‘Zero to One’: From reflection to reparations
Video series shows congregation’s journey toward restorative action
In the heart of Minnesota, Oak Grove Presbyterian Church is quietly leading a transformative movement — one rooted in faith, courage and a deep reckoning with history. Through candid conversations and bold decisions, members of Oak Grove are demonstrating what it means to live out the gospel in the 21st century, especially when it comes to racial justice and reparations.
The journey of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church is the subject of a new five-part video series titled “Zero to One: A Congregation’s Journey to Repair.” The series, which is part of a resource library documenting the work of churches and communities engaging in the repair of historic harms related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), was produced by the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms and the communications team of the Interim United Agency of the PC(USA). Each of the videos will be debuted on Thursdays in August through the Presbyterian News Service, distributed through the PC(USA) social media channels and available on an ongoing basis on the resource page of the Center for the Repair for Historic Harms.
Oak Grove’s journey began not with a formal declaration, but with a car ride — a moment of vulnerability between ruling elder Jim Koon and the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam, former associate pastor of Oak Grove and current director of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms. What started as a conversation about economic injustice evolved into a profound realization: Reparations are not just a political issue, but a theological imperative. For Ross-Allam, preaching the gospel without addressing systemic racism felt hollow. For Koon, the realization that wealth disparities were strategically engineered led to a personal conviction to act.
These reflections sparked a broader dialogue within the church. That dialogue, which began during the tenure of the church's interim pastor, the Rev. Anne Fisher, continued into the installation of senior pastor, the Rev. Bart Rousch, who shepherded the first concrete steps Oak Grove took toward reparations.
Finance committee member Sue Greimel, a long-time Oak Grove leader and ruling elder, shared how her faith shaped her understanding of restorative justice. “We are surrendering,” she said, “and it was such a relief. … We have no say in this at all. We’re going to hand it over. And we’re going to trust God.” Her words reflect a powerful shift — from stewardship as control to stewardship as surrender.
Milissa Carter, a member of the church’s Anti-Racism Advocacy Team and another key voice in the church’s journey, emphasized the everyday miracles of courage and compassion. “God helps us through people,” she said. “That is God working in our everyday lives.” Her perspective reframes reparations not as charity, but as divine action — an embodiment of the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Carter is now on the core team of Restorative Actions, a nonprofit helping “U.S. Americans who benefit from institutional racism to provide a credible witness for justice by surrendering ill-gotten gains toward the establishment of just relationships with Afro-American and Indigenous communities.” In addition to Carter, Koon, and Ross-Allam, other members of Restorative Actions’ core team, like Elder Elona Street-Stewart, synod executive for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies, and the Rev. Gregory Bentley, Co-Moderators of the 224th General Assembly (2020), accompanied Oak Grove Presbyterian Church through its call to reparations process.
Oak Grove’s commitment has already taken tangible form. The church allocated significant funds toward reparative initiatives for Indigenous and Afro-American communities, recognizing the historical and ongoing harm these groups have endured. The financial numbers matter, but so does the spiritual transformation behind them. Members moved from skepticism to conviction and from fear to faith.
As demonstrated in this five-part video series, Oak Grove’s journey is not a story of perfection or completion. It is a story of beginnings — of a church moving from zero to one, as Ross-Allam puts it. It is a story of conversion, not in the traditional sense, but in the way hearts and minds shift toward justice. The story of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church invites others to follow, not with grand gestures, but with faithful steps.
Oak Grove’s journey testifies that reparations are not just possible — they are necessary. When rooted in faith, they become not only credible, but sacred.
Editor’s Note: While serving as associate pastor of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Jermaine Ross-Allam also served Liberty Community Church with the Revs. Drs. Ralph and Alika Galloway as the inaugural executive director of the 21st-Century Academy working to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Go to the PC(USA)’s Vimeo page for more videos of Liberty Community Church’s efforts to address systemic racism through congregational action and advocacy, afterschool and summer enrichment and healing spaces for a neighborhood vulnerable to human trafficking.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.
