Journeys to the Well: An Ecumenical Devotional Towards Anti-Racism
Journeys to the Well is a unique devotional designed to help Jesus followers engage deeply with the call to anti-racism through faith, scripture, and personal reflection. Developed by an ecumenical team from the Canadian Council of Churches, this collection offers diverse voices and experiences from across denominational and cultural backgrounds. The devotional reflects the belief that racism is not just a social issue but a theological one, calling Christians to prayer, repentance, and action in the pursuit of justice.
The devotional is structured into four key sections:
Honouring Identity in Christ – Contributors explore the role of faith in shaping cultural and racial identity. These reflections highlight how Christian discipleship affirms diversity and the importance of embracing one’s heritage in Christ rather than conforming to dominant cultural norms.
Giving Context: Personal Experiences of Racism, Discrimination, and Silence – Firsthand narratives from clergy and laypeople detail encounters with racism within faith communities, institutions, and daily life. These testimonies provide powerful insights into the ways racism manifests and how the church can respond with compassion and justice.
Tackling Texts that Cause Harm – This section addresses how certain biblical texts have been misinterpreted to justify racial hierarchies and discrimination. Writers engage in theological reflection to reclaim scripture as a source of liberation and reconciliation, challenging harmful interpretations and promoting a biblical vision of justice.
Calling Forward – The final section encourages readers to move from reflection to action. It provides guidance for churches and individuals on practicing anti-racism within their congregations, communities, and personal faith journeys. Contributors discuss themes such as holy anger, radical kinship, and the role of the Holy Spirit in transforming unjust systems.
Each devotion includes scripture passages, personal reflections, prayer prompts, discussion questions, and recommended resources for further engagement.
Why a devotional on anti-racism?
Why a devotional on anti-racism? That’s the question that is sometimes posed when people hear about this project. Devotionals are meant to help deepen faith practice and worship (worship being a form of devotion to God). Having a topical focus on antiracism for a devotional may feel counter-intuitive. The group of people who worked on planning this devotional—all members or staff of a subcommittee focused on racism and reconciliation that is part of the Commission on Justice and Peace of the Canadian Council of Churches—decided to work on an antiracism devotional having come to the understanding that racism is not a surface issue 4 unconnected to one’s faith, but rather is among the central issues the church is called to address today. This collection is grounded in our shared belief that the Bible has something vital to say about racism, which Christians can and should draw on when working to address and end it. We all agreed that Christians are called to work against racism. We could have worked on a statement, a study guide, or a collection of essays, but we felt that a devotional was needed because our faith commitments should be reflected in the antiracism work we do. We are also operating from an understanding that it is important for Christians, in spite of the many differences among denominations and faith expressions, to really wrestle with Scripture, to learn from it, and to pray. Action is needed, of course, and we hope this devotional will motivate people to action, but we believed and continue to believe that building deeper connections with our faith is the wellspring from which action flows and will produce better and more sustainable anti-racism fruit.