UCC officers support call for justice for Breonna Taylor

After a Louisville grand jury decided not to charge any police officers in the killing of Breonna Taylor, indicting one former detective instead on three counts of “wonton endangerment” for firing shots into her home, the national leaders of the United Church of Christ released this statement of support for the continued call for justice.

We, the Elected Officers of the United Church of Christ, write to affirm our support for the leaders and clergy of the Louisville Churches and the Indiana Kentucky Conference as you call for justice for Breonna Taylor. 

Our hearts are broken as we acknowledge the grief and immeasurable pain of all who knew and loved Breonna Taylor. Her light was extinguished too quickly and with violence. We pray for all who continue to love her and celebrate her life. We too will continue to hold her memory and say her name: Breonna Taylor!

We are a people who continue to wait for justice that never seems to come, and yet we wait in hope believing that justice will indeed prevail. Justice and equality linger, sometimes at a distance, compelling us to hold valuable every life. As we wait, we pray, knowing that as people of faith, we believe that God hears and answers prayers.

We understand and we share the collective grief, anger, frustration and deep disappointment you feel because of the apparent unwillingness and inability of the justice system to respond fully to the tragic and cruel death of Breonna Taylor. When the law is said to have been fully and correctly applied and justice still is not available, we know that laws must change. That will and can only happen when enough people rise up and demonstrate a capacity and a will to call for that change. It is a matter of faith for us as disciples of the risen Christ that we join with the oppressed whom the law does not fairly and fully represent and ally with them in their cries for justice. 

We appreciate the clarity of your calls for justice. We stand in solidarity with you and with the Kentucky Council of Churches as you seek to find new pathways to full justice for Breonna Taylor. We pledge our own support to this effort, knowing that wherever racism continues to affect unjust outcomes, we all suffer and none of us can rest. 

We thank you for your ongoing work for justice. You remain in our thoughts and prayers. We stand ready  to support your efforts in ways that you find meaningful and helpful. 

May the arc of history continue its unerring bent towards justice, a bending that no enemy of God’s shalom can long delay. Let your justice roll down like waters, and your righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. And may the Holy Spirit of the living God and the risen Christ sustain you in what remains the work of the faithful: building a just world for all. 

Faithfully,

The National Officers of the United Church of Christ

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer
General Minister and President

The Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson
Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries and Operations

The Rev. Traci Blackmon
Associate General Minister, Justice and Local Church Ministries