for the sins of our past. The Scriptures call us to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2, NRSV). We do so first, by remembering what we have done and failed to do; second, by doing everything in our power to restore the human dignity and material loss of our sisters and brothers; third, by repairing the moral and spiritual breach that was formed between the offended and the offenders; and fourth, by sincerely attempting to reconcile all differences that are directly related to our behaviors of the past."

Why are reparations needed?

The Report of the Task Force to Study Reparations notes that, "Careful study, prayer combined with a significant amount of time spent listening to various voices within and outside of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), leads to the conviction that sins have been committed against our sisters and brothers of Native American, African American, Asian American, Mexican, Puerto Rican and Alaskan Native heritage. Presbyterians and other citizens of the United States have too frequently remained silent in the face of atrocities like the enslavement and colonization of African peoples, the destruction of First World or Native peoples, and the confiscation of lands that were already occupied by indigenous inhabitants. For example, in regard to American slavery, our Presbyterian ancestors both used Scripture to justify the enslavement of other human beings and were slaveholders themselves."

Why is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) concerned about reparations?

This concern grows out of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s commitment to racial justice. In Facing Racism: A Vision of the Beloved Community, adopted by the 211th General Assembly (1999) affirmed that: God created human beings, a diverse family, to live together and to love one another as God loves us. We violate God's intention for the human family by creating false categories of value and identity, based on identifiable characteristics such as place of origin and skin color. We use these categories to create a race-based society which benefits some while oppressing others.

We affirm that racism is a sin which violates God's purpose for humanity and is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We confess our complicity in the creation and maintenance of racist structures and systems in all parts of our nation's life, including the church itself. We commit to confront spiritually the idolatry and ideology of white supremacy and white privilege. We also covenant to become an antiracism community, resisting racial oppression and working to overcome racism within our own life and the life of the society by blending social analysis, institutional reconstruction and individual healing with discernment, prayer and worship-based action.

The Report of the Task Force to Study Reparations was written and adopted in response to the action of the 213th General Assembly (2001) directing the General Assembly Council to create a task force to study (in consultation with the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns) the issue of reparations for African Americans, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives, Asian Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and others who have experienced unjust treatment, and report its findings and recommendations regarding how the church can foster dialogue and healing. (Minutes , 2001, Part I, pp. 60, 333-334).

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